The first meeting for 2013 for the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society takes place Thursday, February 21 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sunshine Room at SIGN on North Street. Our guest speaker will be Warren Crossman, speaking about food security. It will be a very interesting presentation; we hope you can join us! We've got a great year ahead, with lots of interesting speakers and events! So if you're interested in gardening or plants, even if you don't have a garden, you are more than welcome to join us!
Also, don't forget that the Prairie Sun Seed Festival is on Saturday, February 23 at Yorkdale Central School, with speakers and displays on a variety of topics like locally grown food and food preservation.
The last time we talked, I was telling you about that Better Homes and Gardens article that featured gardening trends for 2013. There were a few more ideas that I wanted to share with you. One thing the article mentioned was permeable pavers: these are paving materials that allow rain water to gently percolate through them into the soil before, rather than run off. I haven't heard of these products before: perhaps if you are currently doing some landscaping you have seen them, but they sound interesting. We'll have to try and find out more about them!
"Personal herb gardens" was another trend listed for the coming year. I don't know about you, but when I read that I immediately think of a fancy herb garden, laid out in an intricate pattern. But I know that is not what they mean, and you and I shouldn't be intimidated. Our herb personal gardens should contain the things that we like to use: parsley, basil, sage, rosemary. Our personal herb "garden" might be in one flowerpot, but that doesn't matter! The idea I think they are trying to stress to us is that we should have a small planting of our favorite herb that is easily accessible and ready to enjoy.
The next trend mentioned was "eating what you grow". Many of us enjoy this concept to some degree already, and always have, but I think there is a resurgence of interest in knowing where our food comes from, and what has (or hasn't) been put on it before it reaches our tables. And there's just something so great about growing your own veggies and fruit. My sweet Mom and Dad always had a large, productive garden, and I can still picture the two of them by the freezer downstairs, counting the bags of peas, beans, corn, and tomatoes as they went from being processed in the kitchen into the freezer. Daddy would make a master list in his beautiful handwriting (this was in the days before spreadsheets!), and I know they took great satisfaction in "putting by" the delicious bounty from their garden.
"Huge hanging baskets" was another trend listed, and I love that idea! You know how excited I was about the beautiful mixed planters that the City did up last year; I can't wait to try that this year. Though we don't have any hanging baskets at our place, for those of you that do, make them big and bold and exciting, with surprise plants to make them even more interesting!
And one other idea that I really liked in the article was the idea of a "sensory garden", which included not only fragrant plants, but interesting textures, like whisper-soft lamb's ears or smooth, cool succulents. If you have kiddies, this is a great way to let them get a new garden experience.
Have a great week, gardeners, hope you can be at our first meeting!
