OPG

One of the best things about having a small garden of your own is walking outside to pick something fresh for dinner. But one of the drawbacks is that sometimes there isn't alot to pick. That's when you can really appreciate OPG. Other people's gardens.

People who love fresh food and gardening flock together. After so much preparation and work that goes into gardens, when the bounty starts coming in, it can be really bountiful. All of a sudden.

So, I haven't planted some of our favorite things like silver queen corn, white potatoes, green beans or zucchini. But other people have.

Mom and Dad have white half runners (green beans) coming in fast and furious. They have canned several times now and Mom has declared she is done. She has over 100 quarts of perfect green beans in the pantry. But the beans keep coming, so Dad has called to offer fresh green beans and we are happy to accept that offer.

Then, this morning, I saw a grocery bag on the kitchen counter. It is full of fresh, beautiful white potatoes. Steve Royster grows the best white potatoes we have ever eaten. They are organic potatoes and honestly there is nothing like them. They are not at all starchy and the thin skins taste wonderful too. I ran into Steve recently and he said this year's is the best crop he has ever had. Oh joy.

The Royster's immigrated from Wales in the 1700s, settling first in Jamestown, Virginia and then Granville County, North Carolina. Horace and Mary Elizabeth Royster came to Cleveland County, North Carolina in 1872. They wanted to build a railroad in Western North Carolina, but when this project didn't work out they set up a boarding school. Later Horace became the first Superintendent of Education in Cleveland County. Horace and Elizabeth had five children and one of those was Stephen Sampson Royster. He was a pharmacist and a medical doctor and was known as Dr. S. S. My grandmother, Alma Harrill Hunt, wrote that she remembered Dr. S. S. making house calls in a horse and buggy.

Dr. S. S. and his wife, Olive, had two sons, David and Ralph. David had two children Anne and David Jr ("D"). Ralph had two children, Mimi and Steve. So Steve is David III's first cousin once removed or something like that. Mama Crowder could explain it.

Anyway, Steve grows the best organic potatoes that we have ever had. And they go great with my parent's fresh green beans. We are so lucky to have sweet family who want to share with us.

When you get to enjoy other people's gardens, it's a treat in more ways than one.