H O M E L I F E | YA R D
Gardening BY STACIE GAETZ
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e are all spending more time in our yards this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that is causing many local residents to plant gardens for the first time. Combine that with the fact that people are becoming more concerned about sustainability, their own health and availability of food products, and you get a drastic increase in gardeners who are picking up spades and digging in to plant vegetables. “People need to be anchored at this time and growing food feels like it could ground them,” says Rosa West, president of the Airdrie Horticultural Society. “Gardening is a commitment of time people didn’t have before. We have all slowed down and are looking at the world around us.”
GROWING GARDENERS
Sheena Haffner, marketing manager of Blue Grass Nursery, Sod & Garden Centre, says they have seen a huge increase in new gardeners coming into the store since the pandemic hit and many of them are looking to try their hands at vegetable growing. “I tell them that anyone can grow anything with a bit of knowledge,” says Haffner. 48
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“Growing is not hard, it’s about making sure your plants are in the right environment. You just have to decide how you are going to do it: with in-ground or raised beds? Will you be amending the soil? Which direction will your gardens be facing? Will you add fertilizer? “You get out of it what you put into it. The better you treat them, the better they will treat you.” She added that gardening can be intimidating for many people but now that they are staying home more often, they are willing to dedicate the time and effort to growing something.
VETERAN VEGGIES
Linda Delahay has been tending to vegetable gardens for 30 years and she agrees. She lives in Yankee Valley Estates on a two-acre parcel and has a 30-foot by 30-foot garden containing almost every vegetable you can think of from beets to rhubarb. “We go by the motto that you should plant what you like to eat,” she says, adding root vegetables tend to be the easiest to grow in Airdrie’s climate. “The best thing about growing your own food is that you know
