Eden Keeps

We are having a garden again!

My grandparents lived on farm in south Graves County, KY, when I was very little.  The fun memories we have from there are many.  Climbing the sarvis tree in the chicken yard, gathering eggs from the hen house, watching as they made sausage from pig parts sorted amongst big tubs, washing out the gizzard of an old hen in the kitchen sink and churning and molding our very own butter.  The crops and the kitchen garden provided many a glorious Sunday dinner!

My Auntie too had a garden.  This garden is where I learned how much you can do with so very little.  Her plot was hand dug and measured surely no more than 10 feet by 15 feet but feed us she did. Turnip greens, June peas, pickled cucumbers, squash and green beans were seasonally on her table.

When I started a family of my own we had a small garden for a year or two.  Soon the demands of time and space put an end to that.  But oh how I missed it!  In the intervening years I grew the occasional tomato plant in a pot with nary a success.  I did however always keep a pot of basil and another of sage to allow me to get a little bit of dirt under my fingernails.

the wintering garden

This past fall I retired and moved to a place with a leftover garden spot.  It has been lovingly and beautifully tended for 3-4 years and it is way big for me – 48′ x 60′!  But with the help and partnership of my son and his family, we intend to plan, till, plant, tend, produce, harvest, preserve and enjoy every single inch of that soil this year.

We also plan to keep you posted weekly about our garden’s progress.  Please drop by anytime, sit and talk a bit no matter the weather and share with us the joy you find in the garden each week.