Tomatoes Free for the Asking

"Tomatoes free for the asking" is a quaint term remembered from the 1800s, yet heard in the 1950s of Stever's youth. It was a simple expression written on a piece of cardboard set alongside a pile of tomatoes near someone's garden or on the front porch. It was an invitation to take as you wish, with an expectation of acknowledgement-a simple courtesy to honor the offer. These were little lessons of freedom and responsibility we learned to carry us into another time and an uncertain future.