As the heat of summer fills the air and as I spend huge amounts of time picking the weeds from around our flower beds (yeah, right), I am reminded of my first garden experience.
Elmer Andrews (my dad’s grandfather, my great-grandfather) came to live at the City Club with his wife Addie May in the early 40’s. Addie May died in April, 1944. Elmer had been a sheep herdsman and farmer for years. I guess Elmer, living out his years at the City Club with nothing to do was not good. Myrna and Chalk decided a good way to keep Elmer “busy” was to buy a piece of property where Elmer could grow vegetables to be used by the family. It was located on North avenue in Plymouth along the Mullet River, 6-8 blocks from the City Club. There were no buildings on the lot and it was very, very deep. It was bordered by the river on the farthest side from the road.
We could walk to the “garden lot” from the City Club by cutting through the cemetary. In the spring the lot got roto-tilled and the planting began. I don’t remember planting the seeds but I do remember going to the lot on a regular basis to pick weeds. Eventually we harvested the potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beans and I think they planted bad stuff like kohlrabi, broccoli, and cauliflower. I think there was a water line sticking up from the ground with a faucet so that some plants could be watered manually.
The story takes a turn because Elmer turned out to be a very proficient gardener. The idea originally was to keep him busy and also enjoy modest amounts of different vegetables. His daughter-in-law, Myrna, would describe Elmer trudging off from the City Club to harvest from their garden and then return with prodigious amounts of tomatoes. “Farmers of old” would pick tomatoes and “can” them for winter use in chili’s and tomato dishes. It started that way but eventually Elmer was bringing home so many tomatoes that Myrna’s comment was “if I saw him bring one more tomato down the hill coming from the garden, she was going to scream”. The good thing about the City Club is that you could turn it into a marketplace. Myrna’s solution was to take the tomatoes out to the bar and give them away to patrons. Talk about a win/win solution. Elmer was busy. Tomatoes were good to eat fresh. Customers got free tomatoes. Life was good.
The lot with the garden eventually got sold to City Club bartender Roy Koebel. Roy built a new house on the lot and lived there for many years.
If someone offers me fresh tomatoes, I have this mental picture of Elmer walking down the hill on Stafford street to the City Club with his harvested tomatoes (or is it tomahtoes).
My lesson for the day Grasshoppers is “never underestimate the potential size of your harvest”. Or, “if your harvest is abundant, share it”. Or, “as you sow, so shall you reap”. Or, …..
Love,
Dad