I really don’t like working in our garden. I just don’t. So if you told me that I would be planting a garden all day, the normal thought would be that I wouldn’t like it. But despite all that, I immensely enjoyed my day of planting a garden at the house of John P. Thompson, a.k.a. Granddaddy.
When dad and I arrived, the temperature was around 55˚Fahrenheit, so Granddaddy tried to wait until it climbed above 60, but the clouds were over the sun, so we started working right then. Right before we started, my uncle Ed showed up to help with the planting, and we gladly welcomed him. We started out by transplanting some squash plants while Granddaddy plowed one of the rows. After we had safely planted the ten or so plants, we finished off the row in seeds.
Me Plowing the Garden
Finished with that task, uncle Ed took his turn plowing a row, and Granddaddy poured fertilizer on the part which had just been broken up (it really helps the seedlings grow). After emptying the container, Ed went back and re-plowed the area, so that the fertilizer would mix in with the dirt, and I came back over with a rake to try to and get all the clumps out. Then everybody switched out: I got to try my hand at the tiller, and Ed smoothed the dirt.
For the most part, the plow wasn’t that hard; you just had to keep it on a straight line. Plus, the tiller tines kept it moving forward. After I finished, and Granddaddy had sprinkled the fertilizer, I helped Grandmother plant some okra seeds, and also raked smooth another row. Granddaddy also planted a line of peanuts. About this time, the sky looked like a major storm was coming, but Granddaddy still made me water the squash. He said that when you pour water on them from a jug or hose, the water sinks down to the roots. However, when it rains, the droplets usually just kind of stay on the top of the dirt, and the seed or root doesn’t get as much nourishment as it should.
I mentioned that the sky was pretty dark; it was about this time that the rain started to come down. Thankfully, though, it wasn’t a downpour, just a light sprinkle that kept us from getting too hot. We were almost finished with planting the rows, but there was one more vegetable that wasn’t in the ground yet; the corn. For this, Granddaddy had a special planter that he used. It was basically a two-wheeled contraption with a seed holder in the middle and a wheel that would pick up a seed and deposit it in the ground. One person would push it, and another would pull (an ingenious invention if I ever did see one). You would take it one way down a row, then turn around and come back, so the bed received a double helping of seeds.
Once the corn rows were completed, the planting was finished except for the beans, which Granddaddy would have to do by himself. The rain chased us inside, and we all sat down to a wonderful meal, prepared for us by Grandmother. I was wet, tired, sore, and hungry, but I learned a lot about gardening, and ate a great meal in the process. Plus, Granddaddy might even send some of the vegetables to us when they’re ripe. And that is something that is in my eyes worth any amount of work.
