SAMUEL JEAN: LET YOUR GARDEN SLEEP

Samuel Jean, Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens

If you were surprised by the colder temperatures we just experienced and haven’t “cleaned” your garden beds yet, don’t panic! In fact, you probably have much less to do than you imagine.

I used to clean my garden beds meticulously every year at the end of the growing season. I stopped doing so after reading L’autocompostage (auto-composting) from Michel Renaud. In this book, the author explains how beneficial it is to leave fallen leaves and plant stalks in place. According to him, the best mulch for a plant is its own foliage, and by letting it return to the soil, the soil structure improves and gets richer with the seasons. This simple change allowed me to spend more time enjoying my garden instead of constantly having to do maintenance.

Plant litter acts as a mulch. It favours water infiltration (instead of runoff), which helps prevent soil compaction and erosion. In the spring, plant litter quickly disappears under lush new growth and prevents water loss in the summer. It also favours snow accumulation, providing insulation and protecting plants from cold snaps. As it decomposes by micro-organisms, plant litter slowly releases nutrients, reducing or eliminating the need for inputs like compost and fertilizer.

As importantly, many beneficial insects evolved to overwinter in the leaf litter, and many bird species forage in it for prey. Standing stalks of hollowed-stem species like blue vervain (Verbena hastata) and wild beebalm (Monarda fistulosa) offer overwintering habitats for cavity-dwelling native bee species. The original bee hotel! Seed heads of species like cut-leaved coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) and New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) are a great food source for finches and sparrows. The original bird feeder… Dark-eyed juncos have been abundant at the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens in the last few weeks; they have been spotted feeding on the spotted Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum) seed heads near the stream. Have you seen them?

This fall, next spring, and for the years to come, trust the process. Do less.

Our whole team is wishing you a great holiday season. Over the coming weeks, make sure to visit the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre to appreciate the Christmas tree that has been decorated with natural ornaments crafted by the Friends of the Acadian Forest volunteers. If you can’t visit, keep an eyed on the News & Event section of our website (botanicalgardens.acadiau.ca) for photos! ❧

Plant litter is beneficial in the garden. (Photo: Samuel Jean) Andrea Leeson

It seems that every Christmas, some company will come up with a new toy, advertise the blazes out of it and hook as many kids as possible into absolutely needing it. They invariably under-manufacture and oversell it so that by Christmas Eve, thousands of parents are left searching frantically for something that has disappeared from the shelves.

Gift-wrapped promissory notes under the tree won’t cut it. You will have failed miserably as a parent and have to face the looks of disappointment and the inevitable onslaught of tears.

Over the years, Garry and I have won some, and we have certainly lost some. With four children, the wish lists have been long and sometimes frightening.

One particular year it was late in the game: only one day before Christmas when we realized we had a real problem on our hands. Our four-year-old Zoe told her little sister, Emily, that Santa was bringing her a Racoon Radio. I had finished all the shopping, which was certainly not one of the Christmas surprises.

Zoe, at that age, had barely understood the whole Christmas wish deal, but so many well-meaning older people had bombarded her throughout December with, “And what would you like, dearie?” She had no idea, but at one point, to please them, the light bulb went on and remembering an ad on TV, she finally started answering, “A Racoon Radio.” She didn’t know what it was; it just seemed to make people happy when she said that. She had never purposely listened to the radio, let alone a transistor one. We never gave it a second thought — until now! Our world suddenly became a pressure cooker.

The ad campaign had been most successful: none in the Radio Shack in Greenwood, none in Kingston. Mad phone calls up and down the Valley were answered with definitive no’s. I was reaching a desperation point. Garry took off on the hunt but finally, over a pay phone, I suggested that he change the search: buy a transistor radio and a stuffed raccoon and I would open it up, put the radio inside, sew it up but for the knob and voila, a Racoon Radio.

Do you think there was a stuffed raccoon to be had? Once again, he travelled everywhere: Middleton, no; Kingston, no; Greenwood, no; Berwick, no. Pushing the old truck beyond its limits, he finally pulled into the mall in New Minas and found what we needed — well — almost! It was a purple skunk with a white stripe and underbelly, but she was so young — she’d never notice the difference.

Full of self-satisfaction at a problem solved, the two of us sat over the kitchen table performing the necessary surgery, and finally wrapped, ribboned, and tagged: “with love, Daddy XXOO,” the precious gift went under the tree. We sighed contentedly together, contemplating her surprised and delighted little face as she opened her gift in the morning. I’ll never forget that little face: a look of shock and disappointment countered so quickly, so sweetly, so generously and thoughtfully with the most considerate, loving lie a kid ever uttered, “I love it, Daddy.” ❧

Random Acts of Kindness

My wife fell off her bicycle Saturday, October 29th, in front of the Wolfville Elementary

School. When I arrived on the scene she was lying on the road motionless. By the time I got to her two men had already come to her aid. Fortunately she did not break any bones but did suffer a concussion.

When she finally got up and appeared to be mobile the two men who had come to her aid left before I had a chance to thank them and ask if they saw how she fell off her bicycle.

We think she may have hit one of the speed bumps that are on the street in front of the

Wolfville Elementary School.

I was hoping to ask the two men to call or text me at (902) 670-9349 (mobile) or email me at: roadwarrior@eastlink.ca. December 2022 SUDOKU Edited by Margie E. Burke Difficulty: Easy 2 4 HOW TO SOLVE: 5 1 2 Each row must 7 8 6 4 contain the numbers 1 to 9; each column 4 8 6 must contain the 5 9 7 numbers 1 to 9; and each set of 3 by 3 1 boxes must contain the numbers 1 to 9. 1 8 (Answer appears else5 9 7 2 where in this issue) 8

Copyright 2022 by The Puzzle Syndicate

(Submitted by Trevor Daeglish)

A Random Act of Kindness is simply doing something nice for someone else without them asking and without you doing it for anything in return. Have you experienced a random act of Kindness? Email The Grapevine: info@grapevinepublishing.ca.

Solution to Sudoku: Solution to Crossword:Solutions to Sudoku and Crossword (page 5) 6 3 8 5 2 4 9 1 7 4 5 1 6 9 7 3 8 2 7 9 2 3 1 8 6 5 4 1 4 7 2 3 5 8 9 6 8 6 5 9 7 1 2 4 3 9 2 3 8 4 6 1 7 5 2 1 6 7 5 9 4 3 8 5 8 9 4 6 3 7 2 1 3 7 4 1 8 2 5 6 9

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