They move steadily along the rows, the older brother leading the way as he lays down tomato plants. His younger brother follows with a bucket of water and gives each plant a generous dose.
Growing his own garden is something Joe Caldwell has done since he was a boy growing up on an 80-acre farm on Buck Hill where Maiden Creek and Clark’s Creek meet.
“Well, it’s not easy work but it’s honest work. When you’re retired that’s about all you can do is honest work,” Joe Caldwell says with a laugh as he stands over a row of tomatoes he’s planted.
Joe, 85, and his brother Herbert, 83, were plowing rows and planting crops in a local field this week using the tractor Joe bought new in 1949, a hand tiller that looks about as old and their backs. He says this week is the best time to plant crops. He read that in the Farmers’ Almanac.
He will have six rows of onions, two rows each of tomatoes, cabbage and squash, one row of radishes and six rows of corn.
“And that will do me pretty well,” Joe said.
But he doesn’t keep it all to himself.
Joe has been planting a field for 16 years that’s about three quarters of an acre that a church off Highland Avenue owns. He gives a share of the produce — he figures 10 percent — to the church pastor. He also shares it with his family, a food pantry and widows, he said. And, of course, Herbert will benefit from helping Joe.
“All my life I’ve had one (garden), and I’ve enjoyed it,” said Joe, a retired elementary school principal and World War II veteran. “And I enjoy it now, even with all the aches and pain in my back. Hard work never did kill anyone.”
So as you head to the field or the backyard plot to plant a garden, Joe has some tips for a successful garden.
Start small, Joe says. Once you have success with a small crop, you can then branch out with a larger, more diverse garden. When you see success from the smaller crop it will give you incentive to go bigger, he said.
Try to weed your garden every day. “Because if you don’t, it gets ahead of you and you never can catch up,” Joe said.
As for fertilizer, Joe likes cow manure. His background as a science teacher shows as he explains in detail why cow manure is better than horse manure for a garden.
Joe also uses lime on the field to sweeten the soil and keep the bugs off. And he uses a little Miracle-Gro.
While it might not be profitable for him, working a garden keeps him out of trouble and gives him all the exercise he needs, Joe said.
“Good luck to anybody who wants to farm,” Joe said. “We need more farmers.”
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement