YORKTON - Just in time for spring planting! The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their annual Spring Plant and Bulb Sale on Friday, June 2 starting at 9:30 at the Parkland Mall, Yorkton!
There will be a good variety of plants and bulbs, and eager gardeners will be on hand to answer your questions. We look forward to seeing you there! We have many gardening friends who are there waiting when the sale begins at 9:30; they know that if you have a particular plant you are looking for, best to be there when the sale starts! The sale is scheduled to go till 4:00 PM but is actually while plants last. If we run out earlier, the sale is done! Another good reason to come early!
Thank you to Frank Woloschuk who spoke to us about perennials at our meeting last week. Frank is a wonderful gardener, and shared lots of valuable information with us, thank you, Frank!
Did you know that International Compost Week was May 7 – 13? This project is worth talking about anytime, because compost is so important. The Compost Research and Education Foundation website (compostfoundation.org/ICAW) tells us what the week is all about. I’ll quote them here, but look at the site when you have time, it’s got great information.
“International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) is the largest and most comprehensive education initiative of the compost industry. It is celebrated nationwide and in other countries each year during the first full week of May. The goal of ICAW is to work together to raise public awareness on why we all should be composting our organics recycling and using compost….events are held to encourage and celebrate composting - all types of composting – from backyard to large-scale.”
This international event had the theme “For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost!”.
This theme came from the fact that, sadly, every nation of the world experiences hunger. The
UN Sustainable Development Goal is called “zero hunger”, working towards ending hunger, improving nutrition, work on food security and promote sustainable agriculture. It is a huge goal, but compost can help. How?
The site explains it this way. “The chosen 2023 theme best reflects the goal of focusing on how compost can have a role in helping feed the world, by making our soil healthier which produces healthier food. How does compost help? By recycling organics into compost and using it on our farmlands we create healthy soils that produce healthier food and higher yields. It also reduces the need for fertilizer and pesticides, improves water quality and conserves water, as well as stores carbon in soil - helping to reduce climate change. Compost not only helps the environment but also helps to decrease food shortages experienced around the world. For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost!”
Gardeners, we all know that value of compost in our soil: it makes healthy soil by providing extra nutrients, aeration, improves the structure of the soil, helps to retain moisture, and also adds beneficial organisms to our soil. And most important, it is free, using organic scraps that we would otherwise just throw away! Everybody wins! We’ll have to talk about trench composting, an easy no fuss-no muss way to compost!
Thank you to our friends at YTW for their fine work. Gardeners, visit the hort society at www.yorktonhort.ca and hope to see you at the plant sale! Have a good week!
