It is spring - at least the calendar says so. It is the time when they say young men’s hearts turn toward love and gardeners’ hearts turn ever more to the garden. They are itching to get started again.
Well, as my former readers know, I’m just a beginning gardener but my mind has starting turning towards the garden again too. After a rather disappointing gardening year last year I’m ready to start anew. I’m not only ready to start my garden anew, I’m also ready to start anew with the Green Thumbs and Greenhorns newspaper column. First of all, though, I feel like I owe my former readers an apology. So many of you were so good and encouraging to me, and I just disappeared without an explanation, leaving many of you hanging, waiting for a visit. Thank you to each of you that contacted me and invited me to visit your garden. I’m sorry I disappointed you and disappeared. I offer no excuses, just apologizes. I look forward to hearing from each of you again and being able to personally apologize and hopefully take up where we left off.
I’m extra excited about gardening this year because of the newly formed Green Thumbs and Greenhorns garden club. There’s nothing like getting together with fellow gardening enthusiasts. The group meets at beautiful Camp Mettabesic on Sunday afternoons around 2:30. Green Thumb gardeners come armed with pictures of their gardens along with catalogues, books and samples of tools and equipment that they’ve found helpful. The Greenhorns come armed with questions of all sorts and the Green Thumbs are more than happy to share their knowledge. The atmosphere is very relaxed and the time together very enjoyable.
This past week Sam and Kaye shared pictures of their beautiful garden and Sam told us about a portable greenhouse he made. We’ve discovered that Sam and Kaye are experienced and successful corn growers.
Doc A. brought along a tray for starting seeds and a neat little tool he made to help in planting small seeds. He shared with us many tricks on how to have success in planting seeds - from starting with a good soil mix to the importance of using cold frames. He brought along a cold frame that he had constructed to show us how simple it was to make one.
One topic that came up was slugs and how to get rid of them. We learned one lady has earned a reputation for her late night trips to the garden armed with a flash light to capture the creatures and bring them in to a quick death in boiling water. Doc Austria brought along a slug trap he had made with a 2 litre pop bottle. Others shared tricks they had tried or heard about.
This coming week many of the gardeners are planning to start planting seeds inside. Although the last frost date is not until June 22, some plants can be put out before that. Onions, beets, carrots, and lettuce are plants that can take some cold.
Next week the main topic of discussion will be how to plan and design a garden. It’s hoped that others will bring pictures of their gardens and will share about their garden design. Whether you are a Green Thumb with a great garden that you can share with us or a Greenhorn looking for advice on how to get started be sure to come out to the next meeting, Sunday April 10, 2:30pm at
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