Small but mighty Clare garden club resurrected

You can never know too much about gardening, says club vice-president

Last September, a group of Clare gardeners revived an organization that was missing from their community for close to two decades.

There used to be a garden club in the Clare area a generation ago. Over time, it slowly withered and died due to dwindling membership and loss of interest.

The new club – Rooted in Clare - already has 16 members and more people are joining at every meeting.

“We are small, but mighty,” said vice- president Lisa Doucette, who says she felt it was time to resurrect the garden club. Rooted in Clare, the community’s new garden club, launched last fall. (Some members are missing from photo.)

She had been a member of the original club and has fond memories of it, especially as she was a “new gardener that didn’t know very much” at that time.

“I figured there must be more people like me out there. Especially the younger generation, and we do have some younger members, which is awesome.”

Two years ago she began taking her master gardener course through Dalhousie.

“I love teaching and learning about gardening; you can never know too much,” she said.

The club encompasses the Municipality of Clare but anyone from outside the area is welcome to join.

Other executives in the club are president Dave Doucette and secretary/ treasurer David LaChapelle.

As the group has only just formed, members have not yet been involved in community projects but Lisa Doucette says they are looking forward to beautifying the area and learning more about the Communities in Bloom program.

“We’d also like to start the project Plant a Row, Give a Row. This is where you’d plant extra in your garden and donate the veggies to seniors, food kitchens, etc.,” she said.

On April 7, the club took part in Clare’s Seedy Saturday and is in the process of planning garden tours for this summer.

Guest speakers have presented at past club meetings and members visited an apple orchard to learn how to prune trees. A field trip to learn how to prune and manage blueberries was also enjoyed.

“We are new but we’re very busy,” said Doucette.