The Weblog
The Market is Open!
Good afternoon.
The Wednesday Market is open for orders. Please place your order by 10 p.m. Monday. Orders are ready for pick up between 3 and 6 p.m. Wednesday. See the website for all of this week’s product offerings. Here is the link: http://wednesdaymarket.locallygrown.net/market
Is it just me, or is time speeding by? It seems only yesterday that the calendar turned over to January, and now it is April!
Spring is planting season. Whenever I think about vegetable gardening, I can’t help but remember 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 and Daddy planted last week. Soon our favorite white half-runner green beans, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and peppers will be blooming. And, with any luck, this summer Mama and I will 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. We look forward to a bounteous harvest this summer! We will see you on Wednesday.
Thanks,
Beverly