GARDEN PLOT
GARDEN FEES INCREASE
Gardeners:
Due to considerable amounts of rain in June, resulting in quack grass and 100 plots being abandoned, rototilling repair costs for these abandoned plots, with the anticipations of more tilling in the spring of 2025 and the transitioning from tilling to a no-till system, we have been forced to increase the Garden Plot fees.
The St James Horticultural Society, acting on advice from the Garden Committee, has authorized an increase in plot rental fees to $50.00 per plot for the 2025 gardening year. Also, new gardeners will be required to make a $60.00 per plot damage deposit for the 2025 gardening year. These increases are needed to cover the increased costs of operating and maintaining the garden. Garden costs in 2024 increased substantially due to costs incurred remediating plots that were abandoned and/or managed in an unacceptable manner by gardeners.”
Garden Committee
Co-Chairs Nathanael and George
This year out of 226 garden plots 103 have been neglected or abandoned.
The result is disheartening to the 123 of us who worked our gardens with great effort due to too much rain in the early season.
As a volunteer group, we had to decide what to do.
After contacting every one of the plot owners we cut the grass and we are now tilling. Please move everything that you have brought into your plot including tarps, plastic, tools, bricks, patio stones, wood, wagons, barrels, buckets, and tomato cages to make tilling accessible. Tilling is not a great solution as it chops roots and could lead to more grass, however, given that the grass practically took over we have no choice.
We are asking gardeners and volunteers to pick out roots and we will till again in about a week.
We then will ask gardeners to add organics such as grass clippings, leaves, or compost.
This is all volunteer work and paid for tilling. We ask everyone to help with Project Plot Rehab this fall.
2023 GARDEN GUIDELINES FOR
ST JAMES HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY GARDEN MEMBERS
1. All gardeners must be paid members of the St James Horticultural Society. Children
under the age of 18 are welcome and do not require a Membership. Please inform
the Garden Committee of changes to your contact information.
2. Garden fees of $50 per plot must be paid by January 15th. While fees help cover a
portion of the garden operating costs, the Society relies on garden members to
volunteer their time for various garden tasks.
3. Water will be turned on mid-May and turned off mid-September, weather
dependent.
a. Please use water wisely.
b. Garden hoses must not be connected to the community water taps.
c. Garden produce can be washed at home or within your garden plot, but not
at the community water taps.
4. Gardeners must start work in their gardens by June 10. After this date, the garden
plot will be forfeited if garden work has not begun. At the end of the growing season
remove tools, barrels, and ropes. Please compost your vegetable material in your
garden plot.
5. Gardeners can choose to manage the garden plots using no-till or tillage practices.
Regardless of approach:
a. You are encouraged to add organic matter like compost, straw, or manure to
your soil.
b. You are encouraged to create your own compost on your plot by using organic
material such as carrot tops, and tomato and bean plants from your garden.
c. Gardens should be kept free of weeds, insects, and diseases.
d. Synthetic pesticides (insecticides and herbicides) are not permitted.
e. Organic fertilizers are recommended.
f. Flowers should be planted within your garden plot. This will help attract
pollinators and contribute to the beauty and enjoyment of the community
garden.
g. Should you have questions or experience garden management challenges,
please contact your Garden Committee by emailing
stjameshortgardeners@gmail.com.
6. Gardener practices to promote community, gardener enjoyment and safety:
a. Respect our gardens by always using garden pathways and not trespassing on
other member garden plots.
b. For the safety of children, please ensure water containers and barrels are
covered.
c. Dogs, cats, and other pets are welcome on the grassed perimeter area of the
community gardens and roadways, but not within garden pathways or your
garden plot.
d. Pathways are to be kept open and unobstructed. You are encouraged to keep
the pathway alongside your garden plot weed free. Placing mulch, like straw or
lawn clippings, on the pathway can help.
e. White stakes with the red tops are the property of the SJHS and not be
moved.
f. You are encouraged to enclose your garden with a rope. Ropes can be
attached to the white corner posts of your plot. Remove ropes at the end of
the growing season.
g. Take your garbage home.
7. Management of Garden Plots:
a. The Garden Committee is responsible for allocating plots to returning and new
gardeners. A waiting list is maintained.
b. A maximum of two (2) plots will be assigned to a family. Additional plots can
be assigned for one (1) year should they be available after the waiting list has
been exhausted.
c. Returning gardeners in good standing will retain the same plot from year to
year.
d. Gardeners cannot re-assign their plots.
8. Finally, above all – practice respect for ourselves and others during our time at the
garden. Reflection, meditation, socializing, fun, flowers, and food – some of the
reasons so many of us enjoy spending time at this garden.
Test Plot Gardening in St. James, Manitoba
by J. P. DE WET - excerpt from "The Prairie Garden" (1966)
During the summer of 1965 the St. James Horticultural Society provided a number of test plots for interested suburban home owners. Several promising new vegetable varieties under trial at the University of Manitoba were grown in co-operation with the Plant Science Department.
This has given the Society a broader field of of general usefulness, and its members a fresh keenness in their hobby. Here was an activity whose ends went further then the home kitchen and the freezer. It directed their interest into knowledge of the new varieties as well as some of the scientific factors involved in the breeding and production of varieties superior to the presently known ones. Society directors intend that the test program begun in 1965 shall continue in the years ahead.
St. James Gardeners organized themselves into a society in 1914. This was the year of the outbreak of the First World War when the call went out that all should supply their own individual needs with Victory gardens and many plots were put under cultivation during the war years. In November 1929, the Society applied to the Manitoba Government for a Certificate of Organization under the Manitoba Horticultural Societies Act, and received Certificate No. 8, dated December 1, 1929.
Through succeeding years Society members had their garden plots in different areas of the municipality; in the early 1940's access to the present area was given by the City of St. James then titled the Municipality. Cultivation of the the area has been continuous ever since and moreover is likely to continue in perpetuity. Because of its proximity to the Winnipeg International Airport, the land must be kept permanently free of buildings.
The idea of the test plots arose at a discussion at a meeting of the Society directors as to possible new projects for the approaching summer; the suggestion was acted on without delay. Professor L. H. Shebeski, Head of the Department of Plant Science was contacted. He referred the matter to Dr. D. J. Campbell who got in touch with the society.
The land in question, lying north of Silver Avenue and between Albany and Lyle Streets, is divided into 78 individual plots, each 30 by 60 feet in size. The gardening area is typical Red River Valley heavy, high lime soil. The Society had it well cleaned of garden trash and ploughed during October; there is now sufficient new ground ploughed to provide an additional 8 plots in 1966.
Application for the plots is restricted to Society members who pay $2.50 rental in addition to the annual membership fee of $1.00. The plots are allocated at an open meeting in March, and subsequently are staked out and labeled with the names of the respective applicant members.
In all, 30 gardeners were allotted 210 seed packages by Dr. Campbell. The varieties ranged through peas (2), beans (2), corn (2), carrots, cucumbers, squash and potatoes. In addition a number of broccoli and cauliflower transplants were provided for evaluation.
Seeding followed during the week of the May 24 holiday; harvesting was completed by the end of August. One should add here that entries of the potatoes, beans, beets and squash from the test plots won first prizes in their respective classes at the Society's annual show during the second week of August; and a plot holder's display of vegetables was rated the best display entered.
Cultivation of the plots during the growing season was supervised by a special committee of Society directors; and the Society president R. D. Morgan, reported his high satisfaction at the special care given plots. The holders used their own choice of fertilizers and interest was carried as far as rivalry by some as to who had the cleanest plots and could produce the best returns.
In addition to the test plots, the area administered by the St. James society includes 8 feet by 10 feet plots cultivated by children competing for the Waugh Shield, a competition founded in 1908 by the late R. D. Waugh, a former mayor of Winnipeg, to promote children's interests in gardening. Also, several parents set aside portions of their plots for the use of their children. Beans, carrots and beets, and centaurea, marigolds and zinnias, are the varieties grown.The society buys the seed and distributes them to the children at cost. These plots are under the supervision of the Society's Waugh Shield Committee who advise on improving competition standing.
Dr. Campbell had the following to say about the co-operative project: Here at the university we have been trying for many years to improve vegetable varieties for Manitoba. One method is through a breeding program; another by improving cultural practices. But one of the most fruitful methods is by the care evaluation of new varieties developed anywhere in the world. We hope in our variety trials to spot those with unusual characteristics and superior to the standard ones now being grown. But before we can recommend them for general use, we need wider evaluation, and co-operative trials such as this one appear extremely promising. They bring together researchers, companies who provide the seed, and some enthusiastic vegetable growers. We are delighted with this year's results. We would like to see other societies throughout the prairies join the St. James Society in this worthwhile endeavor.