We clean, plow, disk and hoe
We water, weed and watch our crops grow
Then we gather and preserve the bounty of our labor
That we will soon savor
Because we have learned just as the ones before us
That the seasons come, and the seasons go
—Sanford McKinney 2022
The ample rain we’ve had over the last two weeks has given my mountain holler a new flush of growth. Summer is in full swing—from the bounty of the garden to the serenade of the katydids, summer is everywhere.
Yet there are signs that it won’t last.
This week we pulled up the beets and harvested all the cabbage. As I looked at the empty places in the garden I thought of how many more places will become empty in the coming weeks.
Little by little the garden is being put to rest till next year.
Last night’s video: The Thread That Runs So True 12.
Tipper
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Such a beautiful poem! Seasons of life are like that too. My daddy has been gone 10 years today. I’ve been thinking on all the wonderful memories, but the tears still fall thinking of his last day here in this ol world. He is with Jesus and that brings such comfort. God is so good! The picture is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
I must have missed when you harvested the cabbage. Did you get a good crop? Better than last year I hope. your beets looked beautiful the other day, I just love beets any way I can get them. and beet greens are some of my favorites.
I’ve been really enjoying you and Matt now that he’s home. I say it all the time you two are so dang cute together . Katie and Corie are proving to be wonderful momas. I sure know where they learned that. Those baby boys look wonderful on all of you.
Granny is looking just great these days. So proud of all her descendants. She just amazes me with her determination to push forward and continue doing the things she loves the most, canning and crochet. Have to admire her.
Have a beautiful weekend all of you ❤️
Sally-thank you! We did get a good crop. You can see it in tomorrow’s video 🙂
Thought provoking for sure ! Love to you all as we enjoy the season that we’re in and prepare for the next .
where I live in Oklahoma I have not had the rain that other parts of the state have and trying to water with city water just is not the same….so pretty much everything in my little garden failed-even the shasta daisies that were established before I moved here have struggled to stay alive let alone bloom which usually they put on a big show with lots and lots of pretty white daisies…It disapoints me but it just is what it is so no need to be mad or sad about it—you said you pulled all your cabbage and the girls last night during their live commented on one of the kraut jar lids popping as they sat there, my question is-I worry about putting kraut outside to work off because of the near 100 degree temps and several days over 100 plus the humidity..I am afraid the jars will burst with it so hot—am I concerned needlessly? the kraut I made (per your video of how your mom does it) that I set outside last summer made the best kraut I have ever had, where as the jars I tried to make and let work off in the house did not turn out as good and most went bad for one reason or another…I would love to put the kraut outside to work off to replicate last years goodness but do I chance it with the hot hot temps–will the jars break from the heat??
Gaylie-I’ve never known of a jar to explode from heat. Granny sets her’s on her front porch in direct sunshine. I hope you get some rain 🙂
What a lovely poem Sanford McKinney wrote and your picture is beautiful. It has been a hot summer for us in the eastern part of NC, more humidity than most summers I’ve known here. I can’t say the hottest because I remember in years past our temperatures were well over 100 degrees, but don’t remember the humidity being high like this summer. We did get to 98 one day, but the humidity made it feel like it was way over 100. The lack of rain hasn’t helped either. This was a year we had to water our garden a little everyday until we finally got some rain this past week. We did get a brief shower once in a while in June, but just not enough to give the garden a good drink, so we watered by garden hose since we have our own well water. We were so thankful God blessed us all with some good, long rains to revive all our gardens and replenished the wells.
I know your post is referring to growing food, but I also thought about how seasons come and seasons go in terms of stages of life. Just something to think about…
I once heard a preacher at a funeral use the 4 seasons in his message. It was basically something like this, in each season we begin to prepare for the next season- an example, in late winter we begin to prepare our gardens or plant seed like tomatoes to have plants for spring or in the summer we preserve the things grown in our gardens to have for food during the fall or winter. He said if we can do this for each season why would you not want to prepare your life for death? He meant getting “saved” as some of us say.
My garden also has a few bare spots, mostly where the green beans, peas, and lettuce once grew before the critters found them. August is the time of year when weeds in the garden are hard to control making it harder to see the bare spots. I’ve got to work on killing weeds and gathering veggies today before our stormy pattern sets in tomorrow. My dehydrator and canner will be working overtime during the next few days while I’m stuck indoors.
Sadly Sanford is preaching to the choir. The vast majority of the people in this nation don’t ever see where their food comes from. Maybe once in their forlorn lives they, as a child, visited a farm where all the kids did was fight to get a turn at petting the baby goats. Now if they are lucky they can visit a grocery store that has “fresh” produce. They might see a sign that says “Sweet Corn – 4 for $1.00”. They take it home, enjoy it and think “I’m going to get more of that!” A week or two goes by and they go again to the same store and find the same corn in the same spot but now the sign says “Sweet Corn – 4 for $5.00”.
Do they ever think that corn just might be out of season? No, they fuss and cuss and blame the farmer who grew it, who got the same per ear for both. “Price gouging” they proclaim because they do not know. “They are charging us 5 times as much as two weeks ago. Those farmers are getting rich off us poor people. There ought to be a law!”
I wonder if it wouldn’t be a good ideal to make it a required part of the school curriculum to spend at least a season growing the stuff that keeps us all alive.
Inflation aside, this subject reminded me of a wise saying: “Don’t talk about farmers with your mouth full.” Yes, young people need to be taught about the farm-to-market food chain, and likewise we all need to give big truckers a shout-out for getting stuff to stores. The shelves would be bare without them.
Gene, you sure hit the nail on the head, your comment is the gospel truth!
Papaw, my wife’s Grandmother was the wife of a sharecropper farmer. Later on in her life she was watching a TV program that was asking questions. One question was were does your food come from? The answer most often given was from the grocery store. Her Grandmother talked about this for the rest her life. I mentioned this a few days ago, a grown women not knowing the difference between a corn field and field of okra. I also agree that schools ought to to go back and spend more time teaching a more basic everyday life curriculum. These people that holler price gouging don’t have enough horse/common sense to realize it is the store chain or middle man not the farmer running up the price.
I imagine harvest time can be bittersweet. But one way to think of it is the residents of the garden have simply moved to a new address and taken on a new function. Their vacant homes to be prepared for new residents next year. While residing in the garden their lush greenery provided beauty for the eyes to behold. And now they’ve taken up residence in
canning jars on a shelf providing sustenance for the body. I pray the rest of the garden provides a bountiful harvest.
Most of the hollyhocks got cut down and are drying stalks so I can gather the seed. Next is the tomatoes looking promising and I hope to eat a Cherokee Purple sandwich today! Lol I’ve got squash and cucumbers but not enough to pickle or brag over. My buckwheat is as tall as my waist. I’ve gotten 9 pints of green beans and more looks to come. I put a beef bullion in each one for flavor. Try it and you may see what I mean. My cabbage are ok and we will see cause it’s my first attempt. I’d like to tell you I weed, fuss and hoe in the garden but I’m more of an “elevate and cultivate” type and I’m not weeding too much. I’ve found my happy place out there in that dirt and “them” weeds. I like the experience of just sitting and looking at the big bumble bees and watching as the fat bees bend the tall wild flowers over as they help themselves to the pollen… no particular place to be or no particular thoughts…. It’s just me keeping it real in the hippy garden… It matters not what others think, but I will say it’s a movement now with literally millions of women our age (on social media) who are embracing just what we are doing. Goodbye keeping up with the corporate JONESES! It really takes the pressure off. Get outside and elevate while you cultivate-good, good stuff for a renewed body, mind and soul! Kick off the shoes and get grounded too!!! Live long without doctors and tv!!!
I can’t believe how fast summer goes. I can’t bring my youngest into a store or he is reminded that school is on the way…. We both walk out traumatized! I’m one of the few mom’s that love summer break! The years just fly on by.
Dear Tipper,
This picture of your holler is so beautiful…….I feel like I’m right there! It’s so strange to hear about “putting your garden to rest” when some of us up north are still waiting for our veggies to ripen. I’m looking at lots of pumpkin blossoms, green tomatoes and tiny green beans, but at least they’re looking good! I tried Pap’s corn bread last night and everyone loved it! Best of luck with your book-signing……..so wish I could be there to meet you in person!
Love, Jackie
God bless granny and all her family, I love them all, the best people in the world, amen
We’ve had some rain over the past couple days, but I wouldn’t call it ample. We still have many brown patches in the lawn and our dogwood tree and one oak tree has some leaves turning yellow and falling off already. Yesterday, we took two of our grandchildren on a side by side ride to this little creek that crosses over the road. Usually we have to drive through carefully so as not to get soak and wet, but yesterday it wasn’t much more than a mud puddle…still moving along, but ever so slowly. The kids still enjoyed tossing little rocks into it, but it wasn’t the same splash they love to see. It did rain hard one afternoon for about fifteen minutes. My three granddaughters (3, 6, and 12) ran around in the yard enjoying the warm, refreshing soaking they got…running under the drips from the front porch like I did when I was little. I about have enough ripe, Roma tomatoes to can, and all the other tomatoes are coming on quickly too. I’ve been enjoying tomato sandwiches for breakfast and lunch.…can’t get enough. I have two grandchildren spending the week, and we are having so much fun, but I am behind in watching the videos. I will have to do a marathon after they return home. I hear little voices waking up, so have a great day everyone.
It’s true that garden harvests are bittersweet. With God’s help, you get the beautiful bounty that He created and you worked for to sustain family and friends. But then there are the empty rows that were once pictures of art. However, I found, when I gardened, that tilling the soil in the fall, and getting those beds to rest and revive, also brings beauty, hope, and joy for the next spring.
God’s work is amazing, year after year. And, we are so Blessed. Prayers for Granny and God’s Blessings on your ‘enlarged’ family…lol