Giving for gardening goodies!

Giving for Gardening Goodies

As Spring rolled into town, daddy prepared the hard, crusty garden surface by getting the local farmer (Mr. Lapp) to come in with his large gray tractor and disc up the plot of earth from one side of the half acre to the other.  All of this done in no more than 10 minutes with the size of the tractor he used...

After the discing took place, the next step was tillering. Daddy would fire up the tiller, and walk it back to the garden.  We were well aware that the droning sound of that machine meant, "Get in line and start picking those rocks!"  On certain occasions, me and the boys were known to seek out hiding places in the house to avoid the scene in the backyard at all costs.  Our friends would make such fun out of having to pick rocks!  

With much dragging and threatening, we'd walk behind the tiller, Dad, Mom, Skip, Me, and Mike carrying buckets, picking rocks.  Consequently, the roots of the young plants could be spoiled with the pleasure of stretching themselves into the soft, brown, luxurious soil! We were the only garden workers on the block!  We filled bucket after bucket with rocks...the rockiest piece of the planet had to be the plot at 1470!

Next,the planting would begin...Just as methodical as possible, the young plants would go into the ground.  One of us dug, one sprinkled fertilizer, and one watered. Who ever went last covered the seeds or the young plants with the smooth blanket of tilled soil.  

Then we waited and waited until the weeds began to take over the lay of the land.  Weeding meant more work...especially after a gentle rain, we'd all be found with our buckets again, this time filling them with weeds.

At this point, we'd wonder why were we doing all of this work?  U n t i l, low and behold, the veggies finally started coming in-bib lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, corn, onions, and radishes-all like a giant salad just waiting to be prepared! And then the pay-off, finally getting to sample the tasty treats, garden goodies-nature's pay for all the work. By this time in the summer, mom would begin to freeze or can the veggies so we would have plenty of food for the winter...preparing for the future.

At an early age, I gained access to the rules of this game.  I learned that planning, preparation and persistence prequalify for the pay-off in the end!  The lesson has carried over to life in so many ways!  Thanks for teaching me the value of hard work Dad and Mom-giving for gardening goodies!