It is the harvest season and farmers and gardening enthusiasts all over the island are preparing to reap what has come from the seeds they have sown.
Gardening can lower stress levels. It can also benefit those who take part by providing them a sense of accomplishment. And it is a great form of exercise.
My daughter Kiana started gardening last summer. She has a few friends who are hobby gardeners and she said they are always sharing stories about how fulfilling it is to watch the plants grow.
“My friends were having such a great experience gardening I decided I wanted to give it a try. I asked my dad to help me prepare the soil to plant a garden in my backyard. I started off really small. I planted a few vegetables that I knew were pretty hardy like potatoes and carrots. I was excited to see what would come of my efforts,” said Kiana.
She would go out to her garden every day to check on the progress. She would weed the garden and water it. Given that she really doesn’t spend much time outdoors, I was really surprised to see her take to the garden like she did. It was interesting to see her reaction when the first sign of the potatoes started to show.
“As the months went by and my garden began to really take hold. I was anxious to see what was growing beneath the surface. It was early in September when I decided to pull the first of the potatoes. I couldn’t believe it. From one seed came four or five nice-sized potatoes. I was fascinated. I couldn’t wait to harvest everything.”
Gardening can lower stress levels. It can also benefit those who take part by providing them a sense of accomplishment. And it is a great form of exercise.
With the success of her first gardening experience, Kiana decided this past spring to increase the size of her garden. She decided to take the process a step further.
“I was trying to decide what to plant this year. I knew I would plant potatoes, carrots and beets but I wanted to try to grow something that would be a bit more of a challenge for our climate.
“I was walking through my local garden centre and saw seedlings for watermelons. I was surprised to see them available for sale and I thought what could be more challenging than trying to grow watermelons in Cape Breton.
“I am pretty sure that my gardening friends thought it was a little unrealistic for me to expect anything to come from the seedlings, but I was confident that something would grow. It took time for the seedlings to take hold after I planted them, but once they did, they got growing at a fast pace.
“Before I knew it, I had the start of the smallest of melons. It was so interesting to watch the plants continue to grow. Unfortunately, it was a pretty dry summer and watermelons need a lot of water. I had to water the garden a lot. It was OK though because I ended up with a number of perfectly shaped watermelons.
“The melons didn’t grow very big, the largest one grew to about the size of a large bowling ball. Certainly, the watermelons in my garden aren’t as large as the ones grown in China, but it was still fun to watch them grow.
“I did pick one of the smaller melons a few weeks ago and when I cut it open it was still very white inside. I am hoping that when I harvest the remainder of the melons in a few weeks that they are the nice bright pinkish colour (like the ones) in the stores.”
At age 25, Kiana recently began her career in social work. She admits that her job can get a little stressful from time to time. She said on those days when things just don’t seem to be going her way, she looks forward to coming home and tending to her garden.
“I find the garden very peaceful. It is a great place for me to relax and unwind after a difficult day. It is funny because I am not really an outdoorsy person. I don’t like bugs, but for some reason the bugs in the garden don’t bother me.”
Sherry Mulley MacDonald is an author and freelance journalist. She is a lifelong resident of the Northside with a fondness for the community in which she lives.
