And when it came to gardening, he was a master at that also! Of course, his job was with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, working with farmers, and with the folks at the LSU Extension Service. So he was always up to the latest research on vegetable varieties. He knew tomatoes and bell peppers better than they knew themselves, lol. And every other crop as well.Even after he retired, he kept his finger on the pulse of Louisiana agriculture - including garden crops. Living on 2 acres afforded more than enough room to plant a wide variety. Even better, our home was on the bayou... the garden benefitted from the alluvial soils deposited over hundreds of years, back to when the Bayou Teche was the main artery for the Atchafalaya River.
That deep, rich soil combined with a colossal garden produced more veggies than you'll find at a supermarket! During one season, it produced: tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, zucchini, squash, cucumber, lima beans, snap beans, cowpeas, corn, cabbage, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, snap peas, carrots, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, winter squash. I'm sure there's a few other veggies I missed... those are just the ones off the top of my head.After Pop passed away, the family made an effort to continue the garden, albeit on a much smaller scale. However, it seems to be growing in size a bit. My nephews Steven and Ira, and Ira's wife Chrissy, have been instrumental in keeping it going. The results have been pretty amazing. The photos show 2 plots as of the first weekend in May. The zuchini and squash are coming in, the eggplant is ready, so are the snap beans. I'm not sure if it's the slightly warmer climate one hour south of Alexandria, or that rich soil, but just about everything is ahead of mine except the cucumbers. I'm guessing it's the latter.
Anywho, I'm so glad to see Pop's Memorial Garden is bringing fresh, organic produce to the family table once again. He's probably bragging to his friends in Heaven about his industrious grandchildren.
