Edible Garden Newsletter May 2018

The Edible Garden Newsletter for May 2018 is now available.  This month we have a special focus on Clay Soil,  Is it a gardener's worst nightmare or a gardener's best friend?  Learn how you can change this dreaded foe to a trusted ally.  Delicious, nutritious and bountiful--Aunt Molly's Ground Cherries.  Follow one gardeners adventure as she grows these delicious fruits.  Finally, read all about a Victory Garden for Bees.  Photo is thanks to Anna MacDonald Iowa Environmental Voice.

Plant Sales

Plant Sales are a primary source of funding for many hard working garden related volunteer organizations.  These groups help to make our local communities brighter and more beautiful and a better place to live.  Across Lanark County, May is the month that your local Horticultural Societies host their Plant Sale. Lanark County Master Gardeners will be at all the Horticultural Societies Plant Sale and we will be selling plants at the Perth Sale.  See Calendar on the right for sale dates and locations.

Why should I buy plants at a Plant Sale?

• Some of the best gardeners in the county are members of the horticultural societies.  They divide and donate plants from their own gardens.
• The plants have proven to grow successfully in our climate.  If they didn't the gardeners have none to donate.
• The Horticultural Societies develop and care for many of the beautiful gardens across the county and their tireless work makes our home towns a better place to live. Funds raised at Plant Sales support these efforts.
• The plants are offered at a price you will not find anywhere else.
• There is always a wide range of perennials, some you will not find at any garden centre.  Sometimes there are roses, trees and shrubs and lots of vegetable bedding plants.

In addition to the Horticultural Society Sales, we have included information about two Ottawa based plant sales:

• The Native Plant Sale sponsored by Fletcher Wildlife Garden.
• The Rare and Unusual Plant Sale sponsored by the Friends of the Farm (Central Experimental Farm.

Hope to see you at one of the sales.

The Edible Garden Newsletter April 2018

The Edible Garden Newsletter April 2018 is now available.  This month we demonstrate that edibles are good for more than just eating.  Many edibles are a natural source of dye and we explain how to use them to create beautiful colours.  We often think that large showy double flowers are best to use to attract bees to you garden.  Start thinking like a bee and you will soon see that single blooms are in fact the best to use.  Do you love Horse Radish?  If your answer is yes, try growing it in your garden.  Continuing in our favorite tool series, read all about one gardener's favorite saw.

Fletcher Wildlife Garden Native Plant Sale

Fletcher Wildlife Garden Annual Native Plant Sale takes Place on Saturday June 2, 2018 from 9:30-12:30.  Hundreds of wildflowers are native to Eastern Ontario.  Plant a wide variety of plants for a garden that changes from month to month and attracts birds, butterflies and bees, to your garden for lunch.  Can't make the sale? Visit the demonstration gardens and pick up free plant lists and "how to" information to attract pollinators.  The garden is located on Prince of Wales Drive, South of the Arboretum.  Plant Sale Info.

Edible Garden Newsletter March 2018

The Edible Garden Newsletter March 2018 is now available.  This months issue focuses on Vegetables, Vegetables and more Vegetables--how to grow them in containers, what is the vegetable of the year for 2018 and "funny little cabbages" aka Brussels Sprouts.  We also introduce a new, recurring feature, focusing on some of our favorite garden tools and helpers.

Quinte Botanical Garden

Quinte Botanical Gardens is located in Eastern Ontario.
Enjoy six acres of unique garden displays with extraordinary plant combinations.  An outdoor, healthy attraction, you can enjoy nature at its best.  Each garden offers interesting insight into the world of plants.Connect with nature, learn about horticulture or journey through the gardens at your own pace.
Gardens include:

• Bee, Bird, Butterfly Garden
• Oriental Garden 
• Romantic Rose Garden.

The Colour Wheel Garden is the largest in the world.

Wander, learn, unwind and relax all at the Quinte Botanical Gardens!  

Edible Garden Newsletter February 2018

The Edible Garden Newsletter February 2018 is now here.  The days are finally starting to get longer and gardeners are planning what they can plant indoors to get a faster start when spring arrives.  In this issue we discuss lighting, whether it is from a sunny window or from grow lights and how you can use it to get your plants off to an excellent start.  If you are planting your vegetable garden in containers or on a balcony, we have some helpful tips.  Although the days are getting longer, we still have more winter left and it is a great time to experiment with using the parts of your vegetables you would normally put in the compost bin to grow more.  Finally, a housebound gardener tells of a Fava Bean experiment that led to a delicious soup.

Tomato Plant Disease

Ask a Vegetable Gardener, if you could grow only one plant, what would it be. Tomatoes is the overwhelming answer. How do you protect these favorites from disease? Tomato Plant Disease: How to identify and control tomato diseases