The Rural Voice, 2000-08, Page 42.11
ouNo s
Marvin L. Smith
B Sc,F (Forestry), R P.F.
Farm Woodland Specialist
570 Riverview Dr.
Listowel, Ontario N4W 3T7
Telephone' (519) 291-2236
Providing advice and assistance with:
• impartial advice/assistance in selling timber,
including selection of trees and marking
• reforestation of erodible or idle land
• follow-up tending of young plantations
• windbreak planning and establishment
• woodlot management planning
• diagnosis of insect and disease problems
• conducting educational programs in woodlot
management
• any other woodland or tree concerns
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38 THE RURAL VOICE
not mean that the summer kitchen
was no longer useful — far from it.
The back kitchen gradually
became a depository for all the
flotsam and jetsam of our lives
through the autumn. When the snow
came, we left the skis and sleighs and
skates there, handy. The empty cans,
bottles and old newspapers
accumulated, waiting for the snow to
melt so we could dispose of them
properly. In short, it became a place
to stash things that we did not want or
need in the house proper. "Put it out
in the back kitchen" was a familiar
phrase. Family and visitors swept
boots there or removed them if too
muddy, and a broom always stood by
the door.
t was through the back kitchen
that almost everyone entered our
home. A visiting child once
expressed astonishment upon
learning that the front door was ours
too. He thought it must certainly
belong to some other family, so
seldom was it used. By March.
Mother could be heard to mutter
"First warm day, I have to get at that
back kitchen," the entrance way
having become a bit of an
embarrassment to her when visitors
arrived. The clean up progressed
gradually as the spring days became
warmer. Cans and bottles were sent
to the dump (no recycling then); skis
and sleighs were banished to the
shed; cupboards were sorted and
scrubbed. At last the room with its
dark wood paneled ceiling regained
its inviting homey appeal.
Now when we drive by country
homes I wonder how farm families
use their back kitchen. Do they call it
something else, the mud room, the
sun porch? Has it been winterized for
use all year round? Has it become
home to a hot tub? Do interior
decorators write articles about how to
organize and beautify it? Would that
household guru Martha Stewart have
edicts to hand down concerning
function and decor? Do owners use it
to display kitchen artifacts, old butter
churns or antique rolling pins? Is it
still a depository for all sorts of items
in the winter, and do farm women
still mutter, "First nice day, I have to
get at that back kitchen"?0
Barbara Weiler is a freelance writer
from St. Catharines, ON