Saturday, September 8, 2007

Dad's Corn and Dad the Corny Chef


After Dad retired, he decided to take up gardening, along with my mom. If I remember correctly, they had enough problem agreeing on how to do things if they worked in the same plot that they divided the yard, one part for Mom, the other for Dad. Dad's pride and joy was his corn. Here he is, I'm sure fantasizing that he is in Nebraska, an honorary Cornhusker. Dad was about six feet tall, so you can get a sense of how tall these corn stalks grew.

Having grown up with Dad and watching him, over the years, resist working in the yard or garden, it was heartening to see him take on this project.

Equally heartening in Dad's retirement was to see him decide to give cooking a try. He started trying out new recipes; he and Mom had an empty nest when he retired, so he tried out all sorts of things on her and he looked forward to us kids coming home so he could whip us up some new meal he had figured out. One year, for Christmas, someone bought Dad a chef's hat, which he enjoyed completely, although I don't remember ever seeing him wear it in the kitchen.



3 comments:

Christy Woolum said...

I love those pictures. Do you remember how Mom and Dad had started the corn in peat pots the June Dad died and Mom wanted to keep them going? I can't remember now if she actually planted the corn that year.

Shelby said...

I posted on gardening today.. (before the Scribblings post)..

thanks so much for the comment yesterday..I'll write sometime about my oregon inspiration..

take care :)

Pinehurst in my Dreams said...

My parents used to have a vegetable/fruit garden out back. I guess it was to supplement our meals. They grew potatoes, tomatoes, onions, raspberries and strawberries.

My dad still grows tomatoes in pots. He told me last night that he just harvested his crop this past week. (I think he had about 4 plants.)