Introducing myself.

South Texas · #1 08-28-2008, 10:29 AM

I was raised in east Texas on a farm & cattle ranch. The Business, in part, was Cattle. But also, we grew our own vegetables for self consumption & to feed Hogs to be slaughtered at a later date. Our corn was in part milled, for cornmeal & for the hogs, plow mule & treats for the horses. We raised sugar cane to make our own molasses. I had a milk cow, Bossy, to milk & eggs to gather each day. Other meat brought to the table was fish I caught, Bull Frogs I 'eased' up on in the dead of the night, squirrel, duck, & wild Hog.
At the age of 8, in 1968, I announced that I wanted my own garden. I fully expected Dad to use a tractor to break soil & use the fertilizer contraption to spread fertilizer for me. Hell no. He showed me this push plow with a big wheel on the front, to bust soil on my own. The designated area allotted me was about 100' by 50'. The fertilization system assigned was a wheel barrel & a Cow lot near by. Being all of 65 Lbs, I was a bit disappointed, but also, highly excited. The Push/Plowing attempt was comical in hind sight. My rows was not exactly straight, and with all the push & such, my big feet pretty much re-compacted the 'plowing' that I had done. I reckon it took me a week to make the rows and haul in wheel barrel loads of cow manure. A regular hoe would have done just as well, but I wanted to be high-tech.
One seed at a time was reverently placed in my sacred plot, while proclaiming myself as a cross between Jack and the Bean Stalk kinda' Guy & Johnny Appleseed. No doubt 'regular Farmers would be put out of business by my wild & abundant farming abilities!!!
Other than direct questions of how deep to plant, how far apart, I was left to my own imagination. Other than a couple rows of corn, the main stay to support all the hungry people in the entire world was peas & tomatoes, with a side of beans, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, radishes, etc. The "crop" flourished! Each day was a self satisfying joy to behold. I acquired one harvest helper, a Cotton Tail Rabbit that I refused to shoot. He was hungry too!
Once the crop came in, during the prayer before the meal. Mother or Dad would mention the food I have sown & reaped for our nourishment, not to mention the Cat Fish, or Fried Squirrel that I also supplied. Having the praise & eating my own vegetables was a deep seared happy part of my life.
27 years later, a few years ago, finds me on every sat. & Sun. with a portable radio hanging for the garden fence post, listening to the Master Gardening program while playing in the dirt. And often, 'easing into the house for "a drink of water". Upon existing the front door, the Wife ask, what'cha got in your pockets? Once again, I'm busted for raiding the pantry for MORE seeds to plant. 15 bean soup packages, pop corn, chili peppers, what ever I would think could grow. My row of 15 bean soup plantation was coined as my Phys-co-Row. I would add pinto beans, black beans, crowder peas, purple hull peas, sugar peas, any & every pea or bean that I could buy at the local store & hide in my truck, or steal from the pantry. This row is Awesome!!!, with all the different colored blooms, and the variety of snaps, beans & peas.
Anyway, what started this was a Lady in the Corn section stating that she had nobody that got as excited about growing as she did, & her Husband pretended to share her excitement. I well know the feeling.
2 points to this. 1). I know a little, and 2). Hope you enjoyed the story. Happy Growing, People!

Connoisseur177 · #2 08-28-2008, 12:38 PM

great reading.it made me think of when i was young (but i still am. at heart

)and threw my first seeds into the ground.. i had heard that bean squash and corn grow well together (by natives saying bean will climb the corn and squash plants will protect for ground coverage of land animals, three sisters technique i believe they call it) and i can only wait for next year to find out, and am currently thinking of how i can grow them symmetrically in my BkYrd, i still have to find a good squash to grow.that is heirloom.

South Texas · #3 08-29-2008, 07:32 AM

Thanks. I've always used the regular corn for climbing bean support. I try to train the squash & such to climb the fences to leave more garden space. I like anything heirloom. 85% of the corn seeds has been genetically altered.

misshestermoffitt · #4 08-29-2008, 03:25 PM

Hey that was me !!! My husband just pretended to care about my corn about 15 minutes ago.

South Texas · #5 08-30-2008, 08:43 AM

Yes, I was referring to you. Other than furniture making.wood working, gardening is the only thing that constantly amazes me, from sprout to harvest. Maybe your Husband will enjoy the fresh veggies on the table. For gardening company on the weekend mornings, try a portable radio to listen to the local gardening programs while you play in the dirt. Be sure to take pen & note pad, to make notes of what the Master Gardener says. I learned some new stuff this morning, I'll share on an upcoming post, for every Gardening addict.

Quote:

Originally Posted by misshestermoffitt

Hey that was me !!! My husband just pretended to care about my corn about 15 minutes ago.

misshestermoffitt · #6 08-30-2008, 12:49 PM

I grow things for him. He likes the smell of mint, so I have mint and spearmint growing. When he's out working in the yard ot whatever, he'll clip the mint a little with the weedeater so he can enjoy the smell of it.

I have a little dog that thinks he is a pig and he's always rolling around in the dirt and he smells pretty bad unless he's had a bath in the last 3 hours. I planted some lemon balm near his favorite wallow area so maybe he'll smell lemon fresh. My husband thought that was the funniest thing ever !!!