The Gift of Growing

9 The Gift of Growing My grandmother was a great old lady. When I was a 10- year- old boy, she came to stay with us in our village home. For an old lady living alone, the time had come for her to move off the farm. For the first few months, Grandmother seemed lonely and out of place. She wasn't used to the traffic noises and missed the peace and quiet of life in the country. However, she slowly accepted that she would spend the rest of her life with us in a little village far from her childhood farm. When the warm spring winds began to blow, Grandma announced that she was going to plant a small garden. “ I know, " she said when my father pointed out that we had no need to grow food. " We can buy all the food we need, but I have always grown a garden. And I insist that I'm going to plant one here, " replied Grandmother. She asked me if I would help her prepare the land for planting and I happily agreed.

In early spring, she taught me how to start small seeds in containers inside. We put cabbages, onions, tomatoes, and radishes in the little seedling pots. I carefully watered them every day. Soon, little green sprouts appeared. When the days were warm enough, we transplanted the seedlings into neat rows in the small garden in the backyard. When everything was planted, my grandmother and I stood back and looked lovingly at the newly planted garden. " In a month, we will have fresh radishes to eat, " said Grandmother happily. " And a few weeks after that, we will have plenty of fresh vegetables for our supper table. " Of course, as my father pointed out, we did not need the food from Grandmother's garden. But I am so glad to have spent those days looking after our plants in the summer heat. When autumn arrived, we harvested the food. Grandmother made sure we always had something fresh on the supper table. Now that I'm older and living on my own, I still remember those wonderful meals with great fondness.