YARA-GRCG in May
The activity at YARA-Grow Regina Community Garden began early in May when the sun first turned up the heat. Everyone was excited to return to see old friends and talk about what they were going to plant this year.
Of course, with so many different gardeners you are sure to see variety in the gardening techniques. Some took the time to amend the soil to build up the natural nutrients in their plot, while other choose to set straight to planting. Many others with a talent for building structures delayed planting and built raised beds and trellises for their experiments. There is no mistake that the creativity is alive and well at Yara-GRCG.
Most gardeners were able to plant the early crops like potatoes and seed before the weather turned cold again. I must have planted my seeds on one of the coldest days in May, on Victoria Day. I did hold off planting my tomatoes and peppers until May 23rd because The Farmer’s Almanac reported that would be the last frost day. And, judging by the weather at the Cathedral Arts Festival, which was the warmest it had seen in some time, I thought this must be accurate. Slowly, one by one gardeners played follow-the-leader, and started to plant their precious seedlings that were nurtured at home for the last 6-8 weeks.
Photos taken by Karen & Don
No one could have imagined the frost that was soon to visit; but it didn’t just visit – it stayed like the unwanted house guest that you wished would leave. By the end of the second week, despite many people’s persistent efforts to cover their plants nightly and remove the coverings again each morning, it was just too late for many sensitive hot weather plants. The frost damage was evident everywhere and it was just too painful to record with photos.
I wasn’t the only one who had lost tomatoes and peppers, so anticipating a rush on tomatoes, I quickly bought some more and kept them toasty under my grow light at home.
Do you have any plans in developing a garden area in the Wascana view or Windsor park area? If so I would be interested
If there is a silver lining to the long Saskatchewan winters, it must be the satisfaction of putting seeds and plants into the fresh new earth after months of scheming and planning and daydreaming, refreshed by the rich smell the of soil and the feel of the warm air. All through the winter I had been creating a mental picture of my garden, picking out which vegetables and flowers I would grow and plotting exactly where they’d be planted. I imagined them coming up all thick and hardy and picking huge bagfuls of vegetables like I had the year before (owing almost entirely to good luck, as I was a new gardener whose numerous gaffes included letting weeds grow all summer because I thought they might be parsnips).
Planting my cool weather veggies was the first step towards turning my daydream into a reality, and I couldn’t wait to plant the rest of my seeds and put my tomato and pepper plants in the ground. I’d check the weather forecast every morning trying to find out when the threat of frost would be over, and finally, in the last week of May, I rushed to the garden and carefully placed my tomato and pepper plants into the compost filled holes I had dug for them. The rest of my garden was looking rather bare at this point, just a few potato bushes popping out of the ground, so I was encouraged by the way the leafy plants brought my vision of a lush green garden closer to reality.
Needless to say, when I returned a few days later, I could barely even find them; they had browned and shriveled and shrunk to the ground, and my garden was as bare as it had been before.
But my potatoes survived, and so did my bush beans, and a week later new tomato and pepper plants were in the ground making everything green again. It was a potent reminder not only of the patience and perseverance, required to nurture living things, but also of the incurable optimism of those of us who put seeds in the ground every spring, waiting to see what grows.