The Gardens and The Browns

Many people in Curryville had gardens. Our garden was vast. A board walk divided the side that had the smaller vegetables from the side with the hardier vegetables like corn, pumpkins and potatoes. One of my jobs was to weed and hoe that large garden.

Mr. Brown, whose garden was on the other side of our fence, would tell me how our garden was doing. He and I knew he was a garden expert. He loaned me his potato fork to use when it was time to dig the potatoes. A regular spade could cut the potatoes in pieces. We knew how to use the dirt wisely by planting the squash with the corn. Mother had...