Only Two Things Money Can't Buy…

3 lbs of cherry tomatos and 1 okra pod

Today I picked three pounds of tomatoes and one okra pod out of the thicket that my garden has become. And all day I have been singing the old Guy Clark song.

Homegrown Tomatoes
by Guy Clark

Well, there ain’t nothin’ in the world that I like better
Than bacon and lettuce and homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin’, out in the garden
Get you a ripe one, hey, don’t get a hard one

Plant ’em in the spring, eat ’em in the summer
All winter with out ’em’s a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin’ and diggin’
Everytime I go out and pick me a big one

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can’t buy
And that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes

Now you can go out to eat and that’s for sure
But it’s nothin’ a homegrown tomato won’t cure
Put ’em in a salad, put ’em in a stew
You make your very own tomato juice

You can eat ’em with eggs, eat ’em with gravy
Eat ’em with beans, pinto or navy
Put ’em on the side, put ’em in the middle
Put a homegrown tomato on a hotcake griddle

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can’t buy
And that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes

If I’s to change this life I lead
I’d be Johnny Tomato Seed
‘Cause I know what this country needs
Homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see, yeah

When I die, don’t bury me
In a box in a cemetary
Out in the garden would be much better
And I could be pushin’ up homegrown tomatoes

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can’t buy
And that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can’t buy
And that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes, alright

8 thoughts on “Only Two Things Money Can't Buy…

  1. Colman Andrews

    Yet another advantage of blogs over magazines: We wanted to reproduce these lyrics six or eight years ago in Saveur, and the song publisher wanted $1000 or somesuch, so we passed….

  2. Patrick Pringle

    Any problems with squirrels raiding the tomato plants? I’v been warned by my mother-in-law that they’ll end up eating more of my tomatoes than I will.

  3. josh

    I plants (9 of them, in Sugar Land) are producing like crazy as well, I just can’t keep the dang birds away. Any tips? We also have so many beans and zucchini, that our neighbors are quite happy…

  4. miss_msry

    Is that a working scarecrow or simply ornamental?

  5. robbwalsh Post author

    Garden meister Jim Sherman convinced me to grow cherry tomatoes instead of slicers this year because you don’t have to worry about birds and squirrels–if they eat a few cherry tomatoes, no big deal.

    The scarecrow was fun project for the kids, but since I haven’t had any birds eating my tomatoes at all–maybe it’s actually working.

  6. Jeff in Seabrook

    Robb,
    Congratulations on your bounty. I’m glad the early season rust didn’t spoil your harvest.
    My celebrities started blushing pink over the weekend, so that’s one culinary bummer off my list.
    Another song by one of Houston’s own got stuck in my head when I saw dozens of inch-long jalapeños poking out of my pepper plants’ foliage. Pico de Gallo is Trout Fishing in America’s celebration of garden-fresh salsa. Here’s the chorus:

    Pico de gallo, you oughta give it a try-o;
    Even if you’re from Ohio, it’ll get you by-o;
    don’t get it in your eye-o unless you want to cry-o;
    So come on, don’t be shy-o, eat some pico de gallo!

    It’s got jalapeños, I reckon y’all have seen those;
    They’re kinda hot for gringos and probably flamingos;
    Just add some tomatillos, onions and cilantro;
    Lime juice and tomato, you got pico de gallo!

    The full version is on youtube.
    Have you planted those zinnias yet?

  7. Steve in Austin

    To keep ALL birds and most squirrels out of your tomato garden just buy one of those “bird blocker” mesh nets they sell at Home Depot of Lowes. Each one is about 3×10 feet so buy enough to cover all your plant at least to about 2 feet off the ground. Once the tomatoes begin to ripen even a little drape the net over the tops of the plants. Then just pull apart small sections when the plant wants to grow higher. No bird or squirrel problems at all this year and there are LOTS of squirrel, blue jays and mockingbirds around my yard in West Austin.

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