I don't care what none of y'all say, I've got the greatest Dad in the world. He came from the humblest of beginnings and carved out a great life for himself and his family with his own two hands.
As I've gotten older, I've come to treasure the experiences with him I took for granted growing up. One of those experiences was clearing land on our old homestead. What used to be "chores" I would do anything and everything I could to try and get out of are now precious memories. I realize every day the opportunity to do these thing with him won't be there forever.
So I've started an Urban Gardening Project to give me the opportunity to capture all the tribal knowledge I can from him before he leaves this Earth. I've got a small plot of grass we're turning into a serious vegetable garden at my subdivision home. Corn, beans, squash, cucumbers, okra, tomatoes, watermelon, zucchini, potatoes, peppers, the sky is the limit on the about 50'x35' space we've set aside for the project.
The goal of the project is two fold. 1) to give the Ol' Man the opportunity to teach me everything he can so his generations of farming knowledge isn't lost to time. 2) To show others in my neighborhood with their perfectly manicured grass and hedge bushes (and most importantly their children) that Mr. Albertson and Mr. Kroger aren't farmers and that their food doesn't come plastic wrapped from Heaven. It tastes so much better fresh when you grow it yourself.
Starting from virgin Earth covered with grass, the first step according to the Ol' Man is to turn the soil. For the project we're using a Kubota L3400 pulling a double bottom plow to turn that hard Tennessee clay. The one we're using was handed down the family and I couldn't find the exact make/model. But I was able to find one of a similar design from Catawba Attachments: https://cattachments.com/product/14in-double-bottom-plow/ if you want to try a similar project.
Now we let the turned Earth freeze over winter to kill the weeds before plowing again and disking in the springtime. The project is already teaching me patience and consistency is what yields a good crop. You don't beat Mother Nature into giving up her bounty, you work with her gently on her time table. She does the work so to speak...you just do the heavy lifting. Or in this case...the L3400 did.
As an homage to the Ol' Man and how far he's come in his lifetime, I've also uploaded a picture of the old mule plow he used to drive as a kid to plant tobacco every year so his family could pay for their Christmas. Spring break for him wasn't a vacay to Myrtle Beach. Those days were built into the school calendar to allow him to get his plowing/planting done without falling behind in his lessons. What did that spring break work buy him at Christmas? I asked that question...a new pair of shoes and a peppermint log.
I was also floored to learn the origin of the term "Yee-haw" when he told me that when driving a mule (or other plow animal) you yell "Gee" to tell the mule to turn right, "Haw" to tell it to turn left, and "Gee-Haw" to tell it to go straight. Turns out it's not just a term rhinestone studded country music stars yell out to try and sell albums. I wonder if Tay Tay knows that.
Will upload more photos as the project progresses.
As I've gotten older, I've come to treasure the experiences with him I took for granted growing up. One of those experiences was clearing land on our old homestead. What used to be "chores" I would do anything and everything I could to try and get out of are now precious memories. I realize every day the opportunity to do these thing with him won't be there forever.
So I've started an Urban Gardening Project to give me the opportunity to capture all the tribal knowledge I can from him before he leaves this Earth. I've got a small plot of grass we're turning into a serious vegetable garden at my subdivision home. Corn, beans, squash, cucumbers, okra, tomatoes, watermelon, zucchini, potatoes, peppers, the sky is the limit on the about 50'x35' space we've set aside for the project.
The goal of the project is two fold. 1) to give the Ol' Man the opportunity to teach me everything he can so his generations of farming knowledge isn't lost to time. 2) To show others in my neighborhood with their perfectly manicured grass and hedge bushes (and most importantly their children) that Mr. Albertson and Mr. Kroger aren't farmers and that their food doesn't come plastic wrapped from Heaven. It tastes so much better fresh when you grow it yourself.
Starting from virgin Earth covered with grass, the first step according to the Ol' Man is to turn the soil. For the project we're using a Kubota L3400 pulling a double bottom plow to turn that hard Tennessee clay. The one we're using was handed down the family and I couldn't find the exact make/model. But I was able to find one of a similar design from Catawba Attachments: https://cattachments.com/product/14in-double-bottom-plow/ if you want to try a similar project.
Now we let the turned Earth freeze over winter to kill the weeds before plowing again and disking in the springtime. The project is already teaching me patience and consistency is what yields a good crop. You don't beat Mother Nature into giving up her bounty, you work with her gently on her time table. She does the work so to speak...you just do the heavy lifting. Or in this case...the L3400 did.
As an homage to the Ol' Man and how far he's come in his lifetime, I've also uploaded a picture of the old mule plow he used to drive as a kid to plant tobacco every year so his family could pay for their Christmas. Spring break for him wasn't a vacay to Myrtle Beach. Those days were built into the school calendar to allow him to get his plowing/planting done without falling behind in his lessons. What did that spring break work buy him at Christmas? I asked that question...a new pair of shoes and a peppermint log.
I was also floored to learn the origin of the term "Yee-haw" when he told me that when driving a mule (or other plow animal) you yell "Gee" to tell the mule to turn right, "Haw" to tell it to turn left, and "Gee-Haw" to tell it to go straight. Turns out it's not just a term rhinestone studded country music stars yell out to try and sell albums. I wonder if Tay Tay knows that.
Will upload more photos as the project progresses.
