YORKTON - The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding a live meeting on Wednesday, April 20 at 7:00 PM at the Yorkton Public Library (please use the back entrance). Our special guest will be Allona Zeiben, who will be making spring floral arrangements. This will be a mask-friendly meeting. Everyone is welcome.
Are you looking for a garden plot for this growing season? The Community Peace Garden has one plot available. If you are interested in this space, please call Warren at 782-3249.
This is your chance to have space to grow some delicious veggies or lovely flowers this year!
And guess what, the Yorkton Gardener’s Market will be starting up beginning on July 16. It’s still far away, but if you are planning to be a seller at this market and require some information, call Glen at (306)783-7040.
Before Easter, one chilly day when I was shopping, I suddenly noticed a row of containers in the store, each bright and cheery with lovely fine, chartreuse grass. I couldn’t resist, thinking how pretty the container would look on our Easter table!
Guess what it was? The container said, “cat grass”, but I didn’t know what that was. But as my sweet Mom and my Great-Grammie always said, you never stop learning! We got one of these containers for a dear friend of ours who has a beautiful little cat, and when we were chatting, she said that her frisky feline couldn’t stay away from the container of cat grass!
I was amazed, not realizing that this was indeed a cat treat! So if you, like me, don’t know what cat grass is, let me tell you what I learned.
Cat grass is a combination of grasses that cat-owners can grow for their cat. (Or as the joke goes: dogs have owners, cats have ‘staff’). The grasses can be one kind of seed or a combination of barley, oats, wheat and rye seeds. Cats might like various grasses for various reasons. I have read that cats (and dogs) eat grass if their tummies are upset; it seems the grass helps their digestion.
Here are the traits of each kind of seed. Barley is sweet in flavor and is a good for fibre. Oats has a lot of flavor, and some protein. Wheat grass is rich in vitamins and minerals. And Rye grass is long-lasting in the mix. Pick one type of seed or mix them. There are also cat-grass seed kits available online.
And why do felines favor this flavorful fare? Beyond the taste, which is different from a cat’s usual diet, it also gives cats nutrients, fibre, and is a fun food that they can play with while they eat!
It sounds like cat-staff can easily grow this at home: all that is needed is a low container, some potting soil, and a sunny location. Fill the container about ¾ full of soil; sprinkle the seed mixture evenly on the soil, then cover gently with soil and water carefully. Place the container in a sunny location and keep the soil damp (not wet); when the seeds sprout and are four or five inches tall, they are ready to be cat-grass for your pet!
And even if you don’t have a cat, it would be fun to try this project just to see some lush greenery coming up, to use as a spring table centrepiece! Imagine how pretty it would be to have a container of this on the table, with colored Easter eggs set among the grass. Let’s make a note of that for next year!
Thank you to our friends at YTW for their consistently great work. Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca. Have a good week!
