Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1874-10-10
l-aAing Garden.

Last year my wife said it would be so
nice if VIC could only have a little garden
behind the house. and raise our own vege-
tables. We live in town, and our garden
spot is one rod vide by two rods long, sur
rounded by fences twelve feet high and |
felt dubious. However. wife said she should
feel 50 proud to pull rad,li>hcs, lettuce, and
peas from our own garden; and she was so
enthusiastic over the idea that consented
to turn that waste o! oyster cans, hoop
skirts, ash barrels, and old ax handles, into
smiling garden.
| dreamed OF planting beans, climbing Gu
cltmber vines, and selling lettuce by the car
load, and the next morning | gave man
five dollars to clear ont and spade up the
back yard Then | bought spade. hoe,
and rake. and proceeded to lay the ground
off into beds, and to make romantic walks
between them. wherein the children and
their mother might wander at cvcntidc.
was week doing this Some of the
beds were square. some threc-cornered, and
some on the hali-circle, and the broad ave-
nucS and alleys running between excited
the jealousy Of all the professional gardens
in town. They coudn't lick me and so they
called me names One said was an old
fool another said was an idiot, another
thought | had gone mad, and the rest of
them called me old pirate, and so forth. |
should have been discouraged but for my
wife.
planted five dollars worth of stuff.
slung in peas by the pint, exhausted the
bean market and scattered lettuce until the
ground groanc,l. and then fell back and
waited for nature. While we were on an
excursion down the river, Smiths hens
came over and sat down on my delicate beds,
dug holes in them kicked the dirt around.
and knocked the corners off the middle bed.
went for Smith. barkcd his nose, and was
fined twenty-five dollars, and then spent a
whole day repairing the beds.
The garden wa, doing finely, and | was
contracting to supply hotel with early
vegetables, when Purdy'S pig got out and
made me II visit. When got home and
went ont to wander in my garden, threw
down my hat. jumped on it, and sworc that
Id roast Purdy at the stake. went over
and dared him to knock a chip off my Shoul-
der, and was arrested for threats and fined
fifteen dollars. 1t took about a week to fix
up my garden. | bought three dollars
worth Of guamo. and sat up all night watch
ing with the early plants, and finally they
got over it and began to smile again. The
morning that was able to point out to my
family the top of an early onion, and three
or four green thing, where had planted
lettuce. was a proud morning for me.
There We're tears in my wie's eyes, and the
children leaned against tie woodshed and
sobhed in cxl'tati,n.
y week passed, TIE plants We're just
throwing dirt over the fence, when the
chimney on the next house took fire, and
the lir2men came i'll on my garden. When
lcamc home and went out 10 wander. saw
the smiling yerdure of the morning turned
into Il lake, with Il dead hen in the centre
for an island The dear children were sail
ing corn starch boxes across tie lake toward
a dead cat in the corner, and as they saw
me they cried OUT
son, father, amt you glad? We can
now have Il mlldam, and be as big as Mr..
Trips folks
My wife is very quiet and meek now-a-
days. She never says anything about early
vegetables or smiling gardens, and if men
tion the subject myself, she replies, in an
absent way
Orchard, isn't it strange that don't get
a letter from mothcr?'