No cellophane or styrofoam
enclose vegetables that
ripen with deep roots in loam.

But tomatoes need attention
from sunshine and gardener —
saving seeds is an obsession.

A good soaking for the seed
then planting in warm soil —
water, fertilize, stake and weed.

Year after year, they grow
Are they fruit or vegetable?
They’re silent. They don’t know.

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Note: I harvested the last of my tomatoes before the recent frost. They were a poor crop this year. Free roaming turkeys ate most of my garden. Ten roost in the maple outside my bedroom window, nearly invisible, except when coming or going.