Home-grown vegetables are enjoyed year-round at the home of Bert and Nan Cross of Cobbs Creek. Once the spring, summer and fall gardens fade away, Bert turns to his greenhouse to enjoy fresh vegetables in the winter.
Bert says he has always had a love for gardening. “I grew up with gardening. Remember when everyone had a Victory Garden? On one acre my mother had one in Chesterfield where we lived. My older brother got to use the hand cultivator and my job was using the hand hoe.”
Teaching became Bert’s profession but gardening was always what he pursued when possible. He taught fifth and sixth grade students beginning in 1972, took a sabbatical and worked from home 1978-91, then returned to teaching. He retired in 2006. Over all those years, “I always had a garden.” Now he could spend much more time doing what he had learned to love as a young boy.
Today, the backyard of the Cross home includes a large seasonal garden area, two greenhouses and a large, filled compost container. Bert us...