Well, today I got to thinking about Grandpa’s Garden but I was pretty young and don’t really remember that much about him or his garden. However, I do, remember seeing a row of large sunflower plants. These plants seemed huge but, of course, I was a youngster at the time, so perhaps they were not as tall as I remember them to be.
Grandpa came to live with us for a short time before moving elsewhere, but I remember his large garden and how everything grew and grew.
What’s growing in Grandpa’s Garden?
First of all, the garden soil was dug up before anything was planted. This must have been a huge job all done by hand with shovels. I guess my dad probably helped with this project. However, I don’t remember seeing a single weed in this huge vegetable garden so, I guess, grandpa was busy working in it.
I remember one time that a teacher told our class that the soil around there was dark due to all the camp fires that the local Indians made. In thinking about this, I don’t think it was true although we had rich, dark soil.
To be honest, I don’t remember exactly what Grandpa grew but I guess it was tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and things easy to grow and eat.
Unfortunately, that garden had one large fire ant home in it which nothing ever grew near it. You could, also, never get close to that ant home since those fire ants would immediately bite you. The bite from a fire ant was painful and it left a welt on your skin. It actually was not just one ant hill but a large, at least five feet across bare area. I remember my mom always trying ant poison or other methods to get rid of them. But as we were driving away after the home was sold, that ant home was still there. You could kill a few fire ants, but there were many more remaining. I’m not sure how deep they went into the ground.
Sunflowers in Grandpa’s Garden
So, back to those large sunflower plants in Grandpa’s Garden. These plants were definitely grown for the seeds. The sunflowers were on tall stems with huge heads. Sometimes, the heads were so full of seeds, they sort of bended backwards.
Occasionally, my mom would cut off a sunflower head and let us pull out and eat the seeds. However, I think the birds probably pretty much ate most of the seeds. Of course, the sunflowers photographed for this blog are more for floral arrangements and were not the type grandpa’s grew in his garden.
Ending Notes on Today’s Blog
When my cousin, who never met grandpa, asked me what he was like I said I remember his large vegetable garden. I’m thinking that’s a nice way to remember a person.
Thank you to Merrifield Garden Center for allowing me to take photographs in your store and to blog about it.
The sunflowers/wreath is available for purchase at Merrifield Garden Center.