Meadowood Store Garden Centre: The Meadowood Store's Garden Center is jam-packed with starter plants and veggies, bag soils, manure, and fertilizers. Chris Burger says he won't be under-soiled. The folks at the Meadowood Store Garden Center will match sales prices just about anywhere. Kids, come in and paint a rock to make Rocky the rock snake grow longer. Enjoy the relaxing drive to Meadowood, where the bargains are tariff-free and are big. Bigfoot big. The Meadowood General Store in Dashwood is the home of Bigfoot. It's a convenient spot for beer, wine, and spirits, groceries, deli, propane, and lotto. Come in and have your picture taken with Bigfoot inside or outside the store at 1221 Meadowood Way in Dashwood.

The Ballad of Peter & Gracie: Peter and his dog, Gracie ran through the fields so wide. With dreams in their pockets and stars as their guide, everyday’s an adventure under the open sky. In their world of stories, time just flies by. 

Peter McCully:  Once upon a sunny spring morning in a little blue house with a white picket fence lived a boy named Peter and his fluffy white dog, Gracie. Gracie was an American Eskimo dog with fur as soft as cotton candy and a smile that could brighten even the rainiest day.

Peter was seven years old with curly brown hair and freckles that danced across his nose like tiny stars. "Gracie, guess what?" Peter said, kneeling down to scratch his dog's pointy ears. "Mom says we can plant our very own vegetable garden, just you and me." Gracie's tail wagged so fast it looked like a white feather duster in a windstorm.

She gave an excited woof that Peter knew meant she was just as thrilled as he was. Peter's mom peeked her head around the corner. "If you two are going to be serious gardeners, we need to visit Meadowood Store in Dashwood to get supplies. They have everything we need, and we can go right after breakfast."

Peter gulped down his cereal faster than ever before, and Gracie licked her bowl clean in record time. They were ready for their gardening adventure. The drive to Dashwood wasn't that long, but to Peter and Gracie, it felt like forever. Peter gazed out the window, imagining all the yummy vegetables they would grow: carrots as orange as a sunset, tomatoes as red as firetrucks, and cucumbers as green as Gracie's favorite tennis ball.

"Will our vegetables grow as big as trees, Mom?" Peter asked with his eyes wide with wonder.

"Not quite that big, honey, but if you take good care of them, they'll grow bigger than you might expect."

When they pulled into the parking lot of Meadowood Store, Peter could hardly contain his excitement. The store was a charming wooden building with flower baskets hanging from the porch and a sign that read "Meadowood Store: Where Gardens Grow and Stories Flow."

Peter carefully clipped the leash on Gracie's collar. "Best behavior, Gracie," he said. "We're on an important mission."

The store was magical—shelves stacked with colorful seed packets, tools of all sizes, and plants that seemed to reach for sunlight streaming through the windows.

"Welcome to the Meadowood Store. I'm Steffany, the owner. And who might you be?" She bent down to be at eye level with Peter.

"I'm Peter, and this is my dog, Gracie," Peter said proudly. "We're going to plant a vegetable garden."

"A vegetable garden, you say? That's excellent news." Steffany's eyes twinkled. "Every young gardener needs the right supplies. Let me help you find everything you need."

Steffany grabbed a shopping cart and led them through the aisles. "First, you'll need some good plants to start with. Growing from seeds takes a bit longer, and young gardeners like you might enjoy seeing results sooner." Peter nodded eagerly, and Gracie sniffed curiously at the plant trays.

"How about these cherry tomatoes? They're sweet and perfect for little hands to pick," Steffany said, showing Peter a tray of small plants with tiny green leaves.

"Yes, please!" Peter exclaimed. "I love tomatoes in my sandwiches."

They selected several more vegetable plants: carrots, lettuce, cucumber, and bell peppers. Steffany explained how each one would grow and what they would need.

"Now, for these plants to grow big and strong, they need good soil," Steffany explained, leading them to another section of the store. "This potting soil is special. It's full of nutrients that vegetables love." Peter helped pick out two bags of potting soil, and his mom put them in the cart.

"And lastly, you'll need some fertilizer. Think of it as vitamins for your plants," Steffany said, showing them a small container of organic fertilizer. "Just a little bit helps them grow healthy and strong."

As Steffany was ringing up the purchases, Peter noticed something unusual in the corner of the store—a large, hairy statue of what looked like a giant, ape-like creature.

"What's that?" Peter asked, pointing.

Steffany face lit up. "Ah, you've spotted our local celebrity—the Dashwood Bigfoot!"

"Bigfoot? Like the monster?" Peter's eyes widened.

"Not a monster at all," Steffany chuckled. "Bigfoot, or Sasquatch as some call him, is a mysterious creature that many believe lives in forests like the ones around Dashwood. He's shy and gentle, according to the stories."

Gracie tilted her head, her ears perked up with interest.

"Has anyone seen him for real?" Peter asked, stepping closer to the statue.

"Well," Steffany lowered her voice to a whisper, as if sharing a great secret, "there have been many sightings around these parts. Just last summer, Mrs. Johnson, who lives at the edge of the forest, said she saw a large, hairy figure picking berries from her bushes, and when she opened her door to get a better look, it vanished into the trees, quick as lightning."

Peter gasped. "Really?"

"And Mr. Peterson, the local mail driver, says he's found footprints bigger than dinner plates near Creek Road after rainy days. Some folks say you can hear Bigfoot's calls at night—a sound between a whistle and a hoot."

Peter's mom smiled. "Would you like to take a picture with our Bigfoot statue? It's a tradition for visitors to Meadowood," Steffany said.

"Of course," Peter's mom agreed, taking out her phone.

Peter stood next to the statue, which towered over him at nearly eight feet tall. Gracie, however, wasn't so sure about the hairy giant. She gave an uncertain bark.

"It's okay, Gracie," Peter assured her. "It's just pretend."

With a little encouragement, Gracie joined Peter next to the statue, though she kept glancing up at it with suspicious eyes.

"Say 'garden greens'!" Peter's mom called.

"Garden greens!" Peter shouted, while Gracie gave a timely woof.

Steffany laughed. "Perfect! Now you're official Meadowood customers, and who knows, maybe Bigfoot will visit your garden someday. They say he has a fondness for fresh vegetables."

Peter's imagination immediately went wild with thoughts of sharing the harvest with a friendly forest giant. After thanking Steffany for their supplies, they loaded everything into the car and headed home, ready to start their garden.

Back at home, Peter and Gracie watched as Peter's mom cleared a sunny patch in the backyard. "This spot gets plenty of sunshine, which veggies need to grow," she said. "Now, let's prepare the soil."

Peter helped his mom spread the potting soil that they bought from Meadowood, his small hands working alongside her larger ones. Gracie supervised, sniffing each bag and occasionally pawing at the dirt.

"Careful, Gracie!" Peter giggled. "We're not planting dog bones."

Once the soil was ready, it was time to plant. Peter's mom showed Peter how to make holes for each plant, just the right size for their roots.

"Gentle now," she instructed. Peter carefully removed a tomato plant from its container. "Plants are living things, just like you and Gracie. They need gentle hands and lots of care."

Peter nodded seriously, cradling the small plant as if it were a precious jewel. He placed it in the hole, covering its roots with soil and patting it down.

"Good job! Now let's water it to help it settle into its new home," said Peter's mom.

Peter used a small watering can to give each plant a drink. Gracie, curious about this strange activity, tried to catch the water streams in her mouth, making Peter laugh so hard he nearly dropped the can.

They planted all their vegetables in neat rows: tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, and peppers. Peter used popsicle sticks to label each row, carefully writing the names with a marker.

"And now for the special touch," said Peter's mom, opening the bag of fertilizer. "Just a sprinkle around each plant. This will help them grow."

Peter added a small amount of fertilizer carefully around each plant, trying not to get it on the leaves, as Steffany had warned.

As the afternoon sun began its descent, Peter and Gracie stood back to admire their work. The garden patch wasn't very big, but to Peter, it looked like the most wonderful garden in the whole world.

"We did it, Gracie!" he exclaimed, giving his furry friend a hug. Gracie responded with a happy bark and a sloppy kiss on Peter's cheek.

"Now comes the hard part," said Peter's mom. "Patience. Gardens don't grow overnight."

"How long will it take?" Peter asked, already eager to see the results.

"Several weeks before we have vegetables ready to pick," she said, "but every day you'll see small changes if you look carefully."

Peter made a solemn promise to himself and to Gracie that they would be the best garden caretakers ever. Every morning before school and every evening before dinner, they would check on the plants, water them when needed, and make sure no weeds tried to invade their special garden space.

That night, as Peter lay in bed with Gracie curled up at his feet, he couldn't stop thinking about their garden and the story of Bigfoot.

"Gracie," he whispered, "do you think Bigfoot is real? And do you think he might really like our vegetables?"

Gracie lifted her head and gave a soft woof that Peter decided meant "maybe."

"If he is real," Peter said, snuggling deeper under the covers, "I wouldn't mind sharing our tomatoes with him, as long as he's friendly, like Steffany said." Gracie wagged her tail in agreement before settling back down to sleep.

Each morning, Peter and Gracie would rush outside to check on their garden. At first, there wasn't much to see—just the same small plants that they had put in the ground—but Peter watered them faithfully, and his mom helped him remove any weeds that dared to sprout.

After a week, Peter noticed something exciting. New leaves had appeared on the tomato plants! "Look, Gracie, they're growing!" he exclaimed.

And as the weeks passed, the garden flourished. The tomato plants grew taller, the lettuce leaves expanded, and tiny yellow flowers appeared on the cucumber vines. Peter documented each change with wonder, sometimes drawing pictures of the garden in his notebook.

One evening, as Peter was watering the garden, he noticed something unusual. A few of the lettuce leaves had been nibbled.

"Mom," he said, "something's been eating our lettuce."

Peter's mom examined the plants. "Probably rabbits," she said. "They love fresh lettuce."

But Peter remembered Steffany's stories and wondered if it could be something else. "Maybe it was Bigfoot," he whispered to Gracie. "Maybe he came to try our vegetables."

The next morning, Peter had an idea. He got up early, took a piece of paper and a crayon, and wrote a note:

"Dear Bigfoot, if you're hungry, you can have some of our lettuce, but please leave the tomatoes for us. They're not ripe yet anyway. Your friends, Peter and Gracie."

He placed the note on a flat rock at the edge of the garden and held it down with a small rock so it wouldn't blow away.

Days turned into weeks, and the nibbling continued. It was clear to Peter's mom that it was rabbits, not the legendary forest creature. The note disappeared after a rainy day, and Peter was convinced Bigfoot had taken it. He wrote another one, this time suggesting that Bigfoot might want to try the cucumbers that were starting to grow.

Nearly two months after planting day, a miracle happened. They had their first ripe cherry tomato! It was small and perfectly round, its skin a bright, cheerful red that seemed to glow in the sunshine.

"Can I pick it, Mom?" Peter asked excitedly.

"It's your garden, sweetheart. You decide when it's ready."

Peter plucked the cherry tomato from the vine. It was warm from the sun and fit perfectly in the palm of his little hand.

"Should we taste it, Gracie?" he said. Gracie wagged her tail in response.

Peter carefully broke the tomato in half, saving a piece for himself and offering the other to his furry gardening partner. Gracie sniffed it curiously before taking it gently from Peter's hand and gobbling it up.

Peter popped his half into his mouth. The flavor exploded—sweet and tangy and nothing like the store-bought tomatoes he was used to. It tasted like sunshine and hard work and patience all rolled into one.

"It's amazing," he said. "We grew this, Gracie! We really did it!"

Over the next few weeks, more vegetables became ready to harvest. The family enjoyed fresh salads with their homegrown lettuce, crunchy cucumbers, and sweet cherry tomatoes. Peter's mom showed Peter how to carefully pull carrots from the ground, revealing the bright orange treasures hidden beneath the soil.

Each harvest felt like a magic trick, pulling food from the earth that they had planted with their own hands. And Peter never forgot to leave a small portion of the harvest at the edge of the garden for Bigfoot.

One morning, after a particularly heavy rain, Peter went out to check on the garden and made an astonishing discovery. There in the mud, near where he left the vegetables, was what looked like a large footprint—much bigger than his own foot, even bigger than his mom's foot.

"Mom! Mom!" he shouted, running back to the house with Gracie barking excitedly. "Come quick! I found a big footprint!"

Peter's mom followed him to the garden, expecting to see a depression made by a rain puddle or perhaps a neighbor's dog. But the print did look foot-like, with what appeared to be five toe impressions at the top.

"Well, that's certainly interesting," she said. She had a suspicion about who might have made the print, noting that it looked about the same size as her gardening boot with a little extra added around the edges.

Peter was beside himself with excitement. "He's real, Mom, and he visited our garden! Just like Steffany said he might."

That weekend, they made another trip to Meadowood Store to buy more fertilizer and to tell Steffany about the footprint. Stephanie listened with amazement and showed them a plaster cast of a print that someone had found in the woods years ago.

"You know," Steffany said with a wink, "some say the gardens tended by children grow the sweetest vegetables, and those are Bigfoot's favorites."

Throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall, Peter and Gracie's garden continued to produce vegetables. Peter kept leaving small offerings for Bigfoot, and occasionally mysterious footprints would appear, especially after rainy nights when the ground was soft.

Peter never actually saw Bigfoot, but that didn't matter. The magic of growing things with his own hands—of nurturing life from tiny plants to food on the family table—was enough of a miracle. And having a possibly not-so-imaginary forest friend who appreciated his hard work made it even more special.

As the first frost approached and the garden began to wind down for the season, Peter and Gracie sat beside their plot, planning next year's garden. It would be bigger, with corn and pumpkins added to their vegetable family.

"And maybe," Peter whispered to Gracie, who listened with perked ears, "maybe next year we'll finally get to meet Bigfoot for real."

Gracie gave an enthusiastic bark that echoed across the yard and into the nearby woods. And just maybe, somewhere among the trees, something large and gentle heard it and smiled, looking forward to next summer's garden treats from his young friend who believed.

The Ballad of Peter & Gracie: Peter and Gracie, the finest of friends. With tales of wonder that never end. In the pages of books, or stars up above, They find their magic in laughter and love.

Meadowood Store Garden Centre: The Meadowood Store's Garden Center is jam-packed with starter plants and veggies, bag soils, manure, and fertilizers. Chris Burger says he won't be under-soiled. The folks at the Meadowood Store Garden Center will match sales prices just about anywhere. Kids, come in and paint a rock to make Rocky the rock snake grow longer. Enjoy the relaxing drive to Meadowood, where the bargains are tariff-free and are big. Bigfoot big. The Meadowood General Store in Dashwood is the home of Bigfoot. It's a convenient spot for beer, wine, and spirits, groceries, deli, propane, and lotto. Come in and have your picture taken with Bigfoot inside or outside the store at 1221 Meadowood Way in Dashwood.