Backyard Farms - My Education.

When I was a child, there was one word guaranteed to ruin my day- GARDEN! As one of 13 kids a large part of my summer holidays were spent in a large garden plot several kilometers from our house where my father attempted to stretch our food budget by growing as much produce as possible. As kids we were the bulk of the labour force for planting, weeding, watering and harvesting, and we had a pretty efficient assembly line for processing the results as well. I spent many days baking in the hot sun picking beans and strawberries, only to spend the next few days blanching and slicing the results for freezing. Hands puckered and sticky from peach juice running down my arms is still a vision that gives me chills- but these days for a much different reason! Now I race from my bed straight to my garden every morning to see whether the squash are flowering and what has ripened overnight. I rejoice as each heirloom tomato emerges, I brag about my early crop of beans and I eagerly share my knowledge of pickling with anyone who will listen. And for that I owe my parents big time!