Friday, May 20, 2011

Genes

I think it is very entertaining when you realize that you have become like some ancestor, even if just in a small way. The older I get, the more things I notice.

Today I went to the local dairy/vegetable/ice cream store, Merrymeade Farms (http://www.merrymead.com) to get milk to make ricotta cheese. I have a recipe planned for it that I will make over the weekend. It is a rainy day and I put on my rain boots to head out. When I got there, instead of heading indoors to just get milk, I was drawn in to the garden center area by a sign telling of organic herb plants ahead. Mind you, I just spent last weekend planting 23 veggies and 35 perennials, with help from Scott. The last thing I need is more plants. But I had to go there....

I perused a very extensive collection of herbs and such, but what drew me was the beets and brussel sprouts. I decided I needed them and headed in to pay. Then I found fresh asparagus, another ingredient necessary for my recipe. As I was putting my stuff in the car, I realized that my veggie patch consisted of all the things my Grandma Rose seemed to eat a lot of. When I was young, however, I wouldn't touch the stuff. I thought she was nuts and didn't understand why she would slave over a hot stove to cook beets forever when she could have just grabbed a Ho-Ho instead!

Our veggie patch was heavily influenced by Scott's foodie tendencies, too. We eat and cook together. So how is it that so many things Grandma used to eat are now regular counter clutterers in my house? Genes.

Maybe she is proud of me and maybe she is just looking at me, shaking her gray head thinking, "Finally, this kid has smartened up." Whatever the case, I should thank her. After all, she was right. Tea is good. Beets, rhubarb, brussel sprouts and asparagus are really good things. I am happy to finally have a tiny, but hopefully productive veggie patch again. I haven't done one since NY. I attribute my gardening gene to her. Those Swiss gardening and farming genes. Who knows, maybe that is why I am a landscape architect, too.

On the other side of the family, I get the feistiness from my Grandma C. She was a redhead until she passed, no matter that she wasn't a true redhead. I love to tease Scott. I do it all the time, whether he likes it or not. It isn't mean-intentioned. I have often wondered where this came from. Grandma C is the answer to that. She was always good for bantering back and forth with the men of the family.

My list of similarities goes on. I am proud that I have become like my Grandmas in at least some ways. They were hard-working, good ladies. Not bad trees to fall from.