More than 300 people
took advantage of Thanksgiving weekend to take part in the Harvest Festival in
the Sawyerville sector of Cookshire-Eaton. Lunch was served to 140 people.
A
plaque was presented to Dr. Curtis Lowry in recognition of his gift of land to
the Municipality. The day was occupied by exhibits, timber frame construction,
presentations, harvesting and a workshop on food preservation. In short, the
organizers had prepared a complete program of activities aimed at appreciating
the abundance of nature. That's what Chantal Bolduc remarked. She headed the
organizers.
After
welcoming everyone, and stressing the importance of the Harvest Festival,
Bolduc invited the Mayor of Cookshire-Eaton, Noël Landry, to speak. He recalled
the generosity of Dr. Lowry who had donated a piece of land to be used for
community activities. Some $45,000 had been invested to create a ball field,
and a garden/orchard. Now in its first year of production, the Sawyerville Community
Garden had yielded a good harvest. Mayor Landry also presented a manoeuvrable
cart with tool racks to the gardeners, to help make their work easier.
During
a formal presentation at the garden, Dr. Lowry received a memorial plaque from
the hands of Yvon Roy, deputy mayor, and Mayor Landry, as a token of gratitude.
The plaque was created by Robert Péloquin. Bolduc took the occasion to unveil a
marker created by Amanda Busher, officially naming the site the "Jardin du Dr
Lowry," or Dr. Lowry's Garden. The sign bears witness to Dr. Lowry's love for
the garden.
Several
other people spoke about their experiences and knowledge they wanted to share.
The Horti-plus Farm presented an assortment of squash, while Réjeanne Marcoux
showed how to preserve food cheaply. The Coopérative de solidarité
Cultur'Innove offered a quick survey of the agroforestry domain and emerging
crops such as medicinal plants and berries, among others. Jacqueline Hyman,
secretary of the Eaton Corner Museum, displayed artefacts from bygone times.
Her neighbours were braiding garlic, another heritage technique. Chantal Parent
exhibited herbal products, therapies that relieved many ills, and still do so.
Honey from the Ferme d'ORée (Forest's Edge Farm) always creates a stir wherever
it goes, as do the apples from the Ferme la Généreuse. Volunteers
explained how the community garden works. A
germination workshop attracted the interest of visitors. At the garden, Brian
Creelman offered his seeds and Denis Gergeron sold his famous grelinettes, those
essential gardening tools. And for the children, makeup and corn-cob
doll-making offered lots of fun.
A group of about 10
workers raised a shelter for storing garden tools. Prepared in advance, the
beams were shaped and coated with a base of linseed oil. They were assembled
with wooden pegs under the attentive eye of Marc Nault, who initiated the
project, and Steven St-Cyr, engineer. From the beginning, they had the help of
volunteers Daniel Hurdle, Claude Thibodeau and Jacques Campeau. This construction
technique builds strong structures while using fewer logs.
During a workshop on
nut trees, Yvan Perrault shared his passion by looking at the forest through an
alternative perspective, presenting both images and information. Mushrooms,
berries and nuts of all kinds can satisfy the strongest of appetites, while
giving unique flavours to food. During a short walk, he demonstrated that there
is an abundance of these plants. In a similar vein, Elsa Poulin of the Coop de
solidarité Cultr'Innove described some emerging forest crops. The list of
emerging berries never ceases to grow longer: Sea buckthorn, fly honeysuckle,
chokecherries, nut trees and mushrooms deserve to be produced more plentifully.
The Coopérative offers guidance to persons who would like to get started in
this type of venture. To inaugurate the Harvest Festival, Réjeanne Marquis gave
seven people a workshop on the preservation of foods. Each year, Marquis cans
some 1,000 cans of jams, pickles and other vegetables and fruits. She described
the work organization, sterilization, and canning know-how, demystifying this
art, to the great pleasure of the participants.
When Bolduc ran out of spaghetti for lunch, she said it
was a "happy problem." This first activity was a great success! she
confided.
