Seedy Saturday plants visions of a warmer season
Vendors, gardeners get a break from winter
Aiden Zezela has big plans in store for the seeds he picked up at Niagara Seedy Saturday this weekend in Wellandport.
The Welland boy, attending Seedy Saturday with his parents for the first time, has a bit of a knack for gardening. Pumpkins are his crop of choice, and for Aiden bigger is better.
“I grew an 86-pound pumpkin last year,” the young greenthumb said. After perusing the seed exchange table Saturday morning, he and his mom Terri picked out a few seeds, including some pumpkin seeds they hope will grow as big or bigger than last year’s.
Seedy Saturday is one of the first signs that spring is on its way. Communities all over hold events similar to the one organized by the Tree and Twig’s Linda Crago each year in Wellandport. The main draw is a seed exchange, through which gardeners swap their excess for something new.
“People are looking for things that are different,” Crago said, gauging the interest of a packed crowd at Wellandport Community Centre.
Right from the moment doors opened there was a flood of people.
“People are tired of winter.
This tells them there’s hope. Spring will come,” Crago said.
“Oh yeah, it (spring) is coming,” said Jeff Mason, about the growing season that seems so far away after a few blasts of frigid weather in recent weeks.
Mason runs Mason House Gardens in Uxbridge, a mailorder garden centre. This was his first time attending Niagara’s Seedy Saturday, and he said it was worth the drive.
“It’s been great,” he said. “People have said the Niagara Seedy Saturday is one of the best to come to.”
In addition to the seed exchange, there were guest speakers and gardening-related vendors.
Lorraine Von Bargen, owner of Cheeky Blooms flower farm in West Lincoln, was also visiting Seedy Saturday for the first time. A friend from Fergus couldn’t make it, so Von Bargen arrived with a shopping list that included succulents, variegated string of pearls and peperomia ruby cascade.
She was excited to pick up the plants and chat with Mason and other visitors. And that’s a common theme for Seedy Saturdays, Crago said.
“It’s a happy place. There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the speakers,” she said.