Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Liard (Aug 31/01) - Some community members in Fort Liard are sitting down to meals prepared with garden-fresh vegetables from their very own backyards.

Sylvia Bertrand and Michael Sassie planted for the first time this year. Although they lacked experience, their efforts bore fruit (and vegetables) such as carrots, potatoes, onions, rhubarb and a small pumpkin.

"I'm going to cook those tonight," Bertrand said, gesturing toward some carrots plucked from her plot. "We were just testing to see if (the garden) would grow good. And it is, so next year it will be better."

Since their rows of potatoes have been maturing, they've taken on a different outlook. Bertrand recalled that she asked Sassie to go uptown to buy a bag of potatoes earlier this summer.

"He said, 'I don't have to walk all the way over there.'"

Instead, he went into the backyard and snatched a few spuds out of the garden.

"We won't have to buy potatoes all winter, I guess," Bertrand smiled.

Of course, a garden doesn't grow without investing some labour. Sassie and Bertrand planted in early June and have been weeding the fenced-off parcel of land -- in which bothersome stray dogs still dig holes -- for about an hour each week.

Billy Loe, who lives down the street and has been gardening for 15 years, agreed that weeding isn't too time consuming as long it's done thoroughly in the early stages, giving the plants a fast start.

Another tip he offered is to plant flowers, like his blue borage species, that attract bees. The bees also pollinate flowering vegetables such as zucchini.

Loe also grows carrots, iceberg and romaine lettuce, tomatoes, peas, potatoes and strawberries. He stores much of his produce in a cool cellar throughout the fall.

Organically grown produce has a better taste than the chemically-laced fruits and vegetables found in stores, he added.

He said he enjoys gardening because it occupies his spare time in spring.

"It keeps a guy's mind from straying," he said.

Although, he might be a little preoccupied trying to figure out how to prevent a certain pesky chipmunk from pilfering his strawberries.