My Dad
My dad could grow anything. Tomatoes, corn, cabbage, green beans. In the summer, his flower beds were brimming with sunny marigolds and bursting with showy, red zinnias that hummingbirds and butterflies loved. He came from a family who owned a large retail and commercial greenhouse, and worked there for several years.
What he didn’t grow, he foraged. My brothers and I would go with him to the power lines on Brush Mountain to pick huckleberries and elderberries.
My Mom
My mom would spend the entire summer and fall preserving what my dad grew and gathered. Canned tomato sauce, hundreds of jars of jelly, sauerkraut and even her own bottles of ketchup.
They did it to feed our family, but it was more than that. They did it because they loved it.
Mom with four of her five grandchildren. You can see some of Dad’s flowers in the background.
I used to help my dad plant tomatoes and pick corn. He taught me how to harvest flower seeds. I had my own little patch of zinnias and marigolds by the back entrance to the house.
Mom taught me to make jelly. I used to help her pit sour cherries and shuck elderberries until my fingers turned purple. I never helped with her strawberry jam. All I did was eat it, piled way too high on pieces of toast.
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In 2019, Jimmy and I came home to help take care of Mom. She and I started making jelly again in the summer of 2020, when I discovered Dad’s black raspberries were abundant and ripening well that year.
My skills were rusty. Mom helped me get back up to speed, and together we made over 100 jars of jelly and jam that year.
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Dad and Mom are both gone now. Jimmy and I now own the homestead.
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In 2023, we put all of our energy into growing our own food here. It has given us more joy than I can explain.
We worked our way through a month-long drought in June, using rainwater we'd captured and hauling water from a spring at Horseshoe Curve.
Nature cooperated once the drought was over. We captured rainwater, used it all summer, and are still using it to water our experimental winter gardens.
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Jimmy harvested the veggies and helped me to prep them for canning. I spent many hours at Mom's stove, canning jams, jellies, chutneys and soups. I even got pretty good at pressure canning, which was a scary thought just two years ago.
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In the evenings this summer, I loved going out to the garden and just feeling its energy. That may sound weird, but it's a very real thing. A garden has an energy all its own. If you spend time with it and listen, your soul will be rewarded.
I hope you enjoy what Jimmy and I created at Kepner Homestead in 2023. You can read about the gifts you’ve received here.
You’ll find out where it was grown and how it was made. One thing is for sure. It was made with love in a place that has had respect for nature since 1961.