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WH1TBY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY, JVLY 26, 1989, PAGE 5 rSuppose your, neighbar were to walk over to you one day, lean on bis rake and run bis eyes over your front lawn. "Garden's Iooking pretty this year." Not a question; just a statement'of fact. You are flattered. But now is not the time for false modesty. "Oh, I dunno. Can't say'sinm doing much different this year." Just when you know he is having an out-of-body experience, you throw him the morsel. "0f course, then there's the peat moss wrapped in burlap and the caterpillar hotel.' rWhates that?" "Tes. Organic, that's the best way. Used to be I Ioaded everything down- with chemicals and bacon drippings; every two weeks a helicopter would make a fly-past and defoliate the dandelions with this orange looking gunk. No more." "'Organic, eh?" "Hey, we've got to live on this planet, remember? So do our children and grandcbildren. Ail them poisons we been spreading can't be good." "YOU got a point." "Not that I'm a fanatic, mind you. Yah gotta be a little flexible." 'HoW'd ya mean?" 'We1l, look. Organic means growing things like granddad did on the farm fifty years aga; spreading horse manure in the spring, plowing it under. Great stuif. We can't very well cover our wbole Iawn in horse droppings, can we? And the Iawn does need a littie something." "True."l "So, back in'the spring, I decide it's organic ail the way. But the grass bas to grow, so I give it a dose of Gwik-Grow, 199-99-O. Figure that won't hurt." 'That gotter gain', ail right." "Sure did. Did the samne with the flower beds, tao, just so0 eveiything would get up and outta the ground." 'What'd ya do about the dandelions." WITH OUJR FEET UP by Bill Swan Protectingour planet "Dandebons?" "Yah, I mean, if yau graw organicaily, yau don't mean you dig 'em ail out?" 'WeIl, I tried that. Gat that littie farked pronger and got out there one Sunday. I plugged away for an bour and cleaned out five square feet. So I figure what the heck? One littie shot of 2,4-D ain't gonna kidl the whole planet. So I give it a littie dose. Just once, mind, for the dandelions." By this time the neigbbor books at bis ralce, sbifts bis eyes ta bis inferior-1oaing bawn. I did ail that, and yours stibi looks better." It's the watering." "Watering? But I water. I. ." "'Organically?" This is guaranteed ta, get a dumb look from your, neigbbor. "Organfic watering?" "'A couple af times a week." "But I do! Fm aut there almost every day." "Sure. But you see that organic gardeing wand I use?,Sce, after putting in so much tirne on this organic garden, I don't want to ls it ail in the dry daysof July. So I water. And just to make sure, that works, I add those dry pellets ta the sprinkler, justso's iÏtIl feed those hundry blades just a littie 38-24-38 juatta keep them growing wben they need it." "oi sSe."1 "Flowers, ahrubs, saie thing." 'What about the pesta.?" "Well, yeah. Peste are the curse of organic gardeners. Saune of those littie crawlera just won t quit until they've eaten big patches right outta the middlle Of your zinnia leaves."t "So what'd ya do?" "There are a coupla of choices. Nuinber an%, you can do what I did firat. Buy a Biu gBattis, and go around by hand and pick ail the caterpillars you can. Kssp 'em in the jar and feed 'em ail the Isavea thsy'll- eat. Prstty sean they'Il wrap themselves up in a cocoon and go to sleep. Then you won't have ta worry. And of course, y ou can have a big party the day the butterfiies batch. They make such. a prstty sight, and they almoat aiways fly away ta, your neighbor's." I wondersd whsrs they ail came from." "Oh! You thought'. . . ? No, no. Coilscting ail those' bugs by hand would havé ben too time consuming. No, only bad a liniited time. So I just got a littîs DDT I had left over from grandfather's auction. Juat spray a littie of that around once a week arad posh! no more bugs!" 'You don't say!t" 'Well look. If you want to preserve this planet, you've got ta be prepared to pay t he price." At this point your neighbor wiil look at this rake in shame. Next thing yau know, bs'll be out there an bis banda and kneea harveating dandeliona and caterpillars. One of them makes great wine. I'm not yet sure which. 'YOU'VE GOT the cutest littie baby entered in the Oshaàwa-Whit by fairs' face,' or at least that's what centre baby contest. Buffett was one of the ward councillor Lynda Buffett judges of the contest. Fe rs ht thinks about Murray Swain who was Fe ru ht TIIAN A qlood REpUTAT'ION Wooden Outdoor Furruture a tvi'R*bHexagons, uctagons, iencnes, Chais etc. Cà6558558 èSolid Cedar construction HICKSON WeDeler Bult toL ast 1