Sweet peas and memories of my grandfather

My grandfather was an old farmer from Missouri and then Kansas.  My mother was born in Lawrence, Kansas, but the family moved to California in 1924, after Grandpa injured his back while working the farm.  They built a small house in Arcadia, CA, only a mile from the Santa Anita racetrack.

Anyway, being an old farmer, Granddad could grow anything.  He actually had a double lot in Arcadia and on one side, I remember his garden.  He grew carrots, radishes, onions, peas, beans, rhubarb (remember that?), and in the summer, corn.  He had an avocado tree and a peach tree.  Grandma canned the vegetables and made fruit jam.  Those were the days, eh?

My parents' house (my mom was his daughter) was only a mile away from the track also, but north of it.  Granddad would also tend the vegetables that he planted at my parents' house.  Let's see...we had boysenberries, a fig tree, an apple tree, a peach tree, as well as corn, beans, peas, and...sweet peas!  He grew them up a 6 foot area of chicken wire and I've NEVER seen sweet peas like his!  Mine (see bottom photo) are scrawny compared to his.  This year, I did throw out some horse manure for them, and they are much better than any previous years' crops, but I also watered them with horse manure "tea".  They responded by doubling in size almost overnight!  I'm so proud of my meager sweet peas this year!  Every time I pick them and smell them, I am reminded of Granddad.