from Alan Hickman

It seems that the stars are aligning to propel PTG into having its first open house in conjunction with a garden tour being organized by the Caledon Horticultural Society. The date is 10th July which gives just six weekends to get the gardens fit for viewing. The two tour co-ordinators who came to look at the gardens last Thursday were predictably taken aback by the present state of the display beds, but I think they did appreciate what has actually been achieved by a relatively small number of volunteers. When we walked around the nursery area and I explained what PTG is all about - the free winter classes, the summer coaching, how a ton of produce was delivered to the Knights Table last year, and how we run the operation without the need for membership fees or ‘fund raising’ - they were quite impressed. "It’s amazing what has been going on right on our doorstep and we had no idea."

Organizing the open house falls broadly into two parts. 1. Getting the grounds into presentable shape - both the display beds and the nursery area. 2. Getting a dozen or so volunteers trained up to demonstrate some basic gardening techniques on the day.

To pull this off, I’ll probably need to be at the garden almost full time for the next six weeks, but that’s ok seeing as I’m the one with all the leisure! As a useful co-incidence, it happens that on three of the next six week-ends I’ll be available both am and pm Saturday and Sunday. I do have an appointment in the latter part of June to schedule a date for a new pacemaker implant (the battery is running down on the one I’ve got) but I doubt that they will get me in for surgery before mid July.

Remembering that PTG is in the knowledge business, it is proposed to set up a number of stations in the nursery area each one with a volunteer demonstrating a simple garden skill, e.g. sharpening secateurs or winding up a garden line. We might even suggest that visitors bring their secateurs for sharpening. To span the 10 am to 4pm time-frame we likely need two volunteers trained for each station. Depending on how things play out we might even resurrect the display booth as an outdoor information centre.

As the people who go on garden tours are likely to be local and be actually interested in gardening, an open house potentially could help to keep PTG alive by bringing in students for next winter’s course. Additional prospects might also arrive if we actively spread the word and talk-up the event.

The details of our participation will develop over time, but everything will depend on volunteer input both prior to and on the day. We especially need input from and participation by those who took the winter classes between 2004 and 2009. If you have any thoughts about anything to do with an open house, what we might do in the way of skills demos, or if you might (with a bit of training) act as a demonstrator, please respond.

Regardless of the open house, there is a lot to be done just to keep the gardens ticking along. This coming weekend (29th & 30th) I’ll be available both am and pm so I’m hoping we can get a boost of hours before the weed growth and drying soil conditions start making life unpleasant.

As always, if anyone can make a couple of hours for the gardens any day, please call me before 8am and we’ll set a time to meet and I can plan activities accordingly.

High Temperature:
Actual: 25°C mostly sunny Wind N14km/h P.O.P.0%
Average: 20°C
Record: 31°C in 2010

Low Temperature:
Actual: 13°C partly cloudy Wind NNW14km/h P.O.P.0%
Average: 9°C
Record: -1°C in 1969