We're Off to See the Neighbors!

     For Wonderful Neighbors, I Pause....
               Because, Because, Because, Because, BeCAUSE...!
                      Because in the country it's what one does!
                              (Insert Wizard of Oz Tune Here)

 

      I recall fondly my first week moving back to the country...
     As I've shared in prior posts, I made mention to the one person I knew at the time that I had hopes of one day growing a garden. And in less than a week, I came home to a newly plowed front lawn.
     Ever since, Thurman has been the first of many great neighbors to become family to me.
     My first garden was average. The corn barely grew. I only had enough tomatoes for a sandwich or two myself. My best crops were okra and lavender, only one of which I recommend you fry.
     Year two was a bumper crop. (In case you're not familiar, "bumper" in this instance, means a particularly large yield, of which I was blessed.) I had corn off the charts...cucumbers galore and okra coming outta my ears...I recall asking Thurman, "So what do you do with this much extra? Do I can it? Do I sell it?"
     His advice was as genuine as the man himself...
     "Nah" he said, in his no frills, Thurmany way..."You ain't got time to fool with that...Things left over' makes for good neighbors."

     My mind did a flash back to the year before when green beans and tomatoes were left on my stoop. Thurman's wife made me pickles and graciously shared her recipe. In return (with Thurman's help) I left watermelons for most everyone on the lane. My corn could've fed the huddled masses yearning, so I was happy to share that too.  I even took buckets of okra to church with me, declaring it "Take your okra to church day." I insisted everyone come take what they wanted for their Sunday lunch.
     Thurman was onto something.
     When it comes to gardening, unless you're seriously into the business of it all (in which case, you deserve every dollar you can garner) the best use I've found for those things left un-eaten, un-frozen or un-canned, is to spread the bounty and remind folks one cucumber or tomato at a time just how much you appreciate them.

     As for my own friends and neighbors,  I've got some who prefer peppers...Others who can't wait for watermelons to come in. My mom could eat her weight in tomatoes alone (which, this year, are taking their own sweet time getting ripe). As for me, my fingers are already pickling over holiday pickles I've gotten a jump start on. But the good news is, there's a bountiful harvest coming on, and bountiful harvests make for bountiful neighbors...So here's to life in the country!