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grown as much as 20 feet tall and at least a dozen feet across.
Our heavy California clay soil is essentially rich soil, but it dries
out to a concrete consistency in summer. We created raised beds using
old railroad ties. In the beds we dug in countless loads of horse manure
and sawdust from the horse farms some miles away. Gradually we de-
veloped soil of excellent consistency. On the hill above we made raised
beds for some of the plants and raspberry beds nearby. Further up the
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ies. They are great in the springtime when we get a season of about ten
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are not watered again until the fall rains occur. Jean produced frozen
raspberry jam that became famous in the family and among friends.
Each fall Ive purchased several hundreds of tulip bulbs from a
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tested Jeans patience each year by storing tulip bulbs in the lower two
shelves of the refrigerator for about ten weeks. Because the tulips do
better after the cold session, we feel it is worthwhile and it gives us a
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pots of tulips as they came into bloom.
Having grown tuberous begonias so much in Berkeley, we were
anxious to grow them in Lafayette. Hanging basket varieties did bet-
ter for us than the upright forms. We gradually increased the number
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a fairyland under the big honey locust tree in our back. Unfortunately,
we had one extremely cold winter and nearly all of the bulbs froze.
Whereas friends used to come to see our begonia display, today it is a
tiny fraction of its former self.
Only Cindi, among our children, has become a devoted garden-
er. In the last few years, Janet, Richard and Vicki have become increas-
ingly interested. Gardening has brought a sense of joy to me and, I hope,
many other folks with whom we have shared.
Caring for a ¾ acre garden requires a lot of work. Prior to retire-
ment, I painted our house twice during vacations, as well as painting
interior rooms and doing repairs. We brought home from Arabia a steel
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