Tomatoes Free for the Asking

"Tomatoes free for the asking" is a quaint term remembered from the 1800s, yet heard in the 1950s of Stever's youth. It was a simple expression written on a piece of cardboard set alongside a pile of tomatoes near someone's garden or on the front porch. It was an invitation to take as you wish, with an expectation of acknowledgement—a simple courtesy to honor the offer. These were little lessons of freedom and responsibility we learned to carry us into another time and an uncertain future.

Kent Otto Stever of Lakeville, MN Kent O. Stever is a storyteller, a sort of historic sage, a grand researcher who looks in every corner for ways to personalize and make researched topics fun—or "compelling," as one reader has offered. His stories evidence life based upon early-learned values. He is a math major, Ph.D., fifty-year educator, researcher, truck driver, parent and grandparent. He attempts to capture histories that others might pass by. He resides in Lakeville, Minnesota, where he "enjoys a stroll back in time to a simpler place," relishing memories and joys of neighbors, friends and community members who supported one another. He invites your comments at kostever35@gmail.com.