My dad grew up farming. Here he is with his prize mule, Dan.
Here he is as a toddler with his older brother, my Uncle Erv. Since there were only two boys in their family, they had to work hard. My dad dropped out of school at an early age. Even so, he could help me with homework all the way through high school.
After he retired, my dad had the urge to farm. He planted vegetables along the side of our house. Maybe it was his longing for fresh-from-the-farm corn that got him going. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough sun between the houses to get much of a crop. After trying a few seasons, he gave up. At that time, it just wasn’t cool to grow vegetables in the front yard.
Although I like to garden, I’m not much of a farmer, at least not so far. I seem to be losing my battle with critters. Only last week, I came home to find two squirrels sitting on top of the tomato cages that support my pea crop, munching away without a care in the world. At least I now know who’s been eating the leaves and stems off my plants. For some reason, they’re not interested in the actual peas! I’m trying to either grow so much of one thing, I’ll get a crop or grow plants the critters won’t pillage.
This winter was cold and rainy. Now, the wildflowers are out in full force, and so are the weeds in our garden. I let them get out of hand. I was dreading sitting in the dirt pulling weeds, certain it would take me months to catch up. Then I remembered a hand-made tool my dad gave me—my excellent weeder.
It doesn’t look like much, does it? My husband taped on a metal piece to help him string Christmas lights in trees. It’s the hooked part that works gardening miracles. The tine can dig beneath the earth to uproot larger weeds. Turned on its side, the hook slices off weeds at the base. It’s possible to eradicate a lot of weeds in only a little time.
My goal is to have the garden tidied up in the next few weeks. There’s a lot of cutting back to do. We had some serious frost. I’m certain a little yard-work each day will pay off.
Here’s the first bouquet from our garden. Sweet peas have exploded across the front yard. They smell divine!
For the first time ever, all the African violets are blooming at once! Nothing like ending with a gardening success!
