The next meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be on Wednesday, March 16 at 7:00 p.m. at SIGN on North Street.聽 Our guest speaker will be Fred Waelchli telling us about quinoa. Quinoa is in so many products now, it will be very interesting to learn more about it!聽 That鈥檚 Wednesday, March 16; join us!
I love reading about how gardening is good for us, with many benefits like fresh air, sunshine, exercise, and spiritual and emotional fulfilment. Being out in nature brings serenity; and I am almost certain that all of us have found healing and peace in our gardens after we have suffered a loss. I know many tears were shed in our garden after Mom died, but puttering among the plants, plants that brought her so much joy, helped me connect with her in my heart. And tears still slip down my cheeks when I look at our hostas, now regal and undisturbed and lonely-looking without our Toby sprawled on top of them.
I found it very interesting to read about how growing plants is聽 one of the projects on space missions. You鈥檇 think that when they are orbiting thousands of miles in space they might have other things to do, but I found a fascinating paragraph on space.com that I want to share with you. Last time we had tea, we talked about the zinnia grown on the International Space Station by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. That same article had this to say: 鈥淭he zinnias鈥� were intended by NASA as a test run for growing tomato plants on the space station in 2017. By then, Kelly will be long back home on the Earth. He and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are set to complete a nearly yearlong stay on the station in March. As such, the zinnia flowers and previous lettuce offered more than sustenance for the stomach, but satisfaction for the mind.
鈥�#SpaceFlower out in the sun for the first time!鈥� exclaimed Kelly on Twitter. The photo attached to his tweet displayed the orange flower floating in front of a window with a view of the blue Earth below.鈥�
Yes, the Guinness Book of World Records says that 鈥淚n 1982, the then Soviet Union鈥檚 Salyut 7 space station crew grew some Arabidopsis on board,鈥� the record reads. 鈥淒uring their 40-day lifecycle, they became the first plants to flower and produce seeds in the zero gravity of space.鈥� In the 90鈥檚, Russian cosmonauts on Mir grew聽 dwarf wheatstalks through their full life cycle; and experiments with plants in space still continues.聽 The article says that 鈥淯ltimately NASA is hoping that astronauts can supplement their menus with freshly-grown greens, especially on future deep space missions to destinations beyond the Earth, like Mars. Growing plants also offer psychological benefits, and they can assist in atmosphere recycling.鈥�
But I am struck by those phrases: 鈥渟atisfaction for the mind鈥� and 鈥減sychological benefits鈥�.聽 Growing plants is more than just an experiment or a possible study on future food production.聽 It is 鈥渟atisfaction for the mind鈥�. Think back to how wonderful it feels to sit on a lawn chair and admire our gardens; or to enjoy the beauty of a planter that somehow turned out to all that we imagined and more. These gifts of God鈥檚 creation truly are 鈥渟atisfaction for the mind鈥�.聽 So keep gardening, even if your 鈥済arden鈥� is a few containers on the back step. It is all 鈥渟atisfaction for the mind.鈥�
Don鈥檛 forget about聽 the Prairie Sun Seed Festival鈥� on Saturday, March 12, from 12:30 p.m. till 4:00 p.m. at Yorkdale School! Educational displays and interesting speakers!
Have a great week!聽 Rodney and Teresa, I know you are enjoying Heaven鈥檚 garden; we miss you.
