Article July 20, 2009 Issue

LOAVES, FISHES, AND... CHERRY TOMATOES

BY RACHEL CRANDELL

When we first moved to a farm in Indiana in 1972, our family had to manage on very little. We had two mortgages because our house in another state had not yet sold. And my husband, Dwight, and I had used up our savings on his graduate school studies. In fact, we'd borrowed the downpayment for the farm from a family member.

I had always dreamed of living on a farm, and finding this small one was an answer to prayer. So despite limited funds at the moment, we put our trust in God. The wonderful old pre-Civil War house with a pond and creek and an old barn was close to some extended family, and, for many reasons, it was the perfect place to raise our three small children.

I stayed home with the kids while my husband worked at a children's museum. But his job offered only half the salary he'd been making while in the armed forces. When we made our move in late summer, we thought maybe the garden could be an immediate source of fresh vegetables. Our plan was to grow all of our own food. But the previous owner had allowed the garden to go to weeds, so it needed a lot of work. There were some green beans virtually buried in waist-high grass and a few onions, but not much more.

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LOAVES, FISHES, AND... CHERRY TOMATOES

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