'Mater season is in full swing...

One of summer's delicacies are fresh tomatoes, the home-grown kind that aren't trucked in from states away...maybe they have imperfections here and there, but their freshness and flavor are unbeatable...

This past Sunday I was listening to "A Prarie Home Companion" on public radio, and it happened to be a highlight reel as the cast is on a one-month vacation right now. On it was a group whose name escapes me, and they sang an A Capella version of a cute old song about homegrown tomatoes. Yep, two things that money can't buy: true love and homegrown tomatoes!

In case you don't know the song, you can listen to the real deal on the following track, and follow along with the lyrics below. NOTE: to look and listen at the same time, you'll need to right click on the link and choose "open in new window/tab". Enjoy!

"HOMEGROWN TOMATOES" by Guy Clark

Ain't nothin' in the world that I like better
Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin' out in the garden

Get you a ripe one 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' & diggin'
Everytime I go out & pick me a big one

(refrain)
Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes
What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love & homegrown tomatoes

You can go out to eat & 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 can make your very own tomato juice
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

-refrain-

(bridge)

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
When I die don't bury me
In a box in a cemetery
Out in the garden would be much better
I could be pushin' up homegrown tomatoes

-refrain-
(repeat)