Baby Boomer Grandparent

In early April Grammy began preparing the ground for her garden.  She needed to turn and fertilize the soil to get it ready for spring planting.  Grammy called the older boys to help. It took all day for Grammy, Michael, Nicholas, Mac and Sam to get the garden ready and to put up the little white fence that was necessary to keep Tucker, the dog, out of their garden.  The boys had many suggestions for planting the garden.  Nick wanted to grow popsicles.  Michael wanted to plant bubble gum trees.  Grammy always kept bubble gum in her pocket for her grandchildren.  The next morning Jaye, Sophia, Grace and Emma came over to help Grammy decide what to plant in the garden. “Tomatoes and peppers for sure,  said Grace “they are my favorites. “Beans,” said Emma “they always grow fast.” “Melons are my favorite, said Sophia. “We need to plant our pumpkins now,  said Jaye “so we have then in time for our Halloween party, “What do you want to plant?”  they asked Grammy. “Potatoes,” said Grammy.“The boys and I decided on potatoes. “Potatoes?” asked the girls. “How do you grow potatoes?” “You plant the eyes of the potatoes in large mounds of dirt, water the mounds every day and keep the weeds away.  When the plants grow tall and start to wilt, you dig up the potatoes,” said Grammy.

Every day the children and Grammy would check the garden.  If it had not rained they would water the plants and pull the weeds.  The tomatoes and beans were growing so fast it they would be able to eat them soon.  The peppers were getting bigger and greener every day.  Although the pumpkins were still small, they all knew they would be big before Halloween.

The children couldn’t see the potatoes only the green tops. Everyday Grace would ask Grammy if the eyes had grown yet and if they could see her.  Everyday Grammy would explain to Grace that the “eyes” were really seeds and would not be able to see at all.

In the middle of August Grammy rang the bell in the back yard.  The children came running to her. “It is finally time,” said Grammy. “We have picked the tomatoes and peppers and beans.  We have enjoyed our fresh vegetables and now it is time to wake up our sleepy potatoes. “Will they finally open their eyes?” asked Grace.

Grammy gave each child a small shovel. “Select a partner,” said Grammy ”and I will tell you what plant you can dig up.” They had planted purple, Yukon gold, white and red potatoes.  Sophia chose Mac.  Michael and Nick became a team.  Jaye and Sam were partners.  As usual Grace and Emma chose each other. Ben and Elena always stayed together. Jack and Abby become Grammy’s helpers.
Everyone started to dig very carefully around the potato plants. “We have at least 12 potatoes,” shouted Sam.“I think we have 100,” said Nicholas.“Our potatoes are purple,” said Sophia and Mac.  Emma and Grace found 5 and then 2 more and then 4 more. “Keep digging,” said Grammy. Ben and Elena found two.“We two,” said Ben. “That’s all,” said Elena. “Dig some more” said Grammy.  Jack and Abby laughed as they made the dirt fly all over Grammy.  When everyone had finished digging there were  60 potatoes.“We will each take some home,” said Grammy “and the rest will be for my surprise.” Grammy divided some of the potatoes among the children to take home to their parents. She took ten potatoes and told the children to follow her.  In her kitchen Grammy asked Jaye and Sophia to scrub the potatoes.  She asked Emma, Sam and Grace to put enough plates and napkins on the table for everyone.  Sam was good at counting so he gave the plates and napkins to the girls.  Nicholas got the saltshaker. Michael and Mac helped the younger children wash their hands.

When the potatoes were all washed, Grammy carefully peeled each one and set it in a bowl of cold water. Then she sliced each potato into long thin slices.  Grammy cooked the slices in a pot of hot oil and gave some to each child on their plate.”It’s a French fry party,” they all said. The children said the potatoes were delicious. “Yum” said Jack.“More please,” said Abby.

“These are the best potatoes,” said Grammy “because we planted them, watered them, picked them, cleaned them and cooked them ourselves.  Every year we will have a french fry party.  As the children were cleaning up Grammy heard Grace ask Emma “Do your french fries have any eyes?

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