AND THE RAINS CAME

Around here, the garden this year has not been plentiful. Must have been the cool, wet spring. Or maybe, my soil needs something. Next year, I'm having the extension test it. Can you imagine how our ancestors depended on their crops coming in good enough to feed their families throughout the rest of the year? What they must have gone through. Great Grandma Merriott remembered her father carrying buckets of water from the creek to water his vegetable garden and feed his eight kids. She said when he would come in each evening, he would be shaking all over from the strenuous exercise. Sounds impossible, yet he lived to be 97. No AC, no water hoses, or tillers...

I have gotten a small crop of pinto beans this summer. Most people would leave these to dry, then store them in jars. I have a secret for all of you green bean lovers. The pinto bean makes the best green beans. Period. They are meaty and just have no rivals. You do have to string them and if you wait too long to pick them or let them get too large, they will be tough. Cook them till tender and I didn't say this, since I don't eat mammals, but with some bacon and a little of the grease, you'll be in green bean heaven. Oh, by the way, after too much rain this spring and rain as rare as hen's teeth this summer, we got a good drenching this morning. The peas, gourds, pumpkins and melons will be happy.