The house I grew up in at 1348 Chip Road, Kawkawlin, Michigan. My parents built this house in 1954. My mom sold it in 1992. The area of our land to the right of the tree was what we called, 'the garden'. I spent A LOT of time there raising vegetables to sell.

The house I grew up in at 1348 Chip Road, Kawkawlin, Michigan. My parents built this house in 1954 - they were married in 1948. My mom sold it in 1992. The large area of our land to the right of the tree in the lower right and that whole strip across the back was what we called, 'the garden', which comprised nearly half of our acre. We all spent A LOT of time there raising vegetables for my mom to can, freeze and sell. You can even see some of the perfectly aligned and spaced rows ... and the front section wasn't planted with fall vegetables yet ... so this must have been very early summer when this photo was shot in 1980. We had a push mower to mow that huge lawn. My uncle's farm (Eisenman Farms), which originally was my grandpa's, surrounds our acre on the left side and back, and across the dirt road. The land to the right - dark in this photo - was the Boothe Farm.

This is the house I grew up in at 1348 Chip Road, Kawkawlin, Michigan. My parents built this house in 1954 - they were married in 1948. My mom sold it in 1992. My mom received this one-acre parcel of land as a wedding gift from her parents. It was 1 acre out of a 40-acre parcel located at the corner of Chip and Mackinaw Roads in Monitor Township, Kawkawlin, Michigan. My uncle's farm (Eisenman Farms), which originally was my grandpa's farm & great-grandpa's farm, surrounds our acre on the left side and back, and across the dirt road. Now it's my cousin's farm - still Eisenman Farms. The land to the right - dark in this photo - is the Boothe Farm. The large area of our land to the right of the tree in the lower right and that whole strip across the back was what we called, 'the garden', which comprised about half of our acre. We all spent A LOT of time there raising vegetables for my mom to can, freeze and sell. You can even see some of the perfectly aligned and spaced rows ... and the front section wasn't planted with fall vegetables yet ... so this must have been very early summer when this photo was shot in 1980. We had a push mower to mow that huge lawn.

This is the house I grew up in at 1348 Chip Road, Kawkawlin, Michigan. My parents built this house in 1954 - they were married in 1948. My mom sold it in 1992. My mom received this one-acre parcel of land as a wedding gift from her parents. It was 1 acre out of a 40-acre parcel located at the corner of Chip and Mackinaw Roads in Monitor Township, Kawkawlin, Michigan. My uncle's farm (Eisenman Farms), which originally was my grandpa's farm & great-grandpa's farm, surrounds our acre on the left side and back, and across the dirt road. Now it's my cousin's farm - still Eisenman Farms. The land to the right - dark in this photo - is the Boothe Farm. The large area of our land to the right of the tree in the lower right and that whole strip across the back was what we called, 'the garden', which comprised about half of our acre. We all spent A LOT of time there raising vegetables for my mom to can & freeze, and to sell. You can even see some of the perfectly aligned and spaced rows ... and the front section wasn't planted with fall vegetables yet and field crops are small ... so this must have been very early summer when this photo was shot in 1980. We had a push mower to mow that huge lawn.

This is the house that I grew up in. I was born in 1950 and am the oldest sibling, only girl with 4 younger brothers. We moved into this home, the one my parents built, just before my second brother was born; I was 4.5 and my first brother was 2 and I lived here until I got married in November of 1969. This home was beautiful 3 bedroom home, 2 baths, full basement and 2 car attached garage. Many good memories were made here and it was sad when our mother had to sell it in 1992. As kids, we would pick up stones in the farm fields, those to the east of our home and across the road (north), those farm fields being our mother's parents and her brother. The farm fields to the west of our house (darker colored) were the Bothe Farms. We were surrounded by farm fields and many years (depending on the crop rotations) were would be completely surrounded by cornfields when we looked out all our windows. Our parents had a huge vegetable garden and in the front of this garden, my dad/us would plant rows of flowers: Cannas; gladiolus (glads); zinnias; marigolds to name a few. As you look at the 3 sides that surrounded the house, we would plant (seed by tiny seed) of 4-clock flowers that would bloom at 4 p.m. and close by dark. The colors were a spectrum of shades of blues, shades of pinks, violets, lavenders, reds; you name it. It was a sight to be seen. Our lawn was immaculately cut by our dad until we were old enough to do it 'his' way. And the many, many rows of fruits and vegetables that were grown in our garden were perfectly straight lines. Our dad would give us little sticks so we didn't waste seed by having to 'thin' them out later. And after the harvest, our mother and I or anyone that was home, would help her 'canned or froze the fruits of everyone's labor to keep us fed during the long, cold winter months. Everything we grew, we ate, and was well preserved to make it last until the next harvest. Many a summer day was spent outside in these gardens, whether foods/fruits flower gardens also around the house, pulling weeds or picking something to bring into the house to eat with a meal. Those were the good old days that I truly miss. And I really miss this beautiful house in the country, surrounded by family and friends.