News/Gardening
Local Liberals herald Wells visit

by Mare Davis
The Review

Clyde Wells, the Liberal premier
of Newfoundland, will speak on
the political future of Canada,
during a visit partially organized
by the provincial Liberal candidate
in the Saanich North and the
Islands constituency.

Clive Tanner said Wells’ visit
will be a show of support for B.C.
Liberal Party leader Gordon Wil-
son.

The two leaders became close
friends when Wilson rallied
behind Wells during his highly-
publicized stand against the
doomed Meech Lake Accord, Tan-
ner said.

“T think this will be an opportu-
nity tO meet and to hear the man
who, from the Liberal point of

view, is holding the country
together,” Tanner said.

Wells will only be on the Island
for a few hours, including his
90-minute stop for a $25-per-
ticket lunchtime talk at the Prin-
cess Mary Restaurant, starting at
12 noon. Organizers expect to
draw about 300 people.

Tanner said Wells’ intention to
talk about the need for Canadian
unity is timely since the Social
Credit Party is flirting with separ-
atism.

He said Vancouver Island Lib-
eral candidates agreed at a caucus
meeting last week to condemn the
provincial government’s recent
talk of independence for British
Columbia.

“British Columbians are
appalled by the Finance Minister’s
recent remarks suggesting B.C. no

longer feels any fiscal responsibil-
ity towards Canada,” he said.

Tanner also slammed Premier
Bill Vander Zalm, saying he sug-
gested B.C. should consider taking:
over federal government functions
within the province.

“They are playing with fire and
tecklessly searching for any issue
fo prepare for the coming provin-
cial election,” he said.

Tanner said B.C. provincial gov-
emment leaders should follow the
Liberal Party’s lead by working
towards the goal of Canadian unity.

“The British Columbia Liberal
Party opposed Meech Lake as
divisive and is in support of a
renewed federalism. But not at the
expense of Canada, not in any type
of independent, separate or sover-
eignty associated British Colum-
bia,” he said.

Solution for preserving golden plums

Some people are so clever! A
caller gave me the simplest solu-

tion to what to do with golden

plums, the ones that are ripening
by the treeload right now.

Last week we talked about how
bitter they seem to be when
cooked. At first I thought it must
be the stone that caused this, but
after a bit of experimenting, found
it to be the skin.

Now, peeling ripe plums is not
easy. I won’t Say it’s impossible,
becatse sure as shootin’, someone
will call to tell me I am full of
prunes (or in this case, plums) and
then tell me how to do it. My
helpful caller explained how it
may be done.

Freeze the plums whole, in plas-
tic bags, or whatever, as you would
raspberries.

Later, when you hanker for one,
take it out of the freezer, and
immediately run it under hot water
(not boiling...just hot). The skin
will sluff off as easily as that of
frozen tomatoes.

Now plums may be stewed,
made into pies, puddings, whatever
you please, and be as sweet as they
used to be bitter.

This caller also suggested that if
you start cooking peeled plums
before they are thawed, they won’t
tum brown. Very helpful informa-
tion, isn’t it?...for which, Mrs. X.,
many thanks!

“himself,” who is getting to be
something of an expert on his
crutches, (even though he curses
them foully, several times a day)
came with me up to the arboretum
at our local experimental station.

Uneven ground isn’t that easy
for him to manage, but we both
love that park, and he enjoyed the
outing and the change. While there
we saw a most unusual tree...not
terribly tall, absolutely covered
with large white blossoms.

It is against the fence not far
above the gate entering the park
from Marshall Street.

I picked one very small flower-
ing twig, so that I might identify it
when we got home, and to my
delight, the longer I kept it, the
more fragrant it became...a very
different perfume.

I had quite a time trying to
identify the tree, but eventually
came up with something with the
unlikely name “eucryphia” which
sounds more like some dreadful
disease than a magnificent small
tree. It’s worth a trip to the park if
you happen to be interested in rare
and beautiful specimens.

One heartbreaking thing is that
the eucryphia may well be dying
from lack of water. The tips of all

the leaves are going brown, and
this is almost always a sign of
ultimate thirst.

_ We really do need a few days of
steady, heavy rain, don’t we? All
the non-gardeners are now scream-
ing, “NO!” How silly of me. Of
course they aren’t reading the
garden column, they are all
wrapped up in the sports page, or
reading about Iraq.

Although we have a tremendous
number of lovely big tomatoes,
they aren’t ripening worth a
hoot...just a few each day, not
enough to either bottle, or make
into juice.

We still have good weather to
come, of course, but when things
are slow to ripen, and the active
growing season is drawing to a
close I do get a bit worried.

Of course, with tomatoes, one
can cover the plants with a plastic
hood, but that is a pain, really, as it
has to be taken off every sunny
day, and then replaced each even-
ing, until, finally, you get so fed-
up, you pull the plants out of the
ground, and stand them up in the
basement, or the greenhouse, or
the garage.

Some of us even hang them
upside-down from the garage ceil-
ing, but this is frowned upon by
the management, especially when
overly ripe fruit plops down with a
mushy red splash on the hood of a
nice white car!

I was asked by a novice chrysan-
themum grower why his “mums
were not going to flower this fall.

Last year he had had lots of
blossoms which had gone on for
months. We began an investiga-
tion. Had he kept his plants well
watered? Well, sort of. Had he
fertilized them? Well, sort of. How
large was the clump? Huge! Ah,
ha! Had he ever divided his plants?
No. He didn’t know this was

necessary:

Actually, lots of times chrysan-
themums will continue to flower
year after year with little or no
attention, but each succeeding
year the blossoms will be smaller
and fewer, and the centre of the
crown will be either dead, or
miserably unhappy.

If you are growing prize winning
*mums, after flowering, whole
plants may be dug and stored
overwinter in a cold frame.

Most of us though, grow more
common varieties, and these may

be left where they are until early .

spring, then dug up, the centre
discarded, and shoots taken from
around the outside, including a bit
of root, if possible. These roots
aren’t really necessary, as “mums
root very easily.

This summer I accidently broke
off a chrysanthemum stem, and
being busy doing something else,
simply pushed the broken end into
the same pot as the parent plant,
and left it to its own devices. It is
now growing quite happily along-
side its mum (Ho, Ho!).

SHOP
SIDNEY
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CANADA SAFEWAY LTD.

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See you in Sidney!

TheReview Wednesday, August 29, 1990 — Ale®

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DISTRICT OF NORTH SAANICH

Thank you to those residents who joined us to celebrate the
25th Anniversary of the District's Incorporation on Sunday,
19th August 1990. It was great to see so many old and new
friends again.

Special thanks are extended to the following local business-
men for their generous and kind, efficient support:

Mr. L. Neudecker, Golden Sheaf Bakery
Mr. Dave Hill, Miracle Muffins and
Mr. Steve Boudewyn, Thrifty Foods.

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