Planting seeds
Planting seeds. That’s something I have done for most of my life. Before starting school, Grandma Watson (my great-grandmother) lived next door, and I visited almost every day. My mom would stand on the front porch sipping coffee while I meandered the few hundred feet to Grandma Watson’s house.
During the last days of winter, Granny studied the almanac almost as much as her Bible. And when the signs were right, and the danger of frost had passed, she began planting her garden in the side yard. She planted corn, butterbeans, peas, beets, onions and potatoes.
On every surface of her east-facing front porch, she had herbs, lettuce and flowers that sent the hummingbirds into a feeding frenzy.
By fall, every shelf in her kitchen and pantry was loaded with Mason jars filled with fruit, berries and vegetables that she’d canned. When light from the autumn sun came through her windows, it turned her kitchen wall into a kaleidoscope of color.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but in a sense, she is one of the people responsible for my love of planting seeds.
Jilda’s childhood was much like mine, and her grandmother Mamie was good at planting seeds, too. We have flowers in our yard today that Mamie planted more than 50 years ago.
During the lean years when we first married, we grew a lot of the food we ate in summer: tomatoes, onions, peppers and potatoes. We ate like royalty even when the money was thin. We often had enough to share with our neighbors in the “trailorhood” where we spent the first 10 years of our marital bliss.
These days, we get an early start planting seeds in small containers on the floor by our south-facing garden door. Even when it’s too cold to sow outside, we plant our seeds inside.
I’m convinced there is no better reward for the backbreaking work it takes planting a garden, than bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches with mayo on toasted bread.
I thought of this topic this past week when we told a friend about the scholarship we do each year for a Dora High School senior. We explained that we ask the candidates who plan to attend college to answer several questions about what they want to do when they grow up. We make our selection based on their answers.
The friend looked thoughtful for a long while before saying, in a sense, you are planting seeds. It took a moment to make the connection, but I realized what she was saying.
An investment in the education of a young person is investing in the future. Unlike a garden, education sometimes takes years to take root. Sometimes it doesn’t, but often it does.
Some of the early recipients of our scholarship did well in college and landed meaningful jobs. Some are still in school.
But long after we’re gone, I’d like to think the seeds we’ve planted were a kaleidoscope of talent that helped make this world a better place.
Rick Watson is a columnist and author. His latest book, “Life Changes,” is available on Amazon.com. You can contact him via email at rick@homefolkmedia.com.