BUSH TO PARK

BY

Thea Van Doorn.

Two and a halve acre of bush to clear and fun doing it. We where young and strong most of it was done with sweat and elbow grease. Soil is and was to precious to us to waste and the money for a bulldozer was not readily available .Our 3 children who had been using the acres for their playground, they thought it was fun to help clear the land so we could get the cows.

The barn was build the grass grown and the farming got started. After many cows, pigs, geese, ducks, rabbits, chickens, we where left without the kids and the animals.

Then we had the misfortune to run into some health problems Ted had a heart attack and could not go back to his job as a mill worker. Ted was actually very young yet at the time. After a period of time spend recuperating, Ted started to feel better and needed a hobby or something to keep busy. Since gardening had been his special thing, he turned to gardening again. He started by building the entrance to the Park, (the then still wild pasture).

That fall the gate to the park was built and we where on our way. After the winter was over, the garden or what is now the park was started. Ted had to take it slow and easy. He started to make the flowerbeds one by one. Each time one flowerbed was done it started to look more and more like a park. Oh the joys of seeing it come alive.

He built a pond for the frogs and the birds to enjoy. Next the bridge over the pond for us to enjoy the frogs and the birds.

In the background, you can see the mill. The mill is another piece of his artistry. The nesting boxes where also a project of Ted.

Many people came to admire Ted’s beautiful garden. Some people from as far away as Holland, Germany, Ontario, and Australia. One man in a wheelchair had not felt the soil under his feet for the last seven years. This, person was able to put his bare feet on the lawn, with Ted’s help.

It was a miracle not only for him but also for us. He cried with emotion and real tears.

We now have a great variety of beautiful flowers to many to name. I will name a few, Irish’s, Tulips, Roses all sorts of different bulbs and scrubs, butterfly bushes, there really are to many to name. So again I think the pictures will tell you more then I can.

I never enjoyed this piece of land more, as I do now. Everyday rain or shine and even in the snow. It has provided us with peace, satisfaction, and a lot of happiness. I’m so proud of this man; he lovingly tends to the flowers.

Not only does he have an eye for shapes and color, flowers and scrubs. Ted also has a good size vegetable garden and sees to it that we have them fresh every day. In return, he stays very relaxed and healthy. He does not consider the gardening a job, but an enjoyment. I will enjoy the gardening with him for as long as I live. It is terrific therapy. I also have the joy of having my man bring me fresh flowers, I don’t think that no woman in her right mind would complain about that. Would You.

HERE IS TED,BROTHER AD AND GRANDSON CODY, TAKING A WALK.

As you can see there are quit a variety that will do well under the trees, where the soil is very dry. With a little tender loving care and a bit of sunshine they will do well for you. Ted has put some chanter bells, Lilly’s and a peace rose, together under a tree and they do well. It is a pretty sight to look at.

We do have different butterfly’s that visit our garden every year among them the monarch butterfly.

We did have to put up with the deer; they were not to welcome. The deer are beautiful to look at but they have little respect for the flowers and specially the roses they just love the rose buds, They like rosebuds for breakfast.

Ted had bought some special tulips among them a blue tulip. The tulips got planted in the fall and the winter got spent in waiting for them to bloom, in the spring. I could not wait to see this blue tulip. In the spring it got a nice fat bud, everyday I would take a walk to the tulip to see if I could spot the color. Then one morning I visited the tulip again and the bud was gone, the nice fat tulip bud made a breakfast for some one. I suspect a deer. I was disappointed, but with so many lovely flowers around I could not be sad. The walk through the park is terrific, with surroundings like that one can’t be sad for long.

It looks like the entire garden was just the right kind of soil to grow flowers, but this is far from the truth. I remember Ted mixing soil sand and hauling horse manure from our neighbors. Ted would be busy for hours spreading it around where he intended the new flowers to grow. With one look you would think he had the rich soil loaded with the nutrients, that every gardener dreams of. The soil consist mostly of red dirt, loom and hardpan. Ted uses sea earth, peat moss, compost, and fertilizer. A mixed layer is then put on top of the soil and sometimes left for a whole season until the soil underneath is soft, only then will Ted dig it with the shovel and left again for a while. Finally Ted would plant the bulbs and the plants he wanted to grow there.

He, Ted, is a terrific gardener. Ted grows not only beautiful flowers but is also good with the vegetable garden. He grows lovely carrots, potatoes, peppers, cabbage, tomatoes, peas, beans, sprouts and a whole lot of different things including herbs.

Anyone, who has a question on gardening, can talk to Ted and he will be more then happy to give you an answer to the best of his ability. He shares his garden secrets with anyone. He has helped a lot of his gardening palls over the years.

In the picture Ted is showing some of his crop of peppers out of his vegetable garden.

The land has served us well. We are staying healthy and happy with our flowers and the vegetable garden. We do share our garden with every living creature, we grow a little extra for the deer and the slugs and our friends. In the spring, the summer and well into fall, we have the pleasure of hundreds of different flowers. The peace of what we now call "Peace Park" filled with the bird’s butterflies, to give us enjoyment and the relaxcation. Happy gardening to each and every one of you, Ted and Thea.