by Jacqueline Young

Created on: June 01, 2008   Last Updated: June 09, 2008

Everything I know about gardening I learned from my Aunt Annie and Uncle Jim. My Aunt and Uncle raised my brothers and me. We would live with them during the summer months and stayed with them after school during the school year. They lived on a plot of land of about one acre in an old house that was built in 1862. Every year they had a very large vegetable garden, small vineyard, and fruit trees. All year around was a learning experience in gardening, caring for plants, and storing food for the winter.

Gardening to my Aunt and Uncle didn't just start in the spring and summer months; it was a year round experience. When the ground would defrost and become ready for plowing, my Uncle would get out the plow and prepare the ground for planting. The size of the garden was always the same and the plow was an old hand driven antique, this was in the late 50's and early 60's and there was no gas powered tiller. My Uncle and my younger brothers would break the ground up and plow the garden. My Aunt and I would come and do weeding with hoes and rakes, preparing the ground further for planting. In March, right around St. Patrick's Day, the seed potatoes would be one of the first things planted. This was followed by onions, corn, carrots, radishes, string beans, cabbage, turnips, tomatoes, squash, watermelon and other vegetables. These vegetables were planted in an order that my Aunt and Uncle knew by heart and governed by the weather. Planting the corn was accomplished by poking a little hole in the ground with your finger; the seed corn was then placed in the hole and covered lightly with soil. The seed potatoes were placed in a hoed row and covered with soil. Onions were placed in much the same manner as the corn. The spacing between plants and rows was always uniform; measured by the eye and years of experience in planting. Tomatoes were started in the cellar and then placed in the garden as little seedlings of about 2 or 3 inches high. Once the planting had been completed it was not over. Everyday we would go out to the garden and hoe the rows and remove weeds. If the weather did not cooperate with enough rain, we would carry pails of water to the garden and water the little plants gently. Watching the fruits of our labor grow was an exciting experience but the garden wasn't all we did.

My Uncle and Aunt also had fruit trees and beautiful flowers. Peaches, cherries, pears, and apples were grown from their trees every year. In the spring my Uncle would get his sprayer

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