Roger Swain, TV's "Mr. Victory Garden"
On Tuesday, November 15th, Monadnock Rotary welcomed Roger Swain, the master gardener and local celebrity who once hosted over 500 programs of public television's "Victory Garden." He is still a very fit and active gentleman who continues to present and consult all over the country, including speaking to the more than 600 gardeners at Florida's DisneyLand! Since it's late in the gardening year, rather than talking about plants and planting, Roger talked about the crucial hand tools that every gardener should own. Each tool needs to be selected for its premium quality (good ones last for many years!) and be a good fit for the user. He noted that as we get taller each generation, the handles on inexpensive versions of tools continue to get shorter -- and thus cause a multitude of back problems among their owners. Roger also described how before winter sets in, it is important to prepare your tools for storage, and even gave a demonstration on how to sharpen your spade! Numerous Rotarians asked questions while also expressing appreciation for Roger so generously sharing his immense expertise and decades of experiences growing 'back yard' vegetables. Roger noted that during WWII, a huge percentage of Americans grew most of their own veggies, and now a much smaller percentage do so -- and their gardens are much smaller in size. His hope and dream is for many more Americans to grow their own food -- which provides healthier nutrition and promotes excellent fitness! Thank you, Roger Swain, for reminding us of the importance and value of having high quality hand tools and the importance of growing our own veggies!