Odds and ends

Sunday, June 11, 2006

I left my mark



I like to plant things and watch them grow. So when I found a bare spot in a corner of my lawn, I decided to plant a garden. The grass had died where I had piled the lawn clippings last year and the ground was bare. So I dug it up and put in four tomato plants. Don't laugh, they're growing just fine.

If you plant a tree, you can change that small bit of landscape for years to come.
Over seventy years ago, in a time known in the West as the dirty thirties, many sloughs dried up due to drought. Dust storms drifted the soil like snow in the winter. The government decided to help farmers by providing trees with which to build windbreaks. When I suggested we plant a one around our house, Dad was reluctant to plow up a strip of land to do it. He said, " It will just blow away".
Finally he agreed, and I went to work. From seed I planted a row of caraganas, a hardy bush used usually for hedges, around the outside. Next, along the north side I used cuttings from trees which lined a neighbor's driveway. The rest was filled in with trees from a government nursery in Saskatchewan. Seen above, indicated by the yellow arrow, is a satellite view of those trees, surrounding the old house. A few days ago, I set foot there again, where once we played as barefoot kids..
The whitish areas in the image are wispy clouds between the satellite and the earth.

3 comments:

Tuffysmom said...

You've always had a gift for making things grow. Unfortunately that gift was not passed on to me. I know your tomato plants will thrive. Remember when you had the greenhouse. One day, whilst living in Yarmouth, I had a whole meal consisting of veggies from your garden...loved those little purple potatoes!

NanNan said...

That's amazing how high up the trees are visible- You pointed oout those wispy things were clouds- bet you were afraid we might think there was something supernatural going on---:)

NanNan said...

It's time for you to leave another mark-- on your blog!! Have you been golfing yet?

Followers