The Simple Joys of Growing Things

Growing my own flowers and vegetables has both provided a lot of pleasure and allowed me to forge a special bond with my father.

Every time I visit my parents in West Virginia, I spend a bit of time with my dad wandering through his various plantings. We usually do a quick tour of the orchard (which, unfortunately, got blasted by a late frost this year and so probably won’t be producing much fruit), then move into the berry sections (he now has blackberries and raspberries in plenty), and then the garden itself (which now includes corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, and sundry other items).

It’s always amazed me just how good my dad is at growing things. He’s one of those people who just seems to have been born with a green thumb. All he has to do is plant something, and it comes up. In addition to all of the vegetables and fruits, his yard now includes an innumerable array of flowers (including rhododendrons, roses, petunias, and poppies). Nowadays when I visit their house, it seems like I’m visiting a jungle.

It’s really quite charming to see the enthusiasm with which my dad hasI always taken to planting, particularly now that he’s largely retired from his job in the coal mine. My dad’s a very intelligent man, but he’s the type that…