Working at a botanical garden in the south and seeing plants you'd typically find in your grandmother's garden can evoke fond memories! In addition our current exhibit, Come Sit A Spell, and the furniture and programming that we have based on the exhibit have led me to remember very special memories of my beautiful grandmother. Because of the southern connection and memories we asked our guests to write down their favorite "southern-time" stories and share with us!
I will admit I have too many great memories and not enough space in this blog to write them all. One in particular is remembering how my grandparents used to can every summer and I could not wait until the time was right to eat all of the special things they were preparing...especially the grapeleaf pickles! Not too many people seem to know what they are, but it's a sour pickle that is just a little bit of southern goodness! I loved summers with my grandparents and especially with my grandmother whose love you could feel with all the summer goodies she would create. She turned 91 this year and still cooks her legendary meals for us today. I loved sharing this story and hope that it reflects how much I love her and growing up with her meant to me (I had to attach a picture of her to just show how adorable she is)!
If you have a special memory like this we would love to hear it! Please send in 250 words or less a favorite "southern-time" story to southernstories@dsbg.org by July 30. The winner will recieve a $250 grand prize and be featured on the Garden's Facebook Page. Stories can also be submitted to the following postal address: DSBG Southern-Time Stories, 6500 S. New Hope Rd., Belmont, NC 28012.