I have great memories of being on my grandparents farm as a kid. My Mom was a school teacher and every summer her and my sister and I would travel by minivan up to Western Pennsylvania to stay on my grandparents farm for three weeks. I looked forward to this trip more than anything else all year. I loved the serenity and nature of the surroundings, the calm quiet, the daily chores to keep the farm going, the animals, the simplicity of it all. Here is a picture of me petting one of the barn cats in the barn where I spent a good portion of my time.
Looking back now I realize what a phenominal place it was and the hard work that my grandparents put in to keep it going. My grandfather was known all over for his amazing flowers. Every year he would plant five huge circles of flowers lining the driveway plus all along the front of the house. The tall middle flowers I remember he would dig up and keep in the large greenhouse he built through the winter then re-plant (perhaps it was just the bulbs? not sure) when spring rolled around. People would come from all over to see his flowers often stopping to take pictures. Now that I am older and giving my g
reen thumb a go planting and caring for my own flowers I realize the dedication this takes, even for what little I have. I wish I could go back and tell my grandpap how proud I am for all his hard work. I also wish I could go back and take notes because he sure had a knack for growing big beautiful flowers!To the left and above are a couple pics - one taken from the driveway looking down to the house and the other with my Grandma standing in front looking up towards the road.
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t only did my Grandpap plant and maintain all these beautiful flowers but he also had a huge garden... and I mean huge. At one time I think it was almost 2 acres of all kinds of fruits and veggies. The front half of the land was rows of every kind of vegetable and ground growing fruits like cantalope and berries. Then the back part was where he would grow pumpkins for the fall. Eventually when he started having heart problems, or maybe it was the fall from a ladder that broke his hip, he stopped growing pumpkins. But that didn't slow him down. In fact I don't know how he did all that to begin with, keeping in mind he was in his 70's during this time. Before that he also had in addition to the flowers, pumpkins, and vegetable
garden, a full farm with animals such as cows, pigs, chickens, sheep... the pigs and cows were my favorite! And this was what he called retirement!!! Here are some pictures of the garden. He had everything from tomatoes, to green beans, potatoes, green peppers, broccoli... you name it! I can tell you one thing for sure we always ate good when we were there. Every meal included salad and veggies fresh from the garden. I wish I realized how lucky I was to have this exposure as a kid. I also remember my grandparents were never wasteful. I don't even think they had a trash can. My grandma kept an old cooking pot and all the food waste (food peels etc.) and things like that would get dumped into her "compost" (it wasn't exactly a compost but they had an area in the woods next to the house where they would dump these things). Then they had a separate area for paper trash. This would get burned at the end of each day. Whether or not this was such a good idea environmentally I don't know but to them it was less trash. Everything recyclable (cans and bottles) would 
be just that, recycled.
t only did my Grandpap plant and maintain all these beautiful flowers but he also had a huge garden... and I mean huge. At one time I think it was almost 2 acres of all kinds of fruits and veggies. The front half of the land was rows of every kind of vegetable and ground growing fruits like cantalope and berries. Then the back part was where he would grow pumpkins for the fall. Eventually when he started having heart problems, or maybe it was the fall from a ladder that broke his hip, he stopped growing pumpkins. But that didn't slow him down. In fact I don't know how he did all that to begin with, keeping in mind he was in his 70's during this time. Before that he also had in addition to the flowers, pumpkins, and vegetable
garden, a full farm with animals such as cows, pigs, chickens, sheep... the pigs and cows were my favorite! And this was what he called retirement!!! Here are some pictures of the garden. He had everything from tomatoes, to green beans, potatoes, green peppers, broccoli... you name it! I can tell you one thing for sure we always ate good when we were there. Every meal included salad and veggies fresh from the garden. I wish I realized how lucky I was to have this exposure as a kid. I also remember my grandparents were never wasteful. I don't even think they had a trash can. My grandma kept an old cooking pot and all the food waste (food peels etc.) and things like that would get dumped into her "compost" (it wasn't exactly a compost but they had an area in the woods next to the house where they would dump these things). Then they had a separate area for paper trash. This would get burned at the end of each day. Whether or not this was such a good idea environmentally I don't know but to them it was less trash. Everything recyclable (cans and bottles) would 
be just that, recycled. I also loved all the animals I got to be around when I would visit the farm. There were always the barn cats to take care of and they loved the extra attention when I came around. As a child I remember trying to climb through the fence so I could ride the cows. Good thing someone was always there to stop me. I also remember always asking if I could get in the pig pen and play, but I was never allowed. I think my love and animals grew from these experiences. When I got a little older (around 10) and my Grandpap had to cut back on some of the things around the farm (like the pumpkins) he decided to sell the animals. It was at that point the horses came. My grandpap had a nice barn (which of course he built
himself) and he figured rather than letting it go to waste or just becoming storage for the tractors he would rent it out. So a few local ladies with horses moved their animals in. He always had anywhere from 5-8 horses boarded. It was always the same ladies and after a few years of becoming friendly with them (remember I was always in the barn, especially around feeding time to lend a hand!) I was allowed to ride. This was a new highlight for me! I had ridden horses a little before. Some neighbors had an old (I think quarter) horse and I would often go ride her. But this is where I got my first experience ridding english saddle. It was lots of fun!
himself) and he figured rather than letting it go to waste or just becoming storage for the tractors he would rent it out. So a few local ladies with horses moved their animals in. He always had anywhere from 5-8 horses boarded. It was always the same ladies and after a few years of becoming friendly with them (remember I was always in the barn, especially around feeding time to lend a hand!) I was allowed to ride. This was a new highlight for me! I had ridden horses a little before. Some neighbors had an old (I think quarter) horse and I would often go ride her. But this is where I got my first experience ridding english saddle. It was lots of fun!I definitely miss the family farm. My Grandpap passed away when I was 19. He maintained a sized down version of his garden, the greenhouse, and 2 flower beds up until then even through heart problems and a replaced hip. My Grandmother stayed on the farm for a few more years until the winters were too bad for her to be out there alone. I was heartbroken when the farm sold. My dream had always been to live there and follow in my grandfather's footsteps. I am glad I have the memories to hold on to.
3 comments:
What a cool post, Jen! Amazing pictures of all the flowers and gardens. I can see why people would stop to visit and take pictures of the flower beds. Wish I could do something like that. Oh, I just love the barn in the background!
You didn't change much as you got older, huh? You look the same now as you did back then.
I agree. This was a very interesting post. Growing up, one Grandma lived in Brooklyn on the 5th floor of a busy intersection. The other Grandparents and Greats lived in populated suburbs.
I bet visiting your Grandma in Brooklyn you would have some good stories? I was never very exposed to a big city (I visited San Fran as a kid and hiked around Boston when I was around 17 which was a blast!) and I have always been so curious about how different things may be in that environment.
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