farm kids

Nora will use this blog to tell stories of her childhood on the farm and her urban adventures in preparation for the Farm to Fair project.

Nora at five, Beth four, J.R. three, sister Ann was a few months from joining us.

I love this classic farm scene. The fact that I'm holding a sandwich is a bonus. 

Both of my parents grew up on farms, but this was the first place they lived that had room for farming activities.

My first memories are from living on that farm.

We had two cows - which against Dad's advice, I named - Popeye and Janie, for the cartoon character and the local host (with Cowboy Bob) of the show that showed cartoons. We didn't get to watch a lot of television, so anything I saw made a huge impact on me.

We didn't grow any crops there, but had a huge garden. I remember tons of eggplants and tomatoes. Let me tell you, there aren't any finer vegetables for lobbing at each other than those two. I remember Mom and Dad being mad at us, but eventually joining in the fun. 

I'm not sure what we prepared with the eggplant - I don't think I was introduced to eggplant Parmesan or eggplant lasagna until I was in my thirties, but the tomatoes were canned on blindingly hot days in the form of juice and whole tomatoes to be used in ox tail soup (I'm sure the Popeye and Janie's were part of the soup) or chili. 

Even though I'd read the book, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, I never had a friend green tomato until the 2009 State Fair, coincidentally, "The Year of the Tomato." I'm hooked.