April showers bring May flowers
With the warmer weather just peeking around the corner, thoughts turn to the greening the yard, or maybe just growing some patio pots of deliciousness at your apartment. The library has lots of great gardening books, manuals, magazines and a few instructional DVDs available on our shelves, and downloadable eBooks and eMagazines too.
Drop by and wander the bookshelves or try out the search feature for the entire library collection online to place a hold request on information you may be seeking.
One of my favorites is Atlantic Coastal Gardening: Growing Inspired, Resilient Plants By The Sea, written by Denise Adams (2014). It has beautiful pictures and sage advice that’s tried and true.
Another great book is East Coast Gardener: A Month-bymonth Guide to Successful Gardening (2006) by well-known CBC personality and local gardening expert Marjorie Willison.
Looking for more green-thumb advice?
The Pictou Library is hosting a container gardening program with the Pictou Garden Club on Friday, April 28 at 1:30 p.m.
Join Angie and Anne with the garden club for a presentation to learn how to brighten up your garden boxes right on your doorstep with colorful flowers and yummy vegetables – with some tips, tricks and new ideas for easy and low-maintenance solutions.
All are welcome, though space is limited and pre-registration is required. To register, please call the Pictou Library (902-485-5021).
And keeping things green, the monthly meeting of Pictou County Naturalist Club at the New Glasgow Library on Tuesday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m., features a presentation on the rehabilitation of the Appalachian deciduous forests with ecologist and botanist, Dr. Nick Hill, Ph.D.
Nova Scotia was once a mosaic of different forest associations that reflected differences in rock, soil, climate and First Nations management. The Atlantic coastline was boreal with black and white spruce while the well-drained uplands of Cape Breton and the Cobequids and fertile floodplains were hardwood associations. These hardwoods are northern extensions of the Appalachian deciduous forest, and they change with climate change.
Other events
Switching gears, the Stellarton library is hosting two upcoming afternoon sessions with Beth Jackson, the community coordinator with the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia. All are welcome to drop by.
On Thursday, April 27, the roundtable presentation will be about understanding dementia and its signs and symptoms, and on Thursday, May 4, the presentation will be about how to keep our brains healthier as we age. Both sessions are from 3 to 4 p.m., and all questions are welcome.
Amnesty Month
With April soon coming to a close, so is Amnesty Month. There is just one more week left to tidy up those overdue fines with some non-perishable food donations for the food bank!
We have received a great response to the campaign and are very happy to pass along over 20 large boxes of donated non-perishable food items from library patrons to the food bank.
And lost library books that are found and returned are always appreciated at any time. It’s never too late. And even better, lost book charges are forgiven as soon as the item is returned.
Coming up around the corner in May, save the date for Free Comic Book Day and the annual Art Gala fundraiser with Friends by the Sea Artists’ Association on May 6, and N.S. Walk Day @Library on May 10 (with some new Nordixx walking poles available soon for borrowing at your local library, thanks to a Walkabilities grant from NS Heart & Stroke).
For more information on upcoming library programs, special events and services, please drop by your local library branch, follow us on Twitter, find us on Facebook, or visit us online at www.parl.ns.ca.