Helen Stories October 31, 2007
Posted by Diane Bird in : 1. Helen Magnuson, All Posts , 2commentsIn an earlier comment that was following a tangential thread to nowhere, I mentioned that Helen invited Mother and Teresa to stay with her after George died, and suggested that Teresa was probably the best one to tell that story. I am sure many of you knew Helen well and have lots of memories, so here is a place to share them. Please do!
New photos on the dotphoto site October 18, 2007
Posted by Craig Nelsen in : 7. Jean Magnuson , 1 comment so farI have added a few new pictures to Mom’s album on the dotphoto site, take a look when time permits. This is one of them, one I haven’t seen in a long while. So good to see that smile, and I can almost smell the turkey cooking!
Jean’s Quilt Shop October 7, 2007
Posted by Jackie Sampson in : 7. Jean Magnuson , add a comment
Four sisters visiting Jean’s Quilt Shop in Norfolk, NE in May 1984 . Her shop was the “Quilt Patch” and it was a lovely shop and best of all was the knowledge she had to help her customers figure out how much fabric was needed, helped select colors and and give all kinds of practical advice.
Left to right: Lorraine Hanway, Gloria Jean Nelsen, Jackie Sampson, Barbara Ogden.
Click on the photo to view full-sized version.
Farms and Gardens October 3, 2007
Posted by Diane Bird in : All Posts , 5comments
This is a picture of our large garden in 1980 when we lived on the Lost River outside of Shoals, Indiana.
Now, September of 2007, it is cleanup time in my yard and garden, and as I pick the last of this year’s pathetically small tomatoes and peppers I think about years past. I’ve often wondered what Sam and Anna grew on their farm, and once they moved to town did they have a garden? I remember Granddad taking us kids out to collect eggs from the hen house behind the Central City house, but that memory doesn’t include a garden.
How about “victory gardens”? Barbara and Jackie, do you have memories of those, and did you have one? Mike and I have been watching “The War” on PBS, another wonderful Ken Burns production, and so my memories of ration cards found among Mother’s things after her death have been stirred. Daddy worked in the Safeway store and we were able to get some fresh produce, and I clearly recall the happy days when bananas were available.. but we had no victory garden.
Mother was happy to get off the farm, I’ve always thought, because she talked only of the tiresome work involved, and because she showed no interest whatsoever when we started a strawberry patch in the back yard of the Boise house.
When Mike and I moved to Indiana in 1975, we put in a huge garden, and I couldn’t help but think at the time that Mother would not approve of my agreeing to work so hard, and to doing what she herself so energetically avoided. We found it rewarding and fulfilling, though, to grow and put up food for the year. It occurs to me in retrospect, all these many years later, that knowing we could always make a run to the store made our “experiment” more fun than work. It was a beautiful garden with everything from asparagus and rhubarb to beans and corn, and yes, a strawberry patch.
I’ve continued to garden through the years, reducing gradually to just tomatoes and green peppers, plus basil, chives, dill, and the old standbys sage and thyme. I no longer dry and bottle herbs, though, just enjoy them fresh. However, there was a time when I was the local “herb lady” and was invited to address women’s groups about the practical and medicinal uses of herbs.
This was a sad, sad year for gardens here in Indiana. It was very hot and very dry for most of the growing season, and being used to an average of an inch of rain every week, no one was set up to water their gardens, either by sprinklers or by irrigation. Only my flowers thrived, and I believe they did so only because I planted them in a mixture of homemade compost and purchased topsoil added to a triple-dug bed. I built a new compost bin this summer, and with a little help from purchased compost starter I am “growing” a good beginning for next year. One thing about farmers and gardeners: they get discouraged, but they seldom give up.
Share your farm and garden stories, past and present!
