Gardening Bandita

This weekend I had a lesson in cutting potato seed from Mummy. She had sprouted potatoes that we grew last year by keeping them cool and in the dark; now it's time to plant them. We're just about ready to head out to the garden; Mummy has had a couple of bouts of keratosis on her nose, so she always wears her Balinese straw hat and a silk scarf over her nose ... the Gardening Bandita:

choosing the right sprouts

Angus Rankin story

Mummy started planting a garden when she joined the local Garden Club at ten years old; so that means she has been planting gardens for 71 years! When she was very young, her father would make her plant the tiny carrot seeds in long drills because her fingers were small and nimble; if she dropped too many in one spot, he would know when they came up thick together the following week. Mummy says her father would comment, "You must have dropped the whole packet there". Money was scarce back then, and seeds were a big investment. Now we can pick up a packet for a couple of dollars at almost any store.

Mummy in her garden

This was my backyard growing up, beside the Bras d'Or Lake. And this is the land that my grandparents worked, and my parents, and now me. I didn't like gardening much when I was young and still living at home, but now I love feeling the earth in my hands and seeing little sprouts of green poking up through the soil in long, straight rows. I even like weeding the garden ... and especially the harvest.

On this day we planted a drill of potatoes and a double drill of onions. Carrots, parsnip, beets, radish, beans, peas, cucumbers, and tomatoes to follow - perhaps next weekend, weather permitting.