WEBVTT - Ep. 231: This Country Life - Spotlights, Pink Tomatoes, and Bold Corrections 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:08.639 Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.719 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:14.720 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:19.240 my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life is presented 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:23.239 by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:28.280 the best outdoor podcast the airways had off. All right, friends, 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.840 grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:43.839 stories to share. Spotlights, pink tomatoes, and bold corrections. I 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:46.800 come from what some refer to as the Land of 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.400 tall Pines and pink tomatoes. It's a reference to the 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.960 logging and farming industry that part of Arkansas was known for. 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:56.760 It was a great place to grow up, and I'm 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:58.680 going to tell you a little about the pink tomato 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:01.680 portion of it. But first I'm going to tell you 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:13.000 a story. It was a simple mission, catch them where 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:16.880 they weren't allowed to be. We knew the adversary, we 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:21.600 knew where they operated, we knew how they operated. Careful 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:25.880 observation had revealed their numbers, along with how they infielded 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:31.560 xfield from the area of operations into hours. They made 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.480 no attempt at concealing the trails they used or even 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:37.920 bothered to wipe out their tracks, and that's where we 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.400 had the advantage. We knew how they would come and 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:44.920 go and when they were most likely to do it. 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.320 Their advantage was speed and their ability to operate in 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:53.680 low light. They were masters of nighttime operations. Their night 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:57.320 vision was generations above our own, and while the mission 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:04.040 was simple, it was anything but easily accomplished. Also, they 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.440 didn't have vehicles we did. That would prove to be 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:11.200 our greatest asset in closing in on our adversary and 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:15.639 our biggest liability by not knowing the terrain as well 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:19.200 as we should have. The scattering reports we had about 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:21.280 the lay of the lamb had been falsified, and it 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:25.320 wound up costing us a third of our strength. It 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:28.040 was around twenty three hundred dollars when we moved out. 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:35.520 It was early fall of nineteen seventy nine. My brother 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.639 Tim climbed into the driver's seat of his nineteen sixty 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:43.080 nine Ford truck. Sammy West, our lifelong family friend who 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.400 Tim had grown up with, and I climbed into the 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:49.040 bed and stood up next to the cab facing forward. 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:51.200 He was holding the spotlight. 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:56.040 I was holding the rope. There were deer in the 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.160 pea patch, and we were fixing the last old one. 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:08.920 That was our mission. As in any good story, you 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:11.600 have to lay a foundation of where the story takes place, 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.000 and this one was on our farm where we grew up. 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.280 Tim was married and lived just down the road. I 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:21.840 was in junior high school. Our middle brother, Chuck was 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:25.680 in college, still living at home, and he wasn't there 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.000 that night, but he would play an important role in 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:32.320 the outcome of events. The summer before, he'd grown a 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:35.000 patch of watermelons and had sold him for extra money. 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:37.880 They were good, and I helped him pick some and 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.640 haul them to town to sell. He paid me in 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:44.640 watermelon hearts. You know the good part. I'd work for 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:48.160 that now. Well that in case pocket knives, But that's 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.920 not important. What is important is that after the watermelons 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.160 were done, he was supposed to take a tractor over 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.200 there and disc up the hills and run a section 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.400 hard over it to smooth out the dirt. He said 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.120 he did it, and the field had grown up since 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:06.560 he'd retired from the watermelon business the year before. It 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.440 looked like every other acre over there that didn't have 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:13.080 peas and tomatoes growing in it weeds that stood about 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:13.720 waist high. 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:17.360 That's all you saw. Well. 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:19.960 That night we eased across the pond livey, headed toward 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:22.560 the pea patch with our lights off. The moon was 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.120 bright enough for Tim to see without him, and when 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:28.719 we got close enough to the pea patch, Samy shined 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:31.200 that spotlight, and we were looking at a field full 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.520 of white tailed deer staring back at us, their mouths 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.000 chewing on peas, and their bellies getting fuller with each bite. 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.039 Tim mashed the foot feed and the race was on. 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:44.560 Ten to fifteen deer took off in every direction out 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:46.480 of that pea patch, and they made their way across 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.799 that waste high weeds of the field that hadn't been planted. 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:53.400 The one we were closest to was burning and churning 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.120 towards the gap in the fence that separated the pea 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:57.320 patch from. 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:58.000 The Tamato field. 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:00.880 Most of the other deer just jumped the fence, but 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.600 this one, this one understood the assignment and was beee 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.000 lining it toward the gap, breaking through the weeds like 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.680 a crab boat and the barre and sea going through ice. 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.640 Tim closed the gap when he saw Sammy's light zero 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:14.200 in on that. 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:18.760 Fine special Anom dol dough. Now I moved around to 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:19.440 Sammy's right. 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:21.800 Now I leaned against the cab to steady myself as 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.680 we plowed through the weeds, and I ready my rope 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:28.200 as we got closer. The deer was now within the 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.360 easy roping distance off the right front bumper. We were 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:33.400 doing every bit of twenty five miles an hour, and 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:35.559 it was going to be two turns above my head 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:37.680 and on the third one I was going to have 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:39.120 that deer rope faster. 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:40.320 Than Roy Cooper could have done it. 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:45.720 Here we go, rope ready, one turn, two turns, and 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.760 all of a sudden, the truck started bucking up and 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.560 down bott the lend. The spotlight went out. It got 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:56.000 dark quick. Tim hadn't bothered to turn the headlights on 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.640 a truck. It wouldn't have done any good anyway. The 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:02.040 weeds were taller than the light. I grabbed onto the 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.000 cab and I looked over at Sammy, but Sammy was gone, 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.640 so was the light. I started beating on the cab 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:10.279 of the truck and yelling for Tim to stop. 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.520 Stop, stop, a process. 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:16.719 He'd already initiated upon being bounced around in the cab 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.919 this truck like a bean in a coffee can. The 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:22.440 truck came to an abrupt stop, and Tim jumped out 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.279 and looking back at us, well where us had been 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:29.000 that had been reduced to looking at me, and I hollered, 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.760 Sammy's gone. Tim said, where'd he go? I said, I 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:38.120 don't know, but he took the light with him. Tim yelled, Sammy, Sammy. 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.320 We heard a faint voice from the middle of the 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:45.560 field behind us say I'm over here. I jumped down 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.760 this truck and we made our way through the weeds, 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.160 only to meet Sammy walking towards us, still holding onto 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:55.040 the spotlight with the wires that had been ripped from 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:59.960 the battery posts. Tim said, what happened? Sammy said, Brent 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.640 pushed me out of the truck. I said, no, I didn't. 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:04.839 I was fixing the rope that deer when the truck 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:08.080 started bouncing and the light went out. I looked around 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:14.320 and you was gone. That's when we knew. That's when 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:18.400 we figured it out. That's when Tim, Sammy and I 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:22.880 started a trio, of course, and disparaged monologues about our 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:27.600 brother Chuck for not disking and leveling that watermelon patch. 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:34.360 Like he said he did. Truth be told, he probably 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:37.360 he probably saved us all from getting our butts kicked 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.760 by a roped whitetailed dough. I don't know what we'd 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.680 have done had I actually roped it, but Sammy was 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:49.200 uninjured and I never got another chance to rope. Chuck 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:53.560 never leveled that watermelon patch either, And that's just how 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:54.280 that happened. 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:03.320 Gardens. 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:08.000 Nothing spread hate and discontent quicker than your parents saying 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:10.200 it'll be good to have you out of school to 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:13.920 help with the garden this summer garden. Ain't got time 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.960 for no garden. Well about all those tomatoes growing in 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.600 that big field across the pond. That ain't enough gardening 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:23.960 for y'all. With the love of humanity. There's frogs to gigging, 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.239 fish to catch, swimming holes that jump in, and camp 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:31.120 outs with my friends. I ain't got no time for 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:34.520 no garden. On top of the kabellion acres the tomatoes 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.160 we already had growing, and i'd be struggling in half 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.520 the summer anyway. Actually, the most we ever had was 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:46.280 about five acres, but it seemed like a kabellion. Turns 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.440 out I did have the time after all. But I 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:52.480 didn't like it. My friends that lived in town didn't 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.320 have to suffer through all this nonsense. They were all 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:57.800 racked up in the air conditioning, watching Bob Barker and 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.800 waiting on the YMCA pool open up so they could 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.640 all meet up and swim in that chlorinated clear water 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:07.120 urinal me. I was stuck in the middle of our farm, 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:11.000 praying for rain to a cloudless sky and sticking tomato 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:15.600 sticks in the ground and wishing I was dead. Don't 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.080 get me wrong, I love tomatoes, and the tomatoes that 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.120 were developed specifically for the soil where I'm from and 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:27.080 grown in my hometown are second to none. Some of 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.040 you may have just rolled your eyeballs out of the 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:31.160 back of your head and jerked a creak in your 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.560 neck looking at the radio when I made that claim, 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:38.480 Like last summer, when I received all kinds of watermelon feedback. 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:42.319 When I talked about watermelons, you didn't mention this town, 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.959 or that town, or this type of watermelon, And they 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:46.440 were right. 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:47.080 I didn't. 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:50.240 I was merely talking about the places I knew of 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:55.080 that proclaimed themselves to be the watermelon capitals of the world. 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:58.760 There can be several that hold that title, you got 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.640 the biggest watermelons in the world, you got the place 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:05.720 with the most produced watermelons in the world, et cetera, 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.920 et cetera. But when it comes to tomatoes, there's only 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.800 one tomato and only one place, and that's the variety 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:18.360 grown in Bradley County, Arkansas, and aptly named the Bradley Tomato. 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:25.840 This deliciously mildly acidic fruit or vegetable depending on which 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:29.000 camp you're in, stands alone at the pinnacle of the 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.200 Tomato Hall of Fame due to taste alone, period, there 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:36.840 are none better, save your emails, calls, letters, and bomb threads. 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.920 I will not budge from this position of how far 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:43.640 hit and shoulders above all other varieties of tomatoes there are. 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:46.920 And believe it or not, there are more than ten 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:53.000 thousand different varieties available today to grow. Ten thousand plus. 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.480 That's more than twice the amount of people who live 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:00.240 in Warren, Arkansas, the county seat the place where some 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.720 of the most dedicated and frustrated educators of all time 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:08.520 attempted to learn me stuff, and home to the Pink 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:12.920 Tomato Festival, a hometown event that's been going on annually. 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:14.680 For the last sixty eight years. 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:17.439 It's always held on the second Friday of June and 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:20.280 the last all weekend with events and entertainment for the 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:26.560 whole family, music, art and crafts, games, lots of great 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:31.760 food in one event that don't have anymore and and 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:34.960 haven't had for quite some time. But it was quite 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.360 popular back when I was the mere slip of a 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:41.360 lad I am today, and that was the tobacco spitting contest. 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:46.240 You heard me right, If that ain't good, if that 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:49.320 ain't good enough for you, It was open to all ages. 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.360 I remember seeing my pals in the sixth grade competing, 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:56.439 but I was terrified someone would tell my mama, so 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:01.679 I abstained from competition, never fully realizing my potential is 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:05.160 a tobacco spitting athlete. They had a big sheet of 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.480 plastic about three feet wide and rolled out on the 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:10.240 courthouse lawn that was printed like a big tape measure. 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.880 Contestants would get a big cheer of tobacco or dipper snuff, 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:19.200 and once they built up a sufficient reservoir tobacco juice, 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:24.480 they'd let her fly and whomever spat the farthest one. 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.080 I don't remember what the trophy was, but I do 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:32.680 remember them giving out free samples to anybody that wanted them. 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:35.880 Good Lord, those were different times, and times changed, and 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.120 this time they changed for the better. You won't see 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.440 that contest there anymore, but you will see a lot 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:44.280 of good stuff there, and you should check it out 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.560 if you have the opportunity. But back to the Bradley 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.160 tomato for just a second. In nineteen sixty one, at 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:54.280 the University of Arkansas, doctor Joe mcfaerir and, at the 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:57.600 age of forty four, developed the Bradley tomato plant to 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:02.280 grow specifically in the soil and the humid climate found 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:06.360 in Bradley County in June. All my life I heard 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.040 folks talk about how cool it was that that specific 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.200 tomato plant that produced the epitome of the tea in 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:18.760 BLT was developed and named after Bradley County. And now 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.880 for fifty eight years, I've heard nothing different. Bradley tomato 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.760 developed by the University of Arkansas for Bradley County in 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.120 the story. Then I did a little research for some 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:33.680 background on doctor mcfarren, who passed away thirteen years ago 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:38.240 in twenty eleven. He had an identical twin brother named Jack. 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:41.640 He was a decorated veteran of World War Two and 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.120 also served in Korea. His mama's name was Alis and 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:52.160 his father's name was Bradley. What a coincidence. Maybe his 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:54.480 dad changed it to Bradley after he had a bite 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.000 of one and experienced just how good they are. 0:13:58.400 --> 0:13:59.920 But that line of thinking is. 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:05.400 Really because I'd be known as fried squirrel gritz reeves. Anyway, 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.240 the tomatoes are good, and towards the end of May 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:11.640 every year, my social media is festooned with folks from 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:15.439 my hometown talking about who's got Bradley's and the out 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:17.520 of town folks are wanting to know when someone is 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.480 headed north with a load. Now, you can get a 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:23.680 blt in just about any place that serves hot food, 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.680 bacon lets, tomato, and bread. It's as simple as that, 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.240 and there are as many ways to fix one as 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:31.960 you can think of. You can put cheese or onion 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:34.680 and potato chips, this kind of bread, that kind of bread. 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.760 There's no limit to what you can do. But until 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:43.160 you've had one in the combination, any combination with a 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:47.160 Bradley tomato, you'll never really know the festival of flavor 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:52.560 your taste buds will experience. It's like fried chicken. I 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:54.880 love fried chicken, and I don't care if it comes 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:58.920 from KFC, churches, Pope Eyes, cracker barrel, your house, or 0:14:58.960 --> 0:14:59.640 the hospital. 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:01.800 I love it. 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.080 It's all good, but nothing will ever come close to 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:10.320 your grandma's fried chicken. The Bradley tomato is your grandma's 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:16.640 fried chicken compared to everything else calling itself a tomato. Now, 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:18.800 there were a few perks to grow in tomatoes. When 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:21.200 the tomato market opened the area of farmers would haul 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:23.040 the tomatoes to town for auction. 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:23.760 At the fairgrounds. 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.120 Produced buyers from out of state had seasonal offices there, 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:30.800 and the farmers would line up early to get inside 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.880 when the gate opened. Then pickup trucks, cattle trailers, and 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.840 bob trucks would back up to a long covered concrete 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:40.720 slab about the length of commercial chicken house. Each truck 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:44.440 was backed into an individual parking spot. With them a 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:46.880 big wooden table where each grower would set out a 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:49.160 sample of his tomatoes for the buyers to bid on. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.360 As they falled, an auctioneer around from table to table. 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:58.440 The only air moving in that blistering asphalt melting heat 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:01.440 was the big industrial fans mounted in the rafters that 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:03.360 blew the hot air from one end of the tomatoes 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.520 shed to the other, but at least it was moving. 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.080 Not being one of the first to feel the many 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.640 slots meant you had to wait in a shadeless line 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:15.640 until one of the slots opened up. It made for 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.000 a long, hot day, but it beat the tomato fields 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:22.480 by long shot. Also, a lot of my friends would 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:24.920 be there. Some of them had farms and grew tomatoes too, 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.640 and some worked up at the packing shed. A lot 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.120 of the girls whose family didn't raise tomatoes that I 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:33.560 went to school with would get summer jobs packing tomatoes 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:37.240 up there. That place was full of pretty gals, and 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.800 me and my cohorts frequently patrolling that location while we 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:44.560 waited our turn to sell tomatoes. That was just a coincidence. 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:49.360 But folks worked hard raising tomatoes. There wasn't any easy 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.280 thing about it. From driving steaks tied up to plants 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.160 so they wouldn't fall over, to running the irrigation pipe, 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:59.360 spraying for bugs, actually picking them. It was hot, back 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:02.000 bending works work that would have you in bed early 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.639 at night and asleep before your head hit the pillow, 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:07.520 just to get up the next morning before daylight and 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:10.960 do it all over again. There's not many of my 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:13.840 friends that don't have war stories about the tomato fields 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.800 of our youth. But you could always get a job 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.680 in the summer, and at least it wasn't houling hay ooh, 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:23.560 hauling hay. I maybe having a flashback just thinking about it. 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:28.000 Tomatoes were sold by the lug. That's a box to 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.399 all you folks not raised in tomato country, and the 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:34.000 lug averages about thirty pounds A fella could get a 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:37.840 pretty good workout handling tomatoes because just like hey, you 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.880 had to handle it more than once. Had to pick them, 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.000 load them up, box them up, and load them at 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.119 the farm, unload them at the tomato shed. After the 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:50.120 soul buyers bit against each other and the highest bitter 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:53.040 bought the whole load of what was represented on the table. 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.920 It was hot, it was stressful, and some families were 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:00.359 depending on what the tomato crop brought as they substantial 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:04.480 portion of their yearly income. I remember once when the 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.239 market was down or on occasion, it was rumored that 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:10.720 the buyers had conspired together to keep the prices load 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:15.080 to increase their profit. Now I don't know if that 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:18.040 happened or not, but the farmer wasn't being paid enough 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.119 to cover the cost of the expense of planting, growing, harvesting, 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:24.520 and what the buyer offered was an absolute insult to 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.320 the folks that had labored day after day to bring 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:31.840 the best produce to market. After all, the grocery store 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.720 prices hadn't fallen in relation to what the farmer was 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.520 being paid, nor had the cost of producing them. And 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.199 I saw it explode one day as we waited our 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:43.679 turn to sell, and seeing the ones before us getting 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.760 pennies on the dollar for their invested labor. In one 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:52.520 of the purported buyer conspiracy times. My mama was worrying stress, 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:54.960 knowing the bad news that was coming when I was sold. 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:59.600 But this one farmer, he made a statement. He pulled 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.160 his truck co working the shed and dump the whole 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:06.040 load in the middle of the fairgrounds. Regardless of how 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:09.320 you feel about it, right or wrong or indifferent, he'd 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:12.800 made a stand. He'd rather throw them away than be 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:16.840 insulted with what they were offering. Several others followed, not 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.159 but nothing, there's too but refusing to sell them to 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:23.280 those buyers at that price, and they seld them themselves 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:27.080 as best as they could. That's a prime example of 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:30.240 our inherent freedom to protest and take a stand against 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:33.600 something that you feeled is wrong. And I doubt it 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:37.800 solved anything other than letting off some steam. But don't 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:40.960 be afraid to make a Bowld correction. That was instruction 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:45.120 given to me in ait at Fortsaille, Oklahoma, in nineteen 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.879 eighty seven by an instructor in reference to adjusting artillery 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:53.320 fire onto the target. Don't be afraid to make a 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:57.120 Bowld correction. I've never forgotten that, and I've used it 0:19:57.160 --> 0:20:01.080 as advice for my life. I've had more than one 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.440 bold correction in my life to make, and I'm thankful 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:05.520 I did, and I'm ever. 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:06.760 Vigilant for the next one. 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:10.720 If you take one thing away from this episode today, 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:12.800 where I went down more rabbit holes than one of 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:18.200 George Pennington's champion beagles, let it be that one. Make 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:22.000 a bold correction when necessary, stand up for yourself, fix 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:25.199 yourself when you need to fix it, don't be scared 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:31.399 to do it. I'm so glad you allowed me the 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:33.840 time to run around between years this week, and I 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:35.960 hope I didn't step on anything important. 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:37.199 You know. 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:40.680 I get several messages from folks about supporting the show 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:42.879 and what we're doing, and the best way to do 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:45.199 that is by checking out the sponsors. You hear us 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:48.119 reading ads for it really does make a difference and 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:52.000 has a direct impact thanks to y'all it reached out 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:55.919 about it. Also, y'all scooed on over and subscribe to 0:20:55.960 --> 0:21:00.439 the new Media to Podcast Network channel on YouTube. From 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:02.840 the meat Eater channel, you'll be able to hear all 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:05.720 your favorite podcasts and see all the ones that are 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:09.760 being filmed. We just started filming the Bear Grease Render episodes, 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:13.920 which is pretty cool. Now this country life isn't slated 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:15.879 for filming and who wants to watch me stare at 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:18.560 a microphone while struggling to read the stuff I wrote 0:21:18.920 --> 0:21:23.200 doing take after take. But we've got some other stuff 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:25.359 we're working on that will be included that I hope 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.120 you'll enjoy, and on that channel is where you'll see 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:32.479 it eventually. One more thing, This heat is rough on 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:35.400 folks and pets. Try to make some time to check 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:37.359 on them, any and all of them that might be 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:40.439 affected by these high temperatures. Take them a drink of 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:44.480 water and some tomatoes. Bradley's if you have the means 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:48.760 until next week. This is Brent Reid signing off. 0:21:49.600 --> 0:22:07.160 Y'all be careful.