Throughout my childhood, I always thought of my grandfather as a farmer. Wherever the grans lived, grandpa had a garden. A big garden. Corn, peas, okra, tomatoes ~ oh, the tomatoes~ green beans, butter beans, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, cucumbers… every thing good from the earth, he raised it.

What I didn’t realize, at least not until I was nearly an adult, was that my grandfather had been a key player in the Manhattan Project back in the 40’s. When he retired, I think all he wanted to do was plant a small plot of land and fish… which he did happily almost to the end of his days.

I can’t pretend to be the master gardener that grandpa was, having more of a brown thumb than a green one. But, I have always enjoyed growing things. Hubs and I have tried to have something planted that would provide at least some fresh produce. He even built me two above ground planters for my Florida garden.

This weekend I laid in a new attempt at a mini garden. I am planting my own salsa ~ tomatoes, peppers, onion, and cilantro. Hubs and WK are building a greenhouse-type cover for the planters to keep the squirrels out of my veggies.

With a nod to grandpa, I’m even using a old-fashioned varmint repellent. Grandpa would fill large Mason jars with blue tinted water and set them along the border of his garden. He never lost a single veggie to squirrel, rabbits or crows.

I hope I can do grandpa proud.