Gardeners gathered at the Stettler library last week to talk about and share planting tips for the upcoming season.
Rob Spencer, chair of the Heartland Beautification Committee hosted the event dubbed Roots to Shoots.
Discussions ranged from testing soil to raised beds to transplanting and more.
The biggest gardening tip for this time of year is not getting too carried away with planting, said Spencer.
“It’s still pretty cold at night. You can put most of the cool season vegetables in now, lettuce, peas, beets, cabbage, even onions are fine. They love the cold; this would be when they thrive,” he advised the participants.
Plants such as corn, beans and tomatoes need warmer temperatures to germinate.
“It’s got to be consistently warm,” said Spencer. “Beans need it to be 10 to 15 degrees.”
He added the ground has been warming up, so by June, it should be safe to plant everything.
Transplanting should also be held off until it is warmer, said Spencer.
Another gardening tip Spencer shared was getting garden soil tested to determine its pH level.
“You just want a basic garden soil test,” he said. “I think there’s good value in getting it done at least once.”
In this area, Spencer said the soil has a high pH, which makes it problematic to work with.
“Adding organic matter will help.”
For example, he said by adding peat moss to the soil, it will help bring the pH down since the peat moss is slightly acidic.
If the soil is difficult to work with, Spencer also suggested creating raised beds.
“If the ground is bad, build up,” he said.