* Please click on the red lettering for links that apply...
Gardens on my Parents Properties
I was born in Rochester, Medway, UK in 1947 to a mother and father who appreciated the value of planting, nurturing and harvesting an urban garden. So my memories and life has always had a garden in the background. In England there are a number of pictures of me in the back garden, slicing beans and shelling peas with my mother and with my grandfather.
Norwood, Edmonton
Dad, an airframe mechanic before and after the war at Shorts, moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1951 to work at Northwest Industries Ltd. at the Municipal Airport. In September 1952 my mother, brother and I followed. We arrived in Halifax, across Canada by train to Edmonton (a distance of 5082 kilometers) in November, arriving at the old CNR station in a snowstorm. Dad picked us up in his 1949 Ford Prefect, which was totally unsuited for Edmonton winters and took us to our first home in Edmonton. There was water in the basement, quickly turning to ice. We weren't allowed to go there, Dad said there were rats, although Alberta was supposed to be rat free. After being separated from Dad for a year, coming across the Atlantic and Canada with us two boys, having a tour of her new home, the only furniture being apple crates and mattresses on the floor, we were all standing in the livingroom and Mom began to cry! We were really concerned, crowded close to Mom as Dad took Mom in His arms and said, "I'm sorry, it's not much, but things will get better". Mom said, "No you don't understand, these are tears of joy, we're back together again as a family after such a long time."
I don't remember any garden at this place.
Parkdale, Edmonton
I remember, as one of my first harvest memories in Canada , Mom and Dad digging up some Horseradish root at our rental home in Parkdale, Edmonton, grinding it, crying profusely and putting it in sealers so we would have some with our roast beef sandwiches. I also remember lots of rhubarb plants there. My older brother and I used to love to pick them fresh and dip the rhubarb shoots in sugar in a saucer...
8955 - 147 St., Parkview District, Edmonton
In 1954 Mom and Dad purchased a new, 3 bedroom house in the Parkview District of Edmonton, Alberta at 8955 - 147 Street. It was on former Aspen parkland, then was used for large scale farming of crops such as canola (Brassica napsus), alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum), and livestock grazing. The soils in the aspen parkland biome are also quite fertile, especially around Edmonton and Saskatoon. Oil and natural gas exploration and drilling have also disturbed the natural habitat as well, especially in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. As a result, undisturbed habitat is now no longer as nearly common as it was a century ago, with less than 10% of remaining intact.
This land was now growing a large housing tract that contained Alldritt, Engineered and Fekete Homes. The topsoil had been scrapped off and sold, then the basements dug in the subsoil and substratum clay and then backfilled. I remember our looking at the Alldritt show home at the corner of South West corner of 91 Ave and 146 Street in the summertime. Outside on the lawn was a large plywood painted sign, there was a thunderstorm moving through as Mom and Dad were talking to the salesman. My brother and I were watching out from the livingroom window when there was a brilliant flash and the sign exploded in a lightning strike. It is the closest I have ever been to a lightening strike in my life.
Our house had it's foundations put in in the fall, and the walls and roof were finished before the snow fell. But we couldn't move in until the spring , so for the first couple of months we couldn't drive home, we had to wade through mud from 91 Avenue, then for the first year there was no road, just a frog pond out front where 147 Street is now. As soon as they could Mom and Dad put up a fence to enclose the backyard and gave my brother and I small plots to plant and tend. I remember being excited with the seed packets and how different the seeds were. Carrots, radishes, cabbage, lettuce, beans and corn were the staples, but because my early childhood years were spent in England, I had a real love for broccoli and Brussels sprouts, I was allowed to plant some. Mom and Dad didn't hold out much hope for them to grow in Edmonton, but being naturally stubborn, I hauled a lot of chicken manure and compost from an abandoned farmyard across the street, planted my seeds early, covered them with old newspapers, watered them regularly and was rewarded with a very good crop. Also around the local ponds were pussy willows in the spring, I bought some home for Mom, when they started to fall and the green leaves came out, Mom was going to throw them out, but I noticed there were rootlets, so I asked for a whip to plant. It grew into a very large wolf willow, so for years my mother told all her friends how I could make anything grow in Edmonton. We were close to the North Saskatchewan River and when Laurier Heights was finished we used to go to the South facing, North Banks to go pick Saskatoon berries and sledding in the winter. Later when I got an Allstate MoPed, for my delivery boy jobs with Allan's Drugs at Lynnwood Shopping Center on 149 St. and Sprague Drugs on 142 St., I used to go with friend Rick Walker to Big Lake, St. Albert, Alberta to catch Jack Fish. (Northern Pike). One memorable "expedition" we bought home a lot of fish, uncleaned much to Mom's chagrin. At Big Lake, in it's warm and shallow water, we caught a lot of fish, but they dove to the bottom and hid out in the weeds, so we cranked them in, weeds and all. When we cleaned them their stomachs were full of lots of fresh water shrimps, frogs and small fish, but most surprising was some field mice, 2 baby and one adult redwing blackbirds. We cleaned them all up, gave them to Mom who cooked us up a feast that strangely tasted like mud, but I don't remember her eating any..
Gardens on my properties
10335 - 158St., Edmonton, Alberta
Neither my first wife nor I had any money when we married. So the first property I bought was a 50 x 150 ft. lot with a shack at 10335 - 158 Street in Edmonton, in 1970. I paid $4,500 and on the day I signed the title at the Public Trustee who were the executor of the Estate, I was informed by the Department of Health that if I tried to move in or rent it out, the "house" would be condemned. I was told if I wanted to move in, I would need to put in city water and a sewer, an unexpected expense I hadn't budgeted for, planning to move in and do these things as time and money permitted. We were living on the fourth floor of a walk-up apartment, so now I had to take back by notice to move and had to sell the lot. I put it up for sale at $7,400, land value and soon had a sale, but with a 6 months, subject to the sale of the purchasers lot on 156 St. and moving their newer house to my lot.
So while I was waiting for the sale to go through, I received a notice from the city telling me to "Abate Noxious Weeds". So I rented a mower and tried to cut down the weeds, but after a half day of frustration, decided to go back to the rental store who recommended I rent a sprayer, buy some paraquat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraquat from them to kill the weeds, then when they were dead and dried, try again to cut them down. So I returned to the lot, and seeing the next door neighbour, introduced myself and asked him if I could fill my sprayer from his tap. He advised me that it was he who made the complaint to the city about the weeds, that he was in charge of reporting on me to the city. It was he who made the City aware of the death of the previous owner, that there was a new owner and they should insist on my putting in a water line and sewer. Fuming, I went to the service station, filled up my sprayer and went back to the property. When he saw me ready to spray, neighbour called out to me across the fence that I'd better not. I replied that I had a right and an obligation to control the weeds and I was doing so legally. As I was talking, I was walking to the fence. I told my neighbour that I didn't appreciate his harassment, that if he didn't stop I was going to chop off all the branches from the10 plum trees planted just on his side of the property line, that overhung into my property, then dig up and chop off any roots that came into my property. Spluttering, my neighbour went back into his house. Eventually the house sold and I bought my first real home. Contd.
Gardens on my Parents Properties
I was born in Rochester, Medway, UK in 1947 to a mother and father who appreciated the value of planting, nurturing and harvesting an urban garden. So my memories and life has always had a garden in the background. In England there are a number of pictures of me in the back garden, slicing beans and shelling peas with my mother and with my grandfather.
Norwood, Edmonton
Dad, an airframe mechanic before and after the war at Shorts, moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1951 to work at Northwest Industries Ltd. at the Municipal Airport. In September 1952 my mother, brother and I followed. We arrived in Halifax, across Canada by train to Edmonton (a distance of 5082 kilometers) in November, arriving at the old CNR station in a snowstorm. Dad picked us up in his 1949 Ford Prefect, which was totally unsuited for Edmonton winters and took us to our first home in Edmonton. There was water in the basement, quickly turning to ice. We weren't allowed to go there, Dad said there were rats, although Alberta was supposed to be rat free. After being separated from Dad for a year, coming across the Atlantic and Canada with us two boys, having a tour of her new home, the only furniture being apple crates and mattresses on the floor, we were all standing in the livingroom and Mom began to cry! We were really concerned, crowded close to Mom as Dad took Mom in His arms and said, "I'm sorry, it's not much, but things will get better". Mom said, "No you don't understand, these are tears of joy, we're back together again as a family after such a long time."
I don't remember any garden at this place.
Parkdale, Edmonton
I remember, as one of my first harvest memories in Canada , Mom and Dad digging up some Horseradish root at our rental home in Parkdale, Edmonton, grinding it, crying profusely and putting it in sealers so we would have some with our roast beef sandwiches. I also remember lots of rhubarb plants there. My older brother and I used to love to pick them fresh and dip the rhubarb shoots in sugar in a saucer...
8955 - 147 St., Parkview District, Edmonton
In 1954 Mom and Dad purchased a new, 3 bedroom house in the Parkview District of Edmonton, Alberta at 8955 - 147 Street. It was on former Aspen parkland, then was used for large scale farming of crops such as canola (Brassica napsus), alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum), and livestock grazing. The soils in the aspen parkland biome are also quite fertile, especially around Edmonton and Saskatoon. Oil and natural gas exploration and drilling have also disturbed the natural habitat as well, especially in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. As a result, undisturbed habitat is now no longer as nearly common as it was a century ago, with less than 10% of remaining intact.
This land was now growing a large housing tract that contained Alldritt, Engineered and Fekete Homes. The topsoil had been scrapped off and sold, then the basements dug in the subsoil and substratum clay and then backfilled. I remember our looking at the Alldritt show home at the corner of South West corner of 91 Ave and 146 Street in the summertime. Outside on the lawn was a large plywood painted sign, there was a thunderstorm moving through as Mom and Dad were talking to the salesman. My brother and I were watching out from the livingroom window when there was a brilliant flash and the sign exploded in a lightning strike. It is the closest I have ever been to a lightening strike in my life.
Our house had it's foundations put in in the fall, and the walls and roof were finished before the snow fell. But we couldn't move in until the spring , so for the first couple of months we couldn't drive home, we had to wade through mud from 91 Avenue, then for the first year there was no road, just a frog pond out front where 147 Street is now. As soon as they could Mom and Dad put up a fence to enclose the backyard and gave my brother and I small plots to plant and tend. I remember being excited with the seed packets and how different the seeds were. Carrots, radishes, cabbage, lettuce, beans and corn were the staples, but because my early childhood years were spent in England, I had a real love for broccoli and Brussels sprouts, I was allowed to plant some. Mom and Dad didn't hold out much hope for them to grow in Edmonton, but being naturally stubborn, I hauled a lot of chicken manure and compost from an abandoned farmyard across the street, planted my seeds early, covered them with old newspapers, watered them regularly and was rewarded with a very good crop. Also around the local ponds were pussy willows in the spring, I bought some home for Mom, when they started to fall and the green leaves came out, Mom was going to throw them out, but I noticed there were rootlets, so I asked for a whip to plant. It grew into a very large wolf willow, so for years my mother told all her friends how I could make anything grow in Edmonton. We were close to the North Saskatchewan River and when Laurier Heights was finished we used to go to the South facing, North Banks to go pick Saskatoon berries and sledding in the winter. Later when I got an Allstate MoPed, for my delivery boy jobs with Allan's Drugs at Lynnwood Shopping Center on 149 St. and Sprague Drugs on 142 St., I used to go with friend Rick Walker to Big Lake, St. Albert, Alberta to catch Jack Fish. (Northern Pike). One memorable "expedition" we bought home a lot of fish, uncleaned much to Mom's chagrin. At Big Lake, in it's warm and shallow water, we caught a lot of fish, but they dove to the bottom and hid out in the weeds, so we cranked them in, weeds and all. When we cleaned them their stomachs were full of lots of fresh water shrimps, frogs and small fish, but most surprising was some field mice, 2 baby and one adult redwing blackbirds. We cleaned them all up, gave them to Mom who cooked us up a feast that strangely tasted like mud, but I don't remember her eating any..
Gardens on my properties
10335 - 158St., Edmonton, Alberta
Neither my first wife nor I had any money when we married. So the first property I bought was a 50 x 150 ft. lot with a shack at 10335 - 158 Street in Edmonton, in 1970. I paid $4,500 and on the day I signed the title at the Public Trustee who were the executor of the Estate, I was informed by the Department of Health that if I tried to move in or rent it out, the "house" would be condemned. I was told if I wanted to move in, I would need to put in city water and a sewer, an unexpected expense I hadn't budgeted for, planning to move in and do these things as time and money permitted. We were living on the fourth floor of a walk-up apartment, so now I had to take back by notice to move and had to sell the lot. I put it up for sale at $7,400, land value and soon had a sale, but with a 6 months, subject to the sale of the purchasers lot on 156 St. and moving their newer house to my lot.
So while I was waiting for the sale to go through, I received a notice from the city telling me to "Abate Noxious Weeds". So I rented a mower and tried to cut down the weeds, but after a half day of frustration, decided to go back to the rental store who recommended I rent a sprayer, buy some paraquat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraquat from them to kill the weeds, then when they were dead and dried, try again to cut them down. So I returned to the lot, and seeing the next door neighbour, introduced myself and asked him if I could fill my sprayer from his tap. He advised me that it was he who made the complaint to the city about the weeds, that he was in charge of reporting on me to the city. It was he who made the City aware of the death of the previous owner, that there was a new owner and they should insist on my putting in a water line and sewer. Fuming, I went to the service station, filled up my sprayer and went back to the property. When he saw me ready to spray, neighbour called out to me across the fence that I'd better not. I replied that I had a right and an obligation to control the weeds and I was doing so legally. As I was talking, I was walking to the fence. I told my neighbour that I didn't appreciate his harassment, that if he didn't stop I was going to chop off all the branches from the10 plum trees planted just on his side of the property line, that overhung into my property, then dig up and chop off any roots that came into my property. Spluttering, my neighbour went back into his house. Eventually the house sold and I bought my first real home. Contd.
The first installment of my journey, how I became what I believe today.
ReplyDelete