Learning from the Best
By Michael Nolan
Aunt Margaret isn’t really my aunt.
She is actually my partner’s great aunt, but from the first day we met she has always treated me more like family than my own family ever did, with the exception (of course), of my grandmother.
We share a special bond because for almost two years I was at her side through several medical scares that had her at the emergency room on more than one occasion.
We also share a strong bond in our love for plants though her years of experience have given her a decided advantage over me in that realm.
When we visited her for recently for the first time since Thanksgiving of last year (she lives about an hour away now), one of the first things I noticed as I took a seat on the porch was the familiar scent that can only be tomato plants. I looked around for a minute and there they were – right behind my chair – two tomato plants at least four feet tall and absolutely covered in blooms.
Did I mention that they weren’t in the ground? Well they weren’t. They are in pots that couldn’t have been any larger than two gallons, max.
This is the sort of wisdom I have an incessant need to learn from “Auntie’s” generation while I still have the opportunity. These folks survived the Great Depression, grew Victory Gardens and experienced the invention of the television!
And to think, I was feeling guilty that I didn’t have any fresh tomatoes to bring to her and her two little plants will probably end up out-producing mine!
The wisdom of our elders seems to be a recurring theme in my writing, not just here but everywhere, and I can only hope that it may inspire someone, somewhere to stop long enough to listen to and learn from these people. Their stories are amazing and their experience unsurpassed.
So what did I learn about tomatoes from Aunt Margaret?
1. She uses what she’s got and it works like a charm. A mix of cheap bagged potting soil, sand and good ol’ Alabama red clay and no Miracle Gro to be seen!
2. Tomato cages are unnecessary and cumbersome. The elastic from old ‘unmentionables’ makes the best supporting ties, tied to a single stake. She apparently doesn’t need anything more than that and who am I to argue?
3. Don’t water tomatoes every day! Just water them when the top inch of soil in the pot is ‘bone dry’.
I used to think that my adoration for Aunt Margaret was borne of the fact that she reminded me of my grandmother, but in reality they couldn’t be any more different. I am just thankful to have had the chance to learn from one of the world’s greatest women.
Not just about tomatoes, but about life.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:46 am
I got my start from our Daddy Jake and Grandma Margaret. I wouldn’t be here now without them.
Deb.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
My interest in gardening came from my grandfather, and then my father. I smiled when I read about the elastic from the unmentionables…my family always saved pantihose with runs for the garden. Cut in cross sections, each “leg” provided dozens of wonderfully soft, elastic ties. In fact, I still use them when I have them.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Michael, what a beautiful post! If it hadn’t been for my beloved Grandma Simms and my Great-Aunt Ethel, I might be creating minimalist formal landscapes like my Mama’s. And what a waste! Our elders are our national treasures; we should honor them as the Japanese and Native Americans do rather than viewing them as disposable nuisances. Shame on our shallow, disposable culture! (Now I’ll tell you how I *really* feel…)
May 28th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Thanks for the kindness everyone. You can probably tell that this post meant a great deal to me. I am going to be printing the page and mailing it to her. She has no idea that I even wrote it.
May 31st, 2008 at 1:27 pm
[...] Aunt, actually), and how she seems to be a tomato charmer or something. Check the story out at Tomato Casual. RSS Trackback URL 31. May 2008 (11:27) Filed under: Michael’s [...]