Spring always brings back fond memories of times of great excitement for our family, particularly for Mom and Pop. It was the beginning of the planting season. For days, the main topics were “how big a garden this year, what to plant and where to get the best seeds.” The early planting of onion, garlic and squash had begun in hopes that the “onion snow” had passed.

Many Italian families had gardens. It was a family thing. We had a small ‘orto,’ behind the house; Pop also had a Victory garden at work in one of the city parks. It was larger than the one we had at home and obviously needed more care. On weekends, the family hiked off to work the garden. Mom prepared a picnic basket filled with sandwiches of ‘prosciutto, capocollo, and formaggio,’ good crusty homemade bread, kool-aid, for the kids, and vino for Pop.