Welcome Back, Ms. Merry Tiller!

As I mentioned in one of my earliest posts, my Grandpa & Grandma George used to have a garden every year when they lived in Springfield.  It seemed SO big and seemed to be the "perfect" garden...Everything was green and bushy.  The vined plants seemed to run everywhere and under every one of their leaves laid an ENORMOUS cucumber or zucchini.  Tomato plants seemed to reach high into the sky.  Those vines seemed to look like the beanstalk in the old Jack & the Beanstalk story to a short little 5 year old!

I don't really remember ever seeing them work in the garden until harvest time and that's when I'd get to help pick stuff!  I remember sitting beside grandma in their living room with a bowl full of freshly picked green beans and we'd watch Days of Our Lives while we snapped off the end of the beans, pulled the string down the side, then snap them in half (sometimes thirds) and throw them in a big stainless steel bowl.  Ahh...those were some fun times!

Anyway, as I mentioned, their garden seemed perfect to me...I don't remember seeing any weeds or grass.  But, I have since learned partly why that was...Grandpa's Merry Tiller!  About 20 years ago, he sold it to my dad and dad has been storing it in his barn ever since.  Since it has been several years since he used the tiller, the engine wouldn't run anymore.  But...when dad and I decided to do this garden, he took it to a small engine repair guy and he put a new engine on it.  Dad used it in our garden today for the first time...

After almost 20 years of retirement, Ms. Merry Tiller, along with her brand new Briggs & Stratton motor were re-commissioned to garden duty as of April 4, 2012!  The picture below shows her sitting proudly alongside the freshly tilled row of broccoli plants.  Dad said she worked like a charm.  Someday, we may try to give her a fresh coat of paint so she looks as good as she feels, but for now since her exterior appearance isn't affecting the way she operates, it'll have to wait.  Thank you, Grandma & Grandpa George for the equipment and the wonderful early gardening memories and thank you dad for getting the tiller up and running again!