With Spring finally here in Georgia, my daddy is chomping at the bit to get his garden planted.  Honestly, it keeps him going and there’s nothing I like to see more than him getting excited about his garden, planting seeds and plants and watching them grow into something our family can eat.  He’s been doing this for so long, as long as I can remember and it truly keeps him active and loving life.  So, we will never discourage him from gardening as long as he is physically able to do it.
Gardening keeps my daddy going, I’m convinced of that!  He will be 88 in July and is still going strong. He complains when the weather doesn’t warm up fast enough so he can get out there and prepare his plot of dirt.
I told him when he got ready to start the garden to let me know, since many of you are interested in how and when he plants.  I captured him running his tiller over the garden getting it ready for planting. You would think this dirt isn’t rich enough, but he has been amending this soil with compost for years, even though it still looks like red clay.
Just last week, he planted rutabagas and broccoli plants. These are the first in the ground and it won’t be long before more go in. In fact, he planted some early tomato plants right after these went in.
By the way, if you wonder where I got my build from, there you go.  My dad was 6’5″ tall in his early years and was always long legs and lanky. I got blessed with the same.  My sister and I both ended up at 5’8″.
This dirt doesn’t look that rich, does it? But, he manages to bring up a good garden in this soil. Â Years of experience, I’m sure.
We had another freeze after he put these in the ground and he was really afraid he might lose some.
I went outside with him as he showed how he covered them all up the night before to try to keep those tender plants from freezing. He somehow had enough buckets to cover them all.
I think the broccoli plants are OK, but he was not so sure about the tomato plants. I’ll find out how they did this week. He wanted you all to see the downside to gardening.  When you plant early, you always take a chance at a late freeze.
I’ll come back later and share his garden as more and more things get planted and give you some updates this year on how my daddy plants and grows his garden. After more than 50 years of gardening, he definitely knows a thing or 2 about harvesting vegetables.
In the meantime, I did a little video with him talking about when and what he plants and how he gets his garden started. Â I thought many of you would love to see this, so enjoy!
Rhoda, how blessed you are to still have your daddy with you. He reminds me of mine who died almost 15 years ago. My daddy just loved outdoors & his very large garden he planted every year was dear to his heart. I have inherited his love for outdoors, especially gardening, & I have his green thumb. Your daddy looks good for his age & he is so sweet. He pronounces “Irish” potatoes the same way my daddy did.
Thank you, Rhoda, for sharing your father’s gardening wisdom, with bonus video. Plus, he sounds like Jimmy Stewart with a Southern accent. Priceless. Cheers, Ardith
I love this! THANK YOU! My grandparents and parents seem to plant/grow things with little instruction. They just “know”. But for my generation and my children, this is such a scary and detailed process. How do they just do it? I’ve YET to successfully grow tomatoes in our suburban NC plot… It’s a lost art, for certain. Thank you for providing a new generation with the basic/known steps our older generations use.
Love this. My mom is 88 as well and she does will also. Walks 3 flights of stairs to her apartment and back down to do her laundry. She walks every day and rides her exercise bike! Your Dad looks great and sharp as a tack. What an inspiration!
You are so blessed to still have your mom and dad. I loved hearing your dad describe his gardening techniques, and I also love seeing all the yummy food your mom prepares. I know you treasure each day with them.
On another note, the new windows in your home look fantastic! They are beautiful from the inside, but also do so much to the outside of your home. Nice work!
What a guy! He reminds me of my grandfather who used to grow raspberries and rhubarb, or at least those were my favorites of what he grew when I was a kid all those years ago! My sister and I used to pick and sell those raspberries and rhubarb to our local market. Those were the days for sure. It’s nice to see him at that age gardening with such enthusiasm! Love it! Nice video…good for him!!
What part of Georgia does your Dad live in?
I love gardens.
He’s right here in Marietta near me.
What a wonderful video!! I loved hearing your dad’s accent..it so reminded of my dad’s ..and I could almost hear my dad talking about planting “arsh” potatoes..it was years before I know they were tuly Irish potatoes! I would love to see a video of your mom making chicken and dumplings!
I know, he’s got his own way of talking and his West FL accent comes out. Arsh potatoes is one of them. You should here him say hurricane. We have always laughed at that one…it comes out herrican.
Rhoda, thanks for sharing your sweet parents with us!! Love seeing the video and hearing your Daddy’s voice. I always like seeing what’s for lunch too. 🙂
Great post and what a great video! I’m in CT – so nice to hear your charming southern voices!
Your dad is amazing! I can’t get over how active he is. Guess that’s what keeps him young.
Love this post, Rhoda! What a precious man your dad is. He is really tall for his generation! I hope you’ll include posts that show his garden in progress–it’ll be fun to see the source of those beautiful Instagrams of your meals with your folks! (You should also do a post of your mom cooking with and putting up the produce!)
I’m 61 now. My MIL got me started in gardening. I hope at 88 I’m in as good as shape as your dad that I can still be gardening. Love this story can’t wait to hear more about his garden. Oh Yeah I’m in the North east and the snow is almost gone so totally jealous he can plant already.
I just LOVE hearing about your parents.
I have never met them, but they are truly some of my favorite people. 🙂
I love this post about your dad’s gardening. I would be interested in knowing how all that produce gets processed once harvested. Does your mom can or freeze it? Do they eat from it all year? What all does he plant?
Edith, I’ll definitely try to do some new posts on all of that. Mom cans tomatoes and she freezes cream corn and also puts up green beans in jars. Most everything else, they eat when it comes in and give a lot away. Here is a canning tomatoes post I did in 2011, so you can see that process:
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/canning-tomatoes/
Rhoda, tell your dad that we love seeing his garden and hearing about how he plants it. He is becoming a real celebrity! It will be great to watch that garden grow this summer and fall. I feel so lucky to have found your blog Rhoda, it’s always so interesting and I love the family touch. My folks used to have a nice garden like that but they’re both gone now, so I will enjoy seeing your dear dad working in his garden!
God bless him! That’s a talent I wish I had.
Love seeing your Daddy out in that huge garden. And can I say that I love that you call your Daddy by “Daddy”. So many people make remarks about the fact that I and all my sisters still call our Daddy by Daddy. I am over 60 and call him Dad only once in a while.
I took notes on what your dad said, I am planning on putting in several square foot raised beds this year. Your dad rocks!!!
Fabulous post Rhoda, I always love seeing your Daddy in action, he puts many young people to shame with all he does! Thank you so much for sharing his gardening wisdom, I’m looking forward to hearing more.