Thursday, October 25, 2018
By Marilyn McKinley
OSU Ext. master gardener volunteer
Autumn is my favorite time of the year. The nights are cool, the days are crisp and clear. I seem to have more energy. It’s easier to complete winter preparation garden chores.
So what’s so special about fall? For me, it takes me back to the farm in central Indiana.
Fall was always a busy time as a kid. I kept active – even more so than in summer.
Soybeans had just been harvested, the garden was winding down. There was a rush to can all the tomatoes. Corn picking was about to begin. I loved riding in the corn wagon, behind the old-fashioned tractor-mounted corn picker.
I remember getting off the school bus, changing my clothes and rushing out to meet my dad in the field.
I collected colored leaves and pressed them between two pieces of waxed paper.
I collected and made bouquets of the bittersweet that grew on the fence rows.
We grew pumpkins, but never had any at Halloween because my parents loved fried pumpkin blooms.
I collected corn husks to make dolls. I dyed the husks, and braided them into dried flower arrangements. I collected milkweed pods and other weeds for dried arrangements.
We had black walnut and old hickory trees. It was my job to gather the nuts into separate gunny sacks and drag them to the house. My dad let me drive the truck over and over the sacks to release the hulls. It was also my job to crack the nuts and dig out the meat. I hated trying to dig the hickory nut meat out with a pick. Heaven forbid if I missed some shell and Mom or Dad crunched down on it.
On the farm we rarely decorated much for fall. No one in the country did back then. We usually got a pumpkin for a jack-o’-lantern and proceeded to really mess up the face. Never thought of drawing a pattern before we started hacking away.
I was allowed to go to the “5 and dime” store and buy a little mask to wear with my “ghost” costume for the Halloween party at school. That was back when we actually bobbed for apples.
We didn’t go trick-or-treating for candy, but went on a hayride, stopping at farms to collect money for UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund).
I went to a school that was located next to a wooded area we called “the valley,” because there was a ravine running through it. Among the trees in the valley were several buckeye trees. We collected buckeyes – not sure why, except to use them in fall decorations. Maybe it was my destiny to become a “Buckeye.”
In the little town where the school was located, a Halloween parade took place every year. It was traditional to go “pranking” after the parade. Yes, I did some stupid stuff, but it was harmless; we thought we were so, so bad.
For me, fall brings back memories of days gone by, a simpler time, a much less complicated time. I kinda long for those “good old days.”
To learn about fall activities to do with your kids, visit go.osu.edu/fallactivities.