Gardening: Then and Now

When I was growing up we always had a huge garden in the backyard. When I say huge, I mean big enough to grow corn. It was a great place to learn about how things grow and where food comes from and just how delicious home grown vegetables can be. I remember my mom having the pot of water boiling before we pulled the ears of corn off the stalks and then cleaned them off as fast as we could and then boiled them until they were just cooked. That it is the best corn you can have. You can see the corn on the left side of the photo below.

It's also a well-known family fact that I used to play in the garden and come back to the house with tomato juice all down the front of me. I would eat any tomato that I could reach, green or red, big or small, it all tasted good to me.

The Backyard Garden ca. August 1981. Yes, that's me and my brothers standing in the corn. The garden continues out of the picture on the right. (Click the photo to see a larger view):

And the Backyard Garden now (I think those are probably some of the same bricks as in the photo above):



Well, there won't be any corn this year, but there is a garden again in my parent's backyard. I'm happy to live close enough to be a part of its development and to help when I can.

I really wanted to try beets this year and I found a package of seeds for golden beets, which are my favorite variety.

I've never planted beets before, but hopefully they'll turn out well. We planted two rows in the hopes that they'll be ready to harvest in time to plant tomatoes and squash there in early June.

My dad also planted peas and broccoli and might put in butter lettuce or spinach with the same idea that it will be ready to harvest early enough to plant something else in the same spot. I'm also hoping that they plant some herbs in pots on the porch.

It was such a beautiful day today, not only did we plant some things in the garden, but dad and I went for a bike ride, I washed my car, we grilled up some goodies for lunch and had the pleasure of eating outside. I love this time of year before the bugs come out in full force and you get these wonderful spring days that are just perfect.

Here are the pansies dad planted in front of the garden. Mom wants to have zinnias planted behind those to finish up the border around the garden.