Memories, Realities, and Adaptation
When I was a kid, or at least the way I remember it, the vegetable gardens — the weeding of which I loathed — always seemed to deliver excessive bounty. Whether it was winter squash, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, or zucchini, we always had plenty to eat, put up, and pack away in the cellar. We didn’t keep much of an orchard then, but we’d purchase apples by the bushel and glean crabapples from neighbors’ trees. My folks tended to buy potatoes and onions in bulk from local, more specialized growers. Our sweet corn came by similar means. But what I remember most about those seasons at the beginning of my path is the overwhelming bounty. Even as I embarked on my own adventures, my gardens overflowed with abandon. I had more…
