by Edward Malone

Created on: June 02, 2008   Last Updated: June 10, 2008

In March 1965 I celebrated my 15th birthday by planting a melon garden. It was a watermelon garden to be exact. I grew up on our farm in Dallas County Alabama outside of the city limits of Selma. This garden was very special to me because I didn't think it would amount much to anything. The reason I thought so negatively was I doing something special in my life. It was during the time of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march.

I had plowed a two acre plot of land near a small creek on our farm. The soil was a rich mixture of dark black soil and sand. Prior to sowing the seeds, I put an extra helping of chemical fertilizer and horse manure in the soil. I also added some lime and compost mix to the soil. When I had finished sowing the seeds, I basically left the growing to mother nature.

After two months of participating in numerous marches and the march to Montgomery, I decided to check on the progress of my melons. Well, the spring rains had been generous and the weeds were greedy. But I just left the garden as it was and waited till summer. I was overjoyed when I saw all of those watermelons! There were so many in the garden, my mom told me to sell them. I made a profit of three hundred plus dollars, a very tidy bunch of spending money for a teenager back then.

The next year, I planted another watermelon patch only larger. I became a young businessman and paid my expenses through high school. From that beginning, I learned the art of selling and growing a business. It was money, green money with a sweet taste.

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