The other day I had the privilege of introducing Mark to some of our gardeners and their families. We began our visit with a tour of the Bell County Forestry Camp gardens. Lt. Evans was proud to show Mark the gardens the inmates have worked so hard to grow. Even though it hasn’t been a perfect garden, it has been a great learning experience for everyone involved. We then traveled on down the road to Catherine’s garden. When we arrived Catherine and her brother were busy picking apples from a neighbors apple tree.  She plans to make fried apple pies and apple butter.  I think I might need to visit with Catherine again sometime next week to discover if the apple pies are any good. You know, she might just need someone to taste test  the pies for her. After Catherine came Loretta and Carolyn, these ladies were so excited to meet Mark! They wanted to talk to him about how much they appreciated the gardening project and how much they have learned. The ladies asked if I had showed Mark the pictures of their garden when it was in full bloom, I assured them that I had showed him the pictures of their garden. After a very nice visit with the ladies, we visited with Orville, who told Mark that this was the worst garden he had grown in all his years of growing a garden. With all the rain we have had this season, the plants just rotted in the ground!  We visited several other garden sites and talked with the gardeners, all had stories to tell about the rain and how it effected their gardens. I enjoyed introducing Mark to the gardeners and appreciated the opportunity to get to know him a little better.