Gardening
From James Donahue’s Journal
During the years we lived on Hale Road I had my best garden ever. It stretched from the road back the full length of the yard almost to the barn. I experimented with many varieties of just about every vegetable from corn to peas and beans. I grew potatoes, melons, parsnips and carrots. Once the garden began producing, we enjoyed fresh vegetables throughout the summer, and the excess was saved in the deep freezer in our garage.
I tried to plant early, medium and late varieties of corn, peas and strawberries so we had fresh produce from the garden throughout the season. The squash and pumpkins came on late. I planted my potatoes in little hills so we could dig down and pull small early potatoes out of the ground without digging up the entire plant. One of our favorite meals was fresh baby potatoes boiled with fresh peas.
One year, when we were still living on Fulton Street, spring arrived in March. I had my garden ready and some early things like radishes and lettuce planted in April. The weather continued to remain warm and inviting so I dared to plant green beans and corn in April. My friends told me I was crazy but my gamble paid off that year. We were enjoying fresh beans, peas and corn a month before everybody else.
A few years later, when I had my big garden on Hale Road, we had another early spring. It got warm and nice in March, the fruit trees blossomed and I was able to get my garden tilled and some early plantings in the ground. I dared to put in two rows of peas in addition to the radishes and lettuce. Then on April 2 we were hit by a late winter storm. It snowed hard and the wind blew. When it was over, there was a snowbank about three feet deep over the garden area where I planted the peas. I waited until early June before all that snow melted and the garden dried out enough so I could work up the soil again. I never expected the peas that I planted in March to come up, so I planted more peas in the same area. Surprise! All of the peas planted in that part of the garden sprouted at the same time. They grew in rows and in between rows. We had an overabundance of peas that year.
It was my practice to keep a compost pile at one end of the garden. It was a large pile of grass clippings, autumn leaves, and vegetable leaves and scraps from the harvest. One year Doris and I brought home a large box of black walnuts from the row of trees at the Deckerville Road property where her mother lived. We let the walnuts sit in the garage that winter, using a few of them for things baked in the kitchen, but most of them went unused. The next spring I decided to toss the walnuts on the compost pile. I was surprised when they sprouted. I had little walnut trees coming up all over my compost pile. I could not let that go. I love trees and I knew that walnuts were in such demand by furniture makers these trees were becoming scarce. So I went on a tree-planting spree.
I dug up the little seedlings and went about the countryside, setting in walnut trees everywhere I found a place to do it. There were at least five or six of them planted around our home. Some were heeled into soil in small woodlots on the neighbor’s farms. And I put them all over Dad’s farm near Port Hope. I felt like Johnny Maple Seed putting these marvelous little seedlings in the ground everywhere I went. I never had black walnuts sprout like that again. I tried that same thing in later years and never got the same results. Apparently, walnuts have to freeze and then thaw, and conditions have to be just right before they sprout. I still smile when I think that young walnut trees may be growing wild all over that part of Michigan.
From James Donahue’s Journal
During the years we lived on Hale Road I had my best garden ever. It stretched from the road back the full length of the yard almost to the barn. I experimented with many varieties of just about every vegetable from corn to peas and beans. I grew potatoes, melons, parsnips and carrots. Once the garden began producing, we enjoyed fresh vegetables throughout the summer, and the excess was saved in the deep freezer in our garage.
I tried to plant early, medium and late varieties of corn, peas and strawberries so we had fresh produce from the garden throughout the season. The squash and pumpkins came on late. I planted my potatoes in little hills so we could dig down and pull small early potatoes out of the ground without digging up the entire plant. One of our favorite meals was fresh baby potatoes boiled with fresh peas.
One year, when we were still living on Fulton Street, spring arrived in March. I had my garden ready and some early things like radishes and lettuce planted in April. The weather continued to remain warm and inviting so I dared to plant green beans and corn in April. My friends told me I was crazy but my gamble paid off that year. We were enjoying fresh beans, peas and corn a month before everybody else.
A few years later, when I had my big garden on Hale Road, we had another early spring. It got warm and nice in March, the fruit trees blossomed and I was able to get my garden tilled and some early plantings in the ground. I dared to put in two rows of peas in addition to the radishes and lettuce. Then on April 2 we were hit by a late winter storm. It snowed hard and the wind blew. When it was over, there was a snowbank about three feet deep over the garden area where I planted the peas. I waited until early June before all that snow melted and the garden dried out enough so I could work up the soil again. I never expected the peas that I planted in March to come up, so I planted more peas in the same area. Surprise! All of the peas planted in that part of the garden sprouted at the same time. They grew in rows and in between rows. We had an overabundance of peas that year.
It was my practice to keep a compost pile at one end of the garden. It was a large pile of grass clippings, autumn leaves, and vegetable leaves and scraps from the harvest. One year Doris and I brought home a large box of black walnuts from the row of trees at the Deckerville Road property where her mother lived. We let the walnuts sit in the garage that winter, using a few of them for things baked in the kitchen, but most of them went unused. The next spring I decided to toss the walnuts on the compost pile. I was surprised when they sprouted. I had little walnut trees coming up all over my compost pile. I could not let that go. I love trees and I knew that walnuts were in such demand by furniture makers these trees were becoming scarce. So I went on a tree-planting spree.
I dug up the little seedlings and went about the countryside, setting in walnut trees everywhere I found a place to do it. There were at least five or six of them planted around our home. Some were heeled into soil in small woodlots on the neighbor’s farms. And I put them all over Dad’s farm near Port Hope. I felt like Johnny Maple Seed putting these marvelous little seedlings in the ground everywhere I went. I never had black walnuts sprout like that again. I tried that same thing in later years and never got the same results. Apparently, walnuts have to freeze and then thaw, and conditions have to be just right before they sprout. I still smile when I think that young walnut trees may be growing wild all over that part of Michigan.