Page 49 - Card Photo Flipbook-December 2022

Ernie and Jan McCrank
ERA of the SWAMP HOUSES - Memories..
"We all knew that Helen had many talents, and the one that really impressed me was her ability to 47
grow a successful vegetable garden. One day, while both of our families were neighbours in a
delightful community in Kingston that we called The Swamp an incident happened. I walked the
100 yards over to Helen and Bob’s brightly painted green wooden frame home to see Helen knee
deep in mud. She was single handedly launching at least a 20’x30’ vegetable garden with a spade.
No rototiller for this resourceful woman !! Coming from the Niagara region, there was no doubt
that she was no stranger to gardening. In no time , she had altered the clay packed soil and
planted her beans, beets, carrots etc. in straight, strategic rows. This masterpiece would produce
enough vegetables for their young family for many months. This was a big help for the family
budget because a Resident’s wage meant a few years of slim pickings. "
"I always respected Helens’ abilities, so decided that I, too, would dig up a huge patch of my
swampy backyard and proceeded to plant 40 cucumber plants! Four plants would have been
adequate for our family for the summer; but I grew up in a non gardening family in Eastern Ontario
where weeds and hollyhocks were all we grew. The 40 plants produced over 400 cucumbers. After
sharing cucumbers with everyone that came near our house, I confessed my dilemma to Helen, my
gardening Guru. She laughed in her joyous manner and said comfortingly, “Tomorrow,I am going to
give you my family special pickle recipe, and you are going to solve your over supply of cucumbers
.
with some delicious pickle making” Helen had the ability to find quick and clever ways to
overcome difficulties!!” Jan McCrank .