My daddy's garden. (scaled back considerably from my growing up years!)
We writers are advised to write what we know. This might mean that the overall theme of a book or story will be based on a writer's experience. Or it might simply mean that a story is infused with details drawn from a writer's life.
In BLUE, my character plants her father's peas after he goes off to war. The garden is pretty much left in Ann Fay's care. And yes, this grows directly out of my own life experience. My father who is in his 80's, still makes every effort to plant his peas in February of each year.
I know vegetable gardens. For as long as I can remember, I along with my 7 siblings, spent summer evenings in the garden. Planting, watering, weeding and picking! I think love of the soil is bred in me. Digging in the dirt is still my favorite part of gardening.
But somewhere along the way I learned to love limas. Vegetables, in general, make me really happy.
What's for dinner? Produce from my daddy's garden!
See why Ann Fay loves her daddy?
And, oddly enough, harvesting is sometimes my least favorite. Maybe it's a little rebellion harking back to lazy July mornings when we had to get up early to pick lima beans before it got hot! In those days I hated lima beans. (And I despised those soft-bodied yellow bugs squishing under my fingers when I picked.) We complained loudly that we had to plant lima beans, pick them, shell them and then, adding insult to injury, we had to eat them!
But somewhere along the way I learned to love limas. Vegetables, in general, make me really happy.
Gardening can make a "poor" girl feel downright rich. I mean, if you've got fresh tomatoes and corn-on-the-cob, you've got just about everything. If you have the skills to grow your own food, you not only have food, you have a legacy to hand down to your children and theirs too.
What's for dinner? Produce from my daddy's garden!
See why Ann Fay loves her daddy?
