Viking Funeral for Blighted Tomatoes

This past Saturday night we had a traditional Viking Funeral for our blighted tomatoes.  Why you might ask did we do this?  Blighted tomatoes must be disposed of properly, and although this what most farmer's might recommend, we felt that a good old celebration of our tomatoes in viking fashion might be the wacky kind of activity college gardeners could get excited about.  And they did!  We had a great turn out of 15 brave souls to wander through the darkness down Cole Field to the Hoosatonic River.

The tomatoes were lashed to a board, which was salvaged from the transfer facility, with rope from the garden shed.  Four pallbearers carried Thorn, our viking tomato king, down through the woods to the water's edge.  As the flames were prepared, a poem in Olde English was read and the mood turned somber.  Two volunteers donned waders, typical for fly-fishing, and entered the water with Thorn.  The board was lit, and the board was pushed out onto the still water.

As the flames drifted down into the darkness a second passage in Olde English was read.  We raised our glasses to honor Thorn, and the festivities finished.  It was a spontatneous celebration and memorial of our tomatoes.