Planting Sugar

“I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up.”  Barbara Bush

Come on now, “spill the beans.”
We want to hear about the first time you planted some sugar on somebody.
You know, your first kiss. Kiss and tell!
How old were you? Who did you kiss? What was it like?
(A note about leaving comments. Don’t be shy. We love hearing what you have to say! And don’t worry about having to give your email. It will never, ever be used for anything. If you want to, you can always use a fake one! Ta-da!)
Oh mine? You want to hear the story of my first kiss?

Continue reading

  1. Louise Fredieu says:

    Hi Rebekah:
    The fireball story is great! It goes really well with the hair!!! Do you keep your wedding pictures out so that when someone is having a bad day: turn the page and S-M-I-L-E!
    i am so glad that you are NOT perfect! You just made my day; i needed that!!!

  2. Debbie says:

    Hey Rebekah!
    First of all, I think we are bride twins. I got married in 1991 too with big hair. Like you, I don’t remember my first kiss either…Complete blank. However,I remember the sugar my dear hubby planted on me after our first date quite clearly. Sweet indeed!
    I planted my herb trays yesterday with Botanical Interest seeds too. Our local garden and feed store carries them and the worker man recommended a great light weight organic potting soil for me too! As for making wishes, I’m a firm believer in making them, believing in them, then doing what it takes to bring them into reality!
    That’s why my blog is called Dandelion House!
    Great post today… I’m off to plant some more dream seeds!
    Have a wonderful day!
    Dandelion Wishes to you too!
    Deb

  3. Sally says:

    The summer of my 15th birthday I had a huge crush on a 17 year old boy…he had a wonderful tan—golden hair and blue eyes….just made my heart throb!! Of course I could not date yet—so we settled for his visits to our home. But this summer our wonderful small town of 1000 people—most of which were farmers—had a carnival visit the main street of our town. With a ferriswheel and everything. My heart throb asked me to go with him, my mother said yes!! My boyfriend delivered papers, so he had a litle money–and we went for a ride on that glorious ferris wheel!! When we stopped at the very top, we stole a kiss!! What fun..that was 47 years ago…

  4. Brigitte Farmgirl with a heart says:

    I had my first kiss at the age of 19! The "guy" was 3 years younger…He was a friend of my sister. I know it wasn’t a magic moment! But what I can really remember it’s the smell; A mix of my spraynet + is sweat! He was so nervous…that all is big face was kind of shinny…Well, I had to kiss someone! Thanks to put it back in memories! And by the way, you were a really good looking wedding girl! Hope I’ll look as good when the moment comes! See ya!

  5. Sandy says:

    No, I don’t remember my first kiss either. Inauspicious at best I guess! I am soooo jealous that you can plant now, we are under at least a foot of snow here and planting is very, very far away. Wish I could send a picture!

  6. Lisa says:

    First kiss…? What a lovely request- mine was at 14, I had a 19yr. old college boyfriend. My husband of 25 years and Mom were appalled. But what a special man- I hope he’s happy now. It was in the front seat of a ’69 Delta 88 and a hot Texas nite… and I was so skinny! What a gentleman.
    And for candles, please choose one for our little family business- the economy is failing us…
    This is a wonderful Catholic and Pagan tradition…
    Thanks so much- Lisa, Colorado

  7. Hottie says:

    Ah, that kiss that started the best 20 years, one month, 19 days and counting of my life.

  8. Kat Sprattling says:

    I love your blog! My first kiss was at age 15.He was a junior lifeguard at the local pool.Maurice was handsome and muscular and 2years older! Oo-la-la. Unfortunately, the smooch itself was more like a snake tongue invasion. I stopped hanging out at the pool on his days. I had not had a good kiss yet but I knew that was not it! Never saw Maurice again. Hope he trained the cobra!

  9. Betsy says:

    LOL! Your story brought tears to my eyes, like it often does. But this time because I’m laughing so hard! I love your blogs. They never fail to brighten my day. I’ll take a wish for my love life since you’re talking about kisses. Thanks in advance!

  10. CC says:

    I was 6 years old, in kindergarten and in ‘love’ with Dickie (don’t remember his last name) as were about 1/2 of the other girls in the class. One day we girls chased him around the school yard at recess and tied him up to the chain link fence with our jump ropes and we all took turns kissing him … it lasted all of about 3 minutes before our teacher came to rescue him!

  11. MaryFrantic says:

    First kiss? Absolutely! I was 15 attending a birthday party with a group of 17 & 18 year-olds (because my cousin took me with her). They said we would play, "Spin The Bottle". We formed a circle and sat on the floor. I saw that when the bottle pointed to YOU, the couple stepped just around an OPEN doorway and quickly returned? The cutest guy there spun the bottle toward me and reached out his hand. We walked around the doorway and he gave me one of the sweetest kisses I received all my life. BTW, we never dated but have kept in touch all these years. He and I are 71 years old now. I just got an email from him the other day. I think I’ll ask him if he remembers that kiss — Do I dare?…Naw, I don’t think so. If you put something in print on the internet it could be edited or copied and changed, so I’ll just keep my little private memory.

  12. Kristy says:

    My father’s family moved into the town my mother grew up in when they were both sixteen. The next week they met at the youth group at church. Mom said it was love at first sight, Dad said it wasn’t, but that he knew she was the girl he was going to marry. So…
    I looked at the boys in our church, the good ones were all taken, and only the duds remained. When I was thirteen a new family moved into town and I was sure the son was the one. In fact we dated for a couple of days, but I liked his sister better than him. His kiss was kinda blah.
    I met my husband after church when I was nineteen. He was a different denomination. It wasn’t the church, it was the day of the week.

  13. Sharon says:

    My first kiss? There are so many first kissses to choose from that I am suddenly thinking perhaps I was a bit more free wheeling then I ever realized: There was that first kiss on my cheek from a boy in second grade who asked me to marry him. There was that first kiss on my lips from another boy in the same second grade class who was my dancing partner for our St. Patty’s Day Concert who embellished the end of our number by planting a big kiss on my lips. Then there were the games of kissing chase when I transferred to public school in 4th grade. There were a few kisses from boys at summer camp dances out on the porch under the stars. In my heart though I have always counted my first real kiss to be the one on my eighth grade trip to Washington DC. There were about 100 students from my junior high class and 6 boys from the eighth grade class at St. Andre’s (a local catholic school) who went on the trip. I lost my voice on our second day there and couldn’t join in the crazy antics of my usual crowd. Somehow I found myself tagging along with the 6 boys from St. Andre’s (several of whom I knew from my days at St. Mary’s and 1 I knew from all my summers spent running track and field thru parks and rec). They were all thoguhtful, considerate, funny and very interesting. By the end of our week there one of them became my first boyfriend and when we had our first kiss I saw fireworks. I felt the fireworks all over again when we were old enough to go on real dates in our junior year of high school. Thank you for the wonderful walk down memory lane!

  14. all8garden says:

    Hm, first kiss. I remember it was summer and sunny, his name was Jason….um. Yeah, that’s all I got. I do remember the first time that my DH and I kissed.

    I miss Big Hair.

    As for wishes, there really isn’t anything that I need but thank you for the offer. Is there something that you need? How can we help?

  15. Mary Rauch says:

    You know, Rebekah looks more like a china doll than a "real" girl

  16. MaryFrantic says:

    Rebekah, was a decision ever made on the "roof color" we talked about a while back? Are there pictures AFTER it was painted?…just curious.

  17. Shery Jespersen says:

    GREAT read! Top to bottom.

    My first kiss…1966 I think. Happened at night, out in front of the community center in our little "Cowboy Hooterville" here in Wyoming. Friday night roller skating. I was 12, he was too. He was visiting relatives in town. His name, I kid you not, was Wyatt Earp. He said he was related to the famous law man and was named after him. I did NOT kiss him. He kissed ME. That was back when forward girls were nonexistant (as far as I knew). I didn’t know anyone my age who had ever kissed or been kissed before. He even kissed me on the lips! That was all that came of my first kiss, but it sure left an impression. We roller-skated together and then parted company. He was dreamy I thought and it didn’t hurt any that he had such a cool name.

  18. J.F. says:

    Oh, the first kiss! In the woods, while gathering bonfire kindling, and I had just met him. There were three or four kisses, really, and then we went back to the bonfire.
    Much more memorable was the first kiss my beloved and I shared: That, after two years of being ‘just friends’, then spending a whole day, evening and into the next morning talking, sharing quarts of coffee, and drifting from one coffee shop to another, in and out of bookstores,dinner, live music. We finally kissed standing next to his crummy old car, drove away, and never left each other or that kiss, even through more than twenty years, four children, a business, and more adventures than I can count. Even when cancer physically separated us did we part, and I like to think that is only temporary. We’ll have coffee and kisses again someday.

  19. Penny says:

    I miss big hair too! And shoulder pads!
    I still have "kinda" big hair – it’s ok I live in Texas 🙂

  20. Vicki Patton says:

    Oh boy…my first of many…I was candy striping at a local hospital. Had met a guy and we discovered you can stop the elevator and turn the lights out. We kissed…I remember he took his hand and taught me to move my lips a bit while kissing. That was in 1969. I was 14.

  21. meg says:

    !! *sigh* My first kiss was in San Diego and it was a British guy "in the states" for a Tae Kwon Do tournament. Random! He was cute, his name was Douglas – he went home and sent me one letter but, alas, that was it. And, since it was pre-facebook, we did not keep in touch.

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How Does Your Garden Grow?

“No one can be uncheered by a garden.” Winnie the Pooh

I found something cheery hidden deep inside a moving box in a storage closet. I found this red bag.

And this red bag started me thinking “garden.”

And thinking “garden” cheers me.

Continue reading

  1. Debbie says:

    Howdy Rebekah!
    I just saw the first crocus sprouts rising out of the ground beneath a mound of snow yesterday! I have three large flower which I putter around in every year but my new thing for this year is to grow an herb garden in containers. I’ve had a book called Little Herb Gardens on my shelf for sometime and this is my year to get going. Some things I’ll plant from seed ( the book tells you which herbs do best started from seed or seedlings). It’s perfect for the novice Herb Gardner.( Me ) I have plans to add to the flower beds and my veggie garden is moving more towards the front of the house where it will get more sun and grow in raised beds! I did a little post about the Herb Gardening book this morning!

    PS. I made your Red Velvet Cake for desert yesterday. It was a hit! Thanks for posting it on your other blog!

    Happy Growing…and Beach Blessings,
    Deb

  2. meredith says:

    I solved the animals in the garden problem! I built my garden where I have to walk by it 100’s of times every day. I fenced it in with leftover pickett fence panels hidden in our barn. I used raised beds- metal and concrete water troughs, and a boiler from our church heating system that had been cut in half and remade into water troughs years ago. The rust holes are perfect for drainage. The gardens are high up and the animals leave them alone. I put gravel on the ground around all the troughs for neatness. I love my garden! I cant wait till it warms up enough to get started…….:)

  3. Judith says:

    Thank you! Every year I vow to start a garden in the Spring, every year I remember this vow in June. In the midwest, it is still too early to break ground but not to peruse seed catalogs. I think this year will finally be the year my garden will emerge! By the by, what other blog do you have….I’m always up for a new Red Velvet recipe!

  4. Sherri says:

    Hey Rebekah,
    I’ve been pouring over the seed catalogs for over a month! Every September I swear I’m not putting out half as much and every February I’m doubling the size from last year. Lettuce, spinach, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green beans, october beans, hot and sweet peppers, eggplant, sunflowers, okra, watermelon, muskmelon, squash and zucchini are topping this year’s list. I’m thinking about trying kohlrabi. Anyone out there tried it and loved/hated it? The weather here in TN is in the 60s this week. Spring fever has sprung! Happy planning to all!

  5. Mary Rauch says:

    Oh I am dying laughing at your joke! Recently in the fabric store I saw the PERFECT fabric for a small ROUND table. I had a "senior moment" as I stood before the YOUNG cutting lady. She said, "How much yardage?" I was mentally trying to calculate it quickly. I absently looked at her and said, "I’m trying to remember pi," and she said, "What does pie have to do with it?" …At that point I told her I’d be back later with measurements, and left.
    YOU are "younger people", but it seems most younger people have no concept of basic math. That worries me.

  6. Kristy says:

    This blog reminded me of my favorite gardening book, so I checked to see if I still have it. I do! It is "The Scented Garden", by Rosemary Verey, copyright 1981. It is mostly about flowers, but has a good section on herbs also.
    Then I checked back to see your book blog. Wow! What a response. I’m so glad Wade wrote in. I too loved "The Sherwood Ring" and "The Perilous Gard" also by Pope. I used to borrow my brother’s books by Lathrop and, in addition to the Bowditch book, enjoyed another book about pathways in the sea. I can’t remember the exact title, or the name of the man, but it was about mapping the ocean currents and the success of clipper ships.
    Must go. I need to check out the L. M. Montgomery site.

  7. Mary says:

    Oh I am so sympathetic with the snake phobia. I actually moved my family to a new house because of that reason. Someone told me moth balls keeps them away, so if I ever see one again, I’m sure to try it, or other forms of snake repellent. Not about to give up digging in the earth. I’m ok with worms. If they’re not too big. 🙂

  8. Sara says:

    I can feel it in my bones! Thanks so much for this post. I too have been going through all the seed catalogs, designing my garden this year. I always plant a lot. I am the lady with the bag of squash! I will start seeds in my basement in the next week. Can’t wait to smell the earth!

  9. brenda says:

    it is time to start planning that garden the seed catalogs are out like wish books for the garden and I love looking and planning even if most of the time I plant the same stuff. this year might be different there are alot of things that I never tried to grow that I would like to this year. and last year we had a pumkin carving party so this year I want to have a pumkin patch for the grandkids so they can plant and grow the pumkin they carve. I love the garden not only to help with the cost of food but when I put on my apron it makes me think of my grandmas and my 80 year old mother still helps me can. and there is nothing as nice as seeing your pantry filled with homecan goods. Thanks for what you wrote always makes me smile and most of the time it brings back memories.

  10. KimberlyD says:

    I have only a spot in front of my apartment. I grow some flowers and a few plants. Usually tomatoes, green and red peppers and maybe onions. I tried squash, watermelon before but they didn’t grow. Oh I put marigolds as a boarder to keep rabbits out of my garden and because it is in front of my apartment I don’t get deer. I also have heard about putting human hair sprinkled around the boarder keeps animals out and tieing a string around the garden and tie to it strips of cloth, it flutters in the wind and it keeps animals out.

  11. all8garden says:

    There won’t be any garden this year since the plan is to move so that my DH can finish grad school elsewhere. It pains me to think of no garden.

    We had put in raised beds because we live in town and the soil here is a terrible hard clay. (It’s so hard that they use it to make tiles to put on the space shuttles.)

    I purposefully pared down my seed catalog consumption this year. Still ordered the Baker Creek Seed one though. Love the glossy prints, the wonderful varieties, and their safe seed pledge. New this year is Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. With you living in Georgia it has plenty of varieties that would do well for you. http://www.southernexposure.com/

    I hope you post lots of pictures so that I can live a little vicariously.

  12. Angela says:

    Beautiful post! I come here for my dose of happiness. The picture of your grandparents and their barn is a treasure. It reminds me of my homeplace in Kentucky. Brings back such good memories. I’ll plant a garden in a few months. I am looking forward to spending time outside again. Been cooped up all winter. Thanks again for sharing your world.

  13. Rebekah says:

    Hi Deb! Your garden plans sound great. I hope you’ll be showing it off on your blog. Glad you liked the Red Velvet Cake. Wish I had another piece right now, for breakfast!
    Hi there, Meredith! Yours sounds great as well. I’m always so impressed with the ingenuity of Farmgirls! Awesome!
    Hi Judith, Here’s the recipe (can’t do a hyperlink):
    http://www.rebekahteal.com/2011/02/velebrate-valentines-with-velvet.html. Hope to hear more from you about how your garden does. Looking through all the catalogs and limiting myself is one of the hardest parts of gardening!
    Hi Sherri! Now, your garden sounds amazing. I haven’t tried kohlrabi, but know someone who grows it–I’ll ask her more about it. Spring here too–69 yesterday!!

  14. Rebekah says:

    Hi Mary! Now that’s funny!! Thanks for thinking me young. :)Here’s another one sweet Jonni emailed: what vegetable did Noah not take on the ark? leeks. 🙂
    Hi Kristy! The Scented Garden sounds great. I’m always so inspired by y’all! Are you going to aroma-plant this year? I need to consider that when I pick out what to plant.
    Hi other Mary! I totally get why you’d leave. TOTALLY. Was it in your house? Yikes. I’m better, but I have a long way to go when it comes to snake. Moth balls are an interesting idea. I wonder if I put them around the yard? Hmmm.
    Hi Sara! Well, I did a wee bit of hoeing yesterday and it felt wonderful. You’ll be there soon. I’m headed to buy some Sugar Snap seeds today. Good luck on your plantings!

  15. Rebekah says:

    Hi Brenda! Love your words about your Grandma; it’s the same thing for me. Transports me. Listen, we planted pumpkins at our moutain farm one year and had so much fun with something. When the pumpkins were small, we each barely scraped our names in the side of them, can’t remember what we used to do that, but don’t break the skin. Then as the pumpkin grows, the name does. Totally cool.
    Hi Kimberly! Marigolds are one of my favorite flowers, so I’ll surely plant them this year. I haven’t noticed that they help repel bunnies, but maybe if I plant more. I’ll try it! Will try the other ideas too for the deer. I’m hoping to put up a fence, but if it is expensive, I won’t be able to. We’ll see.
    Hi all8garden! I can sympathize with the no garden thing. When I gardened on my deck, I used earthboxes. That’s the brand name. They did a fantastic job. I recommend them highly. I harvested a lot of veggies from a small space. Google it and see what you think. Thanks so much for the link to the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. I’m going to check it out!
    Hi Anglea! Thank you so much. I love that picture of my grandparents. I had never seen it until recently. They look so happy. And peaceful–with 10 kids! The last few days here have been glorious. It does feel good to get out some. The warm weather will be to you soon!
    Thanks everyone for such wonderful comment-versation!!!!! Love you all!

  16. Theresa says:

    I’m so jealous that you can even plant something in February! I live 90 miles south of the Canadian border which blesses us with short, sometimes cool summers. It is almost impossible for me to plant the garden before June 1. I long to put my hands in the dirt…I solve some of my problems by using a greenhouse with heat mats which allows me to start "gardening" in late April. When I transfer my plants to the garden I plant them in raised beds with solar mulch and floating row covers. They are a bit of an investment but they allow me to be far more successful than if I didn’t use them. Our summer nights frequently cool off to the low 50’s. By the way, I’m probably the only person who can say that a zucchini plant doesn’t grow enough zucchini for me! I love zucchini that much! Thank you for writing such thought provoking articles. They linger in my mind for days after I read them…

  17. Deborah says:

    I love this site. My friend shared her magazine, so of course I had to come look you up! I have a small garden, My Granddaughter who is 4yr old, Anela, helped me plant every seed in it. She says it is her garden now. Hopefully my garden will be bigger next year. We have some chickens so I am trying to teach my grand children about the farm life! They are mesmerised with each thing I show them. Actually the Anela was in my baby chick pen this morning to play with the chicks that about 4wks old. She says they don’t have enough room. she was all in a ball I couldn’t help but laugh. Loved all the other comments, keep gardening!

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