The Rural Voice, 2002-11, Page 30Gardening
Getting up to date at a pioneer village
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
Black Creek Pioneer village has
always fascinated me. While named
"pioneer'. it really is a recreation of a
19th century Victorian village in the
1860s.
The people were more established,
more prosperous than the first pioneers.
They had an assortment of small
manufacturers like barrel makers. a
smithy. and cabinet makers. Local
farmers could grow enough for
themselves and have enough left over
to take to town to sell. Gardens in town
were smaller and in some areas cows
and horses were banned from the back
yards.
The Lake Simcoe South Master
Gardeners hosted the annual technical
workshop for the Master Gardeners of
Ontario at Black Creek Pioneer Village
(BCPV). Master Gardeners are required
to attend one technical workshop each
year to keep broadening and sharpening
their wealth of knowledge.
Can you imagine over 140
gardeners, confined for the day with
knowledgeable speakers. great little
gardening boutiques, and a beautiful
day to enjoy the Village. Dennis
Pollock, head gardener at BCPV
brought out an assortment of gardening
tools that would have been made in the
village. The spades were heavy and
straight and the handles were all hand
carved. Not as nice as our lightweight
tools with rubber padded handles.
Dennis remarked that the dry
summer had taken its toll on the
gardens in the village. He and his staff
spent many hours watering. While
watering cans were the norm in 1868,
he did confess that they hauled out the
hoses after hours for some deep
watering of shrubs and trees. Dennis
has been the head gardener for 17 years
and has overseen the many herb.
vegetable and flower gardens. They are
26 THE RURAL VOICE
currently developing a weaver's dye
garden and a Biblical garden.
It was early in October when we
were there and glowing in a quite a few
gardens was tricolour amaranthus. A
hardy annual, it will grow from two to
four feet in poor soil. It's wonderful
red, yellow and green colours made a
great back drop for the flower beds and
could be seen quite easily from down
the street.
One final note before I tell you of a
couple of tricks I learned. The gardens
were just as 1 remember my great
grandmother's: geraniums tucked in
here and there. coleus for a bit of the
unusual. and a smattering of
nasturtiums and morning glory on a
few fences. They were comfortable
gardens. There were still a few fall
vegetables in the gardens and the
compost heaps were evident in each
yard. While it was not the best time of
the year to view the gardens, it was
enough to inspire me to come back
again.
Two of the other speakers left a
strong impression with me. Martin
Galloway. host of HGTV's Secret
World of Gardens and David
Tomlinson. of Merlin's Hollow.
Aurora.
Martin Galloway showed slides of
beautiful butterflies. He commented on
how everyone is so anxious to lure
these gossamer bits of colour to their
gardens. He then proceeded to show
slides of a variety of caterpillars. There
was a general murmur among some that
those were the dirty blighters that
created problems in a few of their
gardens. The crowning moment came
when Martin told them that those same
caterpillars were the preliminary stages
of those butterflies they spend so much
time on luring into their gardens.
We sometimes forget about the life
cycle of insects when we inspect
damage in our gardens. Their stages
are shorter than the growing season
and if we plant extra we can afford
to let the insects complete their cycle
and still reap a harvest for ourselves.
A simple life lesson. If you are
interested in learning more about
beneficial insects check out
http://www.extension.unr.edu/Plants/be
neficial.htm
Our second speaker, David
Tomlinson, has a yard that we all
dream about. With the aid of slides
David showed their three-quarter acre
yard in the beginning. He had planted
18 -inch cedars from a friend's farm
which are now six feet high and protect
a series of gardens, each with its own
distinct character. He has developed
micro -climates for woodland beds, a
fern walk, thyme lawn, alpine garden
with scree beds, bog beds, a frog pond
and scented garden and a knot garden.
The Tomlinsons began their garden in
1981 based on the traditional English
garden and following the philosophy of
Gertrude Jekyll, an early English
landscaper.
David starts the bulk of his plants
from seeds and cuttings and he has
friends from around the world who
send him seed and challenge him to
grow something different. His gardens
contain over 1500 different plants
requiring their own kind of growing
conditions.
He shared a very simple tip for
starting seeds. Anytime after mid-
November he starts his seeds in a peat
moss mixture in four inch pots or flats.
After two days in the house with water
and heat he puts them outside along a
north wall, away from any sun, and
covers them with snow if there is any.
The two days in the house is enough for
the seeds to soak up the moisture before
being bedded into the cold for the
winter season. Protected from the sun
they will not be forced to sprout before
spring.
Once the temperature reaches 40
degrees Fahrenheit the pots and flats
are moved out into the sun. David has
very good results with this process and
you can see the proof in his garden.
They open their garden to the public
on the second Saturday in May and
June, the first Saturday in July and the
Sunday of the following weekend.
They are located at 181 Crescent in
Aurora, north of Toronto. 1 sense
another road trip in the spring.
The Master Gardener workshop was
self -planned. It seemed appropriate that
we meet at Black Creek Pioneer
Village to enjoy the gardens of
yesteryear and learn about the gardens
of the future.0
AIM