May 16, 2010

Hometown

Go to Kelly's Korner to see more hometown posts and then click on the button below.....after you read about my home.  Thanks!



I must admit, when I was asked to write about where I live for blog-trotting.com, I had a little, teeny, tiny panic attack.
What would I write about?
How could I make it sound fantabulous?
What makes my town stand out from other communities?

And then I drove around.
Me, and Trudy. That is my camera in case you were wondering.
Yes, I could have written about the 17 donut shops and the 22 pizza places.
I could have also shown you our many parks, grocery stores and schools.
But every community has those.
Bor-ing.

We have a McDonalds.
A Home Depot.
Even a Walmart.

We have a public library.
A recreation complex is being built as I write this.
And we have a few arenas.
Because hockey is huge in this town.

Oh yeah, have I mentioned I live in Canada?

Ontario to get more specific.
I am in a medium (but growing rapidly) town approximately 30 minutes north of Toronto.

My town is known for something special.
Something unique.
My town is smack dab in the middle of the Holland Marsh.
My town is the Heart of Canada's Vegetable Industry.
Onions, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, radish, endive and even bok choy are grown in my backyard....and across the road.....up the street...around the corner and across town. 

I know.  You are jealous. 
I would be if I couldnt go across the street to pick carrots for dinner.

But I have never done that...nope...not me.

The town I live in is surrounded by marshland that has been drained and worked for agricultural purposes.  This is some of the most fertile soil in the entire, enormous, gigantic Universe.
Honest.

Surrounding this marshland is the Canal System. 
The Canal (which flows into Lake Simcoe) provides water for irrigation and a waterway for recreational activities such as fishing, snowmobiling, and picking seaweed if that is something you enjoy doing in your spare time.
Just sayin'.
In 1942, my Grandfather-in-law moved to this small town to break the Marsh.  That means he was one of the first people on the land with horses after it had been drained.  The ground was so soft that they had to put paddles on the horses hooves to keep them from sinking in the muck.
Yes, really.
True story.
Today they use tractors without paddles because it isnt 1942.

Why do I love it here you may be wondering?
Because I enjoy living in the country but also being close to everything.
It takes me 3 minutes to get to the store or my children's school.
But.....my children can come home and dirt bike in our backyard, build bridges just for the fun of it, watch tractors across the road and pick onions for dinner.
Oops.....umm...no they dont do that.


So now that I have convinced you that my town is a gem and you have decided to move here, you can reward me with some bok choy.
I can tell you where to get some for cheap.


19 comments:

Jenn said...

Funny, I've been reading you for months and had no idea you lived so close...how cool!

Jen said...

Mmm, bok choy. Yum!

I enjoyed this look at your home.

The pictures are beautiful. :)

alicia said...

Thanks for the peak inside your neck of the woods. It's beautiful there. Acutally not too different than where I live in IA right now. Lots of farms and tractors to be found nearby.

Heatherlyn said...

Actually, it sounds fabulous!!! How great is it to raise kids with lots of beautiful space and natural yummy food!!!!

Miss Welcome said...

We are working on our new garden - first timers - but we have sandy soil so our onions and carrots are very reluctant to grow. The zucchini is having no problems (no surprise there), and I think our fruit is going to be a huge success - strawberries, raspberries, apricots, pears, plums .... we may have to do a farmer's market swap with you guys. ;o)

mub said...

I'd LOVE to be able to just trot across the street and pick carrots for dinner!

sheila said...

Huh, that's pretty interesting actually! Great pics too!

I'm over from the blogtrot.

Heather said...

Your hometown looks gorgeous!

And you managed to make me laugh out loud at least twice on a blogtrotting post. Well done.

Great tour!

Liz Mays said...

Thank you for the tour!!! I think it's wonderful that you can live out there in the country but be within 3 minutes of where you need to go. That's a rare combo.

Savira Gupta said...

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing

Jenners said...

It was fun learning a little bit more about where you live ... now go pick some carrots!

CaraBee said...

I love the tidbit about putting paddles on the horses hooves. I'll bet that was a sight to see!

I love small towns. I think all the time about picking up and moving to one. Of course, we'd be the fish out of water, big city geeks that no one would ever talk to, but hey, we'd be living the dream!

Great tour! Thanks for being a part of BlogTrotting!

T.J. said...

first off, I love love love that your camera has a name!!

Thanks for sharing today- it is sooo cool that you live in a vegetable universe like that- I'd be in heaven!!!

mep said...

I enjoyed your tour and your awesome photos.

I think I could manage to get my kids to pick vegetables, but not eat them!

koreen (aka: winn) said...

I enjoyed this history lesson. :D

Sharlene said...

What a cute post about your town. I really enjoyed the story of the marshland turned farmland. I would love to be able to walk across the street and pick carrots. Not that you do that...

Happy Blogtrotting!

Loukia said...

What stunning pictures! Loved reading this. I'm from Ontario, too (Ontario... there's no place like home...) Ottawa, specifically! :)

Tara R. said...

Your hometown sounds lovely! The photos really show off the beauty and charm of the farm land. Loved the backstory on the history of the region too.

Kathy said...

How cool! I grew up in Holland Landing and Newmarket! We moved to the states when I was 14 and now I live in New England. Really cool to see your pics of the area I grew up in!

Kathy k.