My father used to say the best apples on the tree are the furthest away on the limb. You have to reach for them, so reach for the stars.
My dad filled me with memories and stories that will stay with me for as long as I live. He gave me what I wanted most at my youthful age — a personal hero.
His exploits and stories, real or imagined, were the joy of my early years and filled me with wonder and imagination. They continue to fill me now, although I suspect his less happy events were omitted from his tales.
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Dad took time to throw stones into mud puddles and pitch horseshoes with me. In the garden, he showed me how to open a freshly picked pea pod filled with green peas and how to pull an orange carrot from the soil. He took time to smell the roses, and also taught me to be aware of their thorns and the “ouchies” found in life too. More than once he explained why zinnias are planted among the vegetables.
I never tired of these and the dozens of other things we did together. Dad knew I was his and that he was mine. What if we all brought more happy childhood memories into our lives today and shared some with others?
Ah, school days. Back then, the T. Eaton Company sponsored The Good Deed Radio Club broadcast each Saturday morning. Here are some words as I recall them from the show’s theme song sung by children in the live audience and at home:
Do a good deed every day, obey the Golden Rule,
Never say an angry word nor be unkind or cruel,
Scatter seeds of happiness at home, at play, at school,
And you’ll find there’s sunshine everywhere, obey the Golden Rule.
I often hear from gardeners by email and phone. However, a beautifully handwritten letter from Sylvia Thorgilsson of Lundar, Man., delivered to my mailbox really takes the cake. I call it a rare gem as it touches my heart.
I spoke with Sylvia a while back, and what she shares in her letter is too precious to keep to myself. If someone ever sends you an appreciative handwritten letter like this, you’ll know why my ears burned, and with delight.
It reminds me of a time back in letter-writing days, when many folks had a pen pal, some of them from far off parts of the world. If you had a pen pal, you had a letter-writing friend for life. Most pen pals likely never met each other in person, but some did.
As I look to the top of the flagpole, I see our Canadian flag and I think how lucky we are to be Canadian, living among nearly 40 million others in this land. Come on now. Up and at it. ‘Tis time to get moving. I call morning the childhood time of the day.
Greetings from Sylvia Thorgilsson
Dear Ted. I’m another of those subscribers who start reading Grainews from the back page. I love your columns. After reading Sue Kraft’s article on storing carrots, I just had to write you. I too feel there are no other carrots to compare with Scarlet Nantes.
This is how I store our carrots. I scrub them, cut the tails and tips off, rinse and lay them out to dry, then I layer them in bags that apples or pears come in from the store. (They have little holes in them.)
I put dry paper towels between each layer and close the bag. I store them in the crispers in our basement fridge. As I use the carrots, I turn the other bags over and the paper towels seem to absorb the moisture. We often have a few carrots left when the new crop is ready. I find they keep really well, and I’ve never taken them out to redry them.
Just thought I’d share my experience. I save my pear and apple bags and have shared them with other family members who grow their own veggies.
Happy gardening everyone! Keep up the great page.
Sylvia Thorgilsson
When I spoke to Sylvia, she revealed her love for mashed carrots with mashed turnips. When Sylvia was a kid, turnips weren’t among her favourite vegetables grown in her parent’s large garden, but she has since acquired a taste for turnip.
Something that’s little known, according to Sylvia, is the Swan Creek Hatchery not far from Lundar on an island in Lake Manitoba, where eggs milked from pickerel fish are released into the lake, usually from April to June.
Sylvia and her husband, Einar, who is 86, each have their own tractor and mower for cutting hay. It’s an enjoyable annual task they look forward to doing again this summer.
Thank you to Sylvia for her much appreciated letter. Her handwriting reminds me of Miss Cook, my Grade 1 to 3 teacher who taught her students to write legibly and with distinction.
WHY DAD PLANTED ZINNIAS IN HIS VEGETABLE GARDEN
When it comes to finding the best companion plant to grow in your vegetable garden, I remember being told it’s hard to beat the benefits of zinnias. Dad always said zinnias helped his veggies grow and thrive with few pest and plant disease issues.
Most gardeners know zinnias exhibit a stunning display of colours. They make outstanding cut flowers for bouquets, with sturdy, strong stems that stand up well, and their resistance to heat and drought is amazing.
Once established, zinnias require little in the way of maintenance, other than regular deadheading. And get this — if you live in an area where wild animals are prevalent and wander about freely, zinnias are high on the list of plants that deer steer away from.
Even with all of these amazing attributes of zinnias, their beauty and use really consolidate when planted in the vegetable garden. There are lots of good reasons for gardeners to freely direct-seed zinnias here and there throughout their gardens.
Zinnias attract birds, butterflies, dragonflies, non-stinging wasps, pollinators and countless beneficial insects, all performing their duties as contributors to the healthy balance of nature, the planet and our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being as humans.
Seeds for zinnias shown on this page, and other varieties, can be purchased from West Coast Seeds, Delta, B.C., 1-888-804-8820, [email protected].
