Farming in the Family
My father’s family immigrated to America in the 1770’s. They were farmers mostly, we had a few shop keepers who farmed on the side, like my father. I was born in the late 1960’s my father ran “Coble’s Radiator Shop” He and his one employee kept cars running,
By the time I was 10 Dad was switching gears. He bought property outside of town, bought goats, chickens, a couple of cows and put in a big garden. And just like that we became farmers. Then he learned how to repair shoes. And opened “Coble’s Shoe Repair Shoppe”. By the time I was out of school, he was done with outside work, they moved back into town, and he put in another big garden.
My small garden carry’s the tradition
While my father’s gardens were expansive, here in my corner of Florida, I’m leaning into the beauty of small scale. I have a 4’x4′ raised garden bed and an assortment of pots. This past winter I wrapped my evergreen tomato in blankets but with 3 nights in the low 20’s it wasn’t enough. I am overjoyed when I found a volunteer peeping up in one tomato pot! Everything else except the chrysanthemum took the cold in stride.
Here is my garden bed with a pot of pansies in front.
In the front we have peas happily twirling their way up and a tray of seeds, which I’m giving myself lots of grace over. They are tomato, watermelon, green beans, and (to me-heritage) butter beans in that seed tray. On the far side we have dividing onions, a yellow tomato, and pepper and an amaryllis. This amaryllis is about 5 years old; it hasn’t bloomed since 2023. It kept running out of dirt in its little pot and looked like it was trying to divide, so I put it in the garden bed, plenty of dirt, be happy! The evergreen tomato pot is on the other side of this garden bed.
Spring is springing! Go plant something!
Gardening is one big experiment. You never know what will grow until you try. I am sharing my garden with you all to encourage you to try. You really only need good dirt and seeds or plants. Go with something you enjoy eating, but don’t overlook pretty flowers. It took me many years to justify my desire to plant flowers. Understanding how flowers bring the pollinators, and some even provide food and protection to the vegetable plants gave me the permission I need to plant a flower or two. So don’t forget a flower to keep your vegetable happy and healthy.
And you don’t have to come from a long line of farmers to plant a tomato! You may find you have a green thumb all on your own. Even if you have trouble remembering to water your vegetables you can find plants that don’t need water so frequently, like Aloe, for instance.
If you’d like to read about my frozen garden see Survival and Stewardship
My Anchor Win
Is accepting that God will supply what I need, when I need it. He delights in providing for us. And he smiles when we say thank you.
The Avon I’m using
The temp is up and down this time of year, and by ‘up’ I mean high 80’s. All that means my feet dry out. Don’t ask me to explain why, I don’t know. But I do know I fix it with Avon’s Moisture Therapy Intensive Healing & Repair Extra Strength Cream. This little tub is my friend when my skin dry’s out, I have even used this on my face in a pinch. It’s not a heavy cream, it absorbs easily. I put it on my feet, put cotton socks on and go to bed. In the morning my feet are happy.