This is my maternal grandmother’s hoe. Clara was born in 1897 in Union County, Tennessee and died in 1991. When she was middle-aged, she moved to a farm in Knox County, where she grew tobacco as a cash crop. She also grew okra, tomatoes, green beans and other vegetables to feed her family. Even though she loved the soil, it wasn’t just a hobby with her, but a way to have good food. What a summer treat it was to eat the fresh produce! Her strawberries were the best I’ve ever tasted. And the green beans! She always planted Blue Ribbon pole beans. You won’t find a better-tasting bean. I’m proud to use her hoe as a connection across the decades to her.
I put compost in the children’s garden, and I have put them to work planting what they had started from seed.
The weather has warmed up, and I have been busy putting all the plants in the ground. The rhododendrons have bloomed beautifully.
