Growing food, flowers, and knowledge
Local workshops are a great way to learn more about gardening
My goal this season is to go from one-pot balcony gardening to at least five pots. I want tomatoes, lettuce, basil, parsley, and flowering plants. I eagerly attended Delton Community League’s free beginner gardening workshop late in February. The free workshop was part of the league’s Climate Action Workshop series, with three more to follow in March, April, and May.
Regarding my summer planting, my approach is simple: My style of gardening is to get a bag of potting soil, dump it in a pot, push in some seeds, water, and wait.
As I learned from workshop instructor Mark Stumpf-Allen, simple is a good start.
“Can you read the back of a seed package?” he asked. Participant Jonny Wakefield held one up and scrutinized the instructions. Later, he told me that the workshop got him thinking. “It looks like I will attend again,” said Wakefield. “I really don’t know much, and there’s a lot to learn.”
Mark Stumpf-Allen is a 29-year Delton resident, and administrator of the master gardener program in Parkland County. He’s a man who knows his stuff: the difference between soil, dirt, silt, sand, and clay, and where to get cost-effective mulch (getchipdrop.com). Yet even this walking encyclopedia of planting admits his yard “is a work in progress.” He has tried every gardening trend. “Right now, I’m playing with regenerative and ecological gardening,” he says.
After I master my five-pot balcony, I want to be like longtime gardener Frances Williams, a small woman with big ambitions when it comes to her vegetable garden. She has put one in for many decades and knows her soil (good) from her dirt (not good). “I’m always learning new stuff,” she told workshop attendees. “The season is happening. I’m going to be outside a lot.”
You may be gardening for food sustainability, or simply for a view of pretty flowers. The message at Delton is, “Go for it” — for fresh food, for healthy bodies, and for a healthy planet. Simple or complex, it’s a world of green and goodness you will heartily enjoy.
Constance Brissenden is an experienced presenter, writer, editor, and historian living in Cromdale. She is co-author of nine award-winning books by Cree author Larry Loyie (1933-2016), in addition to more than 20 books of history and travel.
Climate Action Workshops
Delton Community League
12325 88 St.
All workshops are free or pay-what-you-will
RSVP to GreenerDelton@gmail.com
Attracting Pollinators
Tuesday, March 19, 7 pm or
Saturday, March 23, 10 am
Home Composting
Tuesday, April 16, 7 pm or
Saturday, April 20, 10 am
Regenerative Lawn Care
Tuesday, May 21, 7 pm or
Saturday, May 25, 10 am
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... I am going to try neighborhood foraging thi summer... many apple tress aren't picked, fruit left to fall.
love this, brought back a lot of memories of gardens and growing up in my hood of Elmwood.......when we were kids, yes, some of us did raid the occastional garden..we knew who had rasberry bushes in their back yard...carrots...and yes, crab apple trees.....on our block there used to be 7 altogether in 3 back yards....I still remember one evening, three of us managed to grab a good haul, I think we may have had permission, maybe, and then another neighbour offered to make pies from that collection....