CLDS volunteers measured and staked-out the boundaries of all the garden plots on May 2, 2009. We placed over 400 stakes that day!

Stake-out in progress.	Jim Caffray looks to check measurements.
Dorian Roffe-Hammond and Jim Walk place the last stakes.	Jule Greco and Lee Gillespie number the plots.
Volunteers from left to right: Jim Caffray, Lee Gillespie, Dorian Roffe-Hammond, Jim Walck, Heather Cole, and Jule Greco.	Muddy boots!
CLDS volunteer Heather Cole wraps up a hard day's work.	The garden is beginning to take shape. A view of the center circle under construction by the Butler Township Road Department.

The water line is installed by the Butler Township Road Department on April 23, 2009.

Views of the Butler Township Community Garden site before development, in early April 2009.

Site of Butler Township Community Garden in early April '09 before development.	Surveyors, Alan Chyko and Josh Esposito, from Barry Isett & Associates, Inc. volunteered their time to stake out important features.

I was born in February, 1945. Gardens or “yards” as they were known back then looked very different from today’s gardens that surround homes in either rural areas or developments. I lived in Japan Jeddo, a small patchtown on Rt. 940 between Hazleton and Freeland. My “yard” holds for me wonderful, warm, cozy feelings. I do feel that I was a very lucky and privileged child to grow up at that time.

Our lot wasn’t very big, but to me it was huge as we had so many fruit trees and flowers and a vegetable garden that made it look so much more dimensional than it really was. We had a grape vine arbor, three sour cherry trees, two pear trees (a winter pear and a sickle pear), two strawberry apple trees, one sour apple tree, a choke-a-cherry tree, and one walnut tree we shared with our neighbor. Also, for a fence, we had hedges that were full of stickers and red berries that had to be trimmed. We had a cucumber garden that was fenced in with chicken wire and a vegetable garden with corn, tomatoes, and beans. We also had elderberry bushes that my mom made jelly out of.  Daylilies were plentiful, also purple irises, holly hocks, and rose bushes.

 

Naturally we had to cut the grass with the old-fashioned hand push mower. We had a one-car garage in the back of our lot by an alley that ran behind the house. I remember playing for hours in that yard, one I could actually get lost in.

 

Also, I wish that if anyone has pictures of gardens in Drifton, I would love to see them, as they were supposed to be the most beautiful gardens in our area. My next-door neighbors, whose last name was Van Surer, also were known for their beautiful garden with fountains and cement inlays, flowers, and bushes.

 

Everyone had clothes lines that ran along the backs of the yards. Nothing like fresh air-dried clothing!

 

The gardens now in the last 40 years have changed. Our yard is now empty and small-looking since all the trees and flowers are gone. It was too much for my mother to take care of. Also, most of the town did the same thing. Fruit trees are not en vogue anymore. The tell-tale sign of the times that were is when going through Jeddo, you still can see the gates that open up to the gardens, but no fences or hedges—just gates, which look comical as you don’t have to open them to go into your yard. The gate posts are cemented in and were hard to remove. In other words, you do not have to open the gate to enter your yard.

To sum it all up, I am glad to have grown up at a time when things in life were simpler. A garden with flowers and trees—what is simpler than that? To me, as a child, the time spent there was magical and unforgettable.

Photo (left): Me in the garden ca. 1948.

Photo (right): Baba (Estelle Evancho) with my cousins (Nealy and Alice Gallagher), ca. 1948.

In an effort to increase awareness of our cultural landscape heritage, the CLDS is launching the Landscape Narrative Project. This project will result in a collection of personal memoirs documenting the meaning and memory of everyday landscapes.

Are there any gardens or landscapes that hold special meaning in your life? What about a garden of a close friend or family member? If so, the CLDS would like to hear about it.

For instance, was there a special place from your childhood where you felt free to explore nature, let your imagination wander, or just simply pass the time and feel truly at peace? Or what about your grandmother's vegetable garden, where you learned how to plant seeds, watch them grow, and eat juicy tomatoes that were still warm from the sun? Is there a small patch of woodland with a creek where you and your dad would throw stones to see who made the biggest splash? What memories may the smell of chives conjure up when you brush past them?

Landscapes have memories associated with them and in many instances, these places have helped shape who we are and how we understand the world. The Landscape Narrative Project is an attempt to document both historic and contemporary accounts of these special places and share them with others in the hope that it will help raise the collective consciousness of how very important everyday landscapes are to our lives.

Please take a few moments to share your memories by posting them as a comment on the CLDS Blog site. If you have a photo or sketch of this special place, you may attach it to an email and send them to info@DigCLDS.org and we will post it along with your memoir. Kids are encouraged to post their accounts as well, and a sketch or drawing to accompany these are especially welcome. Eventually, the CLDS will publish a select number of these memoirs in a booklet that will be available for others to purchase, give as a gift, or share with your family.

If you have any questions or comments pertaining to the Landscape Narrative Project, please email Krista Schneider at info@DigCLDS.org.

Welcome to the CLDS blog!  The purpose of this site is to provide a place for members to share their thoughts, ideas, inspirations, questions, and comments. Once we have a location for our community garden, this site will also track its growth and progress. Stay tuned!