Planning for Spring Planting

Lots of good news in the mail....the seed and bulb catalogs are out!! Kathleen wants a BIG garden next year, so it is going to be fun to start planning for one. We also have a great opportunity to plan for trees and some flower beds. One of the ads that came said we don't have to pay til everything is delivered---now isn't that an invitation to go all out!!!

When my Mom and Dad got married, back in 1949, they, too, had stars in their eyes! My Mom LOVED big gardens. She came over from Norway and stayed with my Great Uncle Pete.

Uncle Pete had a homestead, that was totally irrigated land--it was a beautiful piece of land. He had a herd of horses in the far off pasture, on adjoining land. They were used for plowing, hauling hay and all the farming chores. (At what year they went from horses to farm implements...I don't know. I do remember that first tractor though. It was a CASE tractor with iron wheels and it was big!)

His home place had the familiar western building--a tar paper house. It had brown bricks as a decorative print on it. It was nice, warm, and friendly. He had a wood stove for cooking and used kerosene lanterns for light. The front porch, which was as big as the kitchen-dining room, had an oil burning stove, although I don't know at what point that was put in. There was also a root cellar that went under the house, with its entry right outside the kitchen window. Out the front door and perhaps half a football field away, was a big building that was used for storing grain. And, a short distance after that was the chicken coop, barn, pig pen and hay storage, all built in an L shape, with corrals on the inside of the "L". It was a place that, as kids, my brothers, sisters and I loved to explore!



Mom and Dad lived with Unce Pete the first year of their marriage, and Mom grew a garden that was huge! The following year they moved to their own place up the road a bit.






I've picked out pictures that show some of the vegetables from the garden Mom, Dad and Uncle Pete put in.




Also, here are baby pictures on the horse, dog and by the pickup-truck.



You will notice in some of the pictures Dad and Unce are in suits, or, dress pants, shirt and tie, and Mom in a pretty dress. These special clothes were reserved for church, church and sunday school programs, school programs, meetings, going-to-town, and company. They had respect for others and they took care of their family.

The adventures of a new life are fun! Make the most of them, take care of your family and have reverence for God. Life is good.