The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-12-09
DOING OUR BIT

Thanksgiving day has gone but the
thankful feeling still remains that
our lot has been cast in pleasant
places.
| When we read of the suffering in
the North caused by the lack Of fuel
| we look around us and see life time
| supply for the cost of gathering.
| When we read of the suffering and
distress caused by the terrible
| drouth in Texas and in other parts
of the world we are thankful that we
have an abundance Of water merely
for the effort of pumping.
And our garden! The war has not
affected US so far as our garden is
concerned and we are again thank
full that we live in a state where we
can have a garden every month in
the year And today we have grow
| ing lettuce, turnips, kale, Brussels
sprouts, radishes, mustard, beets,
| English peas, cabbage, collards, Chi
nese cabbage and onions. The gar
den is a thing Of beauty and salts
faction. We keep on planting SO
that something fresh is coming on
and are getting the ground ready for
tender vegetables to be planted so
soon as Jack Frost leaves for the
North Pole.
| With hundreds of jars of fruit and
grape juice from fruit growing on
the home place, loading the shelves
of the fruit closet, home grown pea
nuts for peanut butter made at home
and our meat supply kept up by Holt
who keeps his traps set and who
brings in rabbits and other game. He
has his license to hunt and keeps the
table always well supplied, yesterday
we had "possum and sweet taters"
for dinner with crisp lettuce and cris-
per cabbage for salad.
| The boy brings in ducks and his
gun, which he affectionately calls
| Pete never fails to go off and Is be-
coming quite an expert hunter. He
brought in lovely fox this morning
the meat was fed to chickens and
ducks. He sells the pelts.
| By the way if you have not tried
Chinese cabbage by all weans get a
package of seed plant it. Great
green leaves with milk white stems
so crisp that it is almost impossible
to wash them, and tie flavor is more
delicate than the finest lettuce.
Oh, yes there is the other side, for
| the sand is not good soil admit that
| but that can be rernedied by intelE
gent labor. AS the soil lacks hu1nus
we put it there in the shape of barn
yard fertilized; the chicken house is
swept clean and the sweepings stored
away for future use ar are rakcd in
| around the plants, the same With the
the duck pens. The fallen leaves are
either raked into trenches and buried
or burned and the ashes put on the
beds, weeds are turned under, every
thing available used, nothing wasted.
a h f~,,
two months but we carry water and
keep the garden growing.
There are fault finders in every
land and SO Florida has them in
abundance. Some say Nothing will
grow in this sand" and yet we have
proveh that a garden can be grown
the year round.
Others say: "It requires 50 much
work preparing fertilizer to make
| anything grow" and in reply a man
who has been here twenty-five years
and came from Kentucky says: 81
cen, withthe same amount Of work
and the same quantity of fertilizer
raise more on one acre Of Florida
land than I could on Kentucky land
know, for have done it."
Another says: "You can't get your
living from the SOIL" and tie Ken
lucky man says: az have done it, l
raised as fine frat as ever grew and
got good price for it,
.edoig ytllyrgus
sides to everything, but wtero in
the United States can you find a
home that just fer tire effort of get
ting it viii furnish fish and oysters
from the waters, fuel End meat from
the woods, a garden every moth in
the year?
The fish can be sailed down or can
be smoked SO keep up the supply.
And so to return to our feelinf of
thankfulness we sum it all ND by
saying we are thanwfui that We are
giving in Florida in these war times,