As a kid, I had a great uncle ( my mom's uncle) who was a huckster. After he retired from farming, he bought about four acres of rich ground along the Missouri river near the small town of Parkville Mo. He grew almost every type of vegatble here. Sweet corn, tomatoes, okra, melons, squash, and green beans, and sold them from the back of his truck at a roadside vegtable stand. I worked for him for four summers when I was between the age of twelve to sixteen. He taught me a lot about growing things, and what to look for, to tell homegrown vegatables from store bought. Here's a few things he taught me: homegrown tomatoes rarely look perfect. They usually all have some imperfection of some sort. The skin of homegrown tomatoes is more dull, and not shiny. Many big grocery stores order tomatoes which are grown down south, picked early, and artificially ripened under lights, or injected with a dye. This is all done to make them look perfect by the time they reach grocery stores. When I helped my uncle run the vegtable stand, things would slow down around 1:00 in the afternoon. Around 3:00 each day, he'd take two big tomatoes, and a Black Diamond watermelon, and cut them into bite size pieces. He called these the " tasters", and always encouraged folks to try some. Once they tasted them, they always bought some. The stand would be busy between 4:30 and 6:00. I'd be loading peck baskets, and bushel baskets with all kinds of fresh vegetables, and helping load the large dark green Black Diamond watermelons. These were always a big seller just before fourth of July. I still grow tomatoes each year. The taste of fresh, homegrown tomatoes is far better than any you can buy at a grocery store. Do any BR members like to garden, and grow vegetables at home? The taste is beyond compare.
