June7, 2008. Double D Ranch. Harper, Texas. David.

David Dickie, my son , is a wonderful gardener. I have been eating his tomatoes ever since we came to Texas, and I can tell you, they are delicious. He loves planting and tending and transplanting, but most of all , he loves to gather the vegetables from his garden. The little girls check his garden every day, and now have learned to gather the tomatoes and peppers and bring them into the kitchen. The landscaping in his yard is just beautiful, both front and back, and he spends many hours of his leisure time cultivating and planting in his yard. Of course, it is their yard, but Suzanne has conceded the yard to David, so I guess it is in truth, David's yard. The girls help him plant so they feel that it is really their yard, so when we go to visit, they take me on a tour of the yard, and tell me the names of the plants and when they planted them. It is really a very impressive endeavour. Suzanne speaks of David as having a green thumb, and that would be accurate, which is the same thing as I have always said about Ken. He has a green thumb. Over the years, David was required to work along side of Ken when working in the yard, but he never seemed to enjoy or learn much about the process, and when in College, he worked during the summers at a large landscape company in Maryland. But it wasn't until he bought his own home that his interest in landscaping became enjoyable. He commented to me one day, that he did not really enjoy planting with Dad, but now that he is in charge, he likes it a lot.

Now he has decided to learn something about the whole gardening business, and he is planning to get his designation as a Master Gardener. This will be done with Texas A.M. School of Agriculture, with a combination of on line courses and classes and conferences. Now I know I should not be bragging about my own son, but in this case, those tomatoes are so good I just have to share his expertise with the world. David Dickie is a very good gardener.