- Although the house was small, the the area behind the house that contained their expansive garden, was at least twice the footprint size of their home This is a 2020 photo of the space that was their garden, which now is used as the level back yard for the current owner. They planted peach and apple trees on the boundary between their house, and the next door neighbor's property. Those fruit trees produced so many peaches and apples, we had enough canned to supply several families through the winter! Besides canning the peaches and apples, they would cut up the "less than perfect" fruits, lay them out on a window screen in the sun, and dry them out for several days. These would be used for making delicious fried pies!
- My parents and I lived two blocks from the grandparents, and our house lot did not have such a good space for a garden, so they made arrangements with several of the neighbors, including the one that owned the vacant lot across the street, to set up a neighborhood "community garden", where anyone that wanted to, could plant their favorite vegetables, and tend to them as needed. When I drove by the old homeplace last week, I noticed the lot that was our former community garden, is still vacant, and is shown below:
Remembering how my Grandpa Grover made arrangements to have his garden plowed by an actual HORSE, I was amused to see that my son was using a different kind of "horsepower" in getting his garden site ready!
The heavy equipment was used to dig trenches for the underground irrigation system. That also was quite an upgrade from the watering system used by my grandparents---every family member carrying a bucket of water, and using a dipper to put a cup of water on each individual plant! It was quite a step up when my grandparents purchased a garden hose, with tiny holes in it, that would slowly wet the ground on a continuous basis---as long as someone turned on the water supply, that is. However, the system my son put in has a timer, so no human intervention is needed! Here is a photo of how the timer is set up:
The next step after the irrigation ditch was completed, was putting up the posts that marked the boundaries for the garden spot. His father and I had started a garden in the early seventies, and made the mistake of making it too big, so I had advised my son to start small, and judging from the layout of the posts, he took my advice!
The next step
was to put corrugated metal around the boundary, to help reduce visits by intruders such as rabbits. Above the metal, wire "hog" fencing was hung, to help reduce visits by deer, looking for some gourmet salad greens to add a little variety to their menus!
On top of the wire fence, wooden cross beams were added, and also doorways were put on each end. This is a photo of the garden room from the backyard:
My son mentioned several times that he wanted the garden to look "tidy", which is one reason they made the choices shown in these photos. They decided on a container garden, and purchased several metal farm animal feeding troughs to serve as their containers. Before filling the containers with anything, holes were drilled in the bottom, so that water would not accumulate, and cause problems:
When one is finding items to put on the inside walls of their home, it is called "Interior Decorating". Likewise, the wooden beams of this garden room, allows the owners to get creative with "Exterior Decorating" as well! Dragonfly hook and "Happy Place" sign are examples:
My son also built a small, enclosed shed adjacent to their garage, to hold their gardening tools.
On the opposite side of the garden area, he built a potting table, with a storage shelf underneath it.
The photo below shows the row of shiny new containers, and they actually have green plants coming up inside them!
However, what you see at the top of the container does not tell the whole story---to make soil where things will actually grow, one has to do some preparation. They put rocks on the bottom of the containers, so that water would drain to the bottom, and not cause the plant roots to rot.
On top of the river rock/gravel mixture, they put a layer of shredded bark:
This attention to getting a good soil mixture for the plants to grow in, is serving as the visual aid for one of my First Place 4 Health ( www.FirstPlace4Health.com ) memory verses that says: "But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it." Matthew 13:23
This photo shows that their soil preparation was successful!
Although my son did not spell out my name with leaf lettuce the way my grandparents did, I can imagine that these straight lines of leaf lettuce are simply "t's" that did not get crossed!!
Here is a photo of left side of garden:
My son's mother-in-law took a wonderful photo of him carrying his bride across the threshold of the new garden room, in honor of their wedding anniversary:
I am very thankful my son and his wife have taken on the challenge of growing some of their food, and hope it gives them "MILES OF SMILES"! Tricia
September 2020 Addendum: I had the wonderful blessing of getting to visit the Shipman garden during its harvest season, and can say the food they grew, made for some delicious meals! To God be the Glory!
For the purposes of a photograph (not to eat!), I carried a vintage jar of green beans from the garden of my grandmother, canned from green beans she and Grandpa Grover grew in the 1970's. I wanted to show that even though the gardening gene skipped a generation (me!), it has continued with her great grandson, Grover!
In addition to just doing photography in the Shipman garden, I was actually able to harvest, cook, and eat some of the produce they had grown (green beans, tomatoes, and spaghetti squash)! It was delicious!
I mentioned earlier in the blog that my grandparents would spell out my name in lettuce, so I could not pass up the opportunity to spell out my name with greens from the Shipman garden!
Also, earlier in the blog, I mentioned the phrase "Exterior Decorating", and brought some vintage family items, that I was hoping might find a space in the Shipman outdoor space: (The hanging scales on the left are from the barn of my paternal grandparents, and the red horseshoe-shaped metal item on the right, is my childhood game piece for playing marbles)
Another vintage item I transported from Arkansas to California was an oak and iron, two-horse stabilizer harness, that had belonged to my paternal grandparents. It most likely dates from the late 1800's when my ancestors first homesteaded in the area of Lead Hill, Arkansas: (It is the weathered wooden piece, sitting atop the modern metal hitch for the black utility trailer that my son uses)
I am starting out this blog with a the photo of the horse sculpture, because it was not until I heard about this particular piece of art, that I researched where it was located, so that I could see it in person. I learned that it was at Frederik Meijer Gardens ( 
Upon arrival at the gardens via motorcoach, I began a "walk with purpose" (as opposed to meadering!) to find the sculpture, and take as many photos of it as possible, while it was still daylight. As I started walking the paved path to approach the massive sculpture, I kept seeing numerous ways to photograph the horse from a distance, that showed it wonderfully framed by green plants. And this was no accident---allowing nature to enhance what man has made, and likewise, allowing what man has made enhance nature, is a major goal of Frederik Meijer Gardens!
Upon arriving at the circular plaza that was home to sculpture, I was completely in awe of its beauty, as well as its connection to the famous artist, Leonardo DaVinci. I had the wonderful blessing of seeing many of Leonardo DaVinci's creations, when I toured Italy with my father, back in the last century. However, at the time I was in Italy, it was before the 1967 finding of Leonardo's sketch books, and his design for a colossal image of an Iberian charger horse. 
It took several models (some of which were complete failures) to finally come up with the sculpture one can see today in Grand Rapids. It was the Duke of Milan that originally commissioned Leonardo DaVinci to make the sculpture in 1482. It was intended to be the largest equestrian statue in the world, and be a symbol of the power of the Duke of Milan. The Duke collected 70 tons of bronze to make the statue, based on a clay model made by DaVinci. Sadly, wars broke out in Italy, and the bronze had to be used to make cannons, to defend Milan from an invasion by Charles VIII. The enemy French soldiers ended up using the clay horse sculpture that da Vinci had made, as a shooting target. Hence, none of daVinci's equine models survived to present day.
Meijer Gardens has 200 full-time and part-time staff, plus 850 volunteers! This photo shows the female volunteer (she is the one facing the passengers) who provided a narration for the shuttle I was on. She did a magnificent job pointing out the various sculptures we were passing, telling something about the artists who created them, as well as other significant facts of interest about each piece.
This photo is a reminder of one of the many reasons I want to make a return visit to Meijer Gardens. They recently embarked on $115 million capital campaign for expansion. The result will be new LEED-certified Welcome Center, Transportation Center and Visitor Center. Plans call for expanding the amphitheater, building a new entry plaza, adding a new outdoor picnic pavilion, and expanding the parking capacity.
The 8 acres of the Japanese gardens opened in 2014 at a cost of 22 million,
This photo is included to be a reminder of "garden etiquette", as outlined on the gardens website, 
This massive sculpture is called "Four Square", and its four main supporting beams, roughly in the shape of a square, account for its name.
Folks who have been to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art ( 
This is a photo of a very large parrot sculpture, with gigantic, colorful wings. It is the image of those wings, sitting on top of "my" heart, that I am using as the visual aid to remember my First Place 4 Health ( 
I like the way the bright yellow in this contemporary piece of sculpture (called "Julia" by Keith Haring), is mirrored in the bright yellow of the flowering plants beside it. This was, in fact, one of the objectives of the Frederik Meijer Gardens---uniting human visual fine art with the visual beauty of nature!
When a visitor comes to the garden, they may want to just spend time, sitting with their arms resting on their knees, and contemplate their existence. And, that seems to be what this sculpture (titled Grosser Trefree, by Dietrick Klinge) is doing!
Other visitors to the garden, may just want to stretch out and look at the beautiful greenery that surrounds them. Although, it appears that this visitor is doing just that, this is actually a very realistic piece of sculpture! It is called Lying Man, by Sean Henry. 
Regardless of what language one speaks, the "body language" spoken by this sculpture accounts for its title---MAD MOM---and is a product of artist Tom Otterness. The mom might be commanding her children to NOT being throwing their baseballs near here, because LOOK AT WHAT IS BEHIND ME! All that glass you see is the 5-story, 15,000 square foot Lena Meijer Conservatory. It houses tropical plants from around the world, and connects to event spaces indoors.
This photo shows the the home of the 3-acre Michigan Farm Garden, opened in 2003, so families could experience a farm in the context of the 1930's. It replicates the farmhouse of Lena Rader Meijer's childhood. I read that Lena was the daughter of farmers, and met Fred Meijer, when she worked as a cashier in the Meijer grocery store. 
How would you like to be the employee in charge of dusting this incredibly fragile, and priceless, chandelier that hangs from the ceiling of the conservatory??!!
Glass art on a smaller scale (as well as a myriad of other delightful and artistically designed items) is available in the Meijer Gardens gift shop . 
The Meijer Gardens Amphitheater opened in 2003. It is an outdoor musical and theatrical venue that features a covered stage, and a tiered lawn, seating 1,900 persons. On the day I visited, concert goers had already started gathering for a group of "big-name" recording artists who were performing that evening. 
These motor coaches waited to pick up our group, as we finished our tour of Meijer Gardens, and the sun was setting in the west. Hopefully, this blog post has helped you understand why Meijer Gardens are such a popular group destination, as well as a fun place for all types of travelers to visit. Considering, the gardens have hosted more than 12 million visitors since they opened, it is safe to say that a trip to Meijer Gardens will give you "MILES OF SMILES"!! Tricia
