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 Sisters Wilda Lawrence and Lois Faucett buy vegetables "very seldom". They've been growing and storing their own food in Kimberley, Ontario for decades. According to 93 year-old Wilda, "everybody had a garden" fifty years ago. But many who did now get their food from the supermarket. So why do these two keep gardening? Ironically, the reasons why Wilda and her younger--78 year-old--sister Lois continue to grow and store their food is the same one that sends many of us to the supermarket. Convenience. "Not very handy when you have to drive 15 miles to get a little bite for your dinner," Wilda explains. Markdale, fifteen miles away, is the nearest town with a store. "You can go out to the garden and pick enough beans for your meal. Fresh." That's what Wilda likes about keeping a garden. "That's right, you know what you're eating," Lois says. She especially likes new potatoes. "You can buy the new ones but they're not the same." The sisters share a piece of land with two houses and several garden plots, right below a part of the Niargara Escarpment called Old Baldy. They've seen their town change and decline over the years, from a farming community to one with lots of weekend residents who come for the scenery and the ski resorts. "We used to have a good store," Lois says, "But now you can't buy nothing." Wilda agrees. "If you don't have food in the house or in the freezer you're out of luck." |  |