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In the garden of Krukto
Enjoying the fruits of her labour

Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Providence (Aug 11/00) - While driving along the turn-off into Fort Providence, you may notice Evelyn Krutko's property.

Besides the greenery of the nicely treed lot and a thriving vegetable garden, there's also a flourish of other colours from all the cosmos, sunflowers, daisies and wild flowers.

"My yard looked so crazy before. It just looked terrible so I thought I better do something," Krutko said. "Then I started last year, pulling rocks. It's a lot of work, but it's coming."

In early May she begins potting her plants inside. By the end of the month she transplants them outdoors. There's not a great degree of deliberation over which flower seeds she chooses, she says.

"I just pick anything and put them together and they seem to come out OK," she said.

But she spends a portion of her time rearranging things to make sure they look just so. Watching the seedlings take root and bloom brings her much satisfaction, she added.

"You know you've done well, or you've done it right," she said of the climbing flowers.

In the vegetable garden, which has doubled in size from last year, one can find potatoes, peas, beans, swiss chard, spinach, onions, garlic, pumpkin and tomatoes. Over the past few weeks, the potatoes have been going from the garden to the dinner plates in her home.

"It's definitely much fresher," Krutko said of the garden produce. "I thought I'd try it (a garden) last year for the first time. We grew potatoes and it was such a good crop that I decided I'd try growing it bigger this year."

Early in the season, she spends up to five hours in the yard after coming home from her job as a renewable resources officer. She's able to reduce the amount of time she devotes to her gardens as the season progresses until it's time to harvest the crops.

Naturally, on the heels of the harvest is the first frost of the season, resulting in wilting flowers and another long winter.

"Everything has to die, sadly," she said wistfully, "but I guess it's a part of life."