No, this is not a metaphor like "losing my marbles", although in my case, it is quite possible that evidence could be found to prove significant marble loss. The tomatoes I refer to are the plants growing in my garden, and they're not looking good. In fact, I think they may be dying.
In my twenty-plus years of gardening, I haven't lost a tomato plant. Yes, I've had my ripe tomatoes stolen by neighborhood boys or marauding squirrels, but I've never had a plant die. Those in my current garden, which are disturbingly wilted, may change that. My father thinks they may be affected by the extreme heat, and my husband thinks the roots may be rotting from too much rain. And, while I really do try to avoid excessive drama in my life, I have to admit that the other day I was upset at the thought of losing my tomatoes.
Gardening is one of my ongoing strategies to minimize my grocery bill, in order to free up money for "things that matter". The prospect of losing a crop as normally prolific as tomatoes, therefore, could have a significant impact on my spending. But . . . wait a minute. Just what do I mean by "significant"?
In a typical season, I freeze several dozen pints of tomatoes for winter cooking. I also often make homemade tomato salsa, in addition to using numerous fruits in salads and fresh sauces. My cost in grocery dollars to replace such a loss could easily be well over $100.
This realization was quickly followed by another: the fact that losing the entire crop would have little or no impact on my family's food supply. Even at a less-than-average household income (for the U.S.) we have enough surplus in our budget that we can lose a vegetable crop and still lack for nothing.
In a world where almost 50% of the population lives on less than $2.50 U.S./day, and a full 80% lives on less than $10.00 U.S./day (www.globalissues.org), what is of little consequence for me to lose would prove to be a devastating loss to someone who has no other resource to procure food.
So, will I still do everything I can to save my tomato plants? Of course I will. Will I be indifferent if those plants still die? Of course not. But live or die, I will be thankful that I am blessed with such abundance that regardless of what happens to the plants in my garden, my family and I will not go hungry. That knowledge increases my desire to keep on doing all the thrifty things I can, to free up dollars to share with someone, somewhere, who doesn't have the money to buy tomatoes.
--Susan Rodebush © 2010
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did you start from seed or get some small plants at the nursery? The reason I ask is there is supposed to a tomato blight going around that is pretty devestating this year. So if you boughts some plants, you might be battling that too. We lost 2 tomatoes plants (my son's plants). The ones we bought to replace them had a rought start, actually looked like they were ignored at the nursery, but they are finally perking up in their little pots.
Love to you,
Deb
Posted by: Deb | June 25, 2010 at 08:44 PM