Chester Chatter: Ideas sprout from seed catalogs

By Ruthie Douglas
© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Around this time of the year, the seed catalogs began to arrive at the farm house. After supper, we laid them out on the kitchen table and poured over the pages, studying all the different types of seeds on sale.

Not only was it most important to order the right seeds for the field crops and corn, my mother-in-law and I had a large vegetable garden.

It was the rule to always plant your tomato seeds on Town Meeting Day. Many a house had tomato plants growing on the window sills at the end of March.

One year, my friend Warren and I added to our window sill. We planted lawn grass seed. Warren had read that green grass growing in the winter months helped chase away depression. Soon we had grass growing and soon it need mowing. We cut it down with scissors, but by the next week, it was up again. We mowed it more than we mowed the lawn and I am not sure it really chased away any blues. The one thing it did do was to start a lot of interesting conversations when friends would drop by.

But back to the tomato plants: With houses as warm as our modern homes are, it’s difficult starting seeds in March, because by the time it’s time to plant in the ground, the plants have grown spindly.

Transitions

Marion Munson has passed away. We all remember how attractive she was; how she loved to dance and have fun. Marion was mother to Sophia Green, Donna Mae Peck and Richard, Rodney and Reginald Peck.

Our thoughts are with Sandra Vincent on the loss of her mother, Polly Capron.

Happy birthday to Debbie Aldrich, Chester’s Town Clerk.

Remember when we celebrated Lincoln’s birthday on Feb. 12 and Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22? Now we have Presidents’ Day. How is that?

Snow makes it difficult to drive, means shoveling and makes it hard to walk. But the view out my hospital window makes everything look clean and white and leave a nice scene.

• This week’s trivia question:  Is there a public telephone in Chester?
  
• Answer to last week’s trivia question: The General Electric Store was located in the Vintage Vermont Antiques Shop on the Green.
  

Street Talk

What was the title of the most recent book your read?