Greetings from the foothills of the Virginia Blue Ridge

[chrysanthemum]

I’ve just moved back home to central Virginia from the edge of Texas Hill Country.  My parents moved to Virginia over fifty years ago and started a garden their first spring.  (My mom is actually telling me that the very first fall they were here, they tilled up a little spot and made a little garden plot for radishes.  Those were her first crop, and she says she was so proud.)  She’s been working that same large garden plot ever since.  She always fed us year-round from fresh, canned, frozen, and dried vegetables and fruit.  She also raised a dairy cow and beef steer or heifer each year before moving later in life to raising sheep.  She’s in her mid eighties now and no longer has the livestock but still keeps up her gardening activities.

I’m always very impressed by what an amazing woman my mother is, and I say that it’s my aspiration to grow up to be just one quarter of the woman that she is.  The weather has been abnormally dry this year, and she’s had some problems with critters eating things in her garden.  It may be bunnies or coons or both.  The garden is fenced against deer, but smaller creatures or climbers can get in.  She feels as though her garden is not doing well this year, but to us it’s still a marvel.

We just arrived this week from Texas, and the first evening everyone was here, dinner was all ready, but the kids didn’t want to eat before they had seen the garden (and the pond).  After dinner (a delicious venison stew full of fresh and canned garden produce) the kids went back out to the garden to gather blackberries and raspberries and mint to eat with yogurt.  They also like to collect wineberries that grow wild on the property.  Tomorrow they may get to harvest blueberries on the one bush that my mom covered this year.  

I took a bunch of pictures of her garden, so I thought I’d share a few here.


This is a cabbage plant that greeted me when I walked in the gate.  She’s already harvested the main head, but it’s growing side-shoot heads like broccoli.  I didn’t even know that cabbage could do that.
 


This is a patch of early sweet corn.  I’m not sure of the variety.  My kids were laughing because it’s well over their heads, and it was just a couple days past the Fourth of July when it should be knee high.


These are a couple of varieties of tomato seeds that my kids picked out years ago when we still lived in Virginia: Orange Strawberry and Yellow Brandywine.  We got a couple of fruits from them in Texas, but they clearly don’t prefer high heat.  I mailed my seed packets to my mother this spring along with numerous others.  We are so excited to see how many on are on the plants here.



My mom grows a mix of squash, and this one appears to be the fruit of a hybrid volunteer: a pattypan crossed with something larger.


I have lots more photos.  I’ll see what I can do about adding them a bit at a time as we settle in here.

[heavyhitterokra]

Chrysanthemum,

What a wonderful post! Your Mom's garden is beautiful!

I'm so happy for you guys!  

[woodeye]

chrysanthemum,

Thank you for the beautiful pictures. Your mom has done such a wonderful job of raising a garden all through the years, and this year does not appear to be an exception. 

She has also raised a hard working daughter, it's very apparent that she has instilled excellent work ethics in you and your family. Looking forward to hearing, and seeing, more about how your gardening adventure in Virginia is going. I can only speak for myself, but I'm thrilled that the opportunity came along to allow your family to move back home.

Best of luck in all you do...

[FrostyTurnip]

I think I can hear the joy in your tone, it’s hard not to get excited with you.  Personally, I’m so glad you’re out of that dry zone and you did so well with it all.  Welcome home. 

[chrysanthemum]

Thank you, folks. It is good to be back.

Here are a few more pictures I took of my mom’s garden when I arrived last week.

Some Swiss Chard that we’ve been enjoying sautéed with our dinners.  There are ferning asparagus plants in the background.  I believe she may have planted those almost fifty years ago.  I know she has some newer ones in a different spot, but I’ll have to ask how old these are.  I may be wrong about them.

Some blackberries.




Some bell peppers.  I’ve never had good success with bell peppers, but she can grown some beauties at times.


Broccoli, onions, and raspberries.  We’re using some of the broken down moving boxes to cover some weeds.


A little patch of sweet potatoes.  She got the starts from my aunt many years ago and has never known the variety.  With macmex’s help, I think we’ve concluded that it’s very likely Ginseng Orange.  

[macmex]

Beautiful! What variety of sweet potatoes?

[chrysanthemum]

Macmex, I think you’re the one who told me that the foliage looked like Ginseng Orange when I grew some of her variety. My mom got the starts many years ago from my aunt, and she does not know the name. From reading about Ginseng Orange, though, that seems to be a very good match.

[woodeye]

I second the "Beautiful", great pictures. Everything looks great in the pictures.

I did not know that Swiss Chard could be over-wintered. That's amazing to me and is definitely something that I would be interested in.

The blackberry bushes look outstanding. The growth of the plants is much different than the the blackberries here on my place. Mine do not make bushes to any extent really. If you had not mentioned that they are blackberries, I would have guessed they were raspberries or something similar. Wow!

Please tell your mom that I applaud her efforts, good job!

[james]

This reminds me of visiting my Grandparents when I was young. They were retired. However, they still were very much like your Grandmother, with large vegetable garden, preserved foods, great home cooked meals and other things they did for themselves very skillfully. My parents also did some of those things, but not as much as my Grandparents did.