Keith and Carolyn Squires run the Country Squire Garden a few miles from my home. Its like no other garden center anywhere.
I was up there today. We had nice chat. Same as when they sold me my Hops plant a few years ago.
Carolyn has no love about Monsanto. Keith asks, who owns the ground water under your property?. He thinks the government will take it away; same idea from the same plan as what Monsanto has taken away.
Existing wells might be grandfathered. New wells might need a permit with onerous conditions. Who knows.
They say they would LOVE to take on Monsanto if they ever had to. Seems they have proof that the patents are flawed and illegal under certain processes which they follow. So far nobody has ever bothered them.
Here are some reviews from customers about who they are and what they stand for.
http://www.gardens.com/local/ontario/8764-The-Country-Squires-Garden
Here are a few comments about Keith and Carolyn Squires written by Art Drysdale, a well known Canadian horticulturalist.
http://www.artdrysdale.com/dec2004.html
Notice they don't sell fertilizer or insecticides or top soil. Just unique and unusual plants.
The reason I went up there today was to return the hop plant. Not the whole plant, just 10 or 12 rhizomes (roots) as a "gift", ready for transplantng in their garden. Their 10 acre garden.
I only have room for a few rhizomes so I pulled a bunch out and put then in the recycle bag. Then I took them out of the recycle bag and into a pail of water. Water from the rain barrel. And drove them to the Country Squire Garden as by now you know. It was a good move.
I tryed to explain who owns the rhizomes and why its easy to give them away when a person does not need them to make a living. By saying all we only ever really are are rhizomes borrowers made the point to them which they got right away. They took them with thanks.
Keith and another guy were building a huge extra shed from used lumber. He got the lumber from a neighbour who was a known used lumber hoarder. Then he showed me one of 10 of his 10 X 50 garden quonsets. It was full of used lumber.
You see Keith is also a used lumber hoarder.
But in this case he finally had enough lumber saved up for this new, practical, money-making shed. A productive hoarder... hey nothing wrong with that at all.
Carolyn was telling all about asexual plant reproduction and Hostas in particular, and how she does it. Thats her specialty. Facsinating.
Keith went back to shed building. Winter is coming and it has to get to roof tight stage before it snows.
I left to return another day.
What a great day.
johann
