TODAY IT IS NICE AND SUNNY, THE GRASS IS TURNING GREEN, NOW MY THOUGHTS ARE INTO PLANTING A GARDEN. I REMEMBER MY FIRST GARDEN, WE LIVED IN THE CENTER OF THE CITY, MY NEIGHBOR HAD A GARDEN AND I ENVIED HIM, ONE DAY I TALKED TO HIM AND HE SAID I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE A GARDEN SO HE TOLD ME I NEEDED MANURE ,SO I ASKED MY HUSBAND TO GO GET ME A LOAD, HE DID , AND HE EMPTIED IT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GARDEN. SO THE NEXT DAY AT 630 AM I WAS UP DRESSED AND HAD RUBBER BOOTS ON, AND INTO THE GARDEN I WENT TO SPREAD THE MANURE, AND BOY DID IT EVER SMELL (REMEMBER I AM A CITY GIRL) BUT I KEPT ON GOING, MY NEIGHBOR WAS IN HIS DOORWAY AND HE WAS LAUGHING HIS HEAD OFF, MY SON CAME TO THE DOOR HE WAS AROUND TEN YEARS OLD, HE YELLED " MOM I AM NEVER EATING ANYTHING FROM "THAT" GARDEN, BUT I ENDED UP WITH THE NICEST JUMBO JIM TOMATOES IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD.
YEARS AGO IT MUST HAVE BEEN HARD WORK FOR OUR ANCESTORS TO PLANT THEIR GARDENS, NO TILLER, NO HOSES TO WATER, THEY PROBABLY HAD TO WATER THEIR GARDENS BY HAND WITH BUCKETS.
MY MOTHER TOLD THAT HER PARENTS USED TO SALT MOST OF THEIR VEGETABLES FROM THEIR GARDEN FOR THE WINTER. MY GRANDFATHER WOULD HANG HIS MEAT UP IN THE TREES HIGH ENOUGH SO THE ANIMALS COULDN'T REACH IT, MY
GRANDMOTHER USED TO KEEP HER BUTTER AND MILK IN THE NEARBY SPRING.
OUR ANCESTORS HAD TO BE TOUGH IN ORDER TO SURVIVE, THEIR WINTERS WERE SOMETIMES HARSH. MY MOTHER REMEMBERS WHEN SHE WAS AROUND TEN OR ELEVEN THAT THEY HAD A SNOW STORM SO BAD THAT HER BROTHER AND HER HAD TO SHOVEL A TUNNEL TO GET TO THEIR WOOD SHED. ONE TIME MY GRANDFATHER WAS AWAY AT WORK AND MY GRANDMOTHER HAD TO PHONE THE NEIGHBOR TO COME SHOVEL HER DOOR IN ORDER FOR HER TO BE ABLE TO OPEN IT.
THIS MAKES ME REALIZE HOW HARD IT WAS FOR THEM AND HOW LUCKY WE ARE NOT TO HAVE THOSE HARDSHIPS.
HAVE A GREAT DAY