Nothing in the World Like Homegrown Tomatoes

I don't mean to brag or boast, but our tomatoes this year are on pace to be the best looking ones we have ever grown. In years past I would try and see how early I could plant those buggers in the ground, but this year I waited. I think it was around the middle of May that we planted our tomatoes this year. We planted them in a raised bed consisting of top soil, compost, leaves from last fall, and topped off with composted cow manure. They have grown so large that my wife had to tie supports from the tomato branches to the tomato cages. We planted a couple of Grapette tomato plants and a few of another variety called Celebrity.

The Grapette tomatoes look like a cross between Cherry tomatoes and Roma tomatoes. They are elongated, but small and full of that wonderful tomato taste. So, I don't know if it was a combination of planting the tomatoes later in the spring and the nutritious soil or what. All I know is I will be eating a lot of tomato sandwiches and BLT's.

Is there anything quite like walking through your garden and plucking a perfectly ripe homegrown tomato and eating it right there in the garden? A wonderful sun-warmed treat that is hard to beat.

P.S. Where I come from a tomato sandwich merely consists of two slices of bread (white, wheat, who cares?), as many thick sliced tomatoes as the bread will hold, and a slathering of Miracle Whip. Oh, the memories from my childhood of picking the tomatoes from our garden with my dad and then sitting down to a feast of tomato sandwiches. Does life get much better than that?

More High-Tech Jobs Created in Michigan

ePrize LLC will be announcing the creation of an additional 450 jobs over the next few years at their Pleasant Ridge offices. Online promotions and sweepstakes for such large corporations as Home Depot and Coca Cola are what ePrize is all about. They pulled in $30 million in revenue last year and have secured a $10 million loan for their planned expansion. Any job creation in Michigan is cause for celebration these days. When those jobs are in the high-tech sector there is cause for extreme celebration. The more jobs we can create here in Michigan that are non-manufacturing, the better our future will be. This is great news for Michigan on the heals of the Google announcement of creating 1,000 jobs in Ann Arbor.

Read the full story in The Detroit News.

Homeless Man's Honesty Pays With Cash and Immeasurable Rewards

These days it seems that a lot of people say (or at least think) that being nice does not pay or that it just does not pay to be honest. Well, I believe that Charles Moore would beg to differ with you. You see, Charles found $21,000 worth of savings bonds in a trash bag that he was looking through for bottles that could be turned in for the deposit money. Moore had recently lost his job as a roofer down in Ohio and had found himself homeless for the first time. He did not think twice about it. With the help of the Neighborhood Service Organization, he tracked down the rightful owner and gave them back the bonds expecting nothing in return. He received $100 from the bond's owner for his honesty and was thankful for that.

After hearing his story in the paper on Saturday, the public did not think that $100 was a large enough sum and more money has been coming in from across the area. He has currently received around $4,000, some new clothes, and an interview has been lined up for Moore as well. Charles intends to use some of the money to get an apartment.

What Charles Moore did ended up not just having an impact on the owner of the bonds. His story has touched people in Michigan and other surrounding states. The immeasurable rewards he has gained from his honesty are respect and teaching a lesson that some people spend their whole lives missing out on. It will always pay (I am not talking about money) to be honest.

Thank you Mr. Moore for a well taught lesson. The school of life is always in session and you have used your time at the head of the class well. Will your pupils listen? I hope so.

Via The Detroit News.

Michigan Blueberry Picking Time

After taking care of the orders early this morning we headed out to Locke's Fruitful Acres just north of Volinia to pick blueberries. The air was fresh and cool and the clouds helped to keep it quite pleasant for picking blueberries. We grabbed our buckets (which hold about 6 lbs.) and attached them to a shoulder harness which keeps your hands free for picking. I love how laid back they are at Locke's. The blueberry bushes are just behind the store (which is full of country-themed crafts that my wife loves to look over) and the owner's just tell you to head "out back" and find a good spot. They don't expect you to pick the bush clean before you move on. Machines will run through later and get the ones you missed.

We picked at Leduc Blueberries one time. My momma always told me that if I could not say anything nice then I should not say anything at all. So I will only say that we prefer Locke's Fruitful Acres to satisfy our blueberry picking needs.

It only costs $1.15 per pound for U-pick blueberries at Locke's. If you do not enjoy the picking experience you can purchase a 5 lb. box for $8.50 or a 10 lb. box for $16.00. I am not sure if we were there much more than an hour and between the two of us we had about 23 lbs. of the best blueberries around.

Michigan Gas Prices Week of 7/24/06

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Michigan as of today is $3.027. Last month at this time we were paying $2.814 and one year ago only $2.28. Here are the current low and high price gas stations in Michigan according to www.michigangasprices.com:

Lowest Price: $2.82 at the Speedway (at Center Rd & Court St with card) in Burton

Highest Price: $3.42 at the Marathon (on Gratiot St) in Copper Harbor

Gas price data courtesy of AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.