Update: The winner is – Allyn Barker! Congrats, Aunt Allyn. I’ll be sending the book your way later this week. I hope you enjoy it!
Last summer, I had gone to visit my grandmother, and she insisted on making lunch for us. This is no surprise, since you’re pretty much not allowed to visit without having a meal. I have no idea what she made (sorry, Granny…I know you’re reading) but I do remember she sat out a plate of sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers. I took one bite of the pepper and asked, “Where did you get this pepper!?” It was the most peppery-pepper I had tasted in years. It had come from my aunt’s garden. I knew right away that there was something to this grow-it-yourself idea because I buy green peppers frequently from my fancy Kroger and none of them taste that good. Ever.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet on the site before, but we’re planting a vegetable garden this year. It’s something we’ve said for the past few years we should do, and just never got around to it. But this year we’re committed. The pepper incident was a first step in pushing me toward actually getting some seeds in dirt, but it was reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle that really pushed me over the edge. It might be a complete flop. I have no idea what I’m doing, but we have plenty of family members to ask for advice. And even a few successful plants of produce will be worth it. My goal is just to have something growing in my dirt this summer.
I had been reading this book for what feels like forever (since approximately January 17, which is when I did my last book post), but that is in no way a reflection of how much I enjoyed the book, or of its quality. To be completely honest with you, this book is changing my life. It didn’t hurt that a couple of chapters in, I watched Food, Inc. (and ALL of you should, too), which in some ways felt like the video companion to this book. It will simply change the way you think about food.
The premise of the book is a family who lives in rural Virginia that decided for one year to eat completely locally (with very few exceptions, such as milled flour, coffee, spices, etc. that couldn’t be acquired locally). There’s a whole locavore movement now, but this hadn’t yet caught on when this family started their experiment. They bought locally grown beef, raised chickens and turkeys, planted a large garden, then canned and froze the extra harvest. Not only is it a fascinating story (the book is arranged chronologically) of the various growing/harvesting seasons, but is packed full of useful information about the food industry as a whole.
My only complaint about the book is it started a bit slow for me. I wanted to hear more about their personal story and how they actually got started, but the first couple chapters were full of socio-political commentary about the food industry. Not that I minded the information, but I found it preachy and impersonal. Once past the first part, this kind of commentary was thrown in places where it fit along with that part of the story, so I didn’t mind. But once I got through the first couple chapters, it wasn’t an issue.
Article by Kelli. She's the primary caretaker of this here site. Hope you're enjoying your visit. 
Well, let me start by saying when I was a stay at home Mom and lived beside my Mom and Dad (your granny and pawpaw) I would always help plant the garden with them and sometimes it would be dark when we would finish because Dad coached and didn’t get home until late. Mom would always do the hoeing and weeding as the garden grew and Dad would always use the tiller. I remembered it always seemed that when harvest time came they were both too tired to put up the crops so I got the pleasure of doing that which I loved. My basement was always full of greenbeans, tomatoes, apples, peppers, stuffed peppers, and the freezer full of frozed creamed style corn. I didn’t have to worry about feeding the family for the winter and if the truth be known, Mom and Dad probably put out the big garden so that I could provide for you and JR and your Dad. So thanks Mom (and Dad above) for helping me along the way.
Jane (Your Momma)
Both of my grandpas had vegetable gardens, as did my Dad for several years. To this day, there is nothing better than one of my Grandad’s big, juicy, heirloom tomatoes. Grandad’s garden supplies me all summer with broccoli, red potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, cabbage, and corn. I have been known to eat nothing but these veggies for dinner for days on end. I was also blessed to be introduced to the extremely tasty, albeit not so healthy, fried squash and zucchini from my Poppaw’s garden. My family doesn’t forget about harvesting fruit, either! My great-grandma had apple tress and made fried apple pies as treats for me and the Sheriff. Grandad had a small vineyard until he “retired” a few years ago–I still have one jar of real Caldwell jelly left!
I say all this to say…I LOVE GARDENS! Now that I have some wee land of my own I was hoping to plant a few things, but alas, I have a family of deer who live behind my house…and I’m afraid I don’t particularly want them to have 90% of my garden food.
I have a black thumb, love twinkies, and the little green monster of jealousy resides in my thoughts of Martha Stewart. However, I do like contests, love to read just about anything, and the idea of gardening as therapy sounds wonderful just about now. And did I mention everytime I read something your mom writes, I want to cry. Love that lady, don’t know her very well, but love that lady anyway.
I have recently begun sharing my office with some crunchy sort of women
and while we are all pumping (we are all new-ish moms too)- we gossip about everything. They are all planting gardens this year and I want to too. And if I win the give-away I will have the crunchiest info for once!
I have been around gardens all my life. Growing up on Rum Creek, Granny Willis (Thelma, to you), Mom and sometimes Dad (your granny and pawpaw) would plant a garden every year. We (your mom, Jimmy, and I) would help pick the vegetables and sometimes help prepare them for canning. I do remember stringing beans so that Granny Thelma could can them over an open fire. It took seven hours to can a canner of beans using this method. Thank goodness pressure canners came along to cut the time down to two hours. Granny and PawPaw Lucas always grew a garden, too. PawPaw’s tomatoe plants would grow to 8-9 feet. They both had super green thumbs. And Granny’s flowers were always beautiful!
Fast forward to my adult years……During my entire married life (26 years), we have had a vegetable garden. All of us have had a hand in the planting, hoeing, weeding, havesting, and preserving. Each year, George tries some new variety or new vegetable. We have grown everything from traditional corn, beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers to more uncommon vegetables like brussels sprouts, eggplant, okra, broccoli, horseradish, melons, asparagus, etc. In 26 years, we have never bought a can of green beans or corn. There is nothing better than food from your own garden. The flavors are so much better. I would recommend gardening to everyone. It is a lot of work, but well worth it.
A comment on Allyn’s note is I still have a 1-1/2 qt. jar of pole beans that Granny Willis and I canned in 1963 over that open fire and I won first place in the Logan County Fair for those beans. They are still very pretty, but would never think of eating them, but fond memories of growing them. Your Great-Great Uncle B grew them on a guide wire and we had to cut them down to get them in the jar. Gosh, they are 47 years old and are probably petrified by now, but would never get rid of them. I’ll leave that you Kelli when I’m dead and gone. HAHAHA
I, too, grew up on home grown vegetables. And in Arkansas we grew a few things that weren’t grown much in WV, or at least, by my in-laws’ families. Purple hull peas were my favorite to pick, shell and eat. Good thing they were harvested in the summer or else I would have gone to school with purple thumbs and pointer fingers for all the shelling I had to do. Daddy also grew okra, peanuts, and figs along with the corn, green beans, onions, carrots, radishes, peppers and tomatoes. We generally had plenty left over after Momma put up all she needed for us for winter…enough to sell at our yard side stand. The year Daddy was in the plane crash with Uncle Verner, Aunt Lorraine and Aunt Lois, Alvin and I were in charge of the garden and selling of the vegetables. We were very proud of every cent we brought in and I remember reporting by way of letters to him in the hospital how much we made each week. Momma told us he would cry when he got the letters and say how proud of us kids he was. One of the rare times he said it and it made us feel very special and we worked that much harder to keep the garden going. Dad Dailey also raised a big garden for years for Mom Dailey to can. Glen and I also raised one for several years but once we moved to the hill the deer make it almost impossible to harvest anything. Good luck with yours!
I’ve never had a garden except when my dad and stepmom grew lettuce and tomatoes out back of their apartment. I remember feeling so proud when we ate the lettuce. I had never had food before that we had grown on our own, what a neat experience, and I can’t wait to help with the garden! I have loved reading all of everyone’s garden experiences!
I am terrible with plants. But I just saw Food, Inc. last week and I am totally horrified. We’ve been trying to buy organic groceries but they are so expensive…and I’m not sure I really trust them when they come from major chain grocery stores anyhow. Just found out about a local grocery down the street. Wish I could buy meat locally, but I don’t know anyone.
I remember my dad made a huge garden every year.That’s what we lived on. As children, we’d always have to help with the gardening. I especially remembering the back breaking chore, of picking up the potatoes. He also raised chickens, cattle and hogs so that we’d have meat to eat. I didn’t realize how much I missed all of that wonderful food until after I got married and started purchasing my produce from the grocery stores. Nothing tastes like homegrown.
Yea….and thanks, Kelli. You can save the postage and give it to me when we are together again. That should be soon.
Love you.