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.