Yearly harvest steeped in decades of practice
Green Thumbs
* 2nd in a 4-part series
Sweetwater – From the time Mitch Rogers was around 15, he has been able to run a digging plow. He remembers helping his grandfather Bill Marr on their farm on Sweetwater.
Fast forward 55 years and you will still find Rogers in the garden. He recalls hearing his great uncle Claude Edwards’ saying, “If you don’t believe in gambling, you ain’t ever farmed.”
He agrees that farming is always a gamble.
This year, Rogers got a later start because of the rain. He likes to stagger his crops so that they will not be ready for harvest at the same time.
His wife Cathy is thankful for that consideration, as she usually freezes between 300-400 ears of corn each year. The garden has several varieties of corn each year. The Rogers plant white cornfield corn to grind for cornmeal. They plant ambrosia for cutting off to freeze and freezing on the cob. They also plant a variety of strong stalk corn to use for the beans to run on. It is a hybrid that is used for deer corn in the fall by their grandson Max.
Rogers also plants several varieties of beans. He plants a cornfield bean known as Hastings and a bunch bean that grows on the ground and doesn’t run like white half runners.
The bunch bean is known by some as “May Marr Beans,” after Rogers’ grandmother who used to plant this variety. Each year, he always dries the shells out and keeps them for planting the following season.
Lots of beans are broken and frozen for the winter months, as well.
You will also find cucumbers, squash, okra and several varieties of tomatoes in his garden, as well as a potato patch. Because of the extremely-dry spell, Rogers has been using a soaker hose to water his crops. It takes a while for the water to soak in, but he thinks it is well worth the effort to keep his water moist.
Rogers also has a variety of apple trees, blueberry and raspberry bushes. He raises chickens and his grandson has several ducks. The Rogers farm is a place where grandkids are welcomed and animals are loved.
If the grandkids stick around long enough, you may find them in the garden with their Pappy learning to garden – just as he did.