Gardening with
Dad The taste of satisfaction
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MICHAEL BERGIN .
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BERGIN SHARES THE JOY OF GARDENING WITH HIS CHILDREN.
The thorny dewberry vines that grow in the garden along the side of our house are transplants from the home of my wife’s late grandmother. After she passed, I moved several of these native blackberry-like bushes from her rural Oklahoma farmyard to our place, where they now flourish and compliment the annual bounty of our suburban fruit and vegetable garden. Like many family matriarchs, my wife’s grandmother was a special individual. A survivor of the Great Depression and a stalwart example of the endearing qualities of the people of western Oklahoma — this is a woman whose memory is worthy of passing down to my children. I’m grateful I was afforded the opportunity to know her and the experiences and traditions of her home. Although my three small children will never sit and visit with their great-grandmother in her home, through vegetable and fruit gardening, they will know some connection to her. With each summer evening’s visit to the dewberry bushes, our children hear the stories of warm country evenings, funny memories and wisdom passed down through the generations. In those moments, our kids smell and taste fresh dewberries right off the vine, just like their mother grew up doing at “Grandma’s house.” And just like at Grandma’s, they’re invited into the ritual of gathering with loved ones around delicious food — in this case homegrown dewberry cobblers that are second to none. In this way we enrich not only our children’s experience in the garden but also their connection to our family roots.
14 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / JUNE 2020
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