The Rural Voice, 2003-05, Page 8PRICE, SERVICE
& SATISFACTION
2000 CHRYSLER CIRRUS LX
4 dr., P.W., P.L., tilt, cruise, air,
local owner
512,900
1999 CHRYSLER CIRRUS Da
4 dr., V6, P.W., P.L., tilt, cruise, air,
keyless, black, mint condition,
local owner.
513,900
1999 DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN SE
Alloy wheels, quads, P.W., P.L.,
tilt, cruise, air, etc.
514,900
1999 DODGE RAM
QUAD SPORT
4x4, V8, auto, loaded, black,
120,000 kms.
520,900
HANOVER CHRYSLER
DODGE JEEP
664 -10th St.,
Hanover
1-866-788-8886
0
(1IRYSLEN
Dodge
Jeep
Phone: (519) 364-3570
4 THE RURAL VOICE
Carol Riemer
Finding the thgme
Carol Riemer
is a freelance
writer who
limes with her
husband and
two
children near
Grand
Valley,
Ontario.
As long as I can remember,
gardening has always been a passion
of mine.
Every year, at the first sign of
warm weather. I'm off to the nearest
garden centre in search of a feeling
that has eluded me all winter.
Basking in the warmth of the
greenhouse, I enjoy a leisurely stroll
between the tables, filled with
perennials and herbs. A combination
of vivid colours and lingering scents
helps to create a welcoming
atmosphere. The gentle patter
of water from a garden fountain
draws my attention, as I stop to
admire a wooden bench that would
look perfect under a shady tree in our
yard.
Across the room, shiny new wheel
barrows are lined up like this year's
models on a car showroom floor. A
group of serious -looking gardeners
have gathered by the seed display.
Peering over their shoulders, it's easy
to see that most of the snow peas and
green beans have quickly been
snapped up, while the baby carrots
and beets are still doing a brisk
business. There is a sudden rush on
radishes, so calmly, I slip past two
ladies carefully leafing their way
through the lettuce, and choose a box
of onion sets, before making a hasty
retreat.
Later, I find myself rummaging
through our old magazines and
gardening books, looking for the
journal I used to keep, when
gardening was still a new adventure. I
discover it neatly pressed beneath a
decade's worth of dusty, old seed
catalogues. The pages have begun to
yellow, but the writing is still legible.
As a novice gardener, I had
dutifully recorded the number of days
that it rained that year, and took note
of how often the sun came out. I
measured the height of our tomato
plants, and watched carefully for any
disease or blight that might affect our
wandering zucchini. In the margins of
my journal, I even found time to
mention that warm summer evening,
when my husband and I took a walk
through the garden, and noticed that
the corn had grown up over our
heads. We were so busy congratul-
ating ourselves, we didn't stop to
consider the disasters that might
befall us.
As it turned out, we were not the
only ones admiring the corn that
summer.
Early the next morning, we
discovered that a family of raccoons
had harvested our crop, leaving
nothing but a trail of destruction
behind them.
It was all there, reported in my
joumal, with just enough detail to
remind me that raccoons are never to
be trusted.
Getting into the mood to garden is
probably the easiest part of being a
gardener. It's putting those things
into action, however, that takes some
doing. Last fall, I neglected to mulch
the lemon balm, 1 forgot to clip the
chives, and I left the oregano to run
wild. The rhubarb and asparagus beds
are still in a state of utter confusion.
And, for some reason, the thyme has
mysteriously disappeared.
At first glance, I might have given
up all together, if 1 hadn't looked up
to see my husband, balanced on a
ladder, cleaning out the bird house
for our returning family of tree
swallows. It brought back memories
of other springs, and infused me with
a renewed sense of purpose. Perhaps
this revelation had something to do
with the weather, or maybe it was just
that Earth Day had caught my
interest. In any case, with both feet
firmly planted on the ground, I'm
sure that rehabilitating the garden
shouldn't be too hard. Now, all I have
to do is find the thyme.0