A Burg Yard : Connie Greco Maira
Connie wrote...
I grew up in a row home on Franklin Street in the Chambersburg
section of Trenton where the backyards were the size of a
postage stamp, but the land was fertile. My father, an
immigrant from Calabria, Italy, lovingly tended to his 50
tomato plants, lettuce, peppers, and a small herb garden. My
father would weed, water, and feed his crop each evening after
putting in long hours for the Trenton Water Department. Every
August, we would harvest the tomatoes and my younger sisters
and I, with my mother orchestrating every move, would peel,
boil, drain, and fill 100 to 150 jars of tomatoes. We would
then carry these jars to the basement and line the shelves
with our day's work. Our family of ten would enjoy the
fruits of this labor all winter and into the following summer.
Most of those jars were turned into delicious sauce to
accompany my mother's homemade pasta which we ate every
Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. This small plot of land was
precious to our family; my father would only grow plants that
would yield food for feeding his family, no easy task in the
20s and 30s.
Note: This is from the Mercer County Italian Festival Site:)
5 years ago
1 comment:
HI CONNIE AND MAC...HAPPY NEW YEAR. I REMEMBER CONNIE AS A NEIGHBOR ON FRANKLIN ST. IN THE 1930'S. MY FATHER WOULD DO THE SAME IN HIS BACK YARD PLUS MAKE HIS OWN WINE IN THE CELLAR AND MY MOTHER, WHO THEY CALLED LIZ, WOULD HOPE TO GET WINE VINEGAR OTOF IT. MY MOTHER AND SISTER ROSE LOVED FRANKLIN STREET BUT LATTER MOVED TO THE TOWNSHIP TO BE NEARER TO MY BROTHER AND I. BEST REGARDS.
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