The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their season wind-up on Wednesday, June 19. This is a member鈥檚 only event, the last one before we take the summer off and dive into gardening! Members, if you have any questions about the event, please call Liz at 782-2830.
Here鈥檚 an interesting little factoid about sunshine and vitamin D. The other day I was chatting with someone about exposure to the sun and vitamin D. But the question of safety in the sun is an important one. So I did some homework, and read in various places that midday is the best time to get your dose of sunshine. When I read that, I thought, wait a minute, isn鈥檛 that the hottest part of the day? Yes, the UV rays are at their strongest, but then that means you need to spend minimum amount of time in the sun to get what you need for vitamin D.
It鈥檚 a small amount: between ten to thirty minutes a day three times a week. We have to expose our arms and legs to get the full benefit. But we can wear a hat and sunglasses: our head is a small part of our body and does not make much vitamin D. Also, the theory seems to be that our bodies operate at their best around midday, so they are working well to convert the sun into vitamin D for us at that time.
But take note: I was not surprised that every article I read stressed the danger of too much sun: heat stroke, sunburn, aging skin, and of course the biggest worry of all, skin cancer. With our long winters, we might go wild and carefree when we can finally enjoy the summer sun, but we must be very cautious. Stay on the safe side of summer sun: wear sunscreen or wear light, loose clothing for cover, and wear sunglasses and a hat. Did you know that the sun has a temperature of about 5600 degrees Celsius, and even though it is 149.6 million kilometres away, it鈥檚 astonishing how strong and potentially damaging the heat of its rays are on a hot sunny day. So we must be careful, gardeners.
My darling Mom always said that her Mom, my Grammie, used to say 鈥淵ou never stop learning.鈥� And if we are open to it, we learn all the time! Last week at the Yorkton Film Festival (the longest running film festival in North America!) we watched a great film called 鈥淐anadiana鈥� that featured amazing stories about Canada鈥檚 history. This film talked about a cannonball bomb that is surrounded by elm tree roots in Quebec City.
Here鈥檚 the story: in old Quebec City, there is a house that belonged to Madame Pean in the years of New France. In 1759, British artillery used cannonballs in fighting within the city.
This particular cannonball landed, did not explode, and was moved over the years to eventually be placed near a young elm tree (in the early 1900鈥檚) to become a wheel guard at the edge of the street. The elm tree grew, and its roots began to grow around the cannonball. It can still be seen on on Rue Saint-Louis at the corner of Rue du Corps-de-Garde in Quebec City.
We learned not only a tidbit of Canadian history, but also that elms can be tough and long-lived, and can adjust to difficult growing conditions, even in an urban setting.
The Festival鈥檚 many films included some gardening films, and these can be borrowed free of charge from the Festival office for you to view at home. Stop in, (the office is in the Godfrey Dean building), and borrow a couple gardening films to relax with at the end of a long gardening day!
Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca and have a great week. Be sure to wear a hat!
