I often stop by the Ace Hardware store on my way home from work. In a small town like mine, it’s the place to go for everything – I read the Magnolia Home paint chip stories, buy lightbulbs and birdseed, and even once when I needed a wagon for a book talk where I was selling books, I went in to get one and the Ace man took the box to the back and put it together for me so I could go straight to my event. He’s also the man who taught me something about my tomato plants……..
Tomato Suckers
if I were 30something
I’d be out in the yard
planting a garden in the earth
but I’m not
I’m too old to bend over
and pull weeds
so I bought container gardens
ready to go, ready to grow
containers, potting soil, plants, cages
I bought them ready-made
as inexpensively as
I could plant them myself
.
……but my favorite part is the
Ace Hardware man who
loads my plants and teaches me things
don’t forget to pick the suckers off, ma’am
he says, loading each one carefully from
the cart into the back of my RAV4
you’ll need to look between the stems
in those pockets and find the suckers
that sap the life away from the plant
sucking all the energy from the tomatoes
he pointed at one of them and then
grabbed that sucker and pulled it off
flung it down onto the pavement
I had three of the four plants
went back for the last
I heard him telling the cashier
about those suckers
here’s one you can use to show her, I offered
placing it on the counter
he went to work, teaching the young lady
how to tend a container tomato
I smiled as she peered into the plant
taking careful notes of the learning
from the Ace Hardware man
who says he learnt it all from an old farmer…..
…….and them’s the best teachers of all.
Common Threads 
Your post brought a smile to my face! The way you captured the Ace Hardware man’s wisdom about “picking the suckers off” tomato plants was so fun to read. I love your storytelling, Kim!
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I really think you should share this post with your local ACE hardware store because it is the BEST advertisement I have seen in a long time. Not too far from me, there is such an ACE. It is an amazing place with everything you could imagine under one roof and great staff; however, your store seems to be one of the model stores for them all!
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I love how you show the Ace hardware man in your post and poem. It’s people like these who make a difference. I’ll have to take a note about the suckers. I do love planting tomatoes, and I love your final poetry lines….so agree!
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I love the Magnolia paint chips (I use them as book marks). One thing I appreciate about Ace is that there are always knowledgeable people there to help and teach! Your post really captures that.
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I love how you made a narrative poem about your tomato buying adventure. I’ve never grown tomatoes but I sure like to eat them fresh from the vine. Good luck!
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Kim,
Who knew? I don’t know that I’ve ever thought about suckers on tomato plants before. I did learn last year not to plant zucchini near tomatoes. And I love thinking about “don’t forget to pick the suckers off, ma’am” as a metaphor for culling other kinds of life-sucking organisms from my life, starting a/ clutter. I’m gonna talk to Ken about this when he gets home. Brilliant! Love the photos, too. I really need to remember to go to ACE! They won’t have tomatoes yet, but who knows what I’ll find. Snowblowers on closeout, if any remain.
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I enjoyed the combo of poem and narrative. I hope you will tell the Ace Hardware man that you wrote about him and the difference he makes! Very sweet.
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Oh yes – old farmers ARE the best teachers, Kim! My grandfather is testimony to that – not formally educated, but infinitely wise when it came to nature and planting. The Ace Hardware man is a sage himself, to recognize it. As for weeding… just today my husband opted to pay a neighbor to take care of our flowerbeds, lol. There comes a point…I love, love this story poem of yours, full of truths and learning.
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“Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man.” Do you remember that jingle? Good for you for continuing to grow things, even when it’s hard. I love the passion of this helpful man at the hardware store.
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