We always had a good-sized garden when we lived at Sunset Ranch. I liked to go out in the spring and turn over the ground. Sometimes dad would get out his garden tiller. The tiller wasn't one of those with the tines in the back. It was the type with the tines in the front. Every time that the tiller hit a rock (constantly), it would buck like a wild horse.

My father remembers digging the rocks out of the yard and garden. There were so many that we created a large rock pile at the edge of our property. We even went so far as to dig pits and bury the rocks! It's a wonder there was any soil left after the rocks were removed! But, although we had the tiller, I enjoyed turning the garden soil by hand. I used a small shovel and methodically turned the soil from one end of the garden plot to the other. It made me feel so good to see the uniform rows of freshly turned soil.

Our crops included corn, yellow crookneck and zucchini squash, Early Girl and Cherry tomatoes, pole beans, peas, potatoes, lettuce, onions, carrots and radishes. We also had a patch of rhubarb and several rows of strawberries.

When the peas would ripen, I remember playing in the garden. I pretended that I was a secret agent on a special mission. The secret to my success was that I needed "energy pills" to make my missions successful. I would pick pea pods and venture forth from the garden but needed to watch of my supply of energy pills. As I moved about I would consume the green energy pills. When the supply fell dangerously low, I had to return to the supply patch to get more. It was great fun!

In the fall, the cherry tomatoes would finally all ripen at once. There were many more than we could possibly use. Needless to say, Ron and I just had to throw them at each other. They made a very satisfying "splat" when they hit and broke on the target. And, if we missed each other, they would smush all over the lawn. Pretty soon we were even throwing the larger ones, many of which were half-rotten. What a mess! Sometimes it even turned in to throwing zucchinis at each other.

When the corn became over-ripe, we would take all the kernels off and bore out the center of the cobs. We would then attach straws and to make corncob pipes. We would put balsa wood in the cob and then light it. It released a very potent smoke that we'd puff. It was really exciting, perhaps because we were always worried that mom would catch us.

Ron and I always argued over who would have to do the most weeding in the garden. Ron hated to do weeding. I didn't mind it so much, but I didn't want to do more than my share.

Like most other gardeners of zucchini squash, some of them inevitably grew into monsters. Our neighbor, Jinni Edgar, was Italian. She loved to cook the giant squash in a special way. We made a lot of trips to her house to deliver them. I never had the opportunity to taste them in the way she cooked them. I wonder if they were good?

When we moved to Pine Lake, we didn't have a garden because the lot was too small. We did have some herbs in pots, and some growing just outside the kitchen. I remember that we had a nice patch of parsley. Unfortunately, when we let our dogs outside to "do their business", I noticed that they loved to use the parsley patch in the way many dogs use fire hydrants. To this day I hesitate to eat a parsley garnish!

When my parents moved to Fall City, they again had a nice garden spot. In addition to growing vegetables they also began growing several varieties of herbs. One day my mom put some herbs and vegetables into a wheelbarrow by the road to sell some of the excess. They were so successful that this small beginning blossomed into the business now known as The Fall City HerbFarm.