Tomatoes Free for the Asking (A Minnesota Boyhood) - 9780878396481

"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.