The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society had their first meeting of 2011 last week, and it's going to be another great year! There are so many interesting things happening! Kevin Young was our guest speaker last week, and he shared a lot of practical tips about growing roses. His talk made us all want to try some of the exciting new roses that are coming!
We also have our new agenda for the year; and one of the items that Liz asked me to mention to you is the bus trip to Regina on Saturday, April 30. We'll be visiting Dutch Growers Garden Centre and Greenhouse, followed by lunch and a tour at the Regina Floral Conservatory. This will be a great tour, at a very reasonable price. But you know how bus tours are: seats are limited! Yorkton and District Horticultural Society members and their guests will have first chance to book their tickets on this tour, but then if there are any seat still available, the general public will have a chance. So, members, check your calendars and if you would like to go on this tour, call Liz at 782-2830.
One other thing I'd like to share with you is some information about the Prairie Sun Seed Festival on Saturday, February 26 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Dr. Brass School in Yorkton. Feed Secure Yorkton is the sponsor of this brand new event. The theme is "celebrating the diversity of seed and the culture of growing food locally." There will be a variety of exhibitors, well-informed speakers, and story-time for the kiddies! Speakers include Prairie Seed from Humboldt, and they will be talking about seed saving; Bilkies McKen will be telling us about food preservation; and our own Ed Sek and Glen Tymiak will also be at the podium. Ed will be speaking about basic gardening, and Glen will be telling us about growing tomatoes. Ed and Glen are extremely knowledgeable gardeners, so I know they will have valuable information to share, as will the other fine speakers. So remember, that's Saturday, February 26.
Food is in the news so much lately: the shortage of it, the price of it, the mis-distribution of it, and the growing of it. Growing our own food is not a new concept to us on the prairies; our ancestors were doing that since they arrived on this precious soil.
But how we grow it has changed so much. At first, it was very basic, wasn't it: put the seed in the ground and hope for the best. Hope that there was enough sun, enough rain, enough warmth. Hope that there weren't bugs or diseases.
Then as time went by, improvements came along. There were pesticides and herbicides of all kinds, and techniques for irrigation. As with all improvements, some were good, some were bad, and some still needed work. Now we are almost going full circle again; organic growers are going back to the way it was in the beginning. Putting the seed in the ground and hoping for the best, but with extra knowledge of natural practices that could increase yield and help and protect the earth.
I'm sure we can all learn a lot from the sessions on Saturday, and increase our awareness of new gardening ideas.
The next meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be on Wednesday, March 16 in the Sunshine Room, SIGN on North Street. Our guest speaker will be Tyler Kaban from the U of S Fruit Program, and Tyler will be speaking about "Growing Grapes on the Prairies, along with comments on Kiwis." That's Wednesday, March 16.
Have a great week!
