What can we say about the weather? While snowfall accumulation might seem more like mid-February than the beginning of December, we can't deny that everything looks beautiful: it's all like a Christmas card! The soft snow on the spruce trees, the hoar frost everywhere, it's truly spectacular! If that old gardening tale holds true about rain coming six months after the hoarfrost , May is going to be very wet! Let's hope there's only moderate truth to that legend!
The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society held their directors' meeting and planning committee meeting last week. Many people work behind the scenes to plan out the interesting events and speakers that grace our meetings through the year, and work has already begun for the 2011 program! I can't tell you yet what is coming up, that will be a surprise for later, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it!
As gardeners, we realize that we are custodians for our own small piece of the earth, and I think we usually assume that we are "green" just by being gardeners. But I guess there is always a way to do better, and I learned some interesting things from the new Vesey seed catalogue which arrived the other day.
The Vesey catalogue is absolutely full of seeds, plants, and many gardening gadgets. Who says that as gardeners, we can't have our toys! One page was devoted to planters for starting our plants in the spring, and I found three very interesting tidbits to share with you! The first item was small square flower pots for seedlings, but guess what they were made of: "recycled" manure! This neat little product is called "CowPots". Two dairy farmers were trying to think of a green way to get rid of extra cow manure, and they came up with a system that uses the methane gas for fuel at their farm, and then they dry the remaining manure, add natural fibres, and form it into little pots. Best of all, the end result is weed-free, odorless, and while it dissolves in the soil around your plant, it is fertilizing the plant as well! Very clever!
The second tidbit is a device called the "Viropotter" that enables you to make your own seed starting pots out of old newspapers. This handy little device comes in two sizes; and while the article didn't say so, I'm guessing that you can plant the whole thing in the ground, and the paper will break down into the soil.
The third tidbit was entitled "Coir Growing Products". I didn't know what "coir" was, so I had to keep reading. "Coir" is coconut fibre, which resists mold, requires less watering, and seems to produce faster plant growth when used for planting pots. I also learned that while coconut plants produce coconuts every year, peat takes 220 years to renew itself. 220 years, imagine that! The article in the seed catalogue said that some countries in Europe have banned the use of peat, preferring the much more renewable coir instead. Isn't that something?
Honestly, the seed catalogues are just jam-packed with information; so some cold, cold winter evening, make a cup of hot tea and sit down with some seed catalogues; even if you don't order anything yet, you'll find all sorts of knowledge on those glossy pages!
And as you and I have talked about before, get yourself on the mailing lists with some seed companies: it's so wonderful to get those catalogues and imagine how our gardens could look!Till next time, stay warm, and take some photos of this winter wonderland that we have the pleasure to enjoy! Have a great week!
