One of the first blogs I found when I started blogging here in Washington state was Annie's Kitchen Garden, a blog primarily about vegetable gardening, written by Carol, whom every reader knows as "Granny." As well as posts about her kitchen garden, Granny also writes about her family, her healthy meals and recipes, her travels and her two Dachshunds, Annie (of the blog title) and Otto. Her personality, energy, sense of humor, and enthusiasm for gardening and for life infuses every post, and she and her blog have inspired me from the first word. I learned about Fortex beans from Granny, as well as several other vegetable varieties that I would not have tried if I hadn't first read about them on her blog.
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| My Walla Walla onion starts |
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| Lettuce seedling waiting to go out in the garden |
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| Some of my tomato seedlings |
Granny's success with tomatoes and peppers, two difficult crops here in Western Washington, makes me green with envy. She gardens in Eastern Washington, where she has a climate more conducive to hot weather summer vegetables, but of course, her skill as a gardener is the reason for her success. Her garden is always meticulously planned and cared for. She used to spend her winters down south in Arizona, where she had no Internet connection, and had to post sporadically from the library. Her readers and I missed her during those winters, and looked forward eagerly to her occasional posts. She's an engaging writer, not only with her words, but with her interaction with her readers.
The recent news that Granny has been diagnosed with brain cancer was a blow that was hard to take, for me, for many of her blog followers and for her. For a time, it looked like she would be unable to have a garden this year, but of course, her family has pitched in and is putting in her vegetable starts and helping her out with her gardening chores. She's still blogging too.
Although I do have a large garden full of ornamental plants, I also have two big raised beds for vegetables, as well as another sunny bed with berry bushes and rhubarb. I'm joining many other readers of Granny's blog and dedicating my vegetable garden this year to Granny.
Hence, the badge on the left hand side of my blog.
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You can get the badge too, if you want, here on Gammy's House Blog.
You can read about dedicating your garden to Granny here on the blog Two Men and a Little Farm.
You can read two of my favorite Granny posts, neither of which have anything to do with gardening, at the following links:
Her dental (mis)adventures in Mexico.
Her account of traveling home from a vacation immediately after the Mount St. Helens eruption.
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| I'd like to borrow some of Granny's tomato-growing mojo this year, but she's going to need all the mojo she can muster. |