Our Garden
Written 2-18-96
When my husband retired, he had no real hobby. He had always liked gardening, but there was little room in the city for this. After discussing it a bit, we found a half acre of land for sale in the country near what used to be Luther's Cheese. It was also near my sister and brother-in law's place. The land didn't perk, but this didn't concern us as we were just going to plant a garden. So we purchased it. Our brother-in-law, Reuben, plowed the land and cultivated it for us, and we planted it. So we were in business. After purchasing a rototiller and a riding lawn mower, we spent many hours out there, rototilling, cutting grass, and weeding. Our garden was the showplace of the neighborhood. All our energies were directed toward it and nary a weed could be found in it.
This, of course meant a lot of work with the produce. I canned like I had never canned before. We canned lots of pickles, tomatoes, beets, and many other vegetables. We froze beans, peas, strawberries, and raspberries.
Since it was so easy to go to Millers to pick strawberries, we didn't keep the strawberry plants very long. It also took a lot of weeding to keep these plants clean. The raspberries, however, did so well for us that we kept them year after year. In 1983 we picked l30 quarts, which was our greatest yield. I still have raspberries in the freezer, but the supply is dwindling. When the boys come home, we usually have raspberry shortcake and\or raspberries with ice-cream. They consider this their most favorite dessert, -better than any pie or other scrumptious dessert they could have.
We made sauerkraut from the huge heads of cabbage we raised. One year we made 23 pounds of sauerkraut from just two heads of cabbage. What a crop! Another year we dug 11 bushels of potatoes. Needless to say, this was more food than we could use, but it was such a joy to see the things grow as they did, that we shared them with friends and family, and just continued growing more.
I have not planted a garden since 1985, and have been trying to sell my half acre of land, but haven't been successful. The lot isn't large enough to build on, and no one is interested in a garden anymore, so it has become somewhat of a burden for me. The years we spent there as caretakers of that half acre were enjoyable ones indeed. If I never get the lot sold, I will never regret the years that we were the "gardeners" there.
Picture of Picked Berries
Picture of Berry Bushes
Picture of the Carrots
Picture of Martha in the Garden
Picture of the Cabbages
