Louie

 Mike and I come from Italian stock (I’m a half-breed to be honest) , and as is typical of our history, our grandparents were avid gardeners. It was a means to feed their family, not just the hobby we nurture today.  Mikes grandfather had a fruit and vegetable stand in West Haven.  He remembers rows and rows of plants in the garage and out in the yard behind the store, and the scolding he’d get if he put too many potatoes in what was supposed to be a 5 lb. bag to be sold in the store.

 Grandpa Al in his shop

  My grandfather grew roses and tomatoes and peppers and there were fig,  cherry and loganberry trees in his back yard on Staten Island. I remember harvest days when we would climb ladders and drop fruits onto tarps from the trees.  I also remember being scared beyond  silly in my grandparents presence. They were a stern lot, speaking broken English and  always, in my eight year old point of view, so serious.   Occasionally  they’d take a giant Hershey Bar out of a drawer in the kitchen and give each of us a big chunk of chocolate.

      Mike decided about five years ago he wanted to learn the art of gardening with the traditions and methods our ancestors used.  Our grandparents are long since gone… however LOUIE… Louie Louie.. is still alive and kicking it up in his magnificent garden in Middleltown.  Louie was a sheetrocker in the building business for many years. This is how Mike came to know him.   He is also an italian immigrant and fantastical gardener. That man works wonders in the soil of the small plot of land next to his house.  He also raises and kills rabbits for food, the reason I sometimes despise him… but in fairness he has let me buy two in recent years so that I could save them from his dinner table.   One of those rescue rabbits died at the paws of my barn cat… ask me how awful I felt that day. No don’t.  It’s still awful.  (I’m sorry, Sonny.. I failed you.)

  ANYWAY… Louie is tight-lipped with his gardening secrets. You cannot ask him direct questions, he will not give a direct answer. In a heavy italian accent you can imagine this line …”  Oooooh, you wanna know, huh?…..eeee hee heee…. well, I notta gonna tell ya”.     Mike has learned that he needs to just walk with him in the garden as he does his thing, and  it is there that Louie starts to talk.  In the talking, he gives away little bits of information, especially when he scolds.  (What is it with the scolding?).    “You putta da seeds in That size seed cup?  Oooh, too big, too big.  You gotta starta small, so the plant gets a little root bound. Then a they grow strong, you see?  Then a you move them to the bigger seed cup.  You young a people want things too quick, that’s a you problem.”

   This weekend while Mike paid a visit and gathered some tips, Louie gave him a big bunch of dried oregano from last years crop. This Old House smells delicous with the scent of rich oregano.

28 thoughts on “Louie”

  1. Loved this post and the history!

    My ancestors were from Wales and J's from Germany and France. Our families gardened long ago and many still do. Some of our children are still gardening.
    We had big gardens. We gardened until a few years ago, when the family farm was sold and we moved to 1/2 an acre. Big change for us. J still gardens, but not in the way of large vegetable gardens of our past. I canned and otherwise preserved foods, most of my life. Not a hobby, but rather a tradition and neccesity. We also practiced organic gardening, just because that was the way we gardened, long before organic gardening became "popular".

    I am happy to see you are carrying on a family tradition of gardening.

  2. I can smell that oregano too, and as I read your post, I was wondering if maybe every family tree doesn't have a "Louie"? Or at least a neighbor that was a "Louie" (with a twist)?
    That last photo is priceless!

  3. That first photo is frame worthy! My mom is an avid gardener and I used to be too prior to the car accident. Sadly, five years I still can't return to gardening and probably never will. I miss it A LOT!

  5. I love that first picture! What a keepsake.
    This post was fun to read. I'm guessing that with Louie's and all of your Grandparents' influence, your garden will be bountiful this year. 🙂

    Have a great day.
    Pam

  6. Great post my friend. Brought me back to me childhood. My grandparents were fresh off the boat from Italy in the early 1900s and your "stern" description is exactly right on! We would sit down to eat at noon on the holidays and get up from the table after 6 at night. The kids all sat at one end of the HUGE U-shaped table arrangement and we had a BLAST. But we always made sure it was a "quiet" blast because we didn't want the ire of Grandpa! He was a tough cookie! He and my grandmother had an amazing garden right in the middle of Hartford where I was born and lived for 5 years. Soooo many memories! Thanks for that walk down the lane…

  7. lovely picture of the old store 🙂 and a lovely story 🙂
    I love the natural smell of spices and foods in the house.
    Have been reading your blog for a while 🙂 first time leaving a comment. It is an amazing idea to renovate and live in an old house. Living in nyc I just dream about leaving the big apple and moving, no matter what house, at least for now 😉

    See you soon 🙂
    Polka

  8. Great read, love hearing about the grandparents, great photo of the store, I agree, definitely frame worthy.
    Both sets of my grandparents are from Ireland, so I didn't learn alot of gardening…but I can throw a damn good party.Great post

  9. you'a so lucky to know him! My Dad, not Italian but so much like Louie! He loved his garden and giving away the bounty that it produced each year. He'd plant 400 tomato seedling so that he could "share" with neighbors. His favorite was the Arkansas Traveler tomato, a medium fruit that cans well. Loved this post, share more about Louie… we need pictures of the garden!

  10. Love this story.

    Hubby and I watched a movie on Netflix last nite called 'Gun Shy' and the wife of one guy kept telling he was pathetic because he was an Italian and couldn't even grow a tomato.. HA HA. (oh, and it was a B flick so don't waste your time watching it.)

  11. I feel like I could be reading a page out of history. I can just hear the accent in my head. What a rich life filled with traditions being kept alive. That first photo is truly a classic!

  12. Love family history…great post! Enjoy the scent…wish we had smell-a-blogvision! (I know that's not a word, but you know what I mean!)

  14. I'm gonna guess you weren't the only fantastic photographer in the family! That first photo is amazing and the last one… priceless!

  15. I love the old store picture. My uncle owned a grocery store when I was small and my Mom and Dad lived above it. I so wish I had a picture of it!
    You lucky duck, you have your picture.

  19. Oh gosh! After reading your post, I miss my family! All of my grandparents were Italian immigrants and my maternal grandfather ran a grocery/butcher store. I learned gardening from my dad. He grew it and my mom cooked it. She even battered and fried zucchini flowers. Can you imagine! Thanks for the reminder of those precious times.

  20. One of my first jobs in the early 70's was as a visiting nurse in a very Italian neighborhood…I learned so much when visiting the elders…now I wish I had written it all down…too bad I didn't have a blog then:)

  21. What a fun post Karen! Great story, and how wonderful to be able to soak up some of Louie's tricks of the trade.
    Oh, and yes, a Hershey bar is more sustaining than meat. No question about that.

  24. You have to love our ancestors. Italians are wonderful gardeners. I am half Irish so I am really blessed. My mother always said we had the best of everything. Spoken like a true mother. Half Italian and half Irish.

  26. What a fabulous picture to have of your family!!!! Sounds like a green thumb runs in the fam 🙂

  27. how lucky you are to have such a great pic of your fam! I have a black thumb but do enjoy walking through the many botanical gardens nearby. I would love to be a successful gardener but for now cacti it is!

  28. oh wow, that first picture is such a treasure, what a cool photo! makes me want to climb into the picture and go back in time. i loved reading this Karen!

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