Comments on: Update: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

By: Aunt Allyn

Aunt Allyn — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:29:05 +0000

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.

By: Bonnie Temke

Bonnie Temke — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:12:52 +0000

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.

By: Colleen Thornbrugh

Colleen Thornbrugh — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:02:35 +0000

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.

By: Mandy

Mandy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:42:21 +0000

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!

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:34:57 +0000

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!

By: Jane Lovejoy

Jane Lovejoy — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:31:27 +0000

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

By: Allyn Barker

Allyn Barker — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:30:13 +0000

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.

By: Kelli

Kelli — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:49:18 +0000

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!

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:50:14 +0000

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.

By: Jenna Rae

Jenna Rae — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:32:47 +0000

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.