GIN TRASH- "THE ANGEL IN ANGEL HAIR PASTA"

2011 Gin Trash

Several years ago my sister-in-law, who is a "surenuff' hot-shot lawyer in Houston, Texas, questioned me about the use of gin trash in my tomato garden. Marley is partial to Mississippi Delta tomatoes and I have, in the past, shipped vine ripe fruit to her for her parties. She is very particular about what she serves and likes to demonstrate to the Texas folks the superiority of homegrown Mississippi Delta Tomatoes.

The following exchange of emails adequately explains my feelings about Gin Trash:

Me to Marley:

I have just inspected my crop and I think I can supply you enough ripe tomatoes for your party. I will have about eight by tomorrow. They are 1/4 to 1/2 lb each, and would make good slicers. I need shipping instructions. I can FedEx Thursday for delivery to your office on Friday. Let me know and I will make the arrangements.

You will be receiving good varieties: Goliath, Big Beef, Belgum Giant, Dona and Kastalia, I can ship with a cool pak and I think they will be alright. These tomatoes have been enhanced over the years with gin trash as a soil additive. Therefore these babies represent some of the finest cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta-- Egypt, RackRent, Archerletta, Holly Grove, 4/5's, Equen, etc, etc.- Webb

Marley's reply: 

People are asking me what gin trash is.  I told them it is a euphemistic term for disgusting cotton hull sludge dredged up from the bottom of the Yazoo river!  Marley

My explanatory reply to Marley:

No, No , No!  Gin trash is the angel in angel hair pasta. It is the creme de la creme of soil additives. Certainly your friends have seen a cotton gin! They all have a long tall pipe that extends out of the gin to the backside of the gin lot. This pipe sucks up all of the trash in the gin after the cotton has been processed. It sucks up all that is left on the gin floor- cottonseed hulls, wasted fiber, and mainly the dirt from the plantations which produced the cotton. This trash is blown out of the long pipe and makes a huge mound, or pile, of gin trash on the back of every gin site. Evidently there is no other commercial use for this stuff except for eccentric tomato growers. The big pile of this stuff, which accumulates from year to year, makes huge mounds which are left out side in the open to rot, or compost. I am very particular in the "gin trash" I use as a soil additive to my crop. It must be at least three years old and relatively weed free. It must be well composted and crumbly to the touch, and it must be cost free to me. I have been very fortunate over the years to have befriended most of the managers of gins in and around Greenwood and they have allowed me to selectively choose the trash I take. My trusty friend, Boone, and I travel in my old pickup truck (inherited from my cousin. Earnest, Jr. from Inverness) with a shovel and a pitchfork to harvest this most essential additive to my garden. We have been doing this for many years. Therefore I consider my tomatoes to have a part of the whole Mississippi Delta in them. Gin trash is a specifically definable commodity, which does not come from the bottom of the Yazoo River. –Webb