This year, I am participating in Amy Johnson Crow’s 2025 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, weekly prompts to tell your ancestors’ stories.
She recently released the prompt for October 29 – November 4: Many, if not most, of us have ancestors who lived in a rural area. Having trouble deciding who to choose? There’s nothing wrong with picking someone at random!
For this week’s prompt, I chose my Grandpa Tom Territo. He was an avid gardener his entire life and lived in a rural area off of Highland Road in East Baton Rouge Parish before growth in the area took off.
Grandpa Tom descended from Italian farmers who later immigrated to the United States in the late 1800s. He was a second-generation United States citizen and learned from his father and brothers, who also grew their own gardens. While this was more of a hobby for Grandpa, he still found great joy in growing his own food for his large family.
My mom has strong memories of how neat his garden was, and he was very proud of it. The family enjoyed very simple meals from the garden. She often wishes for those delicious vegetables today.
His tomatoes were mouthwatering and beautiful. Grandma would often make homemade focaccia bread with those tomatoes and olive oil, which is all the rage today.
This is one of the last photographs taken of my Grandpa Tom before he passed away in 1996.
He stood proudly next to his large vegetable garden, where he grew cucuzza (Italian squash), zucchini, snapbeans, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplant. He would harvest his vegetables, use them for many meals that my grandmother would prepare for the family, and also give them to family and friends.
He had a warm and generous heart and loved to share the bounty of his garden. He had a green thumb and was the salt of the earth.
