Teresa Meloro may be reluctant to pose for a photo but she is proud of the tomato plants that keep coming back with a vitality that would please her late husband, Domenic. At least a couple of these babies would tip the scales at a couple of pounds each. 84 when he died in 2010, Domenic was justifiably proud of his garden on First Street West and loved to talk about gardening. He also made a pretty good bottle of wine. This year’s garden is smaller than those of years past, largely because Teresa fears too large a plot would wear her out. “But I know what t do,” she said Monday afternoon. One thing she can’t figure out, though, is how these particular plants, which grew from seed produced by plants Domenic had planted, ended up where they did. This particular spot is where Domenic grew his prized plants and Teresa had planted the seeds elsewhere in the garden. Those seeds never grew. But these ones virtually erupted from the soil. It makes you wonder… David F. Rooney photoBesides all of the tomatoes she is growing in the garden this year, Teresa bought 500 lbs of tomatoes in Sicamous (there are several more boxes in the garden shed) for her family’s annual sauce-making day. This is an important annual event for many Italian families and the Meloros are no different. Teresa said that later this week she and her son Jimmy and daughter Angela Thompson, their spouses and children will get together to prepare all these lovely red fruits and — with onions, garlic and basil — transform them into several gallons of fantastic Italian tomato sauce. David F. Rooney photo
