Host Adam Walsh speaks with gardening expert Michael Murray about spring gardening tips to set folks up for all systems grow for the season.
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[Music] [Applause] [Music] it’s Tuesday April 23rd I’m Adam Walsh and this is the signal and it is the second and final pre-season gardening show before the big May kick off want to get things all set up for all systems grow the show is for you Michael Murray is here in studio and ready for your [Music] calls that’s right it is a pre-season gardening day what’s the difference between a preseason gardening day and a regular season gardening day Michael what is the difference I don’t even know if I know the difference sun’s out today uh Snow’s all gone uh the nights are getting warmer still below zero uh yeah this is kind of the season when it’s time to get ready yeah you know we’re we’re stretching we’re limbering up we’re getting everything ready for the big the big 2024 uh gardening season so let me let me put out the numbers as as we’re about to dip into things so 709 722 7111 80056 38255 the text line is open 709 327 8206 and uh the signal at CBC . CA and before we talk gardening I just want to play it’s a 30 second little thing here Curtis if you want to give that a roll hi Adam it’s Meg Andale Kohl’s here I’ve got some tickets for your listeners poverty Co theater company’s Grace is this week Grace follows the story of Elanor whose marriage is imploding at her best friend’s wedding party written by Yours Truly comes a new play adapted from Lisa Morris Nela of the same name Grace is equal parts guts and grit sometimes it is okay to be messy sometimes it’s not playing April 25th to the 27th on the St John’s arts and culture center main stage you don’t want to miss it thank you Megan uh Megan Gail Coes uh mgc for that uh for that call and that message 25th 26th and 27th so three shows I’m getting three pairs of tickets dropped off here later today for listeners of the signal so the way we’ll work it is uh I don’t know a if you if you’re phone in the talk about gardening today we’ll put your name in the draw and if if you you know don’t have your heads wrapped around the gardening season yet and you just email the signal uh we’ll put everyone’s name in for a draw for today’s show as well as tomorrow’s show um and then we’ll just give out the tickets and so if you just want to email uh the signal at cbc.ca for tickets sometimes you folks just like to put tickets in the subject line with nothing else that too is acceptable but also if you want to phone and talk about gardening today uh just by doing what you normally do uh during gardening uh shows and pre-season gardening shows you will be entered in for a a draw so Michael Murray how was uh how are things in Murray’s busy real busy yeah really busy kind of like the ramp up get get stuff together we’ve been really busy now for over a month uh and uh a lot of lot of stuff been growing was in a in our tomato greenhous we have a big house dedicated to hydroponic uh tomato grow growth and and they get filtered into the cafe and also s of the sold to the public to the Garden Center so twoot high tomato plants looking real good all ready to go big house full of from yesterday delighted to be in there because it was so nice and warm m uh and we’ve been out as well prepping ground as a matter of fact when I was leaving Nazar who works on the farm with us was going up in the field with roota tiller on the tractor and he was preparing pieces of uh of ground for planting things now we’re getting ready to plant some things great time to plant spinach now uh even seeding lettuce hearty lettuce crops can be put in now uh shortly onion uh starts can be put in now so we’re getting there some people I’ve talked to have in strategic places like Sunny dry areas up against the foundation of a house where there’s there’s probably some heat loss people got potatoes planted already so in those strategic areas like that right on yeah heat loss for your potatoes yeah yeah so how how to how do recapture your wasted energy one more time as it goes out no no don’t insulate don’t don’t don’t don’t pad the insulation on this side of the house with the sun that’s for the potatoes in the early spring I thought it was an interesting uh an interesting Garden concept oh that’s fantastic what else you been up to over the winter well one the always always a great moment for me I don’t know they all make fun of me when I when I get excited but on the 21st of March again this year with snow covering the ground a plant that I value deeply is a native plant called witch hazel and it came into full bloom as it should on March the March 21st first day of spring This thing always blooms beautiful yellow flowers and when that happens I get excited I can I can feel Spring G so that’s exciting yeah um other things that that have been interesting uh through is Susan my wife started a h a grow a growing uh uh place in our Greenhouse which is attached have a little tiny Greenhouse attached to the side of the house and she started growing a radish seedlings and harvesting those for greens for salad and also some Hardy lettuce varieties and we she put those in on the 2nd of February uh which is an old traditional pagan planting date I I said we got to do it on on February the 2nd candles must day Groundhog Day embolic they all make fun of me about my Pagan ritualism which I have a lot of fun with yeah I have fun with that so on the second we plant them by St Patrick’s Day we were harvesting and have been continuously harvesting uh lettuce and radishes the radish is beautiful nice peppery green and and soft and uh and and and the other thing that was interesting she she was kind of heavy handed with the seeding uh and she was concerned about that but as she harvested the first crop then another bunch of seed germinated and then that filled in and again another Bunch so it’s like a succession of of greens coming and germinating and flourishing and then Harvest and then the cycle begins again so it’s been wonderful I think that’s going to be a wonderful annual thing for us now oh yeah no anything like any extra bit of uh like fresh whatever right like it is so nice to have then to have something that you’re like hey this worked really well we’re learning from it and this is something we can just continue to do and then through those like the winter and spring months I mean that’s that’s so cool that is it’s really that was exciting fun uh the other thing that that I was interested in uh first time that I’ve ever planted scales of of garlic and I looked the other day and they’re all coming up beautifully so I’m excited about that that’s interesting to see uh also interesting to see all the perennials now perennials are starting to show uh all over the place in gardens uh hookas Soldiers and Sailors Shasta daisies haven’t seen hostas yet but I know they’re there so you got to be careful when you’re rooting around in gardens now but this is a great time to divide and dig and Transplant plants perennials in particular great time now uh to if you if you’re inclined to do this is to harvest 1 foot high white sprues from Wild situations old gravel pits where succession is planted but has taken place and you can gather those up I always like to see when you’re transplanting transplanting something where do I want to place them yeah where in the garden uh is the best place uh am I what am I using them am I using for screen am I using them for privacy and I using them for an aesthetic component so looking at the use of the plant where I’m going to use and then transplanting digging the hole having the soil prepped then going back to harvest the plants you’re going to take and move them to the new location the faster you get that done the better your success worst thing you do is dig the plant out not have the site prepared the plant is sitting like today out in a drying wind dries out the roots and again your success rate starts to diminish so you want to be on top of transplanting prep the site select the plants you’re going to move and then move them quickly and do it in a matter of hours yeah prep the O before you’re going to do it’s like that it’s like that for sure yeah uh yeah it I’m thinking about that too right because we moved into a new my wife I moved into a new spot late November not a great time of year to move by the way late November with Christmas coming up uh so there’s a Learning lesson for uh uh you know future future me uh in case we ever want to move I don’t think we’re going to but uh yeah we we moved and now we’re just kind of getting used to the place right so we’re looking around we’ve got some uh I noticed in the backyard this little patch of like little spring violets that are kind of up or whatever nice uh next to a a a I think it is I will call it a a Charlie brownes roaded engine uh so that that can tell you the the the size and look of it so I’m really rooting for it this year part of the pun that it you know we’ll see what happens as the grow season kind of starts well first thing is for that Charlie Brown wrot a dendrin is try to dig out around and get any competing grass around it away so the plant doesn’t compete with other plants uh often when plants are planted the excavation the original excavation is minimal it’s hard work digging in the grally soil of Newland if you can dig out around the peripher to make that that root zone or soil zone bigger and I would suggest you know if you can get out a foot or 18 in from where the plant is now go right around and and dig out that material and put in more soil uh and and the soil just good well mixed soil a little bit of Pete little bit of sand uh and and then plant it back around uh that will help tremendously for that plant to go from Charlie Brown to Lucy all right I that’s something for me to be at now let’s just say in this uh example we’re giving that that patch of violets is right next to it can I leave those alone sure okay after they’re bloomed if you think you want to move them to a more strategic Place prep the place that you’re going to move them if they’re in Conflict move them to another location sounds like got blue bells or quills they’re blue bells and so they they’re very adaptable yeah uh you can move them but hey if they’re not the end of the world don’t don’t worry about it but the rest all right I’ll get at that cuz I would like to see the Roto kind of just start to thrive a bit cuz that be in the backyard yeah oh it’s great plant have you checked out the other thing I always like to say where is the sun the morning sun where does it rise where does it set we’re south cuz in that plane that’s where the best Sun’s going to be identifying where shade is when the shade occurs uh is it midday is it late in the day cu the site matters a lot to how the success of a planting goes I believe rooted end flourish best when they’re in full sun to half shade but prefer in full sun the Winter’s the rather the the Springs are long and cold The Summer’s short uh the intensity of the sun questionable sometimes the back where where it is right now in the backyard it’s uh yes it’s closer to kind of this fence but we’re so we’re down in Kitty viy Sun’s kind of moved over now rising up so once you get into once it gets above the fence height in the morning it it the path tends to stay over the backyard is what it’s looking like now this so this is me just like looking at the pattern of the Sun every day just be like okay what do we got because I’m also thinking perhaps a raised bed or something like we’re lots of thoughts for the the backyard for as we kind of slowly uh adapt adapt and figure some stuff out yeah well looking at the sun and and understanding that relationship in the back if you get a Southern Exposure which is sounds like you have your opportunities are are lot lot more substantial than not you know yeah okay all right so that’s good I’m glad we’ll go from there you folks you’re listening to the signal it is our pre-season gardening uh show the the full every Tuesday regular season kicks off in May but for this the second of two preseason shows the first one was with Tim Walsh from the Botanical Garden at Memorial University Tim was in back in March and the point of that show was to give you all hope and and I think it did because we got some messages from folks saying thank you we just know something of a grow season is around the corner and today we’re just we’re talking about really kind of getting down into some planning and getting ready for for the 2024 uh gardening season because we are into it Michael Murray of Murray’s Garden Center Portugal Cove is here with me in the studio studio if you want to join the conversation 709 72271 111 80056 38255 text us 79 327 8206 or emails the signal at cbc.ca what else should people be what should we what else should we be thinking about like I was looking through some stuff prepping for today right it talks about like spring inspection hardscaping uh spring cleanup there’s lots of different things that it from no matter where you are in North America or wherever else like that that’s on the list like like what should people be well the first thing you know this morning or yesterday I was out pruning broken branches on one was a pyramidal uh Oak big tall pyramidal oak had some broken branches from ice and snow loads had a service Berry an amania with same problem pruning those out then raking up the lawn good thorough raking uh getting all the stones and salt and stuff that gets thrown up at the snow cloud snow uh plow during the winter cleaning up those areas where you’re having uh the the remnants of the snow clearing activity on your lawn great thing to get that done now Limestone application can happen now nice to use anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds of limestone per 100 square ft of lawn area that uh be a great uh activity to get done now um also uh last fall with uh RO with rendin with uh Gooseberry and black CERN uh I I basically start layering some of those plants and the process is just taking a branch on the outside of the shrub scarifying the back of it with a knife just to open up a small wound placing the branch down at ground level and contact with the soil then I put a rock on top of that to keep it secured and now I’m looking the spring now I’m seeing the the beginning of those plants starting to root in when they come out in June in Full full uh Leaf I’m going to cut off those layers that have I’ve propagated and I’m going to plant them so I had three black currants I think when I harvest these I’ll have I’d suggest somewh around 10 12 viable plants that I’ll expand my black current uh oh that’s nice my yeah those are free Plants what free free uh what do you do so black currents what do you do with them come Harvest Time well then then hopefully this year they’ll they’ll become established become vegetatively established that’s all I expect from this year then next year I’m hoping that they’ll establish the first Bloom will take place and fruit next year that’s my that’s my goal do that with blue gooseberry and black currs and I did a road to dinner like that as well so those are plants that we can propagate very easily right now you can do that practice right now as a matter of fact right all right those are some uh great great tips and yeah so you said Limestone for lawns what else should people be I wouldn’t fertilize Lawns yet um as I a great time now I’m as I said earlier I see lots of perennials coming up now this this warmer weather great time to uh dig up perennials that have become uh you know too big for the area you can divide them sometimes you can divide as many four or five off of them sharing plants uh between neighbors and things the regret I always have and and it’s like the plague that keeps coming back to I had two wonderful cultivates of of what new finlanders called Soldiers and Sailors Miss Moonglow is a variety beautiful you know military blue and red colors to them lasts a long time one of the first things to bloom my mother had some lovely Culvers I took them from her garden and and brought them to mine but I also brought the deadly goutweed with it and so I’ve been I’ve been scolded several times uh for introducing the uh the gout the dreaded gout weed into the garden and I I was out yesterday with my hoe ho away and picking out so this is a great time now to attack any of the persistent weeds to get on top of them and intervene with either digging them out getting the roots putting uh shade cloth or some way of blocking out the Sun or as it starts to come on and gets a good flush you could use a pesticide herbicide like Roundup to attack them a little early for that uh when I mention that home they all get the Shivers at home whenever I mention the use of Roundup and and I’m scolded for that as well I have a secret bottle hidden way just case of emergency yeah like oh you did some great getting rid of the gall yeah I worked real hard with my ho on that one yeah yeah it’s all dis elble grease folks so yeah it’s a good time now to cultivate Gardens there’s two rules of thought and here in New I believe cultivating and turning the soil Now is really important uh there’s this philosophy about no till uh here in New Finland the soil is so clammy uh wet doesn’t dry out easy see as I said NASA today is turning soil using a mechanical Rota tiller I’m going to have a look later because what’s going to happen he’s going to fluff up the soil he’s going to get more ear worked in around it getting more ear means that there’s less moisture uh with moisture out of the soil because of this tilling or forking through the soil then it warms up faster and So the faster you can warm up the soil the better it is for starting off a crop in it so I’m I’m a a cultivator plower roota tiller kind of guy or in small gardens a digging Fork just to turnover systematically going through and taking out the weeds hard work but boy it pays off big dividends if you’re on top of it we got a text and uh if you do want to text us 709 327 8206 emails the signal cbc.ca number 709 722 71111 80056 38255 Michael Murray’s with me for a the second of two preseason gardening shows Adam please ask Mr Murray how deep should I plant uh seed potatoes so that’s from Lewis and Ramia I like to see them go down uh if you can 6 to 8 Ines yeah uh if you’re going six uh Ines uh have enough soil around to heal them up so that as the stems start to grow you’re able to bury the bottom of the stem H by healing up the OWN land term for for old old potato patches or making lazy beds as some people call them and and then and then you’re off to the races but planting 6 to 8 in deep it’s a little early unless as we were mentioning the heat loss uh factors in your in your in your uh planting area uh other than that I I would hold off putting potatoes in until at least the 24th of May 1st of June uh you know we’re we’re not even in the May yet and you know May snow is likely to come and so it’s it’s it’s it’s patience uh and you’re better off I think waiting till 24th of May 1st of June for those kinds of crops but even crops like lettuce as I said spinach seating now would be great uh and and any of the members of the crucifer family going in around the 1st of June things like carrots I I always like to see carrots go in much later like more like first of July beats last of June that kind of the period so don’t let the enthusiasm make bad decisions by planting too early see you know what and this is another thing that I blame social media for because I just know in my life right when uh March turns into April and I’m looking at other places so folks I follow who who I know wherever right could be Ontario Vancouver from Japan South Korea I I just see enthusiasm around spring and there’s lots of stuff that’s blossoming and it’s like oh oh and I I’ve got that excitement here and it’s not it like I just need to not be excited as as excited it just needs to be in its own like form that fits here right I think the T look right now as I said yesterday I’m cleaning up the lawn doing some pruning getting some lime Stone down in the green houses now Plastics gone on green houses we’re we’re folks we’re planting things now but before that about 3 weeks four weeks ago we were going through our usual sanitation rituals of washing all the greenhouse benches down uh using mile uh javel uh Solutions soap Solutions and uh to to basically wash down benches growing ears containers sanitation is really important if you the higher the level of Sanitation you have the less problems you’re going to have with fungal and and and and insect and other disease issues so that sanitation issu scrubbing down washing down spraying down uh cleaning up and getting the SES ready now that’s what’s really important in the greenhouse yeah well fantastic message because I know um a month or two well a couple months from now right we’ll be sitting here doing a show just like this and we get calls like hey I’ve got a fungus issue at my Greenhouse I’m like well how was did you not listen to the preseason show did did you not listen I don’t like to do that but sanitation you know sanitation weed control uh Pest Control uh these are all the elbow grease Seas a pay dividends if you put it in now you you’ll reap the reward later by not having to contend with those issues and going around and spraying and addressing things after the fact uh we had a text yesterday from uh Brian and Jane Jagger Friends of the show they said it was an Earth Day show yesterday right and they said happy Earth Day another load of kelp going on the farm today to feed the soil uh which is a I love getting notes like this and they had a picture of all the kelp talk to me a bit about because we’re talking about like feeding soil getting ready for the grow season where does kelp playing with all of this oh kp’s wonderful I think kelp is one of the nicest easiest cheap you got fre free but you got to put in the elbow grease you got to go out in the beaches you got to pick it up uh you I’ve seen you can take a kelp and plow it right in incorporate it right away back in the soil uh or you can compost it if you get it in the fall compost it but right now plowing that in getting that worked in the soil getting compost worked in the soil turning the compost bin uh our great pregen uh activities you can do the frost is out of the ground now so uh yeah kelp is a wonderful wonderful nutrient uh it’s an oldfashioned nutrient that new new finlanders have used for decades in in in in farming so if you can get kelp in quantities like that go for it but get it Incorporated in so it becomes part of the soil substrate m yeah I I love like the what I keep learning each year now doing the show and and having these conversations it’s just about some of the planning that’s required but if you do plan properly like like you are setting yourself up for so much more success right exactly if you put it in now this is the time to prep your whole garden situation in Greenhouse in the garden uh around the various shrubs and Orchard plants this is the time for pruning uh cleaning up sanitation issues uh I I was telling you earlier about an interesting uh thing um was down visiting Ross Travers uh just after oh is this the bat story so so Susan we we planted Susan’s wonderful she I tell you we’re meant for each other anyway she says to me after we had planted an orchard of uh cherries and pear and uh various apples and uh and plums and things and and it’s 5 years and but we’ve been feeding it and taking care of it we’re getting scanty Bloom scanty crop she of course says huh some horticulturalists can’t seem to even get enough apples for an apple pie here I don’t know what’s going on and I said I think we’re feeding them too much and I think they’re too vegetative anyway down to visit Ross and as she says when I’m going down she says now you ask ra Ross about about that and I said Okay so get down with Ros oh yeah he said you you you want to you want to beat him up with a bat cuz he said if you injure the FL and and and the Asylum you will put stress on the plant and if you stress them like that by breaking the conductive tissue inside the bark then that stress is going to result in the plant forced into bloom and be prolific about it and this is where it’s like oh wait so we’re not speaking of metaphor we’re being literal boss is saying take a baseball bat to yeah he was talking about a stick sck I went further with it I I I said when this discussion was going on I asked uh I asked for a uh a baseball bat I asked for a lville a Louisville Slugger is what I wanted because I that’s the bat you’re supposed to use it really is yeah yeah so at Christmas time when I was asking about bats and having that conversation and then talking to Ross after Christmas the the kids got me a little bad this is not a Louisville Slugger this isn’t going cut the oh the little yeah yeah it’s not going to cut the cheese but anyway about a month ago got my Louisville Slugger got out and beat up all the trees uh Su was out with me and we said hope no one sees us here they’re going to think we’re off our rockers if we’re caught out here taking a baseball bat and beating up fruit trees in the orchard here and uh she said there’s no one looking so carry on and so it was funny cuz the bre the the the uh the tissue Was Juicy and alive and you know things were moving up from the soil through the plant as I broke through the bark and and started to crush the xylem and and FL uh that is just inside the conductive tissue you could see the green the green tissue inside there and I knew I was hitting uh at least 400 in in terms of patting average and we will see for updates to see what happens later well that’s right I’ll tell you how the how the how the uh the batting practice went sure you could charge people money for that maybe but I think I’m frightened for my sanity if I’m caught at it and we got a followup just again from uh from Michael Bennett emailing just asking uh again around like no till gardening yeah just just your like your thoughts around it again the the the business of look no no till gardening or don’t till farming in in a place like Saskatchewan or atob or Al Alberta Ontario where you know they spring and and their problem in western Canada is holding on to water I I don’t know if you saw but there was a great discussion taking place in Calgary between the agricultural community and and and and and the public about water use yeah and access to water use and it’s funny uh out in Alberta when the railroad was put through at the turn of the 20th century the railroad came out through the Prairies and open it up uh the Canadian national railroad PCI the Canadian Pacific Railroad they put in irrigation systems leading from the bow and Elbow River to come out into the Prairie to bring water out to encourage uh settlers to come and go farming out there though I thought it was interesting the foresight of those railroad Builders to you know basically if you’re going to if you’re going to put a railroad out into Barren unpopulated land they’ve got to sustain themselves so having a good irrigation system put in in conjunction with the expansion of the railroad mean there was a place for settlers to come and then Community could be built how important was water and the railroad to open up western Canada so making me think of it doing a whole separate show on Railways and uh anyway yeah well well out there water is is not a big as big an issue so you’re not trying to get water out of the soil you’re trying to retain it and keep it uh and that’s why theow sow is important out in western Canada if they don’t good get good snow cover they’re not going to have a very good uh fruitful spring cuz it dries out so quickly and gets hot here not the same you know because the soils tend to be very heavy uh and the soils hold moisture and they keep it cool water doesn’t heat up very quickly but dry soil can getting that heat and drying out the soil I’m a big proponent of turning the soil tilling the soil here in Newland and I think no till yeah it’s questionable in my mind all right well there’s the answer on no till Michael Murray from Murray’s Garden Center Portugal Cove is my guest today for this uh second of two preseason gardening shows here on the signal the regular season will ramp up starting in uh one just a couple weeks in May right if you want to join the conversation we’ll go to the phones now uh the numbers to call 709 722 7111 1 80056 38255 the text line is open 7093 327 8206 or emails the signal cbc.ca and it can be any questions about getting your grow season going uh questions about what to be for planning and even just updates on what you’re planning to do this year because I do like to hear from folks the like the last couple years with gardening season just even updates around what you want to do or what you’re doing or how things are working it’s it’s always great it doesn’t necessarily have to be a question but questions are are great as well let’s go to line one John’s on the line calling from St John hi hi how you doing guys good by where you at yeah not too much U join today I was going to ask you about I went to R parsnip and uh i t down the leaves that was on top and I left them in all winter yeah uh I was wondering when should I cultivate them should I take them all up or eat them as I’m going or what do I do with them or how to and how to preserve them right okay so you kept you got a crop of of uh of parps in the ground yes the tops are showing now yeah so you know you got a couple of choices uh here here’s what I’d suggest here this is a good time to start har harvesting those if you’re going to uh and uh and use them but Harvest them as you need them you don’t be in a panic to get them all out at once you’ve got all of me uh to make lots of stews and whatever dishes you make with parsnips yeah uh and and the best place to keep them is in the ground until you’re ready to use them in a recipe so you’re in good shape that way the other thing you could contemplate is leaving uh some of them in the ground uh because what’ll happen is they’ll start to produce a flour and that flour then in turn will produce seed and you can collect that seed and start using it again next year so that’s some choices uh it depends how much you’re interested in your Horticultural uh activities and growing and producing the seed which is you know take some time and patience uh but having your own seed is a wonderful thing and and it it’s it’s great bragging rights if you’re if you’re a garden garders love to brag about the biggest this and how I grew this and that so that’s an interesting thing keeping them in the ground till you’re ready to harvest them have you dug any up to see what size they are yeah I dug them up yet they’re um size of a small vinegar botle oh jeez you got a good crop you many of them yeah quite a few yeah oh excellent well now you know will you eat them all yourselves friends uh yeah I usually share them with friends in that right yeah they’ll keep they’ll keep in a seller they’ll keep in a fridge uh you know you can keep them right through the summer if you if you wanted to just keep the temperature around 35° uh and put them in a storage area and and then and that’s kind of post Harvest uh getting them through through the uh spring and summer if you want to keep them that way yeah I was going to ask you before I go U if you leave them in the ground will they eventually rat or eat them as you go you they when the weather warms up they’re going to start to go to seed they’ll start that top that’s growing now that is going to get really tall okay and and it’s then going to go to flow it’s going to be a flat white flour and then the seed will be produced and come the fall you could you could uh Harvest that seed dry it out and and keep it for next year’s crop if you’re inclined to do that right right right okay otherwise they going to deteriorate and break down and and then you’re going to lose them because all of that stored nutrient in the root in in the par root will then go into producing the top and the seed yeah and when I take them off should I wash them off because you don’t peel parsnip do you I peel parsnips oh you peel par yeah yeah I peel parns okay I just wash one right well that’s it I each to their own some people with carrots and parsnips don’t yeah uh nutritional wise I think that the peel has something in them that that certainly is worthwhile not peeling that off oh okay so uh yeah uh it’s a question of taste so yeah okay all right listen thank you very much guys where where where you where’s your garden located uh in St John’s in St John’s wow you must be in a place where you got good deep soil to get carrots the size of i’ rather getting pars the size of that you got a good Garden yeah I uh I brought in soil right I got the soil mixed with peat and B and uh kelp and all kinds of stuff but so I’ve got a raised bed and I’ll make seven beds out of it right wow excellent excellent good deep do you have do you lme it a good thing if you’re going to use that again you could Li lime it lime it thoroughly get it right down cuz that helps uh get good deep uh carrots and parms when you got a good rich soil okay good enough sir good luck you sound like a good Gardener yeah thanks very much car see buddy John there conf from St John let’s go line to Dick Whitaker’s on the line hi Hi how are you hello Michael hello dick how are you bud not bad good um uh I was interested you mentioned the Joseph’s coat there going along which plant Joseph’s coat oh Joseph’s Co colus yeah colus no that Co colus yeah no I was I was talking about my mother’s Soldiers and Sailors pulman areia pulman areia but but Joseph’s Cod is an annual uh well I’ve also heard pal Mar called the same thing so ah oh okay all right but the soldiers and saes anyway I just want to let you know that I have uh you know about five different colors oh some of which probably came from your mother’s area or so on or at least dorine yes dorine was dorine was a was a good Garden I know that you did a lot with Dorene in in preparing and keeping those Gardens up that she maintained and and a broad variety of of plant material I I even thought there was it’s too bad but there was such an array of beautiful perennials that she kept and you you with her did a great job of making a great display there along that roadside yeah oh yeah that’s that’s it going in you know the empty way was was glorious at but anyway um what I wanted to say to you is that I have you know these varieties some of them are planted in an area which is uh higher and a little more shaded so on yeah although they’re showing their heads they won’t be out for another two weeks but I’ve got in another area lower down and more exposed to the sun yeah I have a pink one that’s I in flower now so right so you know this is the thing you you need to understand your garden area y as to what what you should do here and there yeah uh the other thing that I think people underrate and you don’t have to have everything beautifully you know Wonderful soil for everything um you know good for some sorts of things but um we have Heathers in various places and heaths and have at least well two different varieties of Heathers out now yeah and uh you know these are one of those um uh plants that are I think we don’t know enough about them personally in the sense that as to plant them to get uh displays because you can get the Heather and flower for almost the whole summer can’t you not yes I I’ve had the opportunity to build a number of planting beds using both heaths and Heathers having spring summer uh fall succession of Bloom uh having you don’t have to have perfect soil it can take a rough rough rough rocky soil prefers that really it seems to thrive in in that kind of coarse soil because it drains so well I i’ I’ve found the Heather on banks on sloping areas really establishes well and you’re right it’s great if you can bring together the various Heats and Heathers I think on one particular planting I had as many as 12 13 different cultivar uh that just had that succession of Bloom of quite a spectacular Garden God Bless the people who hired us to do that give us that opportunity oh yeah yeah a question for you though I I have a private that I got from me long I expect from you a long time ago yeah I let it grow I didn’t uh pruned at all or so on and it’s now about 7 ft tall or something like that yeah it has lots and lots of you know white flowers on which see you know butterflies like yeah lovely plant yeah in my growing up it was a hedge plant not quite thought of that way but anyway yeah but uh and it had a lot of their berries on this winter which the robins that were hanging around really liked and some of the birds as well so it has multiple benefits yep but being ancient and so on uh um you know some of the branches are split and I I’m do you know if I cut that right down uh I know it will come up again but do you know if it will flower this year or not or what yeah if if it’s gotten gangl and split up and it’s gotten unruly and it needs to you be managed better cutting it back to to anywhere from a third to a half would be a good practice taking out any dead wood that you see there which I know you can recognize get it out of the way quickly uh cultivating around it I doubt if you’re going to get flowers this year I think it’ll be next year that you’ll get flowers again but bringing some order back into shrubs that become gangly and and open like that and susceptible to to damage from snow and ice yeah good practice to cut them back hard yeah one of the other things by the way I put in the police or start starlings you know everybody seems to like to hate the Sterlings but if you watch them they’re working your Lawns right now y picking up a lot of the grubs and so forth that are a problem you know particularly The Moth grubs and so on yeah and and the same thing with crows I watched crows all winter working the you know right in the dead of winter once if there was no snow they would work the grass and see if they could find something you know yeah I agree what they’re they’re kind of Nature’s Way of cultivating and dealing with Pest management issues so uh yeah no there’s no doubt we’ve been observing uh the the various uh the various birds that work around Lawns and whatnot and when you see them like you’ve said swooping down and Mass on a lawn there’s something good going on oh yeah yeah yep and well they’re probably fertilizing it as well yeah it’s it’s worth dick what you’re talking about is what what what what you know many of us who Garden a know is working with nature uh is the best there the best policy because that’s the renewal the sustainability issues that uh any of us who have had any uh any any uh experience with gardening know that that’s that’s the rules of the road yeah the other thing is this is the time to do as much as you can to get rid of the things you don’t want that’s right because because they’re obeying the Commandments of the Lord go forth and multiply right that’s exactly it and and and and and that’s right whatever you put in now I mean I I as I was tackling the the goutweed yesterday in its in its small forms and digging down and getting the roots and gathering together and putting a bit and and getting them out in the garbage I mean around around our place once you see that I mean you you got to get rid of it because it’s the plague that comes back to embarrass you later yeah but unfortunately we don’t have Ray guys tiis Neals to take care of them anyway I was exposing my my age I think okay any Ray guy quote on the show is amazing thank you very much you’re on the right you’re on the right level there brother yeah okay take care take care dick would he byebye dick would he there give us a call Dick is a fine Gardener and he’s been gardening when I was a child Dick came to New Finland back in the ‘ 50s uh after serving in uh in the military in in great in Great Britain he’s he’s half sister Dorene married my uncle miles and she was a war bride but she had a knack and the two of them together uh worked in the garden uh in a property just next door to ours and uh the gardens were spectacular it was the first real introduction I saw of of wellmaintained gardens uh he also created some garden pools that were interesting with frogs as a little seven six-year-old boy it was like a Wonderland and uh uh these experiences I I I always ask myself how did I end up in the situation well it’s kind of in your blood you know and and it’s part of your heritage part of who you are and you see it around you I don’t think at the time that those influences are going on that really cognizant that they’re having the impact they are but uh that when you when you like think back right like what like formed you and little moments that like at the time you’re just like oh I like frogs and like later on your life you’re like wait wait a minute like there’s more to all this yeah which is great and you I’ll say this about Mr Whitaker right like uh having him call on anything environment climate related it is it is such a nice thing to get calls from him around uh just having that that that conscience on on on and experience and experience and the wealth of experience yeah interesting over the week and Saturday was such a beautiful day gorgeous day 13 14° rout uh gardening uh and and just enjoying the outside but something struck me about it and I thought back to the the the depths of co uh on similar days in spring when Co first happened and the sky was clear and blue and there were no airplanes there was no flights on this weekend I sat back and around 11 12:00 in the day uh you saw the streaks the vapors from the traffic coming from Europe coming here to get their directions to go to the rest of the continent by the time we got to 2:00 in the afternoon that bright blue clear sky was now getting hazy and I start reading a little bit about how much emissions comes from a transatlantic jet flying from heo to Montreal huge you know huge amounts of of tons of carbon released into the the atmosphere and I thought back again we had an opportunity during Co not to have that yeah and the air was clear and clean and that’s one of the lovely things about Newland is the quality of the air here is superb oh I’ve know anytime I’ve been away and come back home from whether it’s living overseas or just or sometimes just trips or whatever it like the air like that that and there’s always wind in it but it’s fresh and you there’s a difference I find it’s one of the things that uh what are the big selling points I find uh for oh clean air clean water uh really really uh uh important uh the more that we understand that the other phenomenon I saw is all of the hype and interest and and and and in my own family even we went to various parts to see the uh the uh eclipse and and a great phenomena and and and at the same time I thinking myself you know when spring comes and the leaves come on the deciduous trees and shrubs that’s even more spectacular to me because I can count on it it is always there uh it rarely isn’t there it’s when it isn’t there it’s really depressing uh I always say but I’m only joking best time to be in New Finland is when the leaves come on the trees and when the leaves leave the trees probably we should go to I do enjoy like and you know it’s approaching but I’ll go so like Ren’s in St so for you know new FL Labrador show but in St John’s Ren’s River Trail right and so I’ll run the trail system uh I do it fairly often and then that that that little point of just there’s like one of the bridges over Ren’s River and there’s a point where everything is just kind of like the tips are green type of a thing and it is gor like it is just such a great feeling when you’re you’re looking you’re like we’re there yeah when you come down Robinson’s Hill George down by George the fth uh uh there in that Hollow that’s the first and up Waterford Bridge Road that’s the first place you’ll start to see spring come on because they’re little micro climates and they’re gorgeous you run up to the top of uh of Signal Hill on the same day when that’s just coming on it’s a completely different world yeah different different feel all together yeah I find right now when we were talking before the show uh just with the you know crocuses up around every I I need to plan for this next year for milon but it is just such an enjoyable thing right now to look around and just on a day especially if uh so St John’s Metro I’m looking at Blue Sky out there on the Parkway and if you’re I know so Labrador got reacquainted with winter I know but uh that will change but anywhere where you get to when you do get to see them it is such a nice I just such a lovely little like Hey we’re here Spring’s Spring’s here and it doesn’t have to yes I was used to for a bit living overseas and a bit of the the cherry blossoms and stuff so you could sit down on a tarp and like enjoy the the blossoms coming down me on a tarp next to some crocus is not the same type of a feel of course but it’s still a lovely thing to witness it is H as a matter of fact we were just by Brian Kowalski who’s my my son uh Evan’s partner he was up in the greenhouse justest asked me to look at some roses and prun them with him and and and he right away with enthusiasm he said the bees we have honey bees on the property and and we have several hives he said the bees are out today it’s it’s over uh 12 degrees they’re flying what are they feeding on crocuses all the crocus see them down around the crocuses down in front of the store and all over the place that’s where they’re getting uh getting some of the nutrient to keep them alive so first thing is they all overwintered well cuz it it was a good overwintering winter because we had good snow cover um but now that the the good days are are coming I’m hoping to see more bees around yes and again like those signs of the when the seasons change especially coming into the grow season bees crocuses to bees and you name it it is great Murray thank you so much for the uh the second uh preseason show the regular season starts in May thanks man thank you all right folks uh that is it for today’s show Curtis do you want to play that uh that thing again use my technical terms Curtis is like thing male Cole’s here I’ve got some tickets for your listeners poverty Co theater company’s Grace is this week Grace follows the story of Elanor whose marriage is imploding at her best friend’s wedding party written by Yours Truly comes a new new play adapted from Lisa Morris Nolla of the same name Grace is equal parts guts and grit sometimes it is okay to be messy sometimes it’s not playing April 25th to the 27th on the St John’s arts and culture center main stage you don’t want to miss it all right and if you uh I I by the way just got a note in from uh from upstairs hello Adam someone delivered arts and culture Center tickets to you laid on your desk so I have said tickets for the show up date if you if you’re curious about these shows uh so that’s Thursday Friday Saturday night I believe of this week give us an email and uh we’ll draw your name after tomorrow show so the signal at cbc.ca arts and culture Center tickets uh for that great show so thanks for that call Megan and uh looking ahead to tomorrow we’re asking what supports do communities need on big social issues a conversation on what we know on what we are learning and what needs to be done so think housing think food in security transportation and more that is tomorrow’s show taking us out today did you hear the news Friday August 9th Churchill Park music festival the 2023 Canadian Music Hall of Fame recipients and a diamond certified selling group the one the only Nickelback I’m going to bring you back to a 2001 right now taking us out with keep listening with remind me never made it as a wise man I couldn’t cut it as a poor man stealing TI Liv like a blind man I’m sick aside without a sense of feeling and this is how you remind me this is how you remind me of what I really am this is how you remind me of what I really am it’s not like like you to say sorry of was waiting on a different story this time I’m mistaken forhead and you heart was breaking and I’ve been wrong I’ve been down to the bottom of every bottle these SP words in my head scream while we haven’t fun yet yeah yeah [Music] yeah yeah yeah yeah it’s not like you didn’t know that I said I love you and I swear I still do and it must have been so bad cuz living women must have damn near killed you and this is how you remind me of what I really am this is how you remind me of what I really am it’s not like you just I’m sorry of was weai on a different story this time I’m mistaken forand I you heart was breaking and I’ve been wrong I’ve been down to the bottom of every bottle these SP words in my head scream my we haven’t fun yet yeah yeah [Music] yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah [Music] yeah never made it as a wise man I couldn’t cut it as a poor man stealing and this is how you remind me [Music] this is how you remind me this is how you remind me of what I really am this is how you remind