LET’S TEACH OUR CHILDREN HOW TO FARM

By Rosaldo Russo Allow me to begin this column by thanking the Oshawa/Central newspaper for allowing me the opportunity and access to the press. Not to many if any allow an average person like me to tell the world what I see and think. In my opinion. The Editor/Publisher is a real upstanding type of guy. He shoots from the hip and hold traditional core values. My name is Rosaldo Russo. I came to this great country to make a better life for myself and my family. I thank Canada for everything it has allowed me to do and earn. I worked construction all my life. I know the value of hard work and honesty. I remember as a boy my father always telling me to work hard and buy land. So I did. I remember days when I did not have enough to eat. I go to work... but I did not wait for hand outs. I rounded up my pride my skill and my determination to succeed and went to work. In those days the only benefits we received was the fact we were employed. Before retiring I was the owner and operator of local material supply company that allowed me to retired without worry. Now that I have time to enjoy life. I look around me and have some concern for future generations. I see that the world is finished. Finally we are getting good weather. This past week I ordered my bees to put in the bee hives. So I am going to be good for honey this year. It is so much fun to work with bees and know that at the end of their work cycle I will enjoy 100% pure honey. My summer joy also rallies around my tomatoe plants, my many vegetables and fruits. Not to mention my green house figs. Please don’t get me wrong. I do not need to grow vegetables as most of my friends laugh at me and tell me to go buy them at the market like every one else. For me it is more than just turning over the soil and planting an array of vegetables and fruits. It is rewarding on many levels that my friend will never understand. I can assure you that when my vegetables start producing. They all of a sudden change status from friend to best friends as they all ask for something. To me there is nothing better then to enjoy fresh eggs from my chickens. To go out to the yard and watch my peacocks fluff their feathers. To me it is very rewarding and peaceful. This brings me to a thought. As our kids grow. As our kids attend school. Do they teach them how to work with the land. How to raise animals in a farm. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am no scholar. I graduated from the school of hunger. If you did not grow it you did not eat it. Simple teacher and his name was hunger. Farmers would use their crops are currency to exchange with one another. A true farmers market. I remember as a boy being taught the art of farming. Each crop deserves different attention. For example. My friends make fun at how small the bananas fron the banana tree. Or how big are the lemons on the indoor lemon tree. They are the size of a 10 pin bowling ball. For me hobby farming is something I enjoy. As I drive downtown Oshawa and see all the lost souls. Young men under the influence of drugs and God knows what else. Why not take them off the streets and put them to work at a farm. They will work for their food and their lodging. They will learn a very valuable lesson that may just keep them off our streets. Keep them off drugs and jail. Come on folks. Let’s teach our young the value of a hard days work...