Al fresco dining

@Nelladell We have wild pecans here in Oklahoma, have to know where they are growing. I picked up a lot one year in the mid-70’s, it was enough to bake with for several years, kept them frozen until I needed them, the flavor is much richer than paper shell pecans. I used to see jars of shelled black walnuts for sale in the small general store in my grandpa’s village. Someone had extra and spent time shelling them and digging out the nuts, a lot of work to get those.

@cherokeepatti As I recall, selling black walnuts was a lot of work for very little money in our corner of that world.

@Nelladell yes it was. I don’t know who was doing that, maybe a farmer or one of their children or grandchildren for a little bit of money.

@Nelladell we always had trees that needed the lower branches trimmed off and they were easy to chop up and use to cook with.

@cherokeepatti Oh, gee. lol. here we go again. You trimmed and chopped up branches. Some time before we needed the wood for cooking or heating, we hitched the team to the wagon, put in the axe and the two-man cross-cut saw, drove to the timber -- and so on.

@Nelladell the blackjack trees were small. We didn’t need firewood to heat the house, used the trimmed small branches to cook with outside. Didn’t have to buy charcoal that way.

@samueltyler2 That is great to hear! We (my grandparents, parents, my sister and I) lived in a house on Arthur Avenue, not far from Tremont Avenue. I have been back to visit the area a couple of times, but not recently.

@DrWatson It is not far from the Botanical Gardens and Zoo, so we make a day of it.

@samueltyler2 My parents and I used to go for picnics at the Botanical Gardens.

@4meAndyou my dad grew his tomatoes in his homemade greenhouse that hed build from reclaimed glass and wooden frames. It was painted pink...like the stuff you clean windows with!! Lol. The smell of that little green house full of tomatoes, cucumber and marrow will stay with me forever.

@RubySoo Wonderful!!! Smells, and wonderful memories are so linked!

@4meAndyou Yes. There are no runners-up.

@RubySoo Oh, peas were so great, even though we didn't have the kind where you eat the shell. I would eat a radish out there once in a while, but that was before I learned that dirt really isn't in one of the food groups.

@RubySoo My dad gave up trying to grow peas because they all got eaten by me and my brother lol

@SW-User 🤭 😄

@markansas I came to think that you shouldn't plant a single zucchini unless you had a lot of folks around who like it. I does make good dill pickles, though.

I will admit to a bad bit of snobbery. For too long a time I could not think of anything as gardening unless it was done in a space with a long fence around it and was plowed every spring with a tractor or team of horses. Now I am content to grow stuff in planters, though it has never seemed to do as well.

@Nelladell there are a few i share with and them with me. i like it diced and fried . and about 6 inches long. none goes to waste. i am pulling the tubs out now and getting the soil soft by turning it and will add in some potting soil and get my plants started in the house till frost is over. it will feed me for the summer. cuts down cost. and gheesh the price of vegs in the store it outrageous . cost goes up and my retirement check does not. grin. all is well the house is paid off. and needs work its a good life.
also putting in solar and a wind generator . kinda a hobby fixing this place up. you should try 5 gallon pails for you planters and drilling holes in the bottem and sides fill up with potting soil and you will be good to go . they need root space. those you see there are called lick tubs. from animal feed.

i put in half potting soil and half dirt. works well and this year i will leave the soil in and just do miracle gro and see if that works. however you need drainage so drilling the holes on the bottom sides is needed

@markansas Thanks for the kind reply. Cheers.

@bijouxbroussard It's nice to hear about your memories. Thanks.

@Nelladell I really like that you’re here. It’s really neat to hear your perspectives. 😊

@bijouxbroussard what an over-the-top kind thing to say. At least, I am choosing to take the whole thing that way. Thank you so very much.

@checkoutanytime Nostalgia, nostalgia, wonderful nostalgia.

@Spoiledbrat no competition.

@Rhode57 good memories. Thanks.

@Really VE was a big deal here; I can't imagine what it must have been over there, even in Scotland.

@Nelladell My Dad was in the air force, unfit for active duty and posted to RAF Edzell, a maintenance 'aerodrome' in the NE of Scotland. Mother & I joined him there and we lived in a rented house in the village.

V.E. day was a huge deal. All afternoon happy people were throwing wood onto a huge pile on the village common. I was told it was for a 'bonfire'. I'd never heard that word and I was nonplussed. At 8 years old I only knew of outdoor fire as a danger created by the enemy. They were going to make a big one deliberately - why would anybody do that?

But I can't describe the joy and jubilation on the common after dark, with hundreds of people laughing and cheering around the huge fire, and airmen firing colored flares into the night sky. Many of Dad's fellow airmen were there. Doubtless there were drunks but they'd have fit right in. I was allowed to stay up past midnight!! Truly a night to remember, and I still do.

What was it like where you were?

@Really I lived on a subsistence farm. The only time folks in our neighborhood left their farms was on Saturday; first, for a trip to the county seat to sell eggs and maybe garden produce, to shop for a few things, and meet and greet. Second for Saturday night hoedowns at the school house. So that day there was cheering around the radio and excitement on the party line (telephone). I was only 10, myself. Actually, I think that VJ day was just as happy, maybe happier, at our house.