When I was about ten and resented having to weed and hoe and water our large family garden,

[Atticus]

I remember vowing that when I grew up, I would NEVER eat any vegetables that didn't come out of a can.

Tonight, we're having creamed peas I picked from MY garden this morning while they were still hanging with dew. They are the "Little Marvel" variety; the same kind my Dad planted over 60 years ago.

We planted Little Marvel peas, Kentucky Wonder pole beans, Golden Bantam sweet corn and Vardaman sweet potatoes. Detroit Red beets, Black Seeded Simpson lettuce and Brandywine tomatoes filled the rest of the garden.

It amazes me that I still recall all those varieties, but I suppose years of planting, harvesting and eating them sort of engraved those labels onto my mind.

Root crops were buried in a makeshift "cellar" constructed each fall when our canna bulbs were dug up and stored away. Potatoes, turnips, beets and carrots were usually retrieved by me as needed throughout the winter---even when it required scooping snow.

I thought my Dad was mean to make me sweat in the garden when there was baseball to be played and fish to be caught, but I think of him often with glistening eyes as I plant seeds with names I learned from him.

Gotta go make those creamed peas.

[3catwoman3]

1. I do hope fresh creamed peas...

…are better than their canned cousins.

My mom used to serve canned creamed peas. Canned peas are bad enough. Creamed cannned peas are truly vile - mushy AND slimy.

Raw peas right out of the pod are the best, IMO.

[yellowdogintexas]

7. fresh green peas served in any fashion are just heavenly

I will add that if your mom had used frozen peas to make her creamed peas, they would have been pretty good

[sarge43]

20. Picked right off the vine and scarfed down mmmmm

and tomatoes, too.

Time spent gardening is never recorded in the Great Ledger.

[Delmette2.0]

2. You made me think of my childhood.

My parents had apple and plum trees and a large garden. The back yard was two thirds food production. We had lots of corn, peas, green beans, potatoes. Then there was room for strawberries and rasberries for jams and jellies. Oh, I almost most forgot my pumpkins.

I learned how to make jam and jelly from Mom and how to plant potatoes and corn from Dad.

[yellowdogintexas]

9. me too. Some years we grew a garden and some years we didn't

but it did not matter whether we did or not; I can't count the times we went out the front door and found a basket of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers or corn on our front steps. We made a lot of pickles!

Folks tended to plant very large gardens and when a crop comes in, it comes in with a vengance

Between our yard, my grandmother's yard, and my aunt's yard we had grape and plum jelly, blackberry jam, cherry jelly, pear, apple and peach preserves. We had two pecan trees too.

WHen the sweet corn came in families would have massive corn production setups where one person husked it, one scrubbed, one scraped the kernels and one bagged the kernels. It was nice having great corn all winter.

I miss all that wonderful tasting fresh food.

[Delmette2.0]

10. I forgot the tomatoes and cucumbers!

Thanks for for your post.

[yellowdogintexas]

32. you're welcome. nt

[wryter2000]

3. Wonderful

May I make a recommendation? Fortex pole beans. Make room for some plants next year and see if they aren't the most delicious green beans you've ever eaten. Also, very prolific fruit.

[smirkymonkey]

27. We always grew them!

They were very popular w/ the Italians and the garden was pretty much my Dad's project, so he always wanted the pole beans and the zucchini. We would sautee them in EV Olive oil and garlic and they were really delicious. Sometimes they would add potatoes and hot red pepper to them as well.

[MLAA]

4. Love creamed peas! Wish I was your neighbor!

[Harker]

5. Thank you.

Evocative and beautiful.

[Canoe52]

6. All our veggies came out of cans growing up.

My mom would say, go in the pantry and pick out the vegetable for dinner. My favorite was a can of creamed corn, which was probably half sugar.
Canned peas or spinach however were a nightmare.

[Delmette2.0]

11. I never could eat canned veggies.

Except for the creamed corn!

[Canoe52]

19. Seriously thought veggies were made in a factory.

[Delmette2.0]

25. I worked with a woman who did not know that potatoes were grown underground.

I guess she thought they were grown on trees.

[AZ8theist]

8. How about sharing your recipe, Atticus?

[Atticus]

24. Just a basic roux, actually. 1/4 c. melted butter, 1/4 c. flour whisked together with 1/2 tsp

salt, then stir in 2 c. milk and 4 c. peas. If using fresh peas, cook partially in microwave before adding them in.

Can add carrots, mushrooms, new potatoes, bacon----whatever sounds good.

[AZ8theist]

29. DANG! That DOES sound good...gotta try that..

[yellowdogintexas]

31. baby lima beans are wonderful in a cream sauce nt

[yellowdogintexas]

12. KentuckyWonder Pole beans are the best! You are making me hungry!

We grew Black Seeded Simpson lettuce too! potatoes (fresh potatoes stright from the garden are amazing); summer squash, radishes, tomatoes, corn, lima beans, and the other green beans that grow closer to the ground.

No tomato can taste like ours did unless it is bought at a farmer's market.

During the summer, our mid-day meal was often a combo veg plate with green beans, summer squash, cucumbers marinated in vinegar, sliced tomatoes, corn, and new potatoes with cornbread and sweet tea.

I can't even grow a couple of tomato plants in pots in this yard because we have so much shade!

[usaf-vet]

13. What growing (planting) Zone are you in. Where to you get your seeds.

Thank you. Atticus

[Atticus]

23. ZONE 6. Since my old reliable garden shop closed, I had been getting most seeds from catalogs.

This year, found an Amish nursery and got most everything there.

[usaf-vet]

26. Thanks for the info and tips. Next season!

[George II]

14. Interesting story, thanks! Amazing how things change once we grow up, eh?

When I was very young my father made me cut the grass - about twice a month on our 50X100 foot lot, more than half of it the house and driveway. I hated it, even though it took only about 15 minutes beginning to end.

Now I have a house on half an acre (20,000 sq ft), about 85% grass. I absolutely LOVE mowing it, and do it about once a week! I don't have a riding mower. One time used the gps on my phone to measure it. To do the entire thing is more than a mile and a half. Great exercise.

Enjoy the peas.

[Mr.Bill]

15. My wife often talks about taking her lunch to school in the 50s

and always trying to trade her home-made bread sandwich for one made with white Wonder Bread.

[onethatcares]

16. you're very blessed

to have creamed peas grown by yourself and memories of your dad.

[pansypoo53219]

17. my grandpa grew blue lake pole beans + keep that. he liked guerney girl tomatoes + better boy.

Last edited Wed Jun 30, 2021, 07:10 PM - Edit history (1)

i grow less. but i transplanted the family rhubarb. i need to pick some. i needs my rhubarb tarts. i am using rhubarb later. making my mixes. cherry rhubarb, plum rhubarb. lemon rhubarb.

[Woodwizard]

18. I think of my parents when in my garden.

Growing up we always had a big one, my mother would can in the fall.

Now I have a big garden and usually can around 80 quarts of tomatoes and hot peppers a season. I like spending my last working hour in the garden picking and weeding it is relaxing not work like it was when I was a kid, though as a kid I did not mind too much knowing fresh tomatoes were on the way.

[NBachers]

21. "Baseball to be played and fish to be caught." I'd finish marching in the Memorial Day Parade and

walk home with my Boy Scout uniform on. Dad would have the Rototiller ready to go, and we’d go up into the garden and get everything ready and start putting in onions and tomato plants and seeds. In western New York, Memorial Day was when we could figure we were safe from snow and freezing.

[catbyte]

22. We always had a big garden when I was growing up. I HATED it when it was time to pick the

green and yellow beans. I think I might have been allergic to the stems and leaves because I can still feel how itchy my arms and hands got picking those blasted things. But I do love them, though. One of my favorite meals growing up was freshly-dug new potatoes, beans (usually Roma), and bacon boiled in one pot. Incredibly yummy! Then there were tomato sandwiches made with a fresh-picked tomato on my dad's homemade bread with a little mayo and lots of freshly ground black pepper. I made myself hungry.

Those peas sound DIVINE.

[yellowdogintexas]

30. Tomato sandwiches - especially bacon and tomato sandwiches!

The person who invented the BLT should be worshiped!!!

Now I want one.

[smirkymonkey]

28. Sounds wonderful!

My parents always had a huge garden every summer. I didn't particularly like weeding or working in it, but I did like eating what came out of it. I hated canned produce, but I loved garden vegetables.

We had regular green beans, pole beans, zucchini, summer squash (yellow), tomatoes, green and red peppers, potatoes, corn, beets, leaf lettuce, cucumbers and probably a few other things - some herbs, etc.

We also had mint growing in our yard and some wild berries.

I think that a lot of people who say they don't like vegetables have never had really fresh vegetables from the garden. They are so much better than conventional supermarket vegetables (although organic comes close).