Doodle Town by Melissa Lomax for June 14, 2021

A veritable “vegetation” academy.

I’m thinking back to all we used to grow in our half acre garden: green beans, wax beans, butter beans, cucumbers, acorn squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, peanuts, potatoes, peas, carrots, radishes, beets, parsnips, onions, tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, and sweet banana peppers. We didn’t grow sweet corn in the garden because Dad’s best friend had a commercial farm where he grew acres and acres of corn.

Every summer, Mom would can the tomatoes and make her own tomato juice. She also canned dill pickles, and bread and butter pickles from the cucumbers and made pickled green tomatoes, and corn relish. She was afraid of pressure canners, so she froze the corn, peas, and green beans.

Though our ground was not good for growing watermelons, every summer Dad would have a watermelon party for all the kids in the neighborhood. After the juicy pink was eaten and the seed spitting contests were over, Mom would make watermelon pickles from the rind. She also made jams and jellies from the blackberries that grew wild in the ditch until the county came through and paved the tar and gravel road.

I miss my grandmother’s watermelon pickles.

Such wonderful memories this brings, thanks.

That could explain why you have a green thumb.

Ratatouille with mascarpone. So many veggies: eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, onions and tomatoes. Yum

Thanks for the memories!