Memorializing the Garden

Since tomorrow is Memorial Day, I figure it is appropriate to share some memories about my Granddaddy's garden, since after all, he was a WWII vet.

As long as I can remember, my Grandfather had a garden. I'm quite sure that in many years, the garden was a key source of food, not merely a hobby. He grew the basics: tomatoes, cukes, squash, beans, corn, okra, potatoes.

Somebody really has to not mind work to grow potatoes. Dig, plant, wait, dig. How do you know when they're the right size? No clue. I'd probably try digging them when they were the size of peanuts. I'm thinking $2.89 for a 5-lb bag of potatoes at Bi-lo ain't a bad deal.

My grandmother canned and pickled and froze stuff, of course. I've never figured out canning and pickling. I fear the pressure cooker. Mason jars intimidate the life out of me. I always figured I'd start canning when I was forty-something, but it hasn't happened yet, and I'm not thinking it will.

I remember visiting my grandparents in the summer time, and sitting out in the back yard with a bowl of beans to snap, or a box of corn to shuck. The beans weren't too bad, but the corn was risky. You never knew when you were going to pull off the husk and find a big ol' juicy worm. Ew!

Granddaddy always grew watermelons, too. Watermelons were one of my favorite things about summer (still are!). We'd always take one to "the river" (that's what we called Lake Wylie in those days), and of course to Myrtle Beach. If we went to the beach early in the summer, we'd have to hit a fruit stand to make the necessary purchase, as the melons wouldn't ripen in my Granddaddy's garden until late July or August.

Once, when my mother & uncle were just kids, the watermelons were just tiny little things when the family left for their annual trip to the beach. My uncle was eager to get home to see how "his" watermelons had grown. My grandfather was a bit of a prankster, and bought the largest watermelon he could find and attached it to the vine back home. When my uncle went out to inspect the garden, he thought there had been a miracle! It was only after the watermelon was "picked" that my uncle noticed the 39 cent price written on the bottom . . .

Happy Memorial Day, everyone. By the way, Bi-Lo has seedless watermelons for just $2.99 this weekend. You know I bought one!


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