Claire
Master Chef
Love the garden memory. When I was in my young teens, with three younger sibs, somehow Mom & Dad met a local guy who did mid-scale gardening (I think it was an acre). He had a soft spot for our family. My parents bought produce from him whenever it was ready, but his real contribution to our family income was that when he and his wife had picked and sold as much as they could, they'd call us up and have us clear the fields, "gleaning" the last of the produce which he'd just give us. But I mostly remember this huge glider type swing that we'd take turns on (it could sit 4 or even 6 adults) near a plum tree. I think of them every year, even though I haven't seen them since 1970 or so, they probably aren't alive. But my favorite seed company is Park's, and that was their name. Yesterday I asked hubby to move my bench down to the green bean patch that no longer has any blossoms and has some kind of beetle infestation. So I was pulling up plants, gleaning the last of the "haricots verts" and remembering the guy we called "old Mr. Parks." No, no relationship to the seed family, just more or less in the same business.