Tweed, Ontario, Canada
Our delayed, in person, annual general meeting, will now be held virtually on Tuesday, Feb.2 at 7p.m.
The meeting will provide an update on the activities of the Society, a look ahead at future plans for the organization and we’ll conduct the required business of the annual general meeting.
Elections for 2021 will be held. If you’re interested in volunteering as an officer of the society contact info@tweedhort.ca
Tweed Horticulture Society received a Volunteer Appreciation Award for 2020 from the Municipality of Tweed recently.
Seen at the presentation are: George Scott (who received his own award, see below), Sheila Scott, Valerie Foran, vice president of Tweed Hort, Councilor Jim Flieler, Joan Morton of Tweed Hort and Mayor Jo-Anne Albert.
Valerie had this to say about the presentation:
Joan and I met last night for the award ceremony in the parking lot by the arena. We received the award from Mayor Albert and Councillor JIm Flieler. We all wore masks and maintained social distancing.
George Scott received an award for all of the times he volunteers to help anyone that needs it. Since George and Sheila Scott were at the awards ceremony, I asked them to join us for the social distancing picture of the Horticulture Society.
Everyone should be proud of our organization and the recognition we received from the Municipality of Tweed. Hopefully in the new year we will have a meeting and we can show everyone the award.
Thank you to everyone of you, your participation in our society and hard work is what earned us this award.
All meetings, including December’s pot luck dinner, have been cancelled for the balance of the year.
The Annual General meeting has been postponed to (hopefully!) early next year.
Covid 19 has really changed how we live this year. Every month seems to have new challenges. It seems we never know how things will be. Our community has been very lucky so far to stay healthy with everyone doing their part.
The September meeting of our club, which was to be a slide show of the gardens that Penny Stewart has visited, has been cancelled. The library has not yet opened the meeting room for use. With our regular numbers and social distancing this location may not be able to work for us for future meetings. Our executive will meet in the near future to discuss our options and the upcoming AGM.
A glimpse of a few of the gardens cared for by TweedHort during this season of social distancing. And thanks go to Rachelle Hardesty of the Municipality of Tweed for her weekly garden waterings.
In spite of everything, Tweed Hort is working to make the Town look pretty.
Due to the current situation, the May and June meetings have been cancelled.
The bus trip to Peterborough and the day trip to the county are also cancelled.
The August pot luck is still scheduled but is still tentative. Notification will follow closer to the summer.
Spring was definitely in the air as 53 people attended the March meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society. Kailey Bosch, co-owner of the Melrose Market located on Melrose Road near Shannonville Road, was the guest speaker for the evening. Kailey spoke about getting your garden ready for spring planting-evidently a topic of interest to many members!
Healthy soil is needed to start the garden. Kailey uses aged horse manure and compost. She plants her garden in 30-inch rows with an 18-inch walkway and raised 6-inches.
Kailey used organic and heirloom seeds in her plantings. She recommends seeds from High Mowing seeds, West Coast seeds and Village Green located in Foxboro.
Starting Seeds…
-use peat/vermiculite and worm castings (available at Thrashers in Belleville); pro mix is a good pre-mixed starter; wet soil prior to planting
-seed depth should be 2 x the size of the seed deep; 1 ½ inch cells and soil blockers were recommended
-as soon as you see sprouts, move plants to south facing window or place under a full spectrum light for 12 hours a day; light should be 3 inches above leaves
-place a fan on low to keep air moving around plants
-keep the soil consistently wet by using a cover; as soon as seed germinate, remove cover and let soil dry out a bit between watering
-harden off plants before moving outdoors
Kailey discussed planting times appropriate planting times for our area…
Feb-March…leeks
Mid-March…peppers, tomatoes, greens/herbs
April…greens, lettuce, beets, broccoli and outside you can plant green onions, peas and spinach
May…outside you can plant squash, melon and cucumber
Pesta can be controlled by….
-using row covers
-companion planting-bail with tomatoes deters aphids
-planting nasturtiums
-using organic pesticide-Diatomaceous Earth, Insecticidal Soap and Neem Oil
Suggestions to yield a bountiful harvest all season long….
-do succession planting where one crop is pulled and another is planted
-do not plant all the seeds of one variety at the same time; this will prevent having all the same produce ready at once
-use companion planting…. plant two different plants together in one area
-if using raised beds, it is important to add compost every 2 weeks to build up the soil; Kailey suggested adding pelleted chicken manure to raised beds
-keep records so you know dates when seeds were planted, varieties planted, where planted in garden and any issues you had with seeds, and the yield your garden produced
Kailey’s Market Garden is open the weekend prior to the long weekend in May…this year that will be May 9th. Plants as well as produce are available at the Market Garden!