SASSY SPRING BRINGS LIFE

RED MAPLE -- BUDS BLOOMING WITH LIFE
Acer rubrum

SHED NEEDS PAINT TO ADD SOME LIFE

GARDEN WAITING TO SPRING TO LIFE

WILD ONIONS GIVE MY SALADS SOME LIFE

MY GARLIC WILL ADD ZEST TO MY LIFE

ANTS GATHER FOR SOCIAL LIFE ON MY PORCH RAILING

A DOG'S LIFE -- SAL CATCHING SOME RAYS

MY BACK OBSERVATION POST WHERE I WATCH LIFE SPRING INTO ACTION

FARM WAYS -- COUNTRY HOMEMADE BLACKBERRY ARBOR

NATURAL BARK COVERED WOODEN BLACKBERRY ARBOR

Debbie and Kenny Hylton have raised 14 acres of tobacco on their land for many years. They are family farmers, farming in Madison County, Kentucky.It being one of the states that was part of the tobacco buy-out imposed by Congress in 2004. Today instead of fields of tobacco around every roadway, one finds the fields lying fallow waiting for other types of crops to someday be planted. The Hylton's came up with the idea of blackberries and this 2010 year will be their first crop. After their years of tobacco farming and the subsequent monetary drop of tobacco, Debbie and Kenny recently decided to take their life-long knowledge of farming and raise a different crop. Debbie said, "We've always farmed so we wanted to get started again with some type of growing."

CLOSE-UP OF THE LATERAL SUPPORTS OF THE BLACKBERRY ARBOR

The initial start-up idea produced a blackberry arbor built with branches collected from the trees on their property. Kenny left the bark on the branches that he used to build the arbor -- the lateral supports as well as the upright posts. This new arbor has an earthy, natural look and the cost was right. But the arbor was not large enough to produce a selling crop -- and a selling crop is what Debbie and Kenny had in mind.

ORIGINAL GRAPE ARBOR ON WHICH KENNY ATTACHED HIS FIRST BLACKBERRY ARBOR

So, Kenny did not stop with just a small arbor. Last fall he built trellises on his farm acreage for future blackberry crops. Both of the Hylton's look forward to possibly selling blackberries at farm markets.

SCENIC VIEW ACROSS THE FIELD OF BLACKBERRY TRELLIS SUPPORTS MADE OF SAWN LUMBER

Kenny continued with his new crop idea by building trellises in the fields that once held tobacco. Right now they stand ready to accept the berry bushes that will climb upward on them. I heard a phrase recently that seems to suit the farmers hit by the tobacco buy-out -- you strive to survive.

As I was getting ready to leave, Debbie, with a big smile on her face said, "Come back later to see the blackberries twined in the trellises and full of berries." And I smiled back and said, "Thank you, I would love too."

1936 LITHOGRAPHS -- STARK BRO'S NURSERIES AND ORCHARDS

In 1936 the nation was deep into the Great Depression. Gardens and orchards were prized for family food rather than as a hobby pastime. Stark Bro's Nursery and Orchards was well established with nursery and orchard stock during this time. In 1936 they had been in business for approximately 121 years. Sales men traveled extensively to sell their products. One of the sales tools that they used was called a Plate Book. It was a visual delight -- packed full of lithographs of stock to order.

Since garden season is close upon us I thought I would post the beautiful lithos of their Plate Book that I picked up years ago. Perhaps it will get your juices going to plant some fruit trees, vines, or bushes. Following is a parade of some pages from the 1936 Salesman's Plate Book.

ALBERTA PEACHES

GRAPES

MIXED FRUIT

MIXED FRUIT

PEARS

APPLES

For a well researched history of the Stark Brothers Nursery click here.

EAST MEETS WEST SUSTAINABILITY

SCARECROWS IN JAPAN

Sustainability is a word that gets tossed around quite a bit lately. Current usage seems to encompass the idea that one can be sustainable on a piece of land, large or small, and live well. Self-sustainability seems to be the mantra of the day.

Yet recently I read an article in Fall 2008 Mother Earth News magazine of a couple that live in Japan and practice a Japanese form of sustainability called community-sustainability. With self-sustainability one is more or less inward thinking, individualistic, about his food production on the land, while in Japan the idea of community-sustainability means that it is grown communally with neighbors of all ages. The elderly are especially prized in such an endeavor as they carry wisdom of planting, harvesting, and types of plants that grow well in the their environment.

HOMEMADE SCARECROW, BEREA COMMUNITY GARDENS, KENTUCKY

In the sixties, here in the states communal living was popular and some communes grew produce

communally. With time, communes fell by the wayside. Today, my question is why neighborhoods can’t become communal when it comes to raising a garden, modeling after the Japanese idea of community-sustainability. Much would be gained from this idea as the whole of the community would have common interests and a sharing of production.

This seems to be a better method then striking out on ones own to learn from the bottom up. Why reinvent the wheel when there are people in your community that have much wisdom when it comes to gardening.

HOMEMADE SCARECROW, MADISON COUNTY, KENTUCKY

Now I am quite sure that community-sustainability is practiced in some parts of the U.S. but it just doesn’t go by that name. The closest idea to this is community gardens that some cities and towns have begun for the citizens in their area. However, the participants of these gardens don’t necessarily share a common neighborhood. My feeling is that we would be wise to covert the name of self-sustainability to community- sustainability and promote harmony based on gardens and other wisdom ideas. Not that everyone would agree on everything but dialogue and working with each other promotes harmony.

MY WINTER SKY

Tis the time when mother nature lets us know that winter is fast approaching. I'm almost ready for it. My tiny garden has been planted with a small winter crop of turnips and kale. The leaves have fallen providing a nutritious blanket for the garden. There is a feeling of stillness to nature.

GARDEN PATCH

MY GARDEN PATCH WITH LIL STANDING GUARD

My father was a tomato gardener. Oh, he grew other vegetables but tomatoes were his specialty. Perhaps this is where I developed my interest and taste for tomatoes. He grew a large garden when I was young in which I always got to put down a seed row of some vegetable and call it my own.

COLORFUL COSMOS FLOWERING ABUNDANTLY IN THE GARDEN PATCH

Then as he aged into his sixties and no longer had children at home he reduced his garden in size and only grew tomatoes and green beans. My mother and father canned their tomatoes and green beans into their late sixties.

ONE OF MANY BUTTERFLIES THAT ENJOY THE ZINNIAS IN THE GARDEN PATCH

Then in his seventies he dialed down his plantings even more -- his garden became diminutive where now he only grew tomatoes -- "there's nothing like a freshly picked home grown tomato sprinkled with a little salt," he would always say.

MY PATCH WITH A TANGLE OF GREEN TOMATOES ON THE VINE COOPED UP BY LARGE RECYCLED TOMATO CAGES

I feel I am following in my father's footsteps. At one time I had large gardens but now, as I age, I'm down to a " garden patch." Its about 20X8 and is stuffed with all kinds of vegetables that seem to cover almost the whole little garden.

My "garden patch" is just the right size for me. I threw in starts of organic tomatoes along with herbs such as basil, dill and cilantro. Then as I had so many seeds left over from last year I just sowed them and kept my fingers crossed that they would grow. Some seeds were several years old. Everything sprouted even the flower seeds I threw in at the last mnute for color. Only the bush beans didn't grow well but I believe they did not like the early spring rains and retaliated by producing little. But the rest -- bountiful! Squash, Zinnia, Golden Cosmos, Bachelor Buttons, Herbs, Broom corn, Cucumbers, Sunflowers, Lettuce, Kentucky Climbing Beans, Heavenly Blue Morning Glories and of course TOMATOES. Here's to you Dad!

FORGOTTEN PEOPLE -- HARRY SAIER, SEEDSMAN

TULIPS IN BLOOM AT THE SAIER FARM SOMETIME IN THE 1950s

seedsman: one who deals in seeds

One of the several places that I have lived is in the state of Michigan. Stories can be found no matter where you live -- about folks and the environment. This story is about a man and his apparent love of seeds. It is a story about the loss of a fascinating thread that was once woven into a local culture.

Outside of Lansing, Michigan is an old farmstead that once belonged to a dynamic seedsman by the name of Harry Saier. His home and the outbuildings still exist on the property however Harry doesn't and neither does his seed company. Unfortunately, I do not know when Mr. Saier died but I do know that he began his seed business on that farmstead in 1911.

About thirty years ago, I became aware that there had been a seed business at a Dimondale country place outside of Lansing when a friend of mine bought the property and contents of Saier's estate. His beautiful, two-story, brick Victorian home was brimming with antiques that were quickly sold to an antique dealer.

My friend invited me out to her newly acquired place where I marveled at the serene beauty of the farm. She commented that the former owner had been a seedsman and that the estate had been tied up in court for quite awhile.

What I found most interesting was the barn. Especially the second floor of the early, Pennsylvania-type forebay, barn. On the second floor were stacks of wooden folding seed cases that were used to display seed packets in stores. There were hundreds of them! All were in excellent shape, had great patina, Saier's logo imprinted, and were about four feet by three feet in size with flat backs that folded out. I instantly could visualize one on my kitchen wall filled with a collection of old seed packs. My friend had an offer on the table from someone who would buy all the cases for $15.00 each. I offered her $60.00 for two and she quickly took me up on it.

HIS CATALOG LIST OF RARE SEEDS FOR MAIL ORDER SALES

HIS CATALOG LIST FOR THE OVER 5000 TYPES OF SEEDS HE OFFERED

Today, as I sit in my home in Kentucky, I look at his brown seed packs on my Saier seed shelf and wonder about the man's life. Intrigued from the aspect of how could a man so prolific in his seed offerings become a ghost of a figure today? Very little is known about Harry and his seed business. Below I have gathered what few characteristics I could find about the man and his commerce:
-- that he began his seed business in 1911.
-- that he used two different names for his seed company, Saier Seeds and Pioneer Seeds.
-- that he was still in business about the 1950s.
-- when he aged he sold all his plant inventory to two young men from California.
-- that the young men who bought the inventory became the J.L. Hudson seed company.
-- that he printed his own newsprint-type of catalog.
-- that he imported seeds from all over the world.
-- that he carried over 5000 different kinds of seeds.
-- that he sold bulbs.
-- that his seeds were sold both in local stores and by mail order,
-- that he specialized in rare seeds.
--that he also sold plants and trees.

-- that he lived alone later in life.

OLD TIN SIGN OF THE SAIER SEED BUSINESS -- LANSING POST OFFICE MAILING ADDRESS, BUT CONDUCTED BUSINESS IN DIMONDALE, MICHIGAN

My daughter found this sign in a Lansing antique shop many years ago. I always thought it was wonderful. Lucky for me that she decided to give up the sign this year. I became the happy recipient of it!

ORIGINAL SEED MATERIAL FROM THE SAIER FARM GIVEN TO ME BY WORKERS

In the early 2000s I heard the farm, house and all, was sold to a company that turned the property into a cemetery. When hearing about the sale I was once again living in Michigan. I decided to stop in to see if there were any remnants of Saier's business about the property. I ran into two young, wonderful workers that told the sad story of how one outbuilding was full of Mr. Saier's old records which had been sent off to a landfill. They also told me of an old printing machine that Mr Saier used to roll off his self-designed catalogs. The printer also ended up in a landfill.

Luckily, one of the young men saved some of the seed packs along with duplicate copies of one of Saier's catalogs. Not a scrap was left in any of the building to indicate that there was once a thriving seed business located there. Then, he told me to wait a minute. He ducked into one of the buildings and walked out with some things in his hands which he gave to me. A newsprint catalog, some small cloth sacks, and some brown seed packs. "No one has shown any interest in this man except you so you should have these," he said.

As I read through his catalog offerings I realized that Harry Saier was an early heirloom seed saver and could easily be at the forefront of the movement if he were alive today.

SAIER'S SMALL ARTICLE HE WROTE IN HIS CATALOG.

Yet, today he has joined the ranks of the man he wrote about in the only catalog that I have of his (see article above). Harry Saier wrote -- "the writer did not sign his name, otherwise I would have recorded it, 55 years after! What changes occur in 55 years! How easily we are forgotten in the course of 55 years!"