Prince Albert Daily Herald
by Ruth Griffiths
Victoria Day weekend is traditionally garden planting time. However, many people look not only at the calendar, but also at the moon, for gardening guidance.
This year, the full moon is on May 27 so that should make it a great time to plant vegetables.
According to Canadian Farmers’ Almanac, gardening by the phases of the moon is a technique that can speed the germination of seeds by working with the forces of nature.
The theory is that plants respond to the same gravitational pull that affects the ocean tides, which alternately stimulates root and leaf growth. Seeds sprout more quickly, plants grow vigorously and at an optimum rate, harvests are larger and they don’t go to seed as fast. This method has been practiced by many for hundreds of years and is a perfect compliment to organic gardening because it is more effective in non-chemically treated soil.
Prince Albert Daily Herald
by Ruth Griffiths
Mother’s Day will be the 24th anniversary of my column in Rural Roots. At an estimated 50 columns per year, that is 1,200 columns I have written for Prince Albert Daily Herald.
Rural Roots was created as a weekly news magazine in 1990 and distributed free to homes in North Central Saskatchewan. It’s an area that I know well, having grown up in Tisdale.
I moved to Prince Albert as a bride in 1969 and worked for a year in the lab at Victoria Union Hospital, before returning to classes in Saskatoon to finish a Bachelor of Science degree. I interned at both of the Prince Albert hospitals and became a Registered Laboratory Technologist. My first job was in the lab at Prince Albert Medical Clinic. In 1975 I left behind my science career to become a stay-at-home parent.
Prince Albert Daily Herald
by Ruth Griffiths
I live near a city park and I love it. My husband and I chose to build a home on this site partly because of its proximity to the park. I’ve loved living near this park since 1975, but the pandemic has made me more grateful than ever for the park.
A year ago, when we were in deep lockdown, I was trying to provide some homeschooling for my granddaughter.
Her teacher had sent us a schedule but the only thing that really sparked my granddaughter’s interest was going outside …often that was a walk in the park. The snow was piled high and she made believe she was a mountain lion, scaling the icy peaks and growling from lofty heights. Getting out into the frosty fresh air helped to clear her mind, and mine too.