Seedy Saturdays (and Sundays) - theHumm February 2019

By David Hinks

Our relationship with plants is a complicated one.

On the one hand we are hugely concerned about the negative health effects of certain plants such as wild parsnip. Like giant hogweed and other members of the carrot family, it produces sap containing chemicals that can cause human skin to react to sunlight, resulting in intense burns, rashes or blisters. Caution is indeed in order!

On the other hand, we have developed a very blasé relationship with other common garden plants that can have much more severe effects. Lily-of-the-valley contains a toxin that can lead to coma and death — even the water you put the flowers in can intensify contractions of the heart. Narcissus can cause paralysis of the heart — even the scent in a closed room can cause a headache. Swallowing any part of the hydrangea plant is akin to taking a cyanide pill. And so it goes with larkspur, poinsettia, mistletoe, rhododendron, and on and on. One has only to read British murder mysteries to learn how to create mayhem with common garden plants.

Why the difference in levels of concern? I, for one, tend to blame the media with its bias towards sensationalism — perhaps not fake news, but certainly unbalanced!

Unless one plans to spend the rest of their days avoiding plants, I suggest that a more sensible approach is to learn more about plants and become comfortable in the garden. This is, of course, a segue into the fascinating phenomena of Seedy Saturdays (and Sundays). These grass-roots events are locally organized — the Canadian not-for-profit organization Seeds of Diversity has a loose organizational role, providing some guidance and some publicity. However, they are a series of separate events that have sprung up across the country, each individually organized under the themes of encouraging the use of open-pollinated and heritage seeds, enabling a local seed exchange, and educating the public about seed saving and environmentally responsible gardening practices.

Almonte’s Seedy Saturday

The 4th annual Almonte Seedy Saturday will soon be here! Once again there will be guest speakers all day on a wide variety of topics, more than forty artisan vendors and not-for-profits, door prizes, and plenty of seed swapping. Seedy Saturday comes to the Almonte Civitan Club (500 Almonte Road) on Saturday, February 9 from 9am to 3pm. Johvi Leeck, a young local entrepreneur and owner of gardening venture “Beyond the Garden Gate” (along with a bit of help from mom and dad) is bringing Seedy Saturday to town for its fourth year. The inaugural year of 2016 was a tremendous success and Johvi continues to build on that success.Admission is $2 per person at the door (or free with your ad in the bottom corner of this page!), kids under 5 are free.

All of our local gardening groups will be well represented — the Neighbourhood Tomato Community Gardening Program, Almonte & District Horticultural Society, the Canadian Organic Growers, the MMPL Seed Library, Seeds of Diversity and the Lanark County Master Gardeners are all enthusiastic supporters of Seedy Saturday. For me, one of the most important aspects is the opportunity for networking with many gardening groups to learn of their latest accomplishments and their plans for 2019.

Gardeners will be able to exchange information (and of course to commiserate about the wild challenges of gardening in 2018) and to buy, sell or trade interesting and unusual heritage varieties of vegetable, fruit, herb, flower, wild and native Ontario seeds.

For many years I attended and spoke at the larger Seedy Saturday event at Britannia Park in Ottawa. But by my reckoning this overwhelmingly successful gardening event became far too successful for my tastes! Before the doors opened there was a line-up of people and by afternoon it was so crowded that it was almost impossible to move! So I was extremely delighted when Seedy Saturday came to Almonte.

This is another amazingly successful Almonte event and a terrific opportunity for gardeners from the area to network, for local producers to showcase their wares, and for learning. This is a great opportunity to support local small businesses — these folks are not in for the “big bucks” but because they believe fervently in what they are doing. Seedy Saturdays’ grass-roots nature — low overhead, low admission fees, local talent, and volunteer energy — distinguishes them from expensive, commercially driven garden shows. Attendees are able to contribute, not just consume. In general, the region where the event is held dictates both the topics and speakers who naturally lend themselves to that area, so it truly is a local event.

For more details on the great network of Seedy Saturday (and Sunday) events taking place across the country, check out the Seeds of Diversity website seeds.ca . This year Seedy Saturday in Ottawa takes place March 2 at Britannia Park (Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre). If you want to go a bit further afield Brockville is March 2, Kingston is March 9 and Pembroke is March 3.

These events are fantastic for the beginner gardener but are also very timely for the serious gardener who is venturing into starting their own seedlings under lights. While the time to start some seedlings indoors under lights is rapidly approaching, it is important to take a deep breath and slow down. Tomatoes should not be started until mid-March – otherwise they will become hopelessly lanky and out of control – you will not produce robust seedlings that are worthy of gracing your veggie patch. Peppers and eggplants can be started a couple of weeks earlier at the end of February. But there are a number of other vegetables that respond very well to a much longer growing period under lights – veggies that I have very successfully started in early February include parsley, onions, leeks, celery, celeriac, globe artichoke and cardoon. So now is a great time to get out and talk to experienced gardeners and check out the huge diversity of vegetable varieties that are available.

And the Award Goes to… Don Wiles! - theHumm February 2019

By Sally Hansen

Art… and Soul

theHumm is celebrating this awards season by commending Almonte’s beloved and esteemed Don Wiles for his interest in his community and the contributions he continues to make that enrich its cultural and intellectual life.

Journalists should never miss a chance to invite a nonagenarian to share their most treasured piece of advice. Soon to be 94, Dr. Wiles was momentarily surprised at my invitation, and then counseled, “Be interested.” He is a persuasive example of the wis......

Seedy Saturdays (and Sundays) - theHumm February 2019