Bumper crop
It’s my birthday. Woo hoo! I feel like Tigger, excitement verging on hysteria, not because of my birthday so much (but still, Happy Birthday to me-e!) but because I’ve pledged to complete all the revisions on the farming families book by Christmas. I have 20 days left and plenty of work ahead, but hey, today it’s my birthday and right now there are presents to open (Hip hip hooray!) treasured gifts and cards from friends and family in England and Australia. What a lucky woman.
The back yard here in Sydney has given me a gift too, and it’s a special gift. In the first two days after we got back I harvested four kilos of tomatoes from a single plant. There are more tucked down the skinny side of the house too, fattening and ripening on vines clambering happily up the wall.
The tomatoes were special because they reminded me of something Mum once told me. When she was a child and treated to a visit to the cinema, she didn’t take lollies (or sweeties as we called them in England and Wales) she took a bag of home-grown tomatoes. Her quietly spoken father – Grampy – grew them in the small back yard of their two-up two-down terraced house in Cardiff.
I’d forgotten all about it until I harvested that crop of tomatoes. They reminded me of Grampy and of Mum. Then I thought about all the vegetables Dad used to grow in his back garden and the greenhouse by the River Dee where Aunty Beth and Uncle Jim grew tomatoes, and suddenly my birthday was full of very special memories.
A bumper crop of presents.
39 comments on “Bumper crop”
Leave a comment
I'm a writer based in Australia with a passion for gardening, remote places and people with a story to tell.
Strawberries in the Desert 
Happy birthday!
LikeLike
Thanks Scribbley!
LikeLike
Good morning Sis and a very happy birthday to you from a chilly uk. Hope you have a brilliant day and enjoy munching on your tomatoes. X
LikeLike
Thanks Sis! Clyde still sleeping and he’s guarding the presents, so I’ve been enjoying an early morning cuppa looking at the garden, much as Mum used to do xx
LikeLike
Still the 4th here Deb! So a very Happy Birthday to you!! Love the pics of your tomatoes! I will definitely try to catch up, I think in February, will confirm for sure when I have dates. I will be requiring gardening tips, of course and might trade you some recipes – vegetarian of course! Hope you had a fantastic birthday! And Hello to Clyde from Andrew and I xx
LikeLike
Aha, yes we’re well ahead of you. Looking forward to catching up in the new year. Have a great Christmas and best wishes to you and Andrew from me and Clyde (hope the wedding went well!) xx
LikeLike
Happy Happy Day, you Tiggery gal you.
LikeLike
Why thank you you strange and wonderful blogger you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLike
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Aunty Deborah, happy birthday to yoooooooou. Xxx
LikeLike
Thank you gorgeous girl, if only hugs could be transmitted via the internet (one day they probably will be, a computer with arms will reach out and deliver the hug, not the same at all!! ) xxxx
LikeLike
Many Happy Returns of the Day Deb! What a lovely post. Welcome home! I can see your garden has welcomed you already. My tomatoes are green so far, so you’re well ahead of me. Wishing you a productive 20 days and a wonderful, fulfilling year ahead. ❤
LikeLike
Thanks Barbara, and the same to you, may 2015 bring you blessings and joy.
LikeLike
Happy birthday gorgeous woman. So glad to be one of those friends and that you were born!
LikeLike
Oh do hurry back from Nepal Wendy, I know they will miss you but we want you here! Love to all the many gorgeous women you are with (and I suspect one gorgeous man by now?) x
LikeLike
Happy Birthday Deb! I’m glad you’re treating yourself well on this special day.
Your tomatoes are so beautiful, I bet they love growing against that warm wall. It is so nice to see you enjoying summer as we slip into winter. It’s great to imagine it: right now, way to the south, it really is warm and the sun is high in the sky! Grab a ray or two for me!
LikeLike
Thanks Eliza, I’m sitting in my office with the fan on to create a cooling breeze. Just finished chapter four so about to go and grab a tomato (or two) for lunch, with a great chunk of bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar! Hope you’re rugged up with a roaring fire and the warmth of loved ones by your side.
LikeLike
That sandwich sounds divine, wish I could join you!
Yes, the wood stove in full on – warm and cozy. Cool, clear night with lots of moonlight reflecting off the snow. Quite beautiful, but I’m not feeling adventurous to walk out tonight!
LikeLike
I’ll try and hold that thought of cool white snow as the temperature soars here!
LikeLike
Happy Birthday my sweet cyber buddy! Good memories taste almost as sweet as fresh tomatoes! Or chocolate. Yeah, they taste as sweet as chocolate! Blessings on you and the day you were born…
LikeLike
Thank you so much Nan! The blessings are very welcome, almost as welcome as the chocolate covered blueberries, chocolate covered almonds and chocolate covered coffee beans Clyde bought me yesterday… mmm!
LikeLike
Happy birthday and congrats on the beautiful veggies!
LikeLike
Thank you weekend sprout, and glad to see your lettuce and kale is thriving!
LikeLike
Beautiful. Poignant. Evocative.
LikeLike
Thank you Carricklass 🙂
LikeLike
Happy Birthday! 🎶
LikeLike
Thank you (and nice music!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just got in – and you’re probably tucked up in bed now, but Happy Birthday anyway!
xx
LikeLike
Thanks Cathy, I certainly was! xx
LikeLike
Happy Birthday! Enjoy those tomatoes and that wonderful sunshine 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you, I had a wonderful day!
LikeLike
Happy Happy Birthday!
LikeLike
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
LikeLike
Well, hark at the birthday girl and her cheerful bloody tomatoes! All we need, that is, while the temperature drops in England and everything’s just a great smear of brown! Only joking, of course; we can feel the warmth of your blogs all the way from Sydney, and they’ll keep us cosy until our own summer comes back. Don’t have a clue what day it is over there right now, but hope you have, or had, or are still having, a very happy birthday.
DZx
LikeLike
The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hip hooray… I think you know how the rest goes (although they forecast thunderstorms for tonight again and Maggie hates them so I’ve got the valium at the ready.) I had a lovely birthday thank you Django, have you got your Christmas tree up yet? x
LikeLike
Happy Birthday Deb! Tomatoes look so lovely. ❤
LikeLike
Thank you (they taste pretty good too!) 🙂
LikeLike
I used to tell my girls that cherry tomatoes were little bits of sunshine. Thanks for sharing your memories.
LikeLike
What a lovely idea – little bits of sunshine. Thank you Big White House on the Hill!
LikeLike