I read with interest and amazement the opinion piece by Lana Rodlie “Gardening skills slowly beginning to grow,” (Trail Times, Oct. 26).
I am older than Lana but definitely have different memories.
I too grew up in East Trail. Our Fifth Avenue yard had grass in the front and the back. We had flower beds in the front and a garden in the backyard. My parents planted two blue spruce trees beside the sidewalk in our front yard. We watched every spring as they grew their soft buds until they became taller and bigger than we could have ever imagined. They were eventually transplanted to the Waneta area.
We ate the carrots, beets, onions and tomatoes that grew in my father’s garden. And yes we were probably leaded but we were certainly healthy!
Summer evenings were spent sitting on the front steps while my parents watered the grass. Our neighbours had grass, and gardens, which we raided on the odd occasion.
We spent after school playing in the back alley or climbing the mountain which I remember as having bushes, trees and wild flowers. We took visiting relatives from Winnipeg up those mountains so they could experience what we thought was an adventure. We were so lucky!
We rode our bikes to “Sandy Island.” The weeping willow trees were great as was the grass. But I also remember a silver birch tree on Fourth Avenue that I thought was beautiful every time I rode by.
My parents grew nasturtiums too, and as an adult and like Lana, I could never get them past that green leaf stage. But I do have great memories of the flowers, trees and grass from the old days.
Trail was a great place to grow up and a good place to live. It still is.
Mary Hamann
Trail