Seedy Saturday shines light on gardening

By Lethbridge Herald on April 10, 2024.

Herald photo by Justin Seward Judy Harris shovels compost into one of her five buckets during Seedy Saturday at the Lethbridge Public Library on Saturday.

Justin Seward
Lethbridge Herald

A focus on gardening was the topic of discussion during Environment Lethbridge’s annual Seedy Saturday event at the Lethbridge Public Library.

“It’s really an opportunity to talk about gardening, talk about local food, this year we’re talking a lot about water and gardening and how to deal with that in your garden,” said Kathleen Sheppard, Environment Lethbridge’s executive director.

“So we have some exhibits, we have some workshops, we have a seed swap, which is very popular and we have free compost, which is even more popular.”

Seedy Saturday’s goal is to help new and experienced gardeners get started.

“And then from Environment Lethbridge’s perspective, we also see this as a real opportunity to just connect people with being outside which is really important for all of us,” said Sheppard.

“And so whether you’re growing a pot on your balcony or have an entire backyard that is a garden, I think everybody really gets something rewarding out of that experience.”

With drought being a hot topic locally as of late, the event had workshops on caring for urban trees, the Prairie Urban Garden, which talked about using native plants in your garden and landscaping during drought and thirdly the Helen Schuler Nature Centre was hosting an exercise on yards being a water shed.

“There are a lot of keen gardeners in Lethbridge,” said Sheppard.

“I would say that it’s a very active gardening community. As you know, going back a few years, we were a Communities in Bloom winner when that program was still active and I think the roots of that are still here in Lethbridge.”

Glenda Livingston was a vendor at the event that grows vegetables, herbs and native pollinator friendly plants for bees and promotes growing your own food.

“I like to promote for people to be able to grow their own food and be knowledgeable about what they can do to feed themselves in a great way, cook great meals using fine ingredients and growing them themselves,” said Livingston.

Livingston said it brings people together.

“A lot of the people here have swapped seeds and even I think swapping plants,” she said.

“learning about things like vermiculture, using worms (and) compost, saving water, that’s a big issue around our area now is with the drought and people are curious. It’s nice to be part of a group of people that either know a lot or are curious to learn more.”