Vegetable Therapy

Farewell! Our tall Ash Tree, which towered over the neighbour’s house and ours, is no more. It was attacked by the invasive Emerald Ash Borer, and died. We paid what was to us a small fortune to have the tree removed by an insured arborist. He took the tree down bit by bit, lowering each bit by rope to the two men below, who stacked the logs, or chipped the branches. It took five hours to complete. It was a very professional job. We are left with a very large pile of logs, excellent firewood. I admit to shedding a tear as our Ash tree came down.

Our move to Mist Cottage opened doors for us. One was the door to gardening. The Country House, where we lived before we moved to Mist Cottage, was surrounded by dense bush, that grew on rough land, strewn with boulders, with little to no topsoil. The light, the climate, the soil, all made for challenging gardening. I attempted to grow a garden on the large deck at the Country House, but the climate defeated the effort, harvesting only two tomatoes. Also, at the Country House we were kept busy trying to survive, spending copious amounts of time at low paying jobs, driving long distances to access supplies and health care, and maintaining all the systems on the property, the septic system, the drinking water system (well), and the heating system (masonry heater, firewood).

Ah, but Mist Cottage! Here we have a thermostat, an oil furnace, and a heat pump to heat our home. Water and sewer are handled by the municipality, billed monthly. I am retired, and Attila works one job only. The climate is wonderful for gardening, the soil is rich, and we have enough light to delight a garden.

What the garden means is that for the first time we can afford fresh vegetables all season long, and we can preserve our fresh vegetables to enhance our diet during the long winter months. The availability and quality of our vegetable supply has meant a big increase in the volume of vegetables consumed.

Vegetable therapy.

The “golden years” are years where one’s health slowly (or not so slowly) deteriorates. One becomes used to being told by health care professionals, “at your age”. So, when I had my eye exam last week, and was told there was no deterioration, AND that my peripheral vision had significantly improved, I felt euphoric! An improvement in general health isn’t something I’ve come to expect these days.

And I think this improvement can, at least in part, be attributed to vegetable therapy.

Our frozen garden vegetables, and some purchased frozen vegetables, constitute 90% of most meals we eat. Every casserole, soup, or stew made here is almost all vegetables. Our broth is homemade vegetable broth. We eat fruit daily as well, usually apples, locally grown and sold out of cold storage. Our highest form of celebration is to purchase “exotic” fruits, like imported grapes, citrus fruit, or dried dates. We do eat meat, but use it as a condiment, a little bit goes a very long way.

Although vegetables may be improving my vision, they have not yet alleviated my current health issue. The painkillers are still working for the most part, and whatever is bothering me clearly reminds me if I miss just one pill. More tests in the weeks to come, and hopefully a diagnosis. In the meantime, I am eating my vegetables, and inviting them to contend with the issue.

We had a snow storm on Friday, about six inches of the white stuff blanketed the outside world by the time we awoke on Saturday morning. Then the temperature began to fall, reaching -15C last night. This morning it is snowing off and on, and the temperature climbs. It looks like we won’t get cold like this again for the next two weeks. Perhaps the frigid temperatures are past us now!

Worldly

Weather

Updated on Sun, Mar 13, 7:55 AM
-14 °C
FEELS LIKE -18
Partly cloudy
Wind 6 SW km/h
Humidity 73 %
Visibility 20 km
Sunrise 7:24 AM
Wind gust 10 km/h
Pressure 101.6 kPa
Ceiling 10000 m
Sunset 7:11 PM

Quote

“Cabbage: A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man’s head.”
Ambrose Bierce
1842 – 1914