The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their next regular meeting on Wednesday, March 21, 7:00 PM, at SIGN on North Street in Yorkton. Our special guest speaker will be Jim Gorman, agronomist, talking to us about Lawn Care and Maintenance. If one of your gardening goals is to have a lush, verdant lawn, Jim will be able to tell you how to get the lawn of your dreams! Everyone is welcome; you don’t have to be a member to come to the meetings. Bring a friend and join us!
I’d like to tell you about a great program we have been watching on television. It’s called “Ageless Gardens” and it’s on the Vision channel on Monday nights. This program emphasizes that gardening is good for us on a variety of levels: Physically, socially, and mentally. While the program focuses on gardening as part of healthy aging, it has a wonderful, positive message for gardeners of any age.
I was recently visiting with my good friends, the Flower Patch Group, at the nursing home. It was a great day because we were planting tomatoes and peppers, but the best part was hearing the enthusiasm of these eternally-young gardeners! They loved the aroma and the feel of the soil as we were planting. They had stories to share about their own gardens and they were bright with optimism that every seed we planted would come up and produce well. As we planted, I mentioned that we’ll be optimistic that the seeds would all sprout, to which one of the gardeners replied “We have to be optimistic! If we aren’t, what have we got?” So with all those positive vibes surrounding our little seeds, I can’t help but believe we will have a great crop!
Listening to these interesting and unsinkable gardeners gave me definite inspiration. Their bodies may have given them some challenges as time goes on (doesn’t that happen to all of us?) but their spirits are still shining! As gardeners do, we talked about many things: The increasing price of seeds, the diminishing number of seeds in the packages, how big gardens used to be, and how much smaller they seem to be these days. We shared stories about starting plants in milk containers and saving seeds from store-bought peppers and planting long rows of all our favorite vegetables and flowers.
Watching a show like “Ageless Gardens” and meeting with these dear friends is a living example to me of how gardening can add so much to our lives. The physical work of gardening is good for us; the fresh air, the creative planning that goes into every gardening project (from planting a container to planting a full garden), the joys of eating fresh produce from our own gardens, the special joy of picking a bouquet of flowers that we grew ourselves. and, most importantly, always looking ahead to the next season. It keeps us young and vital, interested and interesting.
So I tip my gardening hat to my dear Flower Patch friends. You all inspire me! It is a joy to spend time with you! I also salute all “mature” gardeners. Keep on going, keep on gardening, even if your garden is in a planter!
Only 84 sleeps till the May long weekend! Have you got some ideas in mind for this year’s plantings? Such fun to think about what we’ll do!
Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca for a full list of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society’s upcoming events. Have a great week!
