Well, saying it’s spring may be a bit of an overstatement. So what’s been going on in our society so far this spring? So much that I don’t know where to begin! How about with the Plant Sale?

PLANT SALE PLANT SALE PLANT SALE!

Our big annual plant sale is coming up on Saturday, May 24, from 9 am to noon at United Baptist Church, 41 Malabar Drive.

You do NOT want to miss this event. It’s our big fundraiser and helps keep us ticking along in our various community projects, such as the Allard St. Community Garden, the SAH Mental Health and Addictions Garden, and more.

We are looking for donations as well as helpers. If you have plants, plastic flats, magazines, or garden-related small items to donate or can help us out on that day, please email us at ssmhortsociety.com.

Please make sure all your gardening friends and relatives know about our sale….And bring a cart or wagon to carry your haul back to the car.

Canal Greenhouse Committee gets growing slowly but surely

Our Hort Society has an agreement with Parks Canada that allows us to make use of their beautiful little greenhouse, located by the Superintendent’s residence, in return for our growing plants for the canal site. There is space for 10 Hort Society members to get a special membership that costs $15 per year and allows them access to this greenhouse.

Over the past month or so, this year’s members have been busily starting seeds and potting plants, and while the growing season for even greenhouses has been sloooow moving this year, Greenhouse Committee members report they have many flats in production. In addition to growing plants for the canal site, they produce for our plant sale.

District AGM Buzz: Queen Bee steps down, assistant Queen Bee stays put; worker bee steps up

Saturday, May 10 was the OHA District 13 Annual General Meeting in Walford (near Massey). At this meeting, we saw our own Suzanne Hanna step down as Director, Rita West take on another term as Assistant Director for the Algoma area, and Bill Cole took on the role of District Secretary. The new District Director is Christine Marsh.

One of the meeting highlights was a presentation on beekeeping by Thomas Benian, owner of the Spanish River Apiary. Fascinating fact: Each honeybee produces only a single teaspoon of honey over its lifespan! So the next time you dip a spoonful of honey into a cup of tea, think about the fact that you’re consuming a bee’s lifetime of work! We also learned that Ontario has 3,000 species of bees. Remarkable!

On a sadder note, during the AGM’s In Memoriam service, district members such as Claire Liinamaa (Past District Director) who passed away in the last year were remembered, including four from our own society: Stewart Farmer, Nancy Chow, John Burke and Dorothy Lemay.

The 2015 AGM will be held in Sudbury. The district will host its fall meeting in Blind River at the Blind River Marina on November 1. All members are welcome to attend district meetings. For more information about these meetings, call Suzanne (705-759-2893), Rita (705-942-3862), or Abby (705-946-2936).

May monthly meeting focused on vertical gardening

Many thanks to Hort Society member (and membership convenor!) Suzanne Hanna and June Alliston of New North Greenhouses for their educational and entertaining presentation on vertical gardening (growing plants up with the use of supports). These ladies passed on a wealth of great tips for using stakes and trellises in a way that enhances garden health and appearance.

Probably the most useful tip was to get your plant supports in place early in the season, because trying to install them when plants are already falling over is difficult to do in a visually appealing way.

Another great tip was to keep an eye out for attractive branches referred to as “pea sticks” to use as plant supports…Naturally beautiful and you can’t beat the price! Read about pea staking

There was a fantastic turnout for this meeting….The room was packed, and many of those attending were brand-new members. It was great to see so many new faces.

The next meeting on Monday, June 2 will be a Pot Party! Meet at United Baptist Church at 6:15 pm to form carpools out to the Barr Rd. Flower Kart. Bring a container 12” or less in diameter and some cash to purchase plants so you can pot up your own hanging basket or container.

Horties hawk herbs at Hello Spring

On May 3, the Hort Society made an appearance at Hello, Spring, an annual garden festival at New North Greenhouses. Our ladies (Suzanne Hanna, Steph Hattie, Margaret Carruthers, Rita West, Elva O’Connor, Karen Poirier and Abby Obenchain) talked to passersby about herbs and offered them a choice of herb-y gifts, including bouquet garni for soups and stews and lavender bath sachets, as well as recipes for savoury herb shortbread and scones with honey mint butter. Many packets of Flanders poppy seeds were also dispensed. Turnout was wonderful, and 13 new members joined the Hort Society, 10 more than at the same event last year.

If you want the recipes for the shortbread and scones with honey mint butter, email ssmhortsociety.org.

Super Yoopers hoop it up in Rudyard!

On Saturday, April 26, three Hort Society members (Abby Obenchain, Rita West, Halina Peltonen) attended a hoop house workshop in the eastern Upper Peninsula, near Rudyard, Michigan. Irrigation was the hot topic of the morning. Workshop organizer and professional Garden Gnome Nome Buckman explained about the various types of irrigation available and what their pros, cons, and relative costs are. She said that almost any garden will be benefit from an irrigation system. You use up to 70 per cent less water, your plants will suffer less mildew, and your plants will love having consistently moist soil.

Irrigation systems can be fairly complicated so do your homework and learn the terminology (PSI and backflow valves, anyone?) before deciding what type to get.

For the uninitiated, a hoop house is a plastic-covered greenhouse that usually contains plants that are growing in the ground, while a greenhouse is a glass- or plastic-covered structure that holds container stock.

Even way up here in the North, hoop house growers can start their plants as early as February and keep some veggies (spinach, kale) going until December. Those with a large hoop house can set up a cold frame inside the hoop house, stretching their growing season even further.

Hoop houses are not without their down side….Some are better than others at shedding snow, and wind can do terrible damage.

After lunch, workshop participants travelled to the farm of Greg Zimmerman to see his two hoop houses, one of which is on tracks and can be rolled to allow rotating use of his land. Read more about hoop houses

Next year’s workshop will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2015, at the new Les Cheneaux Culinary School in Hessel, Michigan. And yes, lunch will be provided by the school!

That’s all the news that’s fit to print for May. Hope to see you at the Pot Party!

P.S. Please feel free to share this update with any Hort Society members who may not subscribe to the Hort Society blog. To subscribe, go to ssmhortsociety.com, scroll down the right column, and enter your email address in where it says Subscribe.