Just above the old red chicken house , used to be a fenced in garden that during the summertime beamed with tall stately cornstalks, twisty twirling bean vines , leafy mounds of zucchini and squash plants and neatly staked rows of tomatoes galore.
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| Soon it will be time for hay. |
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| 2025 garden squash |
Papa tended to it quite diligently. In the evenings, he would go out and pick whatever was ripe and ready at the time. Nanny who by the end of the day had changed into her dress with a duster over it would go outside , sit on the porch and wait to see what Papa would bring in from the bountiful garden.
Sometimes he would tote a bushel basket filled with green beans. Do you remember those baskets?
Nanny would sit on the porch with a large bowl in hand and would begin the process of stringing the beans and snapping them. Every now and then us 7 grandyoungin's would join in, but usually it was just the older 3 girls.
It would not be long before we would tire of "the stringing of beans", and the allure of the sound of a June Bug buzzing by would steer us away .
We promptly would jump up in search for a string in order to tie it to one of their teeny little legs- that is if we were so lucky to catch one. If we were successful in catching a June Bug, the hard part was tying the string. Oh, their little feet would just pinch and scratch our teeny hands. "Eeeek," we would squeal.
Once the string was attached the June Bug would buzz and buzz in circles around us. Our own little pet June Bug we would think.
After tiring of that we would , plop on the stone walkway and with our fingers twiddle the little roly poly bugs that meandered along the cracks and crevices of the stone slabs.
Oh what terrors , we young kids must have been to the insect world on the family farm. Please do not judge us too harshly, but we were young farm kids, and we tried not to hurt them. In fact we admired the little crawlies.
As the evening sun began to set, flickers of light would flutter in the sky. "Where are the jars? "we would frantically ask Nanny as she was busy snapping beans.
"Right here, Sweeties. " And she would spring up from the old metal chair and bring us old pickle jars that she had placed holes in in the lids. Once we took the jars, she went back to the task at hand - stringing and snapping, as we scampered around the yard in hopes of catching a lightning bug or two.
But let's get back to the garden. Shall we?
Once the tomatoes began to ripen, Papa would bring them into the country kitchen each evening and sit them on the table. Nanny had a small bowl that she would place them in. Ever so gently she would pick up each and every one and inspect them.
"Do you have to handle them all?" Dad would joke .
"Yes, I do," Nanny would laugh. They were always fondly pickin' at each other .
It would not be long before Nanny picked out the most perfect tomato, and it was promptly washed and sliced. Freshly picked cucumbers which were also sliced would soon join the tomato on the platter, and we all would indulge in the fruits of Papa's and Nanny's labor .
Aaaw such wonderful happy times . I do miss those days immensely. Nanny and Papa lived a hop, skip and a jump- just down the road from us so we were at their house every day .
This brings me to our next Summer Stamp #2 called Summer Harvest.
Anytime I think of summer , I think of spending time in the vegetable garden just like Nanny and Papa did. We still put out a garden to this very day on my Nanny's property though not at the original spot.
As many of you know, I am stitching each Summer Stamp twice- one made into a pin pillow and 2nd in a grouping of 9 stamps.
As I stitched Summer Harvest on the large sampler, I decided to make an ADDITION- using 1 strand of DMC 301 ( or your favorite orange) I added little lines in the carrot for detail.
I also used DMC 782 and made French knots for the berry seeds. You may want to do the same or just stitch some berry seeds in the strawberry.
Summer Harvest was stitched with the following DMC floss colors: 782, 815, 898, 921, 926, 930, 3052, 3345, and 3346.
Of course, if you decided to stitch, Summer Harvest you could use whatever floss colors that make your heart sing. 🤗
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If you are interested in stitching this piece, just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends.
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NOTE: This is not listed in the directions , but you may want to make note of it. I used DMC 782 to make French knots for the berry seeds in the strawberry . In the larger sampler, I used DMC 301, to make random straight stitches in the carrot as details
Summer Header, And The Garden Grows and Summer Harvest.
If you missed any of the previous posts in respect to the Summer Stamp SAL , below is a schedule with links back to the appropriate posts.
SUMMER STAMP SCHEDULE
April 2nd Summer Stamp Introduction
April 7th Stamp Stamp Border
April 14th Summer Stamp Header
April 21st Summer Stamp 1 "And the Garden Grows"
April 28th Summer Stamp 2
May 5th Summer Stamp 3
May 12th Summer Stamp 4
May 19th Summer Stamp 5
May 26th Summer Stamp 6
June 2nd Summer Stamp 7
June 9th Summer Stamp 8
June 16th Summer Stamp 9
June 23rd Bonus Summer Stamp 10
June 27th Final Reveal
Gosh, I have been quite a chatterbox today. I am ever so grateful that you took the time to stop by for a visit and listen to me ramble on about my childhood days on the farm. I also so appreciate so many of you stitching the Summer Stamp SAL with me and for cheering me on. I wish you the most delightful day.
Before I forget. If you are in the neighborhood, I will be posting a tutorial on how I dye a small piece of Aida fabric with Rit dye this afternoon around 12. So drop by if you can.
As Always...
Happy Stitching and Quilting, y'all
Melisa
"The glory of gardening :hands in the dirt , head in the sun, heart in nature. "- unknown
Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤
Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy who loved to work on the farm and loved being out in nature . I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo.
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As Always...
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