Brampton Seedy Saturday, March 9th, See you there!

Mississauga MGs will have a gardening advice clinic at Brampton’s

Seedy Saturday March 9th.  Bring your garden questions!

The event also offers a great deal more to interest garden aficionados:

             

Mississauga Seed Library 10th Anniversary Celebration, Saturday Feb 24th: 10 am to 2 pm. Join Mississauga MGs there!

Mississauga Seed Library 10th Anniversary & Launch

Join us as we celebrate the 10th year of the Mississauga Seed Library with workshops, gardening experts and family friendly activities.
Saturday, February 24 | 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Small Arms Inspection Building

Visit Mississauga MGs advice table and bring your garden questions!


Seed Library Launch Drop-in Schedule

10 am – 2 pm | Exhibitors
10 am | Opening Remarks
10:30 am | Indigenous Gardening Methods and Techniques
12 pm | Attracting Pollinators to Your Yard with Credit Valley Conservation
1 pm | Get Growing: Vegetables in Pots, Vegetables in Plots with Master Gardeners

Attracting Pollinators to Your Yard
12 pm – 1 pm | Drop-in
Pollinators help plants to bloom and thrive. Want to support butterflies, bees and other pollinators in their natural roles? Discover the top native flowers, shrubs and trees you may plant to help them along. Learn how to create beautiful, healthy habitat even in the smallest spaces. Presented by Credit Valley Conservation.

Get Growing: Vegetables in Pots, Vegetables in Plots
1 pm – 2 pm | Drop-in
Learn about growing edibles and planning your vegetable garden in pots or plots this growing season. Presented by Master Gardeners.


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Visit the Master Gardeners’ Kid’s Garden & Advice Clinic @ the Home & Backyard Show Feb 2-4, 2024

Mississauga Master Gardeners (MMG) & Etobicoke Master Gardeners (EMG) invite you to visit us at the Home and Backyard Show February 2-4, 2024, Mississauga International Center. Explore the Children’s Garden and get your hands dirty while enjoying a  hands-on gardening experience, including learning how to care for different plants. Learn about Good Bugs & Bad Bugs, find out who are the Pollinators in the garden, and how to attract them. Make a pine-cone bird feeder, create your own grass head, and participate in other fun and creative activities.  Children will have a great time discovering the joys of gardening in this enjoyable and educational gardening experience.

Have a gardening or horticultural question? Ask an Expert. Drop by the Master Gardener Advice Clinic and visit our experts bringing your questions, pictures, and challenges, and they will have you walking away with a number of solutions and ideas.

Going to the CNE this year? Bring your gardening questions to the Master Gardener’s Booth @ Heritage Hall

The Canadian National Exhibition  2023 runs from August 18 to
Sept 4, including Labour Day Monday.

Master Gardeners from all over the GTA will be on hand at Heritage Court at the Master Gardener’s booth throughout the event. Find us near the flower show.

Bring your gardening questions along; our MG volunteers are ready and willing to offer our expert advice.

Hope to see you there!

Garden Soil: What You Need to Know

Healthy Soil

What is (garden) Soil?

Soil is so much more than dirt. Soil is a living ecosystem— a large community of living organisms linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Every teaspoon of soil is home to billions of microorganisms — bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects, and earthworms that play important roles.

And trying to improve the health of your garden soil is not as complicated as some people suggest. Let’s look at some of the important soil components.

Good soil needs to have organic matter. Organic materials are carbon-based compounds used by gardeners to help their plants grow. This includes compost, green manure, leaf mold, and animal manure. If your soil is sandy or has heavy clay, organic matter improves the structure of the soil and hence helps with water drainage. Organic matter also feeds the soil with microorganisms and insects, creating a good environment for soil microbes which eventually enhances a plant’s health and growth. Soil that is rich in organic matter tends to be darker and crumbles off of the roots of plants you pull up. A healthy, spread-out root system is also a sign of good soil.

Soil pH is another important factor that needs to be taken into consideration. Soil pH is the acidity or alkalinity of your soil. It’s a scale that runs from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral and if the number decreases from 7, the acidity increases and if the number increases from 7, the alkalinity increases. Plant nutrients become available or unavailable according to the soil’s pH level. The essential nutrients are most available to most plants at a pH between 6 to 7.5. Soil pH can be measured and altered as per one’s requirements.

Water and air are also important for good soil health. Roots and microbes need varying amounts of water and air and the microenvironments in the soil help with this. Soil compaction and disturbance disturb this balance and hence it is important to minimize soil compaction.

So, the next time when you are in the garden center trying to figure out which bags of soil to pick for your vegetable or ornamental garden, remember that you already have soil in your garden. All you might need to do is take a closer look at it and try to identify what it is missing. Feel the soil. Smell it. Get your hands dirty. You have to understand your soil before you start growing plants in it. And trust me its not that difficult. I am not an expert and I did it, so can you!

Mohan Iyer

iyermohank@gmail.com

Mississauga Master Gardeners

References

//extension.umn.edu/

JOE LAMP’L www.growingagreenerworld.com

Lee Reich- www.finegardening.com