Hoeing Tomatoes
By C. Lee Brown

There comes a time in late June when the vegetable garden is really starting to produce. It produces big red juicy tomatoes, fat red radishes, big green bell peppers and bright yellow summer squash. It also produces weeds and lots of them. This story is about a young boy and his mother who went out one day to hoe the weeds out of the tomatoes. His name was Sam and his family lived just off Illinois Avenue at the top of High School Hill. As they set out, little did either realize it would be a day they would remember the rest of their lives.
They had a nice simple white house made of wood trimmed in maroon red along the cinder block foundation. The house faced to the East with a porch that ran across the front of the house and all the way to the rear along the left side of the house. Sam’s mom kept a pair of white wooden rockers and a bright red metal glider on the porch. An L-shaped porch allowed you to sit in the cool shade no matter where the sun chose to be in the sky. If the front caught the morning rays, you could just ease on around to the side where it was cool and shady. The back steps also let you watch a splendid sunset. There, steep concrete steps cascaded off a four foot drop to the sloping back yard.
Sam’s mom had put in a vegetable garden in the back yard. There wasn’t much behind their house except an old one-car garage that leaned toward Chicago, a couple sheds and an alley. The alley ran along behind all the houses along that street and by the middle of June it was usually knee deep in weeds. Trucks used the alley in winter to haul in coal that was stored in the sheds. Some of the houses still lacked modern conveniences and about twice a year an old man on a horse drawn wagon came around to empty the outhouses. No one used the alley during the summer except for us kids.
There was a worn path down the middle that marked the passage of numerous bicycles. Patches of bare dirt peeked through in some places. Wild flowers and morning glory vines grew up the backs of the sheds and a respectable stand of blackberry briars covered the back wall of the old garage.
Shallow ditches ran along the alley on either side but they were usually dry except after a big rain. The weeds in the ditches outgrew their neighbors on the roadway. A good mixture of rye and fescue grasses made it all look like level ground. The garden was laid out in long rows that provided some run off when watered. That was especially beneficial to the weeds and grass in the ditch just below the garden. This provided for a constant supply of wind blown seeds and ground runners to invade the rich soil of the garden. And that meant a constant battle between the gardener, Sam’s mom, and the forces of nature.
One fine sunny morning, Sam’s mom decided it was time to again make the trip down each row of her garden with a hoe. It was time for her to take on the enemy and chop every bit of vegetation that wasn’t intended for the dinner table out of the garden. She inducted Sam, who was out of school in June, as a reluctant helper. Right after breakfast they set out to hoe the garden. When they got to the garden his mom assigned Sam to work around the squash and pepper plants. They had already bloomed and were starting to show.
Sam was given the old hoe which had a short handle. She told him to stay away from the tomatoes. They required “extra caution” to not knock off any of the delicate little yellow flowers while hoeing the weeds from under the plants. Tomatoes were her favorite thing from the garden and she didn’t want to lose any more than was absolutely necessary. She would do them herself and use the new long hoe to gently reach up under the plants.
Sam took his hoe and examined it. It had seen many years service and probably chopped a million weeds. The original handle had broken off and been replaced with a metal handle from an old sponge mop. This left the whole tool about a foot and half shorter than usual. The hoe blade was worn down to half the size of a new one. It worked though and the blade was smooth and sharp along the business side. He found that he could bite into the loose soil with a downward chop just past the weed and jerk the blade toward him. This resulted in a scooping motion that easily dislodged most of the weeds. All he had to do was be careful not to chop into the peppers or squash.
Sam and his mom went about the business of hoeing for about an hour without incident. She worked her way down to the end of the first row of tomatoes and started back up the gentle slope. Sam was just finishing his work on the opposite side of the garden with an outside row of squash. When he reached the end near the alley he stood up to stretch his back and look around. He could barely make out his mom between the towering tomato plants. Just as he started to turn up the next row of squash he saw something dark leaving the weeds of the ditch and slithering through the tall grass. It was a snake and it was heading into the garden. Sam grinned with delight.
The serpent eased through the rye and sneaked into the early shade under the bell peppers. Sam had been around snakes before so he wasn’t particularly alarmed. He hefted his hoe and began stalking the snake through the pepper plants. Most of the ground in this part of the garden was bare under the vegetables but the spreading leaves created shadows. Sam thought he saw the snake one row over and stepped quietly between the peppers and into a row of summer squash. The squash was doing very well here and the stalks with their broad leaves sprawled everywhere. Sam leaned down to his left to peek under one plant only to find a dark shadow. He slowly withdrew and turned to look under the plant on his right. There was nothing there. He stepped forward a few steps and repeated the process. Again there was nothing to see but shadows.
Behind Sam and two rows over, the snake crawled over the mounded row of squash. It followed a small bird that was picking at bugs along the next row of yellow peppers and into the more open area covered in radishes.
Beyond the radishes were five rows of tomatoes hanging on stakes as tall as a man. The snake looked out into the almost bare area of the radish rows. It mistrusted open spaces. Instead of catching a small bird for lunch it might end up lunch for a much larger creature if caught out in the open. The snake sensed another presence also. It turned and crawled uphill along the row of pepper plants. Then it sensed that other presence again. It was ahead.
Sam was sure he was on the snakes trail but after moving another ten feet up a row of squash he found nothing. He stepped across to a row of peppers and headed back down the garden. After just a few steps he heard a soft rustling sound to his left. Sam stopped and stood very still for several seconds. He bent over and peeked under the knee high stand of peppers.
Carefully he spread the leaves back so he could see under the plant to his left. He stood bent over at the waist and turned his head down the row then up the row of peppers. He saw nothing but a small bird. As soon as the bird saw him it burst into flight. It flew up to the corner of the garage roof and chirped back at him angrily.
“Sammie,” his mother hollered, “what on earth are you doing, boy?”
“Oh nothing ma,” Sam answered, “I just thought I saw something.” His voice trailed off.
Sam took another step down the row in the direction of the alley. His foot became entangled and he stumbled. He dropped the short hoe and went down on his hands and knees. The snake was partly wrapped around his foot and hissed at him angrily.
“Yowl!” Sam yelled and kicked out with his feet.
He scrambled to get the hoe and turned around on his knees to get the snake. When he turned back the snake was gone. He peered under the plants to his left then his right. Sam got to his feet and looked around. Then he saw it two rows away quickly gliding across the open ground by the radishes. It was a respectable sized snake. Sam guessed it might be as much as four feet long. As he watched, it disappeared into the leafy green darkness under the first row of tomatoes. Sam pushed aside the pepper plants and ran to the tomato stakes. He didn’t see any way to get through to get at the snake. The tomato stakes were wired together at the top for mutual support. The healthy plants had spread out between to form an almost solid green wall.
The snake sensed footfalls coming up behind it and darted on through to the next row. Sam quickly ran down to the end of the garden and turned to go up the row of tomatoes. As he hurried up the row, he glanced to both sides looking for the snake. He had lost it again. He tried to look between the tomato plants. He got down on all fours in hopes he could catch a glimpse between the sparse leaves at the bottoms of the stalks.
Now two rows over, the snake decided to try to get back to the relative safety of the weed patch in the alley. It turned down the slope and slithered as fast as it could between the rows. That’s when the sun decided to go behind a cloud. It was as if Mother Nature couldn’t stand to watch what was about to happen.
Directly in the snakes path was Sam’s mom with her hoe. Hearing the commotion two rows over she had just turned to chastise Sam.
“Sammie, stop that running around,” she said as her head bobbed up and down in an attempt to find him. “Are you in the tomatoes? I told you to stay out of my tomatoes!”
“Uh, mom, I had to,” Sam protested. He was afraid to tell her about the snake. He brought home a garter snake once and she really freaked out. If he told her now and the snake just crawled away he would really catch it for scaring her.
“Boy, you break off any tomato blooms and I’ll take me a switch to you,” Sam’s mom called out to him. “Now skedaddle back down there and get out of my tomatoes.”
“But ma,” Sam started to protest but was cut off by his mother.
“Omigosh, Omigosh, oh my, oh my!” Sam’s mom was saying. “There’s a big black…big… big sss snake,” she hissed and stammered as she spoke.
The snake realized it was headed straight for her and hesitated. Sam’s mom finally gathered her wits about her and chopped down with the big hoe. It struck the dirt just in front of the snake. At the same time, Sam realized the snake was just past him two rows over in front of his mom. He threw all caution to the wind and crashed through the intervening tomato plants. Tomato stakes were pushed aside as he bulled through the first row. Ripe red and green fruit were sent rolling in the dirt. All he could think of was to get to his mom.
As Sam crashed through the tomato rows on her left, his mom took another chop at the snake. Again she just missed and the blade of the hoe dug into the dirt in front of the reptile. It partially coiled and hissed loudly. The snake was really getting excited now. It just wanted to get away, but where? Sam was breaking through the last row of tomatoes when the snake made up its mind. It began crawling quickly up the handle of the hoe. This had an immediate effect on Sam’s mom.
Afraid it would continue up the hoe and bite her, she lifted the snake and hoe into the air. She hoped to dislodge it and be able to chop down on it as it fell. It managed somehow to wrap part of itself firmly around the handle and blade mount. She swung the hoe side to side. The tops of tomato plants were ravaged. She banged the hoe sideways against several stakes. The tomato stakes and their wire supports fell but the snake held on for dear life.
Sam stumbled into the row and was almost hit in the face by the wildly swinging hoe and snake. He fell backwards and took out half a row of tomatoes. Still the snake held on to the hoe. Sam’s mom decided she had about enough of this and raised the hoe up above her head. She planned to slam it down with all her might and catch the snake under it. At the apex of her swing the snake decided to let go and fell straight down. This resulted in the snake being draped around the neck of Sam’s mom. She wasn’t exactly thrilled at this prospect. Neither was the snake. She looked at it and screamed. It looked at her and hissed. Sam’s mom couldn’t take any more. Her eyes rolled over white as she fainted and fell straight back. A row of tomato plants and stakes helped break her fall as she collapsed into a cloud of dust.
As Sam stood up, he saw the snake tangled up in a huge black knot at the top of one of the few remaining upright tomato plants. It looked down from its coiled perch at the woman on the ground then up at Sam and then back to his mom. His mother lay on the ground beneath the snake in a disheveled heap. Her shoes were missing and her apron was pulled around to the side of her body. Her garden dress and smock were pushed up around her waist in a most undignified manner.
Sam stepped gingerly past his mom and examined the snake closely. As he suspected it wasn’t a viper. It was just a harmless black snake. Most people called them racers or chicken snakes. Sam deftly grabbed it behind the head and let it coil around his arm.
“Come on mister snake,” Sam said as he walked toward the back porch, “we need to put you someplace where you won’t cause any more trouble today.”
***
Later that evening when Sam’s father came home there was a lot of explaining by his mom and Sam about their adventure with the snake.
“He really was a brave boy,” Sam’s mom said, “he stayed with me until I came around and brought a cool damp towel to put on my head.”
“I helped ma back to the porch too,” Sam added, “Then old man Peabody from next door came over to see what all the commotion was.”
“Peabody offered to search the garden and alley,” Sam’s mom said, “but Sam told him he had already got rid of the snake.”
His dad listened with interest to their story. He picked up a shovel and walked out to the garden and looked around until he was satisfied. Most of the garden was fine except for the tomatoes. All the really big plants grew near the bottom of the rows and those were the ones that were the most damaged. He picked up a couple ripe tomatoes off the ground and brought them in the house. He knew Sam’s mom loved to eat tomatoes.
At supper there was fried chicken with biscuits and fresh vegetables. Sam’s mom washed and sliced the tomatoes but, for some reason, she didn’t feel like eating any herself. After supper they all sat around on the porch and ate homemade ice cream.
“How about an orange pop, Sam?” His father asked as he set aside his empty ice cream bowl. “You feel like sharing one?”
“Sure dad,” Sam loved any kind of soda.
“Well, go get us one out of the fridge,” his dad said as he motioned with his hand toward the back door. Sam jumped up and ran into the house.
As soon as Sam was inside, his dad put his arm around Sam’s mom and gave her a hug. “I guess you’ve had enough of the garden for one day.”
“I guess so but we really shouldn’t leave all those tomatoes that were knocked down to just lie out there and spoil.” Sam’s mom got up and walked over to the corner of the porch where her bucket was sitting.
“I’ll go see what I can salvage before it gets too dark.”
Sam’s basketball was stuck in the top of the bucket. She bent over and pulled out the ball and tossed it to her husband. She watched as he caught the ball with a funny wide-eyed expression. Then she felt something crawling up her leg. Sam’s mom looked down to see the black snake slithering out of the bucket and around her leg. She screamed and fainted on the porch.
“Sam!” his father shouted, “come here right now!”

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 05.01.2010

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