NATURE STUFF NEWSLETTER FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 2012

May is undoubtedly the season of beautiful woodland wildflowers. However, in August, there is encore of coloured blooms when Yarker area residents Jane and Peter Good open Avenstone to the public. Avenstone is the name of their farm, and they have devoted a small corner near the roadside to growing cutting flowers. Each year, they select seeds, or use seeds saved from previous years, and plant row after row, sometimes staggering the plantings as in the case of gladiolas, in order for the month of August to be prime cutting time. Then, they throw open the garden gate, and invite the public, by donation, to cut flowers. "Some people give a few dollars. Some people give a hundred dollars," said Peter, a retired high school teacher, who can be found weeding or mulching, or watering most days. The donations soon add up to a tidy sum which is donated annually to Hospice Lennox & Addington and Hospice Kingston. In the garden, along with many herbs you'll find salvia, calendula, cleome, amaranthus, gladiolus, sunflowers, several varieties of cosmos, coriander, statice, zinnia, cynoglossum, and many more. And for the naturalists, there are plenty of butterflies and hummingbirds flocking to the gardens as well. In the past, Avenstone was open to the public in August on Saturdays. This year, that has been changed to Sundays in August when the public can come and cut bouquets of flowers from the garden, from 2:00 p.m. until dusk. DIRECTIONS TO AVENSTONE and more information. Easiest route is north from Camden East for a kilometer, then right on Bethel Road for 2 km, to Civic Address #393.

Last year at this time, we were in the final throes of getting “UP BEFORE FIVE – THE FAMILY FARM” published, a collection of stories and humorous misadventures from that wonderful era of agriculture, dating back to the 1950s, when families and neighbours worked together. Printed in September, the 1,000 copies all but sold out by December, a wonderful testament to the memories of an era that cannot be replicated, not for all the electronic gizmos and modernization that is today’s modern world. There are only about 100 copies of the book left, plus whatever local bookstores may have on hand. Now, I am working on a new book, called “Naked In the Sand”. I guess we can refer to it as a bit of a sequel as it will be a collection of humorous stories following the sale of the farm, from my days as a Park Naturalist at Sandbanks Provincial Park (hence, the title), and other jobs I have had with Glenora Fisheries, the local conservation authority, my days as a weekend reporter with a daily newspaper and, of course, more recently, my career as an interpretive naturalist. It will be a challenge, as there will be a few stories from Sandbanks that we just can’t write about! But, others, I’m sure, will have you smiling throughout the proposed book. There won’t be as many photos, for obvious reasons, so readers will just have to use their imagination. My project for this winter. Oh – and good friend Sacha Warunkiw from Milford will once again be challenged with coming up with the cover design. With a title like “Naked In the Sand” to work with, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with!

Except for our Main Duck Island tours, for the most part, August is a month when I can take some time to sit under our maple tree in the backyard and read a book. One of the efforts though in August in which I am involved, which I actually find quite enjoyable and rewarding, is maintaining the hiking trails in some of our conservation areas and other natural areas around the Quinte area. I have an absolutely stalwart group of volunteers who work with me that put in an incredible amount of hours, so others may enjoy some of our natural areas that we have. In June, we managed to get my heavy walk behind rotary brush mower coaxed into the “Ducks Diver” for a 19 km ride over to MAIN DUCK ISLAND where we cleared and groomed over 4 km of trails. They also groom the birding trails at Prince Edward Point every year, and so far, we have also done the cross country ski trails at the H.R. Frink Centre and all the trails at Beaver Meadow Wildlife Area south of Picton. In the case of Beaver Meadow, some of these trails are being so encroached by vegetation, that we have plans next year to move portions of the trail to more open areas. Next on our list this year is Harry Smith Conservation Area at Ameliasburgh, Little Bluff Conservation Area at South Bay, and Sidney Conservation Area, south of Stirling. Hats off to these volunteers whose only payment at the end of the day is the satisfaction of a job well done. Don’t thank me though – I just walk behind the mower. They are the ones who prune the trail sides and lug brush and fallen trees out of the way.

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Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money. 

Native American Cree Proverb

Terry Sprague

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