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The Grinding Need In Our Neighbourhood.
There was a look of desperation on Ted's face as I walked into his deli last week. He greeted me with two very large bags of fresh French stick bread and pleaded with me to take them to the local food bank. They had been left over from a banquet that he hosted the night before. "No problem Ted" I said. My friend Sig would be by my office that morning and could take them to the food bank on her way home.
At 2 pm I received a phone call. It was Sig. "You would not believe this Mark, but when I got to the food bank there was a line up out the door! The volunteers behind the desk were very grateful for the bread as none had been delivered that morning by their regular donor." The sound of her voice told me that she was more than taken back by the sight of many people from our community in obvious need.
The United Way of Greater Toronto has identified several areas around the city that are designated 'high risk'. These are the neighbourhoods where there is grinding need for social services and support for a great number of people. Our neighbourhood is not one of them.
And so it is with thought that I begin my December newsletter - not with a thought about gardening specifically, but of the needs that exist around us. I will speculate that there is a food bank near you that would enjoy hearing from you with an offer to help. Or for that matter, with a little thought, you can come up with the names of other organizations in your community that strive to meet the needs of people who are unable to help themselves.
Perhaps there is a reason that we get 5 or 6 months off garden work, do you suppose? I will not take away from the fact that you are very likely busy in December, especially if you have friends and family that you wish to see and celebrate the Christmas and 'holiday' season with. Timetables get pretty crowded this time of year, I know.
I think that my experience with Ted, Sig and the bread was meant to jog me out of my rut. The rut of routine and fulfilling obligations that I have put on myself and thus have a habit of filling my days. Is now a good time to rejig some of those obligations in favour of some people who could use my time/support and money?
I promise you this: I plan on giving it some serious thought and will be talking with wife Mary and the kids about how we as a family can make room for some new friends this Christmas. Perhaps some friends that we will not know by name and may not meet face to face. In the end we are all people: some in greater need than others.
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Amaryllis
Is there really a better gift?
As a house warming, as a 'stocking stuffer' or as a stand-alone gift for anyone, young and old and in between - you really cannot go wrong. Not with a good quality amaryllis anyway.
Which brings me to the Mark's Choice amaryllis kit that we sell at Home Hardware. We made a mistake when we designed the packaging for this item, in my opinion. We did not draw enough attention to the oversize bulb that the gift box contains. It is 32 centimeters in circumference. That is the largest bulb that you can possibly buy: most of our competition sell 24, 26 or (sometimes) a 28 cm bulb.
Our bulbs support so many blossoms and flowering stems that many people have reported 3 or 4 stems with 4 flowers on each stem! I get more photos e mailed to me of these bulbs in bloom than of any other Mark's Choice product (and there are 130 of them!)
I tell you this because I do not want you to miss the opportunity to really wow the people on your gift list. This is your chance to really impress them without doing any work. The 'soil', pot, bulb and instructions are all in the gift box.
And no, this amaryllis kit is not cheap. You want cheap? You know where to get it. This is the best possible quality that you can buy: ask a Dutchman that knows. They grow all of our bulbs for us.
So, what are your friends and family worth? Let your gift answer that question, is what I would say.
(Home Hardware item# 5029-303, red and # 5029-304, striped)
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On a lighter note, the debate between the live Christmas tree and the artificial ones rages on. My producer at CTV Canada AM called me last week and asked me to defend the live tree on air, in a match up between consumer advocate Pat Foran (in favour of artificial) and me. 
In fact, I would be in favour of a poinsettia that is genetically modified to self destruct February 13th. I would put the remains on my compost and move on. 
Below are more gift suggestions for the gardeners on your Christmas list. Give them the once over. And check out my segment on Canada AM Wednesday, December 15 when I appear with more ideas for you. 
