Barefoot Memories of A Hillbilly - One More Row (Free Access)

Well, the leaves on the white oak tree are the size of squirrels feet, and that means it's time to get the seeds in the ground. The old green and red wooden corn planter is hanging up out at the barn, and though Mom and Pap have used it in the past to put the seeds in the ground, Mom has come to the conclusion that letting the little kids drop a few seeds in the hill is about the quickest way to get it done. The Baby Sisters can count to ten, but she has instructed them to go out the row and drop 3-4 seed per hill. She has used her little homemade push plow to lay off the rows, sprinkled some fertilizer on one side of the furrow, used her hoe to mark the spots where she wants the seed placed, and we are following with our hoes spreading an even layer of the loosened soil over the seeds. She says it will be about two weeks before they sprout, and danger of frost should be past by then.

She says its alright to put a few extra corn seeds in the ground, cause after it comes up she will go out the row with her hoe and thin the plants to allow them room to grow, and she will save the more robust plants and thin out the ones that appear a bit scrawny. She shows the Baby Sisters how to thinly sprinkle the bean seed to form a steady even seam of them down the furrow. Beans don't usually get thinned cause they don't need as much elbow room as the corn. She came out one day last week and made hills to plant the melons. She makes a slightly raised mound that has had fertilizer worked into the hills. She shows us how to place 4 or 5 seeds around the mound and how to push the seeds down into the dirt up to the first joint of our finger. Then to ruffle the dirt over the seeds and give it a gentle pat. We put out a few Charleston grey and some sugar babies, and those round ones that are the dark green color. They are good and sweet. She also made a few hills for musk melons, the long kind that look like big orange bananas.

Down below in the garden, she made us a few hills to plant plum grannies, just cause us kids like to smell them. They look like those pictures of them little baby wild pigs with squiggles and stripes on them. Our pigs ain't wild, one is a white pig and one is black and white. Pap and Mom built a pig pen to hold them in, cause pigs are good at escaping. They can dig with their nose, called rooting. That's why Pap gets a ring in the pig's nose, so it hurts too bad to dig with their nose. Pigs can also climb it you give them a chance. Mom and Pap don't give them any chances, cause they say they ain't gonna spend their time chasing pigs. Mom has tied some aluminum pie pans on sea grass string and staked them in the garden to scare the birds so they don't eat the seed. I don't think the birds are afraid of pie pans, cause crows try to sneak in and dig up seed or pull up the sprouts. Some people kill crows and hang them from a stick in their gardens to warn other crows. We don't hand dead things in our garden. Usually there's enough kids running around to shew away crows. They seem to be scared'er of noisy kids than pie tins.
Just as we thought we were finished planting seeds, Mom sends Baby Sister to the house to get some beet seeds. We liked pickled beets. She also wants to sew some mustard and she has a few extra hills for planting cukes. Once Mom gets in the garden it's hard for us to get out. She says "just one more row," but that was 3 rows back. Sometimes, Mom's can't remember how to keep count.

I wear shoes now, but sometimes I have barefoot memories.