Sometimes I have to admit my limitations.  Not often, but sometimes.

Tomatoes are one of the crops I’ve considered growing.  The local auction prices for tomatoes often far exceed the cost of tree fruit.  It bothers me that something planted as a seed in the spring can be worth more than the fruit of a tree that needs to be tended its entire life.  So it sometimes seems like easy money to grow tomatoes.

Except that we buy our tomatoes from Daniel Lapp.

Daniel is an Amish neighbor.  He grows the most beautiful tomatoes around, and uses the proceeds to help support his large family.  They don’t deliver the tomatoes for us, but secretly we all enjoy the trip over to Daniel’s house to pick them up.  Driving past the well-tended gardens and farm buildings, the children always greet us with bare feet and a smile, and quickly and efficiently sort the tomatoes and load the car for us.  All transactions are cash.  Our prices are largely fixed through the season despite volatile auction prices, and we have never had a disagreement with him.

I could not grown a better tomato myself, and why should I try?  Daniel makes an honest living from growing food.  Just like I try to do.  I’m happy to help support him and his family.

So the next time you buy a Shaw tomato, please know that it is not a Shaw tomato.  It is a Lapp tomato, and you are helping to support a good family.