When I picture this farm it takes me back to the memories of my Great Uncle Sal. He had owned land out on Island road out in North Syracuse where he kept his garden full of vegetables. This land was passed down by his father who had immigrated here from Sicily, Italy in 1905 and had used this land to farm as his occupation. My great-great grandparents and their 8 children would move out to the farm during the growing season and sell their produce to the regional market. Uncle Sal's garden is my most treasured memory of him. He would come down the driveway in his 2001 forest green Subaru loaded with lots of vegetables he and his italian wife Ana had harvested. He would open the trunk, dirt coating his hands from digging and planting his bounty. He came with different vegetables each time, from his sicilian pear tomatoes to his famous homegrown garlic. After his short visit, he always slipped us cash before our parents could see. Uncle Sal was known for his farm, he and wife spent their days gardening their vegetables and continued to do so up until he had passed away. The land on Island road was passed down to my father and brother. They had tried to keep growing the garlic but only made it through two seasons of growing before they had given up, it wasn’t the same. The garden was no longer tilled and grass soon grew over what was once a flourishing bed of an array of vegetables. The memory of Sal and his Farm was my closest memory to the Timpano side of my family.

– Autumn Baker

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more