Prodc* (for Produce, Production, etc.)

It’s summer here in Arkansas, and the local produce stands are well stocked with that unparalleled gem of the season, the tomato. Who would guess this tasty treat is actually a member of the nightshade family, which includes not only potatoes and eggplants, but also tobacco and deadly nightshade (the source of belladonna)?

John Denver expressed in song what many of us no doubt feel about tomatoes:

Plant 'em in the spring, eat ‘em in the summer
All winter without ‘em is a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin’ and the diggin’
Every time I go out and pick me a big ‘un
Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can’t buy
That's true love and home grown tomatoes

Prodc* is a typo of moderate-probability on the Ballard list. There are 32 English-language entries in OhioLINK representing words such as produce(d), producer, product, production, and procedure. Many are in transcribed fields and would have to be checked, while one (“PRODCOM”) does not appear to be a typo.

(Tomatoes, by rosym, from stock.xchng)

Deb Kulczak