Where I Learned to Garden

Since it seems I have killed the camera with zombie blood, I am working on copying over some old pictures from negatives into the computer.  I happened to have come across this picture.

This is my grandfather.  And his garden in Jackson, Tennessee.  Between him and the shacks behind is the grape arbor.   I spent many a summer day in that arbor, eating grapes right off the vine.  To this day, there is nothing so good as grapes warmed by the sun. My grandfather had about an acre lot in town, about half of which was devoted to the garden.  As you can see, tomatoes were a particular passion and he grew plenty of them.  There were apple, plum and peach trees, along with raspberry and blackberry vines. 

To the left, you can see bird house.  This is one of the many purple martin boxes he had in the yard.  I can remember spending many and early summer day picking up baby birds which had fallen from the boxes.  He had a long pole with a little cross bar on the top.  We would perch the baby bird on the pole and put them back into the box.

My dad has a garden.  My mother’s biggest complaint is that he fails to realize he is basically feeding the two of them.  But it keeps him active.  I just wished I could grow onions like he does.  I haven’t mastered onions yet.  But maybe one day……