The Weblog
Time to Order; Musings of a Thankful Granddaughter
Good evening to everyone within The Wednesday Market community. We hope you all survived the ferocious thunder and lightning storms of the past couple of days. Note to Mother Nature: Thank you for the rain, but PLEASE spare us the lightning!
The Wednesday Market is open. Please place your order by 10 p.m. on Monday. Orders are ready for pick up on Wednesday between 3 and 6 p.m. Be sure to visit the Market website to see all of this week’s product offerings. Here is the link: http://wednesdaymarket.locallygrown.net/market
Summer vegetables are coming in. Broccoli, cucumbers, green beans, peas, squash, and zucchini have all arrived, and tomatoes should be ready soon!
Whenever I think about vegetable gardening, I can’t help but think of my grandparents: Grandma and Grandpa Dean and Mamaw and Papaw Pickelsimer, all of whom lived in Fannin County, Georgia. Grandma’s garden had tomatoes, asparagus, and potatoes. Papaw’s garden had squash and green beans. And, although I can’t remember whose garden they came from, we had corn and okra, too. All of them were fabulous gardeners, probably more from necessity than by choice, but when they had more produce than they needed or wanted for themselves, friends and neighbors were bestowed with the extras.
Oh, the meals we consumed at their tables! Fried squash, fried okra, sliced tomatoes, green beans, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and biscuits were regular fare in both households. The food was not fancy, but it sure was fresh and bounteous, and tasted so good, especially when we washed it all down with milk from Papaw’s cows.
Even as they aged, Mamaw and Papaw continued to plant sizable gardens, and when we were teenagers, my sister Sharon and I would be sent to North Georgia to help them “put up” the garden. Mamaw’s specialty was canning green beans. Lord have mercy, one summer we processed so many green beans that our fingers were calloused from all the work of stringing and snapping! At the time, I didn’t think I ever wanted to eat green beans again.
Thankfully, my parents have continued the planting tradition. Mama’s garden is now in bloom, full of white half-runner green beans, elegantly staked and strung by my Dad and brother Jeremy. The tomatoes are blooming, too. Hills of squash and cucumbers, along with rows of corn and okra, and a pepper plant or two round out this year’s spread.
With any luck, Mama and I will soon be in the kitchen, “putting up” vegetables, just like the old folks taught us. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa and Mamaw and Papaw, for teaching us to grow our own food.
And, thank you to our farmers at The Wednesday Market for providing a bounteous harvest for us all! We will see you on Wednesday.
Thanks,
Beverly