Take a break from your yard work, gardeners, and let’s have a quick cup of tea together before getting back to work. I have no new information to share with you yet about the next meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society; we’re not sure if it is going ahead or not, so please check our website at www.yorktonhort.ca, and rest assured that we will keep you posted about what is happening with the group! We’re all anxious to get together again and talk about gardening plans!
Speaking of plans, what are your garden plans this year? This year seems to have sparked a renewed interest in growing food, whether in gardens, raised beds, or containers. I know we have all heard people say that the prices of seeds are going up and I have even heard people say it “doesn’t pay to grow anything.” I have to beg to differ!
First of all, if you buy garden seeds that add up to twenty dollars, just for an example, you will have to be doing something extremely wrong if you don’t get back far more than twenty dollars ßworth of vegetables! A package of onion bulbs is approximately $3.00, with 100 bulbs.
When they grow over the summer, even to medium-sized onions, head to the store and price out how many bags of onions you have grown at home. It pays! A package of lettuce seeds, perhaps $2.00, will have you enjoying fresh salads for a good chunk of the summer. It pays!
I know you and I have talked about a gardener named Rosalind Creasy, who did her own gardening experiment to see how many vegetables she could grow in 100 square feet of garden space. She planted only five different vegetables: lettuce, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and basil. She grew over two hundred pounds of veggies, and when she priced them out in the store they added up to seven hundred dollars. That is not a bad return for her investment of seeds and plants! And 100 square feet is only a space that’s ten by ten feet.
And once again, let’s chat about growing things in containers. Not everyone has the luxury of a garden plot, but an astounding amount of produce can be grown easily in containers. Let’s make a list: tomatoes, yes. Cucumber: yes, look for bush varieties. Peppers, yes. Onions: yes. Herbs: most definitely. You could even grow potatoes in a larger container. So for anyone who has only a deck, patio, or balcony, you can still enjoy the feast of a garden, all grown in containers.
Raised beds are wonderful for gardening: they provide ease of planting and caring for plants; it’s easier to control weeds; easier to water; and the raised beds catch and hold heat very well, a great bonus to plants that love heat like tomatoes and peppers.
I think most of us are ready and eager to get out in our gardens, but this year especially, let’s encourage each other to do so. We need the benefits that gardening brings, such as being outside, enjoying the fresh spring air, and working on a project that connects us to nature and the power of nature’s growth and energy. We’ve all heard enough gloom and doom to last us for the rest of our lifetimes. It’s time to experience the positive energy of gardening and growing things. Our gardens know nothing about COVID-19. The plants just savor the sun and the rain and the heat and begin growing to be the best that they can be. Isn’t that a great example for us, too?
Thank you to our friends at Yorkton This Week for their excellent work in these difficult times! Let’s pray for health and safety for all; have a good week!
