The Tomato Whisperer

We were putting the paper together yesterday afternoon when the phone rang. That in itself is not unusual. It usually rings constantly on Mondays and Tuesdays when we are busy building pages. Renee, our graphic artist took the call. I heard her side of the conversation, then she said “Well, why don’t you talk to our photographer.”
I thought, “okay, this is gonna be either really good or really bad.” Sometimes you just know. Yesterday had been Monday all day log. I was expecting the worst.

The caller was Earnest Habersham, and he wanted to tell us about his garden. Huge tomatoes, plants ten feet tall. I went on out to see him and his garden. Mr. Habersham is quite an interesting guy. The picture really doesn’t do him or his story justice.

He said he began gardening after his last retirement. His first retirement was from the US Army after serving in World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. His second career was as a funeral director and an embalmer. Later he worked for the State of Georgia in the Department of Professional Standards. He was born and raise on a farm, was plowing behind a mule until Uncle Sam called him in 1942.

He said “Now I just grow my vegetables and do the occasional embalming if anyone calls.” He credits the large tomatoes to the fact that he sits and talks to them every day. “If you talk to your tomatoes and tie them up, they will grow.”

I missed on this one, the photo should have been better.