House on Hillsboro

Resolution #1.

Grow more of the things we eat.

Here is the start of my new life as a farmer - a tiny, indoor herb garden to bring Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro, Chives, Oregano, and Rosemary.

And (thank you Becca) my new perfectly petite indoor fruit tree,

that is just about to bloom.

When I was a child, our backyard was small, if I remember right - only about 50 cartwheels wide from one side to the other, but it was full of things to eat.  Daddy grew food, a vegetable garden of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, carrots and such and fruits of many varieties, like apples, blueberries, peaches, plums, muscadines, and raspberries.

I saw a seed turn to a sprout, a sprout to flowering plant, and flower to fruit or vegetable. 

I ate HOME GROWN tomatoes still warm from the sun and wax-less cucumbers with the prickles still on.

I picked all the green blueberries a girl could ever want.  Do you know how hard it is to find green blueberries at the grocery store?

It's Jack and Ava's turn.

1875-2007

I know you all, especially Becca, have been dying to know.

 

One Hundred and Thirty-Two years old, by my count at stump height, which is about a foot off the ground.  And for being so patient, I give you this.

Good-Bye, Old Friend.

We had a beech tree in our front yard.  A big, beautiful, majestic beech tree.  It's lower limbs created a sort of canopy you could walk under, get inside of, as if in a tent of green leaves with a sandy, clean floor, deprived of the required sunlight to grow grass.   (This was before JD had a tree trimer "shape her up", I can't talk about it still to this day.)  We had numerous cook outs and picnics and parties Under the Beech.  On a few occasions, neighbors stopped by and told of themselves playing under that very tree when they were young boys, 60 years ago, and how it was just as grand then.  Probably over 200 years old, they reckoned.  JD carved our initials in it's bark days before we even officially owned the land.  Years later he added Ava's initials. 

So, last spring when it was late to bloom, I began to worry.  Over the summer it never filled out.  Instead of it's usual lush billows of soft green leaves, it only managed a light sprinkling.  Fall came, it's last little leaves fell, and that was that.  By late winter, it's bark began to peel and turn black and this spring, the first in who knows how many years, the old tree didn't sprout and unfurl new leaves.  It was official.

So, today was the day.  Jack (JD's dad) came to help and within minutes it was on it's way to a long awaited and well deserved lie down.  Going....

Going....

Gone.

Fine work, fellows....

but now the real work begins!

**I am compelled to mention that these pictures did my old friend no justice.  Anyone who knew this tree in it's prime wouldn't even recognize this skeleton.