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Potato Festival
MUN
Botanical Garden held its fourth annual Potato Festival on Saturday, Oct.
6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It was a tremendous success with approximately
1,200 people attending. The
Community Food Sharing Association's Jiggs Dinner was a big hit! There
was a celebrity potato salad contest, a potato peeling contest, potato
tasting, and displays and information. The event was sponsored by Dominion
Stores and the Department of Forest Resources and Agrifoods. A great time
was had by all. Proceeds are shared by the Community Food Sharing Association
and the Botanical Garden's education programs for children.
by Carl
White
As
another gardening season comes to an end, it's a good time to reflect
on the many successes and possibly a few disappointments that you had
in your own garden. Time and experience are often the best teachers and
you will learn more from trying things yourself (and visiting your Botanical
Garden) then you will from watching channel 45 or reading a gardening
column. Try keeping a journal of what you did in your garden and when.
Things such as when you pruned your shrubs or when and how you fertilized
the perennial bed, and the ensuing results, good or bad, are all learning
experiences that, if recorded, will help you in the future — if only
to remind you to never do it that way again.
Take a walk around and make some notes on what plants did well and what
needs to be divided or moved to a new location. Often a plant that doing
poorly will benefit from being from being moved to a spot that is more
suited to its growing requirements. Dates of your first and last blooms
are also handy to know and will help you plan your garden during those
long winter nights that are already upon us.
You
may have to stop gardening but you don't have to stop being a gardener.
Planning next year's work is a good way to stay close to your garden.
A fun winter exercise is to design a garden that you never intend (and
can't afford) to build. Get out the seed catalogues (Park's and Stokes
are good ones) and the gardening books and plan a fantasy garden where
you can have as many different plants and features as you want. After
all, fantasies are free, and it's a great way to get to know new plants
and techniques.
It's getting close to Christmas, so here is a gardener's wish list. If
some of these prices seem high, mull over what the old timer working in
the feed store told me: " If you want good oats, then you have to
pay a good dollar for them. If you're satisfied with oats that have already
been through the horse once, they come a little cheaper." In other
words. you get what you pay for.
Hand trowel and fork: you will use these a lot, for everything
from weeding to planting annuals and bulbs. I prefer one with a longer
handle, about 10 inches. A good one will be anywhere from $8 to $12. The
cheap ones bend where the blade meets the handle.
Hand
pruners: a good pair (just like pants, one is a pair) will cost about
$50. Felco is a good name and I have been using a pair of Felco #8 for
five years at the Botanical Garden. Few people will use gardening tools
as much in a year as we do. Keep them oiled and sharp, and don't try to
cut 2-inch limbs with them, and they will last as long as you will.
Holster for pruners: great item for about $10. Wear it on your
belt when gardening and you will be surprised how well you can keep up
with the pruning when the tool is close to hand rather than on a shelf
in the garage.
Sheep shears: a wonderful tool for deadheading, pruning things
like Spiraea and cutting down and cleaning up perennials. They run about
$35-$40 and are worth every cent. Made in England of Sheffield steel,
these shears can be sharpened with a file or stone and if looked after
(not thrown into the compost with the stuff in your bucket) they will
become a family heirloom.
Cultivator:
has a long handle and a three-tine head. Good for weeding, loosening
soil to improve aeration and removing footprints from flowerbeds. Use
it for the intended purposes (not as a pickaxe) and it will last many
years. Costs around $15.
Digging fork: yes, you need one. No, a shovel is not just as good.
Order a stainless steel beauty from Lee Valley for $40, or pay $15-$25
around town for a perfectly adequate one.
Cutting spade: a narrow, flat-bladed, straight top-shovel. This
could be the most versatile gardening tool of all. Sharpen the straight
top like you would an axe and you can use it to transplant shrubs, edge
a bed, mix soil and cut through sod and stubborn roots. About $15-$20.
Here's to a nice mild winter with little shovelling.