by Gloria Jones

Created on: May 25, 2009   Last Updated: May 27, 2009

I grew up on a working farm in South Carolina where there were acres and acres of crops planted year round. With five children and making a living from the farm, it was hard and financially difficult for my parents. They cut costs every way possible, and cutting cost at the grocer was a must, so we grew all the vegetables we needed in our gardens. The years I was at home with my parents were between 1955 and 1975.

This was the way of life for us during this era in time. A large vegetable garden was planted every spring and a late one in the fall. If we planted our spring garden early enough and no late frosts came, we had plenty of time left with our wonderful long summers to produce a second garden before the onset of winter and the first frosts. The yearly gardens provided all that we would need of vegetables for the following year. We planted beans, squash, peas of different types, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, radish beets, peppers, watermelons, cantaloupes, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, mustards, collards, cabbage and more. There was a lot of hard work to making these gardens produce and a lot of worry. Since we grew so much in such a large field, irrigation was impossible for us. When the soil was dry and no rain expected, we filled barrels and buckets with water, carried it to the gardens and watered each plant individually.

When it was harvest time, we gathered each vegetable crop as it was ready and preserved it in the correct way. Some things were frozen, some canned or jarred, and some things such as onions and potatoes were stored in a dark, dry barn or shed until needed. We made potato banks for the sweet potatoes. This was a hut made of long sticks, formed into a tee-pee of sorts and covered with pine straw and dirt. The potatoes were placed inside the hut and a few taken when needed through out the year.

Seeds were saved from each crop for the next season's planting, so buying seeds was not necessary. Every vegetable has seeds; some you have to wait for, like mustards, collards and such, but well worth the wait. In the end you have heirloom seeds and no chemicals have touched them.

Thinking back, I don't know how my family would have managed if they had to buy all the vegetables our large family consumed each year. I am now in my fifties and still grow a large garden each year and preserve all I can. It saves me tremendously on grocery costs, and with the failing economy, planting my own vegetables is very helpful to my budget.

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