AGNES GRANBERG

LAWRENCEVILLE

It started with a yearning for rhubarb, then tomatoes

After 85 years in North Dakota, I moved to Lawrenceville with my daughter and her husband, Rob Kriete and JoAnn Kriete.

I love to bake desserts using rhubarb. I convinced my son-in-law to "help" me put in a rhubarb patch, even though he had never raised rhubarb, and doesn't even like it. I sent for rhubarb crowns, while his job was to dig up the soil and "supervise" as I planted them.

Since you can't harvest rhubarb the first year, we can only gaze longingly at it dreaming of future pies and muffins.

Next, I longed for REAL vine-ripened tomatoes. I purchased three plants which my "assistant" transplanted into bigger pots. We're glad we're growing tomatoes, not only because of the tomato scare but also they taste wonderful. My son-in-law said, "Tomatoes are tomatoes" until he tasted one that was truly vine-ripened. We water our patch with water collected in buckets from the shower stalls.

JILL PASTRICK / SUGAR HILL

Headlines prompted a summer family project

In April, my husband, David Loftus, and I were enjoying our usual morning ritual, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. In every section I turned to, I found articles on soaring gas prices and rising food costs.

It was decided on that day that we were going to plant a garden. We could cut cost and have a great family project.

First thing was a trip to Home Depot. We had to get manure, top soil, fertilizer, twine and stakes and, of course, the seeds. We did buy some small starter vegetable plants. We marked off the area and began to tear up the yard. The garden is 30 feet-by-15 feet.

We tilled the soil, mixed in the manure, top soil and fertilizer and raked out the stones and got ready to plant. It was a fun afternoon for the entire family.

We planted zucchini, summer squash, eggplants, lima beans, green beans, red peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, carrots and corn. We have had tomato plants already planted in another section of the yard, so we did not include those in the "garden."

These vegetables were the family favorites, but I must admit, we planted red peppers because they are so expensive.

We researched on the Internet how many rows of things you needed for cross pollination and what needed to be where. We invested in a rain barrel several months ago thinking it will help this summer. At that time, we did not know a garden was in our future.

As you can see, harvest time is almost here.

RAY AND TERESA HOMAN

SUWANEE

Lure of fresh taste lands in deck planters

We grew a garden this year because we enjoy not only gardening but the taste of fresh vegetables. For our family more importantly is the excitement of walking out to our deck in the morning to see how much our tomatoes and sweet bell peppers have grown.

It brings a smile to our children, Raymond Thomas, Brigette and Dillon, who love to see the bright-colored tomatoes. They have a story to share with our Grandma Sally, who also grows tomatoes in Texas.

With the scare of tomatoes this year, we are so glad we planted our garden. We grow our vegetables in large planter pots on our decks. This way, we know they are getting proper sun and watering.

One of our daughter's chores is to water our garden each morning before she gets the day started. This way, the vegetables have nice moist soil throughout the day.

Our secret to our beautiful garden came from a tip by a gentleman (Brian) who works at the local Pikes Nursery. Brian told us to make sure we add lime to the soil and mix it well before planting. The amount of lime added all depends on the size of your planter. We have a large planter, so we add 1 to 2 cups of lime to the soil.