Page 12, Thursday, March 2, 1972, WHITBY FREE PRESS of interest to women GARN ING ED ITORIS NOTE: For the interest of t h o s e who I ik e to putter about in the garden, the WHITBYFREE PRESS will offer on a continuing weekly basis twoentirely different views in the field of gardening. One column, written by Sid Morris, agraduateof the Niagara Parks Comm- The Radical iewpoint Most people like flowers and fresh vegetables but are reluctant to garden because the thought of a I I t h a t digging, weeding and hoeing etc. turns them right off, and so they settle for the inferior stuff sold in supermarkets. Throw away preylous conceptions There is a way in which to minimize the effort in vol v e d in growing bumper crops, with better fl1 a v o u r t h a n ever before. It does, of course, r e q uire some effort, and a major sacrifice. The b i g s a crifice is this, throw away your previous conceptions of gardening, stop using chemical fer t i I izers and stop listening to those so called experts. Now that may seem a radical statement, b u t m o s t experts who are on the radio or T. V. are tied to some chemical company as sponsor. The Hay MIethod If you have no garden at present, goout in spr ing and buy some hay. It is hot important that it be good ha y, straw w ill do if hay is not available. (If y ou do ha v e a garden start here. ) Cover the garden area with about a foot of loose hay. If it isbaled, peel off in about 4-inch sections and lav i t in r o w s. Any sort of organic material may be added to the cover. Potato peelîngs, tea or coffee g r o u n d s can be tucked under. Leaves, sawdust sh av i n gs or e ve n hair from the barber's shop will do to add to the pile. You don't have to dig the garden if the soil is good, however if the area is packed hard, or a lot ofchemicalîfertilizerhas been used, it would help if there is some organic mixture is tilled in. This can easily be done by renting a tiller or getting someone to custom till it for you for about $10. The rewards Onceyo have established this, you will never need todig aqa i n. The hay rots down into a soft humus and the worms multiply to aereate the soil. To plant just rake the hay back about four in- c h e s and plant the seeds as usual. As seedl ings grow draw the mulch in. I use my lawr clippings for this purpose. You never have to weed again as the hay prevents the weeds from coming up. Oh, an occasional weed will poke through, but just let it grow and add i t to the mul ch. itt4en xirîtn In addition to the butter molds, which were the subject of myl1 ast column, butter bowls and paddles, potato mas- hersandrolling pins are also interest- i n g c o IlI ectables. The paddles do not vary greatly in design, although their handles are occasional ly decorat- ed. Maple was the wood most commonly used in the manufacture of kitchen uten- s ilis , b ec a use of i ts great s trength. Th-ere a re rolling pins stilî in use to- d ay , t ha t d o not show great wear in s p i t e of the fact that they have roIlled pastry for three generations of cooks. Butter bowls Butter bowls are very popular, be- cause they are still useful. Their wood a b sor bs b ut ter-fat, and such a bowl ission and Horticulture teacher at Har- wood Secondary School in Ajax, will al s o introduce a question and.answer section for readers. An o t h er column, written by Ed Mc C au g h t r i e, offers interesting notes f r om a book he is currently writing on a m o r e r a d ical type of gardening. I n exposing these views, the "Free Press "hopes to present comprehens ive material for gardening readers. The Technical Approach Have you noticed how the days are beginning to lenghten?Nature is starting to begin a new chap- ter ln heroutdoor activities, so is the home owner with his new ideas to improve his own landscape. " Iekat the danw Let u s look back in retrospect to the past few monthswhenwinter has been taking its toil on our ornamentals. On the next warm, sunny day take a w a I k t h r ough your yard to discover the damage done by the snow or ice in areas where both have b e en parti c ularîy heavy. Take remedial steps w h e r e s a f e t y i s a factor, and to still1prevent greaterwinterdamage. If larger limbs have snap-, ped and are attached to the tree by pieces of bark w hi ch could tear more bark especially down the treetrunk, remove the limbwith a saw. Cut off the branchflushwith the tree and "paint" with a coat-- ing especially made for putting on wounds of trees. if y ou f i n d the spreading Pfitzer juniper by the f r ont step has had an avalanche of snow from the roof fall on it, the evergreen has probably split at g r o un d I e v e I. To help prevent further break- a g e , i t m i g h t be necessary to stake the broken branch so if more snow falls the branch is not broken off completely. Strengthefing the burps Some of your tender ornamentals such as rhod- endr on s m ight have burlap wind breaks around t h e m from I a s t fal. If you find the wind breaks ar e s tarting to collapse, strengthen them as the dryingMarchwinds will cause even greater havoc with the rhodendrons. Last fal I you probably pushed the lawnmower into the most convenient winter storage place. Un- f o r t unately some of you may find your equiprment hard or impossible to start this coming spring. See that ail your equipment is in good repair; before the snow meîts. This will prevent you from becoming swamped with work later on. Preparing the umwer Getting your power mower ready is fairly sim- p I e. First, disconnect the spark plug wires as a s a f e ty factor, since the engine might start when turning it over by hand. The second step should be t h e d r a i ning, or syphoning off, of the gas from the fuel tank, as leaded gasolines have the tend- ency to form a jelly-Iike substance in the fuel I 1 ne an d carburators. This plugs up the system and makes the machine inoperable. The th ir d s te p should be the cleaning of the mower wi th a wire brush. If possible a more thor- ou gh cleaning can be done by blowing out debris f r om t hose hard to get at places. Under no cir- c u m s tances shoul d you use water on the mower, as i t d am ages bearings. When giving the mower a thorough cleaning by removing oils and greases use a solvent such as varsol in a ventilated room or in your garage. storin Now store your mower for spring, remove the sp ark plug and pour into the opening, one or two tablespoons of number 30 motor oil, slowly turning the engineove r by h an d. This coats the piston walls with oil. The spark plug should then be re- placed and the machine stored in a dry place. If i n c h e cking over the lawnmower a worn or broken part is found, a new one shouldbe ob- t a i n e d. If the job is more than you can"do your- self, a small engine mechanic should be contacted. An early sprlng If you are longing for an early spring, you can hasten i t by br inging in some branches of for sy thia or pussy willow on a day when the temperature is over 32. These branches can be forced by crush- i n g t h e e n d s of stems and placing in water. in about 2 weeks you will have the first foretaste of spring. Any question on horticulture in general will be an swered by writing a letter or postcard to Sid Morris, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby. THE LURE OF ANTIQUES after i t has been scrubbed clean and dried makes a lovely salad bowl if rt is rubbedwith a bouquet of herbs, or with a f r e s h garlic bud. A refinished bowl I ooks lovely filled with fruit, but they are just as useful in the kitchen for m i x ing batters and pastries. There is one other use to which these bowl s have been put, al though it does seem to be a sac r i I ege. Legs are made in a tripod arrangement and attached to the bowl, which is then filled with artificial flow- e r s and covered with a round piece of plate glass. The result is a rather odd looking table that is neither antique or modern. by Helen ,Igra They can be found in many sizes and a r e round o r oblong. The round ones tend towarp siightly as they age. Some a u t h o r ities feel that the earl y lathes were so d if ficult to work with that it was hard to turn a completely round ob- je c t the size of a large bowl, and give this reason for the fact that some bowls are not truly round. Oblong bowls The oblong bowls are becoming scarce, as are the very large bowls. When searching for them in antique or junk shops, look them over very care- fully if they are dk4béM Dust will fill up any cracks and youmay not see, on cas- ual examination a defect that will render t h e bowl u s eless. A reputable deal er wil l bring such things to your attention, before you buy. Others seem to feel that if they have dusted the article off, they h a v e d one enough, and the onus is on the buyer to examine the article care- fu l y. Prices for the poorest specimen may b e set at ten dollars for a bowl that is "i n the rough", that is, unfinished. If y ou are planning to refinish it, not to mentionmaterial, soyouowe it to your- self to make a very careful examination to be sure that you have a sound article to begin with.