June - Senior Connector

JUNE, 2003 SENIOR CONNECTOR www.seniorconnector.com PAGE 9
BY ENID DAMER
If May is the month of gardening,
then June is the
month of growing. All the
seeds and bedding plants that
you set out in May now need
fertilizing, watering, thinning
and nurturing to encourage
growth before the heat of
summer blasts down upon
their tender heads.
Gardening began in April
on Vancouver Island. We had
an enormous vegetable garden
and a huge potato patch.
After spreading the winter’s
collection of manure over the
gardens, Dad hitched up our
faithful horse, Bob, and
ploughed the rich, dark soil
in evenly turned rows.
Harrowing came next, the
teeth of the machine breaking
up the earth ready to be
hand raked before planting.
My Dad planted the potatoes,
the early spuds near the
house and the winter ones in
a distant field. Sitting on an
upturned bucket, he carefully
cut each seed potato into
chunks with an old, rusty
knife, making sure each
piece contained an eye ready
to sprout. He dug holes
about 8 inches deep by hand
and sprinkled in a handful of
fertilizer before placing a
seed potato in each hole,
eyes up.
Mom planted the rest of
the garden, beginning with
spinach, onions, radishes and
lettuce — two varieties, a
leafy kind and cos (now
called Romaine). We ate lots
of lettuce all summer for suppers,
dipping each leaf in salt
to accompany our bread and
butter.
Peas and broad beans
(now called fava) were
planted next, the seeds
Food for Thought
~ A Time to Grow ~
soaked in water overnight so
they were ready to sprout.
We grew the variety of peas
now called “English Peas”,
the kind with throw-away
pods. Shelling peas was
often the kids’ job on Sunday
morning. We carefully kept
the biggest pods to make into
canoes with broken toothpicks
as thwarts and sailed
them on the water bucket.
Next, beets, carrots,
Swiss chard, Swede turnips,
curley kale and several varieties
of beans — green and
yellow bush beans, tall green
beans and scarlet runners on
wooden trellises, parsnips,
squash, marrow and mangels
for the horse and cow.
Cabbage and tomato plants
were purchased and planted
with great care. Mom often
made a collar of tarpaper
around each plant to ward off
the dreaded cutworms and
wireworms and sprinkled
ashes between the rows. At
the first sign of a drooping
plant, she dug underneath
until she found the villain
and destroyed it.
After planting came hoeing
and weeding, thinning
and watering often with
soapy water left over from
Monday’s wash or
Saturday’s bath. Gardening
lasted from April to
November, until the last of
the root vegetables was safely
stored in the roothouse.
Unfortunately, my Mom
overcooked all the vegetables
so much that I didn’t
really like any of them. But
times have changed. To
quote from Fanny Farmer,
“Those of us who were
brought up on soggy, overcooked
vegetables and
learned at an early age to dislike
them thoroughly have
since discovered that the
same vegetables, properly
cooked to retain colour,
flavour, shape, and texture,
are not only nourishing but
are very delicious.”
“Attitudes have changed
dramatically over the years.
Today, the emphasis is on
preserving the natural goodness
of vegetables, cooking
them for the shortest time
possible, until just barely
tender with a slight suggestion
of crispness or crunchiness”.
Fanny is so right! My
favourite way to cook vegetables
is in a stir-fry. This
recipe is only a suggestion
— you can add celery, peppers,
mushrooms, green
peas, asparagus, or any vegetable
you have on hand and
use bok choy instead of cabbage.
Chinese-Style Vegetables
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups cauliflower florets
2 cups broccoli florets
4 medium carrots, sliced
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 pound snow peas
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh
gingerroot
4 cups chopped cabbage
1 teaspoon soy sauce
In a wok or large nonstick
skillet, heat oil over
medium heat. Add cauliflower,
broccoli, carrots and
stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add
stock, cover and steam 2
minutes.
Add snow peas , stir-fry 1
minute. Add garlic, gingerroot
and cabbage, stir-fry 1
minute. Stir in soy sauce.
Yield: 6 servings.
If you haven’t cooked
vegetables this way, give it a
try. I’m sure you will like
them.
Blair Nixon
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Mosquito Repellents
Use Bounce Fabric Softener
Sheets… best thing ever, just wipe
on and go… great for babies.
Carry a sheet in your pocket!
Bob, a fisherman, takes one
vitamin B-1 tablet a day, April
through October. He said it works.
He was right. Hasn’t had a mosquito
bite in 33 years. Try it.
Everyone he has talked into trying
it says it works. Vitamin B-1
(Thiamine Hydrochloride 100
mg.)
If you eat bananas, the mosquitoes
like you –something about the
banana oil as your body processes
it. Stop eating bananas for the
summer and the mosquitoes will
be much less interested.
This is going to floor you, but
one of the best insect repellents
found, for someone who is in the
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woods every day, is Vick’s
Vaporub.
Plant marigolds around the
yard. The flowers give off a smell
that bugs do not like. So plant
some in that garden to help ward
off bugs without using insecticides.
“Tough guy” Marines who
spend a great deal of time camping
out say that the very best mosquito
repellent is Avon Skin-So-Soft
bath oil mixed about half and half
with alcohol.
One of the best natural insect
repellents that I’ve discovered is
made from the clear real vanilla.
This is the pure vanilla that is sold
in Mexico. It works great for mosquitoes
and tics – don’t know
about other insects.
When all else fails—get a frog.
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