A City Girl Went Country

I grew up in the city. My experience with farms and farm animals came once a year while visiting my Granny. One day when I was there, we would go way out in the country and spend the day at Sam and Vera's. They had an out house and out door pump. I can remember the excitement when a new hand pump was installed at the kitchen sink. I never remember if and when they got indoor plumbing, and you would think that would have been huge. Anyway, my cousin who was my age also spent the same weeks with our Granny, so we always had a ball on the farm. I remember there were chickens and pigs, but he and I mostly played with the dozen or so cats. I did ride a horse there once.

I have lived out of city limits for most of my adult life and had a few acres with a lake and lots of trees most of that time. That does not a country girl make however. Tomatoe plants and maybe a couple others were the extent of our "farming". Knowing this about me will hopefully excuse some of the things I may say here that may seem silly. I should have paid more attention and asked more questions while spending time in the huge gardens of my Granny and MamMaw. I have tried to dabble in some of those old skills so they wouldn't die out. I've done a little canning and pickle making, as well as quilting, crocheting, and knitting.

After the "Trainwreck in the garden", new items are coming up and plants that survived are producing. I have baby corn, a 3 inch cucumber, and brussel sprouts. I have on a rare occasion seen brussel sprouts on a stalk in the store, so I kept waiting for a stalk to form. I just noticed yesterday that each little brussel sprout is growing at the base of the leave next to the stalk. I can only assume they remove the leaves before taking it to the stores.

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