Must Be Spring

This weekend we "sprung forward" to Daylight Saving Time, and we had the Seed Swap event in the Gillies Community Centre. All sure signs that spring will be soon upon us. That, and the fact it was a steamy 13C.

The Seed Swap is a wonderful local initiative, bringing people together to share, well, seeds for their gardens. Healthy, wholesome, pesticide- and genetic manipulation-free seeds. This local event has expanded beyond seeds, and now includes composters, local beekeepers, water awareness, planting & growing tips and much more - anything related to feeding a small community in an environmentally sustainable way without "big agro".

We went home with a good collection of new seeds, lots of new ideas & inspiration - and something unexpected: a brand-new cold frame, donated to us!

A cold frame, you may well ask, what the bleep is that? It's a glass-covered frame used to protect plants and seedlings from frost as well as for hardening off seedlings before they go into the ground. Very low-tech and very effective.

Our spiffy cold frame before going outside to help germinate veggies

This particular cold frame was designed and made by Jessie Pineault, a grade ll student at ESC de la Verendry in Thunder Bay. He did a great job on it, using left-over acryllic sheets used for window insulation.

So thanks to Jessie, we'll now be able to get a head start on our veggies, grown from organic seed-swap seeds!
Life can be good. Must be spring...