Grandad AINSLIE and the 'potato garden'

When my parents (Charles ANDERSON, and Flora AINSLIE) bought their first house they were in their 50s and making plans for their retirement in Scotland. They bought a detached two-storey house in a new development in Longniddry, Scotland, a small town within walking distance of one of the beaches along the Firth of Forth. There was great excitement as they chose their new home and made plans for moving to Scotland. As the house was newly built, the garden was undeveloped and work was needed to put in a lawn, and flower and vegetable beds.

My dad was still working as Regional District Manager for the Royal Bank of Canada in Barbados at the time so they were only able to spend time in their new home in Scotland during their annual vacation. However, my grandad, James AINSLIE, who lived with my granny Violet CALDER in the nearby village of Gullane, took matters into his own hands to help get some planting going in mum and dad’s quite extensive garden. Grandad was an experienced agricultural worker (being a ‘ploughman’ in his early years in the Scottish border country before WW1) and a long-time gardener of his own small plot of land in Whitekirk, and then later Gullane. In fact, my older sister, Pat ANDERSON remembers when we stayed with them in 1959/60 that they had a vegetable garden and raised chickens and how much fun it was to go out to the chicken coop to collect eggs.

I imagine grandad’s experience living through the depression in the 30s, living on army rations while serving with the King’s Own Scottish Borderers during WW1, and his experience of food rationing on the ‘home front’ during WW2, may have led him to put my parent’s large piece of undeveloped land to practical food production purposes. Nothing as frivolous as flowers! Whatever the reasoning, he decided to plant a large portion of the garden in potatoes! The ‘potato garden’ was a good temporary measure as potatoes are known to keep down the weeds, but would not last for too long as mum and dad soon started adding their own touches to the garden while on vacation, and more so when they retired in 1981. Grandad continued to help with the development of the land even though he would have been in his late 80s by the time they retired.

On my visits to Scotland to see them, I was always overwhelmed by the beautiful flower gardens they created. I am sure there was probably a small vegetable patch somewhere in the back garden but I am not sure if it included potatoes!

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