Memories

I grow a garden, it's that simple, I grow a garden. As a child we had a garden in our back yard every single summer. I would help plant, water, weed, harvest, and finally preserve. My dad was the one to initiate this by digging with his shovel to turn the dirt. He would then fertilize the soil and again turn the dirt with his handy shovel. The plants would be planted and watered and the garden was on it's way.

This is just one of the memories I have of my dad, or Pop as we called him. I didn't have a dad I had a Pop. Summers were all about the garden and adventures to each and every one of the alleys of our town in search of "The Great Blackberry Bush". We had one in our backyard, but Pop always wanted more, more, more......I understand why, he made the best blackberry jam ever. Sadly, like everyone else, I had to get it at the store, it just isn't the same.

As a result of the gardening and blackberry hunts I also learned how to use a canner/home preserver. Pop taught me how to can jars of tomatoes, jars of blackberry jam, jars of pumpkin, and many other items. It had been a long, long time since I had done any of these things that I only re-entered the adventure in the past several years. I take my boys to a berry ranch and we pick berries in order to make jam. I have them help me plant the garden and harvest the crop in order to can/preserve the tomatoes and pumpkins. So far this is all I have ventured, but hope to add to my home preserving repretoire.