The Last Tomato Poem by Kim Barney

This morning I ate the last tomato
that I grew in my garden last year.

I was going to try to make it last
until the first day of February,
but it looked like it was starting
to wrinkle a bit, so I ate it.

It was delicious! This is the first time
that my tomatoes have lasted this long.

I picked them just before the first frost
last October. Some were almost ripe,
some were turning orange, and most
were just as green as Cowboy Ron's thumb.

(He does have a green thumb, I hear.)

In years past we have left the green
tomatoes in the basement where
it is cooler, but sometimes down there
they get forgotten.

This year we just left them in the kitchen
on the counter where we could keep
better track of them. When they turned
ripe, we ate them.

This particular tomato that lasted the longest
was of the ‘Roma' variety, but my favorite
tomatoes for taste are the little orange
cherry tomatoes called ‘Sun Sugar'.

They are so good, it's like eating candy.
I'm looking forward to springtime now,
so that I can get my tomatoes and peas
and other vegetables planted.

When those different goodies come
springing up out of the ground,
it seems like another little miracle
every single year!