I agree to help a neighbor pick tomatoes. I’ll be minimally paid, but I’m mainly
working for the community connection and the bond it creates. I need to know I can do the work. Also, I can take all the tomatoes I want, and Laura and I can dozens of quarts for the winter.
Pickin’ maters is a hot and dirty job. The tomatoes are covered with a fine
chemical dust that soon coats my hands and starts me sneezing and coughing and itching. It takes the morning for six of us to pick the acre of fruit. The man’s wife fixes dinner for all of us, and we spend the afternoon cleaning and packing the tomatoes.