by Debbie Smith Wagner
As the season shifts, one way that we welcome spring with open arms is by planning our home flower and vegetable plantings. Gardeners tend to pass down many traditions through the generations, and that is the focus on this month’s column. Gardens offer both nutrition and joy, and it is my hope that the responses below will bring a smile and soul-nourishment to you, as well.
Did your family have a garden? Have you maintained those gardening traditions? What are some of your past gardening experiences?
“My family always had a garden. I remember spending many hours in it. Pulling weeds was my chore, then I graduated to learning canning from my momma. It’s hard work but well worth it.”
-Nettie Dout Chaffee, Beaver County
“My mother loved her flower and vegetable gardens, and she tended them into her eighties. I’m more a lackadaisical gardener and enjoy a profusion of perennials that can take care of themselves.”
-Holly Mathias, Beaver County
“My grandmother had a flower garden and the churches would ask her if they could cut flowers for the altar. So proud of her.”
-Frani Burge, Butler County
“My Greek Dad was quite the gardener. He grew American Beauty roses in our front yard and on the big plot of land he had down by the creek bed in the east end of Canonsburg, he grew many vegetables. He would put the bushel on his shoulder and bring them home to share not only with us, but with friends and neighbors. My parents were good cooks, so they utilized the beautiful vegetables he grew. He took so much pride in his gardening endeavors.”
-Mary G. Scoumis, Beaver County
“My mother had a beautiful flower garden that she nurtured all year long. She had a green thumb.
I continue to have a flower garden each summer. It brings such sweet memories.”
-Sherry Smith, Cincinnati, Ohio (sister of Vintage Debbie Wagner)
“I love gardening. We have almost an acre and when we bought the house, it had a beautiful formal English garden. It’s one of the reasons why we bought the house. I spend lots of hours in the garden growing flowers, veggies, herbs, fruits. I purchased a couple of raised planters for this year to do more square-foot gardening. I also have a tower garden that I’ve used for ten years for hydroponic gardening, mostly lettuces, herbs and micro greens. My neighbor does the garden with me and we share crops. I’ve also gotten into canning and preserving the past few years.”
-Colleen Wietmarschen, Cincinnati, Ohio (school friend of Vintage Debbie Wagner)
“I remember sitting in the garden as a young child and eating a warm tomato that I had just picked from the vine! Mmmmm!”
-Nancy Davies, Bridgeville
“Both grandparents had large gardens. I can’t even raise artificial plants.”
-Richard Gallagher, Beaver County
“I have many fond memories of my Italian-immigrant father growing an ample garden on our property, which he did far into his retirement years. We had an old gas stove in the laundry room where he and my mom would make pasta sauce with the tomatoes, fry up hot peppers in garlic and olive oil, and cook delicious dishes like eggplant parmesan. I can still smell the tomatoes being prepped for canning! Now I do all of this in my own home garden, and the spirit of my father lives on through the seedlings and soil.”
-Gina Mazza, Nashville, Tennessee (formerly of Harmony, Butler County)
Vintage Debbie is a vintage history buff and performance artist with a unique style of era-specific music, dance and dress. She entertains area seniors through an interactive and fun music memory experience in Beaver, Lawrence and Butler counties. Debbie’s goal is to amplify the healing power of music through singing, dance and movement to promote senior health and wellbeing. To learn more, follow Walking Down Memory Lane with Vintage Debbie on Facebook, search Vintage Debbie’s music videos on YouTube, or view videos of her performances by visiting pittsburghseniornews.com. To book her for an event, email wagner.debbie@ymail.com.