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Across the Fence:  Overheard at the Boone Co. Fair....  |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 07:35:04 AM
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Mom and I took Violet to the Boone County 4H Utopia Fair (note: emphasis on 4H and agriculture) last night so she could see the animals and we could eat fair food  ...we try to eat something different everytime, so last night we went to the 4h fundraising mess hall where they had really good hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. They had this wonderful "fixin's" bar set up with what had to be the most beautiful homegrown tomato slices I've ever seen--thick sliced, deep red, absolutely flavorful tomatoes that came from their gardens.
While I was loading up my burger with onions and tomatoes, this perfectly normal, nice-looking older gentleman came up beside me. He circled the table several times and then said to me, "Do you suppose that tomato is alright to eat?" I sortof looked at him funny..."why?" I asked..."Well, it's really dark red. I wonder if it's spoiled--it's been sitting out, too....!"
Honestly. I just looked at the man like he had three heads. Are we that far removed from our food that we believe the anemic orangey flavorless tomatoes that we get at Kroger are "good" and "healty"?
I know, I know, it takes all kinds, but he wasn't a spring chicken-- Please don't tell me he's never had a homegrown tomato?!?!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:05:31 AM
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Let's give him the benefit of the doubt- perhaps he's forgotten what a homegrown tomato is like. :)
Karin
Farmgirl Sister
# 18 :)
www.perfectlittlemiracle.blogspot.com
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:08:03 AM
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I tried, but it sure seemed silly to me. Boone County is very suburban, but this time of year, even people in the suburbs sell their tomatoes in their front yards!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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crafter
True Blue Farmgirl
2313 Posts
lori
Fort Atkinson
Wisconsin
USA
2313 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:20:35 AM
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I don't even know what to say to that- what is wrong with people today? I say put a tomatoe plant in a pot and see what you get- pure heaven! I just don't understand people- where has the common sense gone to? Makes me feel so sad!
xoxo-Lori
Thank GOD I'm a Country Girl! |
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beekeepersgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1423 Posts
Luanne
Cresco
PA
USA
1423 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:23:44 AM
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| That's so funny. I have to tell you what happened last summer when I was helping make home made ice cream at our local country fair. I middle aged woman came up to me and asked me if I could tell her how to make MILK!!!!!!!! Now, I'm not usually at a loss for words, but it took me a minute to think what to say without laughing. Finally I showed her how to get to the dairy barn and told her to look at the exhibits on milking that the 4H kids had set up. YIKES!!!!!!!! |
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LauriP
True Blue Farmgirl
239 Posts
Laurianne
Hertford
North Carolina
USA
239 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:26:35 AM
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>> I had something like this happen some years ago, and I just wrote it off to the person being a little off-center <<
We'd grown some old-timey tomatoes, that turn a shade of purple when they get ripe..Can't think of the name off my head, but they were Huge things, just as tasty as can be.
Our neighbor next door, happened to see them, and said, "Well, I don't know what that is that your growin', but that sure doesn't look right!!" 'Course, I had to think, what the....
And this woman and her husband had been farmers for years before they moved down to S.C. where we lived, so it wasn't like they didn't grow food, for cryin' out loud!! I just mumbled something, took the 'maters into the house, an' just wondered what kind of meds the military was giving this woman...
Laurianne |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:27:23 AM
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Oh my gosh! That's hysterical about making "milk"...I mean, it's funny, and then it's also so sad, like Lori said. I can't help but think it's such a comment on the loss of just plain old common sense.
There's a commercial that runs around here for Kroger where they interview people as to why they come to Kroger...each one of them says, "the produce is beautiful" or the "produce is always perfect". Yes, in shape, size, color, etc...but not in taste. And the green beans are always frozen, even sitting in the bin to be sold. I just wish folks would step out of their unnatural comfort zone.
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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aunt boby
True Blue Farmgirl
173 Posts
toby
polo
illinois
USA
173 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:32:22 AM
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I'd rather eat something yanked straight out of my garden with dirt all over it than something labeled "Product of Argentina" and sprayed with lord knows what!!! Yes, people are that far removed. This reminds me of something said at our school's fun fair. A boy won at the cake walk and his Dad blurts out across the room "Make sure you get a store bought cake and don't pick one that was home made!". The crowd looked at him like he had three heads.
POOR IS THE MAN WHO CANNOT ENJOY THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE- anonymous |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:37:28 AM
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Oh my gosh, Boby! What a goofball! I guess because you can't control the environment that a homemade cake comes from? I'd eat that anyday over some of the restaurants and bakeries around here!!!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:47:02 AM
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LOL! all of it is sad, but so darned funny! Make milk??????? Has she never seen a cow? how about had a baby?(hope that I didn't offend anyone here?) You'd think that she'd have put 2 and 2 together....I just about swallowed my coffee cup laughing!
Jonni ~ I've run into the tomato thing too...I grew green zebra tomatoes a few years ago, and my neighbors were trying to convince me that the "off colour" ones were poisonous! From mars, I tell you! I just don't get some people... Have these people lived all of their lives in the supermarket and never had a home grown/home made anything???...that is sad, just sad. To never had the joy of eating a home grow and sun ripened home grown tomato...wow!
Glad I am to love the real and simple things!
Annika
Farmgirl & sister #13
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peapicker
True Blue Farmgirl
716 Posts
texas
USA
716 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:50:45 AM
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Yep Jonni, I hear this kind of stuff all the time. It is so scary, especially when these are not kids making the statements.
Laurianne, I have some dark kind of purple tomatoes called Chocolate Cherokee and some little ones called Chocolate Cherry. They are heirlooms and taste great, but some people can't get over the color. |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:52:07 AM
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Many years ago when my daughter was in 4-h, she was showing meat rabbits, ( New Zealands), a women and her kids came up to us and wanted to know if we would be willing to sell her some rabbit eggs, she figured they would be cheaper than one already hatched, and her kids could see the wonder of rabbit birth, I thought that all the people around us and us were going to die laughing, I said I'm sorry but rabbits don't lay eggs, they are live born. She got really mad and said, " how dare you insult my intellegince", "everyone knows that easter eggs come from rabbits".
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:52:11 AM
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All I can say about these neighbors is thank the Lord for privacy fences!!! It wasn't that many years ago that our grandparents were "organic gardeners" and most families had a little city garden plot. Especially those of us who's families were middle to lower income. And there weren't always just red tomatoes! Those Green Zebras are at least 80 if not a 100 years old!
I don't wanna give up on folks...I'm just thinking that this guy missed the whole "point" of the Boone County 4H UTOPIA Fair!!!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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4HMom
True Blue Farmgirl
720 Posts
Kelly
Montana
720 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 08:58:23 AM
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Each year the FFA kids at our high school put on "Heritage Days" for any and all K-2 graders in the valley. They come to the school farm where they see the animals, learn about milking a cow, make icecream from the milk, grind wheat, make bread, take a hay ride, touch critters in the "petting corral", and tour the farm. I still get kids in high school who remember that field trip as a highlight of their elementary days. We're still pretty rural, but as more folks move in, we get more folks who don't make the connection between the farm and the table. Perhaps we'll need to think about a "Who's Your Farmer?" day for the adults in the communtiy? lol
"Be the change you want to see in the world" -Gandhi |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 09:07:31 AM
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I'd give the gentleman the benefit of the doubt. Remember the salmonella scare with tomatoes -- he's probably hyper-vigilant and maybe has underlying health concerns that make him wary. . . . I don't think that all suburban or city folk are ignorant about food.
www.youaretoocreative.blogspot.com |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 09:12:31 AM
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You know what, Kelly? That ain't a bad idea. Boone County used to be completely agrarian, until about 1968 when the International airport bought tons of farm land and became a huge employer and hub for quite a few airlines, including Delta. The county really took off then, and is still booming. New housing everywhere (where farms used to be) and the boundary lines are blurring further and further out into what used to be unincorporated, rural parts of the county. What you say is true...there is a disconnect. Union, a "blink" town in the county is now home to a neighborhood development called "Triple Crown Estates" which has a median home price of $650,000.00. People are moving from wealthier parts of neighboring Ohio because of the lower taxes, and are now complaining about the horse "smells" and cattle sounds, and that Union "proper" doesn't have any boutiques or coffee shops to make it "cozy".
I don't go to our farmers market very much anymore because, well, it's annoying. I get bored by the "isn't this quaint" conversations from women in their tennis outfits, buying tomatoes, but not homemade canned jams because they don't "trust them"...
I think some education for adults would be wonderful. It all just seems to come back to common sense for me!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 09:13:51 AM
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No, not everyone is, and he might have health concerns, but our area has become increasinlgy intolerant of farms and "small town". They like it when it's convenient, like in the fall with pumpkin patches, but overall, farms, tractors on the road and livestock have become a big source of contention here.
Katie, weren't they store bought/factory farmed tomatoes? Kroger and other stores pulled all theirs because they were from large growers.
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
Edited by - FebruaryViolet on Aug 07 2009 09:16:36 AM |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 09:22:33 AM
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Yes, they were store-bought tomatoes that were the problem . . . I know what you mean about intolerance for small town and family farms . . . but I also am a bit sensitive to the 'them' vs 'us' mentality overall. I guess I don't like the 'silly city folk' talk, even though it's sometimes warranted. Just my sensitivity, having grown up rural and now being suburban/urban.
And, wow, we buy all the homecanned jams and jellies we can find here at our farmers' markets! I'm amazed that someone would turn up their nose. Takes all kinds.
www.youaretoocreative.blogspot.com |
Edited by - katie-ell on Aug 07 2009 09:24:42 AM |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 09:27:47 AM
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Oh, Katie, I am the silly "city folk"...I've always just been on the "outside" of rural with family members who farm and sortof "learned" me :)
It does take all kinds...like I said, it all just boils down to common sense for me, and it seems so decidedly lacking around here most of the time!!!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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Jennifer Mulkey
True Blue Farmgirl
59 Posts
Jennifer
Arkansas City
KS
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 09:38:19 AM
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You know, I just wonder, in the case of this older gentleman, if maybe he was just being overly cautious? When people get older sometimes their immune systems get very shaky, and the least little thing can set them off into a spell of illness, so maybe he was just kind of scared that he might get ill? I have quite a few elderly aunts and uncles right now, 70's on up and it seems the older they get, the more scared they get of anything. It's really kind of sad when you think about it, that they are scared about all kinds of things. Imagine walking around half scared to eat a tomato? But that happens when we get older, and maybe he has just a touch of dementia and doesn't remember much about tomatoes?
Just throwing out some thoughts there :)
Jenny |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 10:58:35 AM
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I appreciate your thoughts, Jennifer....wanted to clarify (and I'm NOT AT ALL trying to be offensive to any gals over 55) but when I said "older" I mean like, early 60's, like my mom :) Not like someone's sweet grandpa :)
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 11:20:11 AM
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You don't have to come from a very big city to be farm ignorant. Oklahoma City for instance. Not exactly CITY CITY. While on a business trip in Western KS with a lady from OKC we passed farm after farm of Sunflowers. The lady was amaized. She said it looked like they had been planted in a row. I told her, they were. She said, why? I ask her if she had ever eaten a sunflower seed or used sunflower oil. OH, was her answer. Then My grand d-i-l from OKC was here for the first time and grandson was showing her the garden. She pointed to the greenbean row and ask if that was corn? There was blooms and small beans on it at the time. She was obviously trying to make an impression by asking questions, even really really dumb ones.
Belle |
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crafter
True Blue Farmgirl
2313 Posts
lori
Fort Atkinson
Wisconsin
USA
2313 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 11:22:54 AM
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sounds like too much tv watchin' I know when my parents watch the news too much- all of a sudden they have the same problem or ate the same thing-crazy I tell you! Get out and enjoy the great outdoors and shut the boobtube off!
xoxo-Lori
Thank GOD I'm a Country Girl! |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 1:36:55 PM
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I know who the guy was, ya'll. He had to have been a government official, like maybe a congressman or senator. Or maybe even a close friend of our pres. Because it's those people who are passing all these stupid food laws all the time. They just have never seen "real" food before and when they do they freak out about it's real look.
A few weeks ago at the market I sell at a mother and her poor little son were walking around looking at every booth. They came to mine with all my fresh green beans and field peas. He said he would love to try some beans. His mommy said she didn't think he'd like them. That's all. I kept trying to get him to eat a raw bean and she kept trying to get away. She said she wouldn't even know how to cook them. He did pop a field pea in his mouth and said he liked it. Poor kid. She did have a few tomatoes in a bag. That's easy to fix, though.
It's people like this that we have suck picky sick kids these days. What I hated is her telling the boy SHE didn't think he'd like it. Never encouraged him to go ahead and try it. Poor kid.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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vintagediva1
True Blue Farmgirl
1251 Posts
Michele
Brighton
Michigan
USA
1251 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 2:25:51 PM
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Let the tennis skirted gals scoff at the hom canned jams and pickles but we will all know how to feed our families in the case of a disaster and I don't think the tennis courts will even be open for business.
Michele
www.2vintagedivas.etsy.com
www.stitchingby2sisters.etsy.com
Love that good ole vintage junk |
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4HMom
True Blue Farmgirl
720 Posts
Kelly
Montana
720 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2009 : 3:40:44 PM
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Kristin, at least I have LITTLE hope for the gov. officials. At least there's a real garden at the Whitehouse now (thanks Michelle) so maybe, just maybe, our food laws will get more real and less ridiculous? A girl can hope, can't she? 
"Be the change you want to see in the world" -Gandhi |
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Across the Fence: Overheard at the Boone Co. Fair.... |
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Overheard at the Boone Co. Fair....
