Ariane, a North Augusta resident, grows a variety of fruits and vegetables in her grandfather’s garden located in Aiken. She grows tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, kale, butter beans, strawberries, green peppers and edamame.
“She works in the garden at least four or five times a week,” said Denson. “She likes to grow the edamame because when they’re ready she can pop them off and eat them. A lot of her cousins like to eat them as well.
“Growing up I worked in the garden with my grandfather. My grandfather was big on growing watermelon. He used to sell watermelons on the side of the road. Now the tradition is passed down to the next generation.”
Ariane said there are a number of things she enjoys about gardening.
“My favorite things to plant are strawberries and the one pineapple that we grew last year,” said the 9-year-old. “I also like the one-on-one time with my grandfather. I also like when my brother comes out and he sees a bug and he yells. The bugs don’t bother me. We sometimes see spiders and worms.”
Oscar Drummings, Ariane’s grandfather, said he was introduced to gardening during his childhood.
“I’ve been gardening pretty much all my life off and on,” said 68-year-old-Drummings. “She got me back into it. In 2019 I was diagnosed with cancer. During that time while going through chemotherapy I lost 70 pounds. She encouraged me to get up and come out to work in the garden with her. She got me back up on my feet. And she wanted to help the people in the neighborhood.”
Drummings said growing and harvesting your own fruits and vegetables is a better way to go.
“When you grow your own food you don’t have to worry about the pesticides and fertilizers like the store bought produce,” he said. “So we harvest our own food and my wife cooks it and we have a good family time.”
