Did Jack Pull Weeds?
Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 08:02PM | Lynn Finally, it's spring in North Carolina. At least in my "neck of the woods." And, I am overjoyed. I have never liked cold weather. I guess it has something to do with being born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, a place my mother always said could get hot as the "hinges of hello." Anyway, you get the picture. I like it warm. I like long growing seasons. That's reason enough to also miss living in Florida where tropical plants we keep as houseplants in NC grow outdoors all year round. Our neighbors had a front yard full of red-blooming Poinsettias growing in the ground.
It hit 85 degrees today with bright sunshine. I was outside most of the day weeding, cutting back, and doling out fertilizer. Carting off scraggly limbs and hard-dug weeds spruced up things and made the yard look much neater. Then again, it could frost two or three nights in a row (before May) and kill some of the plants I proudly planted. I thought of Columbia, where the cold weather won't return until sometime in late November. Anyone planting in SC this weekend might see blooms or vegetables a full two to three weeks before we do north of the state line.
Throughout my wearying work, I thought about Jack in the "Jack Tales." I don't think he ever pulled weeds. He plowed. He cleared new ground, but I've never heard about him weeding. Ray Hicks, the keeper of the Jack tales, often talked about hoeing the weeds out of the "gyarden." (That's the way he pronounced "garden.") But the weeds we have in our yard, require dynamite to get them out. We'll never rid ourselves of the wire grass that sends roots down, "fooling us up" (thanks, Ray Hicks), causing us to think that we've truly weeded. It is like bamboo, only yard grass. Once we get a clear spot, the next few days brings forth new grass. Sometimes I think it might be easier to give up and live with a yard of weeds. But it was my daughter-in-law who pointed out one day that weeds are simply plants I don't want to have growing in the yard. Well, I wish those darn things were fast-growing daisies or rudbeckia. At least I could have more beautiful flowers.
At last the vegetable plot is cleared and I'm watching small plants grow stronger every day. I'm looking forward to picking the first "mess" of squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers. Jack and Ray loved good eatin'. In fact, Ray and his son, Ted, also grew corn, pumpkins, cabbages, 'taters, beans, and a glorious rows of sunflowers.
I like walking out the back door and across the patio to pick supper. It's good to know that I'm eating something that hasn't been poisoned before harvest. I have a friend who insists on washing all fresh fruits and vegetables (including a head of lettuce) in water with a small amount of Clorox. He swears that fresh vegetables shipped across country and from other countries may have been sprayed to enhance their color and preserve their freshness. Another friend believes that also and has become a fanatic in her search for locally grown fruits and vegetables so she'll know where her food comes from.
Hooray! Spring is here. If you come by to see me, you'll find me in the backyard.
Reader Comments (4)
Hi Lynn!
Glad to see you made it back home safely and are busy with your garden. The Appalachian Story Quilt program was a rousing success. It was so great to have you here in Asheville with us. Please come back and visit when you have more time--I would love to see you again.
Yesterday was a beautiful day to be out enjoying the garden. Having been fooled so many other years by wonderful weekends followed by frost; this year I spent yesterday preparing the soil for planting, trimming roses and butterfly bushes, but didn't try to plant ANYTHING. Keep your fingers crossed that the snow doesn't harm my bud-bursting lilac bush. That poor thing seems cursed to prepare and then die back before flowering.
My yard sounds very much like your own. The owners before me had most of the back yard turned into a vegetable garden and used clover as ground cover in the fall. After a couple of ambitious years of attempting to keep the garden going, I gave up and now I have a backyard full of weeds, clover and sawgrass.
Talk to you again soon,
Carla
Thanks! It was fun to be in Asheville and to meet you and Patricia. I forgot to mention my two lilac bushes. I've been waiting two years for them to bloom and have not seen even one blossom. There are plenty of buds and we have a call for 32 degrees. Keep your fingers crossed. isn't nice to have gardens to talk about?
I think Jack probably did pull weeds. And most likely they ended up in a pot, pan, or salad bowl. My family was vacationing at the Rassmussen's cabin at the dead end of Dutch Creek Road in the 1970's and met a lady named Matheson who lived even further back than we were. She gave us a tour of the immediate area to point out the "edibles" growing wild in that area. It was amazing the things she pointed out that ended up being very tasty. The best of them all were the milkweed pods. New pods, boiled and drained about 6-8 times, a little pad of butter, a touch of salt, and you have a delicious flavor a lot like broccoli.
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