Golden Acre Lives On: Meeting of the Minds

Zone 7

With lower elevations and longer days, a variety of vegetables will thrive in a Zone 7 garden. Lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts can be planted before the last frost. Carrots, beets, radishes, and parsnips will also do well. Onions, potatoes, peas, radishes, salad greens, and a variety of herbs can also be planted during this time frame. Most areas in zone 7 get moderate to high rainfall and many areas have little snowcover in winter. This makes zone 7 gardening an ideal gardening environment. Fall-grown vegetables, in particular, are usually of very high quality.

Read more at Suite101: Zone 7 Gardening: Growing Vegetables in the "Middle Ground" Suite101.com http://vegetablegardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/zone_7_gardening#ixzz0aQUvPuRG

Friday, January 16, 2009

Meeting of the Minds

Last night I had dinner with a group of friends…well, mostly they’re my husband’s friends that he’s come to know and love through the music industry. Now they’re my friends too. We gathered at Sol Restaurant in Franklin, TN. Our first question was how do you pronounce Sol in Spanish?

Pictured here are Bryan Cumming, Barbara Hart, Beejee Hampton, Holly Cumming.

At table with us were Barbara Hart and her business partner Cheryl Gimbel. They are working on Barbara’s play titled Rose Bowl Queens.
Studio 23 owner Bryan Cumming was present. He is involved in the project as the women endeavor to record the musical play soundtrack to CD.
Bryan’s wife was present, just a few days after her double knee replacement surgery; and her cute stepmom was at her side. We made a great crew of seven. And Sol Restaurant in Franklin was more than accommodating, even though we didn’t have a reservation, couldn’t take an upstairs table, and were a party of seven. The food was outstanding and the service was great. We were served by a member of Pistol. Visit them on myspace at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID

=232973589

Pictured here are Alan Ross and Cheryl Gimbel.

Ever present was my partner Alan Ross (www.rossmusic.net) who is singing on the Rose Bowl Queens CD. Alan is working on a three-song country demo for a country-music-star-to-be-named later. Songs include Dance With My Wife, Number One Song, and Arizona Highways. As most of us know, Alan held onto his music through the years. Now, with a probe from a recording star in our own hometown, Alan agrees the time is right to let go. I’m sure he wants to keep me in the style to which I wish to become accustomed: that is, giving away everything we have to people who need it.

Lessons from Golden Acre:

My first husband was a country boy. He taught me a lot about gardening. We had a ½ acre garden, four apple trees, a peach tree, a plum tree, a cherry tree, a grape arbor, a chicken coop without chickens…
· One crazy thing we did was use metal in gardening. The country folk couldn’t explain why it made a huge difference to use metal tomato stakes, to bury cans & can lids in the dirt, to use copper wire in gardening. Nowadays, modern science tells us that plants thrive on the negative ions produced by static electricity. [Personally I’m glad there’s some God-given use for static electricity other than making my pants stick to my legs.] So, according to the country folk, you place cans about every foot in your garden. Cut out the tops and bottoms of the cans and bury about ½ the can in the ground.
· Always use metal stakes for tomatoes.
· Use chicken wire to provide support for vertical growth, or roll it up and place under the growth of vine plants, like cukes, melons, pumpkins. Place a stick or metal rod under bush beans…for some reason plants go crazy for being off the ground. That helps you, the farmer, prevent fungus and disease.
· Use copper wire in your garden.

The Former Golden Acre

I once lived in a place called Golden Acre.

During WWII, the U.S. government encouraged citizens to grow food in home gardens called "Victory Gardens." Patriotism ran high, and a good Victory Garden was something to boast about. So much so that prizes were awarded for the finest gardens.

Jim Brown and his wife moved to Nashville in 1938, and by the war years their garden was lush and verdant. One section of the land, called The Elysian Gardens, was choked with flowers. Vegetable sections sported such treats as “Victory” spelled out in green-bean plants. Golden Acre was so fruitful that it supplied food for the Browns and their daughter Sue, extended family members, neighbors up and down the street, and a local restaurant, The Belle Meade Buffet. As recognition of his famous generosity, the buffet awarded Mr. Brown a lifetime of free dinners. Each evening of the subsequent 40 years would find Mr. Brown dressed to the nines in suit, topcoat and fedora, strolling his way to the restaurant.

Years passed and Mr. Brown’s jaunty walk slowed. And as Mr. Brown slowed, Golden Acre reverted to its natural state and became a refuge for wildlife. More than 30 species of birds and wildlife lived on Golden Acre’s magical land. What made this so remarkable was that Golden Acre was located one block off West End Avenue, a part of “downtown” Nashville that is incredibly congested and area clogged with cars and busy citizens, noise and pollution. In the midst of that madness stood Golden Acre, a paradise of wildlife.

Golden Acre responded to the city’s growth by becoming a veritable fortress of woods—a warren of meandering paths, hidden grottos with ancient stone benches and altars; the noise of the city disguised by the coos of happy birds, the gentle clucking of hens in the hen yard; the chittering, tweeping, trilling songs of birds; and the gentle song of wind in the trees.
Now Golden Acre is a parking lot.

Golden Acre Lives On

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Meeting of the Minds

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Lessons from Golden Acre:

The Former Golden Acre