On July 28th the Woodmore WI hosted a garden tour of some spectacular local food gardens:
Garden #1: Peter and Mary Tanchuk
We were shown how working in your garden and eating healthy produce year round can influence your quality of life as you age. Mary is 87 and Peter is 97 years old and they each have a large vegetable garden as well as a small orchard. They are still thriving, living in the same home they’ve had for over 30 years and working in their gardens. Mary began the tour by sharing with us some medical facts of how eating fresh food from your garden can effect your health. We should all be clearly taking her advice!
Garden #2: Vic and Helen Elias / Larry Reitz
We have visited this organic garden on past tours but their garden continues to evolve. They are unique in their methods in that they use a lot of raised beds, and mulching in their garden as opposed to tilling. Their focus is on the health of the soil and how that positively impacts the health of the plants. They obviously have their methods perfected because their garden was lush, healthy and productive.
Garden #3: Margaret and Joe Wereha
This mixed hobby farm and yard was a thing of beauty with fruit trees, vegetables and flowers all mixed in together with some free ranging chickens and ducks sprinkled in for good measure. They show how having a closed loop system on your yard can greatly impact the health of the garden. The animals free range, eating healthy greens and bugs, and the manure goes back in to feed the soil. Their garden is clearly thriving under all of this loving attention.
Garden #4: Lawrence and Debbie Andrusyck
No wonder this is an award-winning yard! The area around the house was a spectacular array of various flower beds with a gorgeous, large vegetable patch down near the Roseau River. It was a joy to wander the yard, finding little hidden treasures everywhere you looked.
Each of our hosts were incredibly knowledgable, and welcoming and the quality of the gardens was incredible. Everyone was able to walk away from the experience having learned a few new tricks, feeling inspired, with a belly full of yellow raspberries and cherries and quite possibly with a cabbage or some seeds or raspberry canes to take home.
