Herbs for Living

After a very hot and very dry summer, many members of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society were wondering what to do with the herbs that they had lovingly nurtured during this summer…..well Brad Smith and Michelle Cole of Herb Haven in Napanee shared many ideas with the group at the September meeting.

Herb Haven was started in 2010 as a “retirement” project for Brad and Michelle. Their goal was to promote and educate people on the benefits of herbs. Their presentation certainly highlighted the many benefits of herbs for the audience.

Herbs are a rich source of vitamins A (for vision and cell development…good source is dill), C (for immune system…good sauce is thyme) and K (for blood and bones…good source is parsley).

Herbs are also a source of minerals…calcium (in marjoram), iron (in summer and winter savory), zinc (in tarragon) and magnesium (in sage).

Brad and Michelle also pointed out the spiritual, medicinal, culinary and aromatic values of herbs in our lives.

So what to do with those herbs that we nurtured during one of the hottest, driest summers on record…..bring  them indoors for  the winter…place in indirect light and limit the watering. You can enjoy the fresh herbs all winter and plant them in the garden next year! Another suggestion was to freeze the herbs for use during the winter months. Also drying your herbs to use in herbal teas...as simple as placing the herbs between 2 screens and clamping together and letting dry in the sunlight.

Did you know that herbs are cholesterol free, an excellent source of protein and natural fiber….seems like they are the perfect food!!!

For more information about Herb Haven, check their website….www.herbhaven.ca.

COMING UP….

September 18…Trip to Potters’ Settlement Winery…2:00 pm…no charge

September 20….Clean up of town beds. Meet at Moira Gardens at 5:30pm

October 4…Jenna Empey of Prince Edward County will share her experiences in organic agriculture and fermentation. Dorothy Hunt, from Tweed will demonstrate how to dehydrate foods like onions, garlic and carrots to be used in soups and stews.

Spindle Tree Visit

In June, Hort members toured Spindle Tree Gardens in Tamworth.

All About the Bees

Brian Scott with his working demonstration hive.

Brian Scott, owner of Innisfil Creek Honey (south of Barrie) shared his experiences as a beekeeper at the June meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society. Brian is a commercial beekeeper and operator of a beekeeping supply store in Innisfil. He is a Certified Queen and Nuc Producer and he supplies customers with honey bee nucleus hives, starter hives and Queen Bees. Brian sells bee equipment and offers lessons on the art of beekeeping.

Brian started this career just 4 years ago with 3 “boxes”. He now has 300 and plans to have 450 by September.

His presentation, sprinkled with bits of humour held the audience’s attention as he explained his successes and challenges as a beekeeper. Being a beekeeper is more involved than most people imagine-Brian admitted that he often works 19 hours days in the early spring.  A beekeeper is a farmer with the same set of challenges faced by farmers…harsh winters, enough food for livestock and predators!

Since honey bees are not native to Canada, they need to be cared and “babied” to survive in our Canadian climate. As Brain says, it is expected to loose many bees due to severe and adverse winter weather.

Beekeepers also need to ensure that their bees have adequate food sources….bees will travel up to 2 ½ miles from the hive searching for nectar. The beekeeper must set the hives up in a location that will allow the bees to get the nectar during the 3 blooming seasons….dandelion, clover and golden rod. Each of these blooming seasons produces a different kind of honey. Bees need to have food throughout the winter months….sugar syrup.

The inside of a bee hive.

Predators are mainly bears and skunks. The electric fence will help curtail the bears from destroying the hives and keeping the hives 18 inches above the ground helps to keep the skunks from “eating” the bees.

Brian explained the life cycle of the bees and the role the Queen Bee plays in the hive. Now, members know what the term “Queen Bee” really entails!

Although Brian has only been pursuing this career as a beekeeper for 4 years, his knowledge was evident as he competently answered questions about the bees, hives, honey production and the role of bees in nature.

Check out Brian’s website….www.innisfilcreekhoney.com

COMING UP….

June 26…Trip to Spindle Tree Gardens in Tamworth. Fee is $12 plus HST (group of 10 or more).

July 8-10…Tweed Fair. Fair entries must be at fair by noon on Fri July 8. Set-up for the club is Sat July 9 @ 8 am

July 19….Clean up of town beds. Meet at Moira Gardens at 6 pm

Aug 13…Clean-up of town beds. Meet at Moira Gardens at

 9 am.

Aug 2…Pot Luck Dinner at  Beryl and Alan Austin’s. Remember your lawn chair, favourite pot luck dish, cup, plate and cutlery.

Sept 6…Brad Smith and Michele Cole from Herb Haven in Napanee will discuss their business venture as well as information about culinary and aromatic herbs.

Sept 11…Potter Settlement Vineyards and Winery Tour @ 2 pm. Register by Sept 1 due to limited spaces.

Best Plant Sale Ever!!!

Tweed Hort held another successful, and colourful, plant sale on  the Victoria Day weekend. Hort members braved the 7 a.m. Saturday setup but they were followed closely by shoppers who wanted the best choices of the lot.

Almost Ready

We've only just begun.....but so far we've collected 600 plants to be sold at our plant sale on May 21, 8 a.m. at Tweed Memorial Park on Stoco Lake. See you there.

Easy Care Perennials

Hort secretary Linda Holmes, left, with Dawn Golloher, owner of Gardens Plus

Dawn Golloher, owner of Gardens Plus in Peterborough shared easy care perennials in her power point presentation at the May meeting of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society. In spite of the cool spring Ontario has been experiencing in 2016, the 46 members of the group who attended this meeting were eager to see the newest plants “on the block” for this growing season.

Dawn’s plant knowledge was evident as she spoke throughout the evening about the many plants she has at Gardens Plus.

She emphasized the need for easy care perennials so gardeners can sit back and enjoy their gardens. When purchasing plants, she recommended checking for the growing zone and light requirements for the plant. Also, the roots are more important than the “tops” of the plant…..it is important to spread those roots when planting.

Many plant favourites were seen throughout the presentation…daffodils (no tulips-squirrels and chipmunks dig them up), lungwort, bleeding heart, hostas, salvia, bee balm, phlox, coneflowers, foam flower, ferns and the list goes on.

Dawn feels that the foliage is just as important if not more important than the bloom. For most perennials, the blooms last 6 week and the foliage is “forever”.

Little tips were scattered throughout Dawn’s presentation….

-Coral bells…plant before end of July as they tend to heave during the spring if planted later

-when hostas are divided (and they should be), they tend to “pout” for a few years before starting to grow aging

-when purchasing daylilies look for a tag that says “returns” as this means the plant reblooms and you get “more bang for your buck”.

Gardens Plus (www.gardensplus.ca) is open from May 6 to July 31 (closed Tuesdays).  It is located at 136 County Road#4, Peterborough, ON K9l 1V6…telephone 705-742-5918.  Dawn will be glad to help you with your plant selection and she will answer your gardening questions…definitely worth the drive!!!

COMING UP….

May 21…Annual Plant Sale at Tweed Memorial Park @ 8 am.

Plant material for the sale should be there by 7am. Please label plants.

May 31 @ 5:30 pm…Planting the flower beds and planters in town. Meet in the parking lot across from Valumart.

June 7…Brian Scott, a commercial beekeeper and operator of a beekeeping supply store will be the guest speaker. Brian will bring an observation hive, discuss how to get started to beekeeping, the benefits of bees to crops and the difficulties faced by a modern beekeeper.

June 18….Clean up of town beds. Meet at Moira Gardens at 9 am.

June 26…Trip to Spindle Tree Gardens in Tamworth. Fee is $12 plus HST (group of 10 or more). Payment is due at June meeting.

Tiny Gardeners Celebrate Earth Week

Eighteen pre-schoolers at the Central Hastings Early Education Nursery School in Marmora helped to celebrate earth week on April. Led by Tweed Hort past president Joan Morton with the help of Linda Gee, Ann Milne, April Keller and Chardonnay Wilman, the children planted onions, geraniums and a prayer plant and created a centrepiece using recyled containers with cedar and artificial flowers and butterflies. Care of the plants will be an ongoing childrens project at the school.