That's great that you got to see a glimpse from the past. I Still have my first photo from gardening, I was 5 or 6, and my sister was 2 years behind me, and we were picking strawberries out of my grandmother's huge strawberry patch.

They lived outside of a tiny town in northern iowa, and my grandma sold most of her strawberries and eggs to the local grocer, Dralle's, in Greene, IA. One of the neighbors had hogs and cattle that he would butcher and sell to the shop, and other farmers in the area sold locally.

With all of our globalization lately, that kind of interconnectedness almost seems, romantic..

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden

Nice blog of your garden!

Thanks, I have a terrible memory, and I need to keep track of the changes year in and year out, and the photos help me remember what I was thinking and worried about when I took it.

I try and add the things I've learned and mistakes I've made for others to see, and hopefully it can help someone else in their endeavors.

Chris - I also really enjoyed your blog!

Wow, amazing how early soil warms up out there in the heartland, Chris! I won't even plant corn for another week at least.

Wartach, can you scan and post the photo?

We had 90 degree temps here in march. In chicago there were cherry trees in bloom, and the squirrels didn't know what to do with themselves. Everyone with fruit trees around here got really nervous, and was afraid of losing their blossoms if a hard frost came.

The april before I didn't even have the garden tilled until April 2nd, and my cold weather crops were planted after that, so this year I was tickled with the early warm up. I wasn't counting on that sweet corn to grow anything, and if it made it past the frosts then I'd have some early corn. Looks like I snuck by alright :)

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden

Wertach, love your description of the family photo. Pictures that show us another time are so wonderful - especially when they show a way of life. I have a photo of my Dad (circa 1933) sitting next to a pumpkin almost as big as he was, from the family farm, where my grandmother baked the bread and my grandfather milked the cows.

Chris, your blog is great, so enjoyable to read and see your photos. I lived in Illinois for a short time and was awed by the farms. And love your film quote!

I wish we had pictures like that. By the time of my grandparents everyone had left the farmsteads.

I tried scanning pnbrown but the reflection from the plastic cover reflects too much and I only get a blur. The plastic is nearly 58 years old and is stuck to the picture.

would taking a picture of it with a digital camera work?

I'll try that Chris, if I can figure out how to turn off that darn flash! It's a Kodak EasyShare. I lost the manual.... I'm bad about that!

There is a picture of me somewherehe, between the age of 1 and 2, holding the hose for my grandpa. I so wish that I had a picture of his garden. I can remember playing in the asparagus "forest" and lunch always being cucumbers and tomatoes (which grandma peeled) with garlic toast and a few slices of lunch meat. In my mind's eye his garden was huge, but my point of refernce came from living in an apartment complex. Better yet, I wish he was still around so we can talk about the plants together but I can never eat a lemon cucumber without thinking of him first.

I remember my Uncle Jays garden and yard being so big tishtoshnm. His son, my double first cousin, owns it now. His yard and garden, which are still the same, are small!

I thought his garden was 20 acres! It's about 1/2 acre! It seemed like 3 or 4 miles of walking to get back to the creek, it's only about 100 yards!

He owned over 100 acres, most of it was in pasture. We would ride the fence in his 62 Chevy truck to check the fences and it seemed to take all day! Well, it might have, he stopped a lot to get a sip of "water" from a clear bottle hidden under bushes along the fence line.

Aunt Emma was a devout Christian woman and she didn't like him drinking "water" from a clear bottle!!!! LOL

Hey, what is it with the Carolinas and double cousins? My grandmother was born in NC and she had a bunch of them.

About the Easyshare flash. Mine has three buttons on top and the one that looks like a lightning bolt is the one that controls the flash.

With my Kodak I have to go into the menu to turn off the flash. Of course it is not young 3.1 mps

"Hey, what is it with the Carolinas and double cousins? My grandmother was born in NC and she had a bunch of them."

I think it is because a lot of people were farmers in the 1920's. The kids, at least in my parents family and the surrounding farms, didn't go to school very long. They had to help on the farm. Dad made it to 7th grade, Mom the 3rd.

That reduced the number of people that they got to know. My parents family's lived about a mile apart.

Plus transportation, If you had time, you had to walk 10 miles of dirt road to get to town. The church was local, about 4 miles away and they walked to church. All of those kids wouldn't fit in the model T Ford! And when you got to church, who did you see? Your neighbors!

The only time that they went to town was once a month or two for staples, or to take their farm goods to the market.

Yep, I think that's about right.

My grandmother couldn't get away from there fast enough. My oldest uncle was born in a shack without running water near Kinston, NC. The next 6 were born in fla where one doesn't have to worry about uninsulated pipes freezing!