Cam Mather on All You Can Eat Gardening

Cam Mather of Tamworth was the guest speaker at the Tweed and District Horticultural Meeting on March 2, 2011. Mather, author of The All You Can Eat Gardening Handbook and Thriving during Challenging Times: The Energy, Food and Financial Independence Handbook and publisher of The Renewable Energy Handbook for Homeowners lives off the grid and shared his expertise on growing vegetables organically.

Mather’s PowerPoint presentation opened with some background information regarding fossil fuels which likely will cause higher food costs in the future. His talk highlighted the need for proper soil preparation (compost, compost and compost!), weeding, watering, dealing with garden pests and storing the harvest. Mather included photos of different kinds of root cellars that exist and can be built to keep the produce that is grown. The right temperature and humidity in the root cellar is crucial to store the food properly.

Members were invited to ask questions following the presentation and many members purchased Mather’s books which were for sale. “A fantastic informative evening” was the comment heard after the presentation.

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday April 5th… Hazel Cook from Blossom Hill Nursery will be speaking about growing and caring for peonies.

Upcoming Events…Canada Bloom Bus Trip….Fri. Mar. 18, 2011