Wednesday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m. is the day of the next Yorkton and District Horticultural Society’s next regular meeting at SIGN on North Street. Our special guest will be Glen Tymiak talking to us about growing and caring for tomatoes. Glen is so very knowledgeable about gardening, and his tomato plants are legendary! If you have a question about tomatoes, Glen is the man to ask! He’ll tell us all we need to know to get our plants producing delicious tomatoes, so join us on April 18. You don’t have to be a member to come to the meetings.
And if you are planning to go to Spring Expo, be watching for presentations by members of the Horticultural Society. Take a few minutes and attend the presentations and we’ll talk gardening!
Berries, berries, berries! Gardeners are always on the lookout for new plants to try, and if you are interested in berries, there is an almost endless list: goji berries, wolf berries, lingon berries, haskap berries and so many more! But I heard about one that sounds delicious and looks very unusual: the pineberry.
The pineberry looks like a strawberry that’s been wearing sunscreen: the fruits are white strawberries with reddish seeds, and the taste is described as a blend of strawberry and pineapple. I did some homework and here’s what I found out: the pineberry is a white strawberry cultivar that got its start in the Netherlands and Belgium. Originally this plant came from South America. It was sold for the first time in the United States in 2012. The word “pine” in the name comes from the pineapple flavor.
We would grow them the same as regular strawberries. Strawberries like to be in full sun, and enjoy a rich soil with good drainage. The crown of the plant (the spot where all the stems join together above the roots) should be above ground. Plants can be given a balanced fertilizer to encourage them to produce well. I have read that we should pinch off the first blooms: gosh, can we do that? This is supposed to make the plant more vigorous, but isn’t it difficult to do!
For those with limited space, strawberries can be grown in containers. Have you seen those beautiful clay strawberry pots, with little pockets for the strawberry plants? They are lovely to look at and work well. I remember Mom and Dad had a large strawberry patch, and ever the innovative gardeners, once tried to make a very large strawberry pot from an old wooden barrel. This barrel was the “centrepiece” of the strawberry patch; it did very well, and as you can imagine, looked amazing!
I have seen the pineberry plants in the Lindenberg catalogue, as well as Vesey’s. If you are thinking you’d like to try something new and completely different, this might be the plant for you!
Only 47 more sleeps till the May long weekend! That’s the traditional “planting” time, but who knows, we may be out there earlier or maybe later! Still, isn’t it fun to think about getting started again!
Let’s make a pact once again that we are going to try something new. Please, please don’t buy only the same old, same old; or if you do, get a least one new plant, something that you have never tried before! It may be your new favorite!
Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca and have a great week!
