Personal Journal
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January 29, 1998 Mathew J. Stucki Page 1
Melons played a significant role in our history in Castle Valley. The hot sun, long growing season, and sandy soil of Southeastern Utah provided excellent conditions for producing melons. In fact, Greenriver was famous for their melons. After a long, hot day=s work, we usually needed water, rest and energy. Incredibly, melons provided each of these for us.
The first summer we lived in Castle Valley, we spent many days working in the hot sun, digging fence post holes, clearing rocks, gardening, and tending to animals. I remember with fondness returning home from some activity and finding fresh melons left for us by the Seventh-day Adventists. What a blessing it was when these good people would share their melons.
In the early years in Castle Valley, the majority of lots in the valley were still available. A farmer from Greenriver raised melons on 10-15 acres in Castle Valley. He raised watermelons, honeydew, cantaloupe, and other types of melons, and when it came time to take them back to Greenriver to sell them, he had more than he could use, and he offered the melons to those living in the valley. We ate more melons that summer than ever before or since. It was common for us to choose a large, beautiful melon when we would visit the patch, slice the melon in half, and cut out and eat the heart of the melon. It=s hard to believe now ... eating the best part of the watermelons without seeds until we felt that if we ate anymore, we=d explode.
I remember taking the old pickup truck to the watermelon patch. We picked enough melons to fill the bed of the truck and then drove less than a mile home to share them with the rest of the family. When we arrived at the farm, all the melons had broken and were scattered through the truck bed. The pigs had a feast that afternoon.
It would be hard to equal today the healthy and delicious food we regularly enjoyed in Castle Valley. Heaping bowls of strawberries enjoyed daily, tender ears of fresh Silver Queen corn picked and husked only moments before cooking, and lean, choice meat from both farm-raised and wild game. Mom used to say “Get the water boiling before picking the corn,” and attention to this detail proved to make a favorable difference in the quality of the corn prepared for our meals.
The evenings in Castle Valley were comfortable and beautiful. As the heat of the day diminished, the shadows across the valley floor grew taller and taller. Soon, only the majestic, rock cliffs were tall enough to catch the final rays of sunlight. The red sandstone cliffs burned brightly as the sun sank beneath the far off horizon. With the cool of the evening and them eminent darkness approaching, the fireflies would begin to appear. What a remarkable sight to behold! When we would look across the creek bed, thousands of blinking lights made by the fireflies would fill the basin carved by the creek, just as a passing milky way of stars. The fireflies were awe-inspiring and, like nature’s little candles, would wander up into our fields at night and share their beauty with us all.
The first summer we lived in Castle Valley brought a flash flood the size of which hadn’t occurred in the valley for more than 16 years. I remember the incredible flood of water that filled the creek bed and overflowed its banks. It washed out the bridge to the valley and changed the course of the creek bed. I remember the torrent was as wide and ferocious as the Colorado River just behind our property. Incredibly, two more enormous flash floods occurred that summer.
of
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January 29, 1998 Mathew J. Stucki Page 1
Melons played a significant role in our history in Castle Valley. The hot sun, long growing season, and sandy soil of Southeastern Utah provided excellent conditions for producing melons. In fact, Greenriver was famous for their melons. After a long, hot day=s work, we usually needed water, rest and energy. Incredibly, melons provided each of these for us.
The first summer we lived in Castle Valley, we spent many days working in the hot sun, digging fence post holes, clearing rocks, gardening, and tending to animals. I remember with fondness returning home from some activity and finding fresh melons left for us by the Seventh-day Adventists. What a blessing it was when these good people would share their melons.
In the early years in Castle Valley, the majority of lots in the valley were still available. A farmer from Greenriver raised melons on 10-15 acres in Castle Valley. He raised watermelons, honeydew, cantaloupe, and other types of melons, and when it came time to take them back to Greenriver to sell them, he had more than he could use, and he offered the melons to those living in the valley. We ate more melons that summer than ever before or since. It was common for us to choose a large, beautiful melon when we would visit the patch, slice the melon in half, and cut out and eat the heart of the melon. It=s hard to believe now ... eating the best part of the watermelons without seeds until we felt that if we ate anymore, we=d explode.
I remember taking the old pickup truck to the watermelon patch. We picked enough melons to fill the bed of the truck and then drove less than a mile home to share them with the rest of the family. When we arrived at the farm, all the melons had broken and were scattered through the truck bed. The pigs had a feast that afternoon.
It would be hard to equal today the healthy and delicious food we regularly enjoyed in Castle Valley. Heaping bowls of strawberries enjoyed daily, tender ears of fresh Silver Queen corn picked and husked only moments before cooking, and lean, choice meat from both farm-raised and wild game. Mom used to say “Get the water boiling before picking the corn,” and attention to this detail proved to make a favorable difference in the quality of the corn prepared for our meals.
The evenings in Castle Valley were comfortable and beautiful. As the heat of the day diminished, the shadows across the valley floor grew taller and taller. Soon, only the majestic, rock cliffs were tall enough to catch the final rays of sunlight. The red sandstone cliffs burned brightly as the sun sank beneath the far off horizon. With the cool of the evening and them eminent darkness approaching, the fireflies would begin to appear. What a remarkable sight to behold! When we would look across the creek bed, thousands of blinking lights made by the fireflies would fill the basin carved by the creek, just as a passing milky way of stars. The fireflies were awe-inspiring and, like nature’s little candles, would wander up into our fields at night and share their beauty with us all.
The first summer we lived in Castle Valley brought a flash flood the size of which hadn’t occurred in the valley for more than 16 years. I remember the incredible flood of water that filled the creek bed and overflowed its banks. It washed out the bridge to the valley and changed the course of the creek bed. I remember the torrent was as wide and ferocious as the Colorado River just behind our property. Incredibly, two more enormous flash floods occurred that summer.
