On the smaller looms Mrs. Barnes
weaves aprons and baby blankets. The
various mats from yarn and broom-
straw arc woven in continuous strips
and cut apart in proper sizes and made
ravel-proof. Mrs. Barnes estimates she
makes a thousand pieces of these
unique products a year.
Г
he quantities of broomstraw
needed annually are harvested from
broomsedge in the \N inston-Salem
area, also the honeysuckle vines. The
vines arc debarked and dried and
stored. Before being used the vines
must be soaked in water to make them
pliable for basket weaving.
Min. Barnes has one workroom up-
stair\ and another in an enclosed porch
of her white-painted, weatherboarded
home, located beside a brook that ram¬
bles past the house from its source
higher up on Howard’s Knob.
"This house is too big and lonely
for one person," said Mrs. Barnes, but
'he finds a great deal of satisfaction
and enjoyment in her creative work,
and. judging from her sales over the
past 30 years, other people also enjoy
the products of her skill.- I-kvvis I).
Stephens
Till! Oltdlll» (.HOW I II
Dr. William Garlick. a retired chest
surgeon living at Buxton on Hatteras
Island, has a most unusual hobby for a
North Carolina location. He raises or¬
chids.
Few people expect to find the deli¬
cate flowers growing on the Outer
Banks. The tropics of America. India,
and Australia are the usual habitat.
" I he American Orchid Society said it
couldn’t be done here," Dr. Garlick
said Orchids are grown commercially
at only one other place in North Caro¬
lina.
The latitude at Buxton on his prop¬
erty is 30 degrees, the same latitude
of the San Francisco nursery where Dr.
Garlick purchased his orchid bulbs.
"We have no auto fumes here," a plus
factor in orchid production he believes.
Dr. Garlick moved to Buxton two
years ago with no intention of letting
his hobby get as big as it is. He now
has two greenhouses, each housing ap¬
proximately 500 plants of four varieties
— cattlcya, cymbidiums, phalacnopsis,
paphiopedilums. Within one green¬
house can be found SI 0.000 worth of
orchid bulbs valued at $200 each.
Although orchid production is now a
business rather than a hobby for the
retired Baltimore surgeon, it is a fairly
inexpensive business. "My cost is $50
or $60 a month for heat, about $3 a
month for water, and containers for
shipping." he said.
lie produces his own fertilizer of
crab-shells, fish grindings, and horse
manure at no cost. "I fertilize heavy,"
lie says, and he admits to over-fertili¬
zation at least one time. "I once had a
14-inch blossom front over-fertilizing."
Dr. Garlick has developed one
unique method of growing the flowers,
lie pots the plants in eel grass which
washes up on the shore of nearby
Pamlico Sound. "The plants arc air-
breathing plants," he says. "The eel
grass does not mash together and they
have all the airspace they need."
I he greenhouses are of simple con¬
struction — cinder blocks, two-by-fours,
chicken wire, and six-mill plastic. Last
winter a storm blew the plastic of one
greenhouse to shreds almost causing
the loss of all plant' inside. Although
most orchids must stay above 60 de¬
grees, cymbidiums can stand tempera¬
tures of as low as freezing. " Tempera¬
ture is a major problem" the amateur
nurseryman says.
Dr. Garlick ships most blossoms to
Baltimore to a wholesale floral supply
company. The cut plants are put into
plastic tubes, then placed in drink
crates, then into 50 pound cardboard
fish boxes. "We ship by Trailways
bus," he says. "They’ve never messed
up a box yet.”
The Orchid Socier» lold Or Garlick he couldiCr
grow orchids on HoMcroi Islond
II ton *ont fo lorgtr »our troubles. Mrs Boracs
recommends
«
coring.
" I lie plants respond to everything,"
he maintains. "They thank you for all
you do — but mostly for svater. and will
stand up immediately."
Although quite successful with his
hobby. Dr. Garlick says he spends
about a half hour daily with his plants.
He fishes whenever lie can, grows vege¬
tables in a third greenhouse, and pur¬
sues a second hobby of growing fanlail
pigeons at his Buxton Woods home.
Bob Toth, a part-time electrician as¬
sists Dr. Garlick.
He first grew orchids because "I
liked to see things grow." Some 30
years ago he helped found the Mary¬
land Orchid Society and experimented
with the plants in a case in his office.
The orchids grow with two to 30
blossoms per plant from November to
June. "We have twice as many buds
per plant this year." Dr. Garlick says.
Although most blossoms arc sold to
northern markets. Dr. Garlick docs do
some local business — students for
school proms. Mother’s Day. etc. He
recently gave 500 blossoms to the Bux¬
ton Methodist Church and donated
over 1.000 to a New York art gallery
for a Thomas Wolf party.
Ihc Garlicks first came to Hatteras
Island in 1936 on a fishing trip. They
have relumed almost yearly since. "In
1936 there were no roads here." he
said. "We drove down from Oregon In¬
let on the sand at low tide. This is¬
land didn’t begin to change until the
40’s."
The price of motels went up follow¬
ing the construction of roads. "We beat
the land boom but never intended to
live here — only fish.” Dr. Garlick em¬
phasized — Gw in A. White
THE STATE. AUOUHT 1974
21