UNITY — They say friendship and gardening goes hand-in-hand. Growers are eager to share tips and tricks learned through their garden experience because it promotes sharing fountains of knowledge and is something that is easy to communicate to both veteran and new garden enthusiasts. Whether gardening solo or with a group, a shared sense of camaraderie occurs.
Those who take up gardening, find it clears the mind and improves mood as well as relieving stress and anxiety.
“Asparagus is something I look forward to each spring,” says Jean Halliday of Luseland.
“But the secret to a successful asparagus patch is to only pick stalks that are thicker than a pencil. The roots need something to live on the rest of the year, so eat your fill early in the spring and then let the stalks turn to a bush to make good strong roots and you can expect a bumper crop again next spring. Same rule applies to rhubarb. Only pull one-third of the growth, the rest is needed to build up the plant over the summer.”
Gardeners we spoke to said they watered sparingly with their community’s water supply as they found rainwater seems to produce better results from their gardens. Root crops like potatoes, onions, beets, carrots seem to somewhat self regulate when rainfall is less than normal, but still appreciate a good drink. However above ground crops like cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers like regular water to be part of their routines.
Halliday says she pulls her geraniums in the fall and puts them leaves, blooms and all in a laundry basket in the basement in total dark and cool. She replants them in the spring in pots in March before they go outside in late May.
Parkview Place in Unity engages their residents in the community garden. Those that are unable to help with the physical part of gardening activities always have great experienced advice to offer. Resident Angela Schell says she started dusting her cabbage with flour as opposed to chemical powder. This has been of great assistance for the centre’s purple cabbage crop.
Mary Leier says from her years of experience, tomatoes thrive when they are grown in the same soil as previous year’s plants so that is the practise the Parkview gardeners undertake for success.
Parkview Manager Paula Sittler says their garden produce has already been part of the centre’s menu for several weeks. Residents are enjoying strawberries, rhubarb, and lettuce. Mary Leier transplants new lettuce plants every two weeks, so their crops stay fresh and delicious.
Yellow beans were next on the menu with the first harvest served July 11 while peas, carrots and cucumbers will be ready for serving soon, as the garden-to-table produce is as fresh as it can get, and residents love the special treats with their meals.
While the team at Parkview is unable to preserve their harvested produced due to health regulations, they do enjoy regularly for fresh eating as part of centr'es meals as well as freezing rhubarb and strawberries for use later.
“Under health authority regulations, Parkview is not permitted to serve their own preserved vegetables and fruit and that is why the senior assisted living facilities has turned to serving them fresh or freezing them,” Sittler adds.
Prairie Branches staff and residents at Unity, Wilkie and Biggar all participate in summer gardening.
The Unity team says the find less fertilizer goes a long way with lots of attention, and intermittent admiration, as plants sprout and grow with consistent watering of plants grown in pots.
Unity’s staff and residents say they hand water when they can and are known to take on unscripted rain dances. On long weekends and extremely hot days, they tag-team with the group homes to come over and water for them.
Unity’s team has been able to enjoy a few tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, strawberries and lettuce so far with cucamelons close to being ready to eat.
In Wilkie, residents are trying their hand at garden items and flower pots and all are reported to be growing well.
The Biggar residents, with staff help, have potatoes and zucchini planted in tubs and are reporting they are coming along well. With the garden planted June 1, lettuce will soon be ready for use in about a week and other produce like cucumbers, peas, carrots, kohlrabi, lettuce, chives, and onions will be used in their seasons.
