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Green thumbs getting ready to dig into Cochrane

Spring has sprung, and gardeners like Cochrane’s Tynan Heembrock are anxious to get their hands back in the soil.
Practice makes perfect: Tynan Heembrock believes the only approach for any gardener is trial-and-error.
Practice makes perfect: Tynan Heembrock believes the only approach for any gardener is trial-and-error.

Spring has sprung, and gardeners like Cochrane’s Tynan Heembrock are anxious to get their hands back in the soil.

Heembrock, who has worked at Cochrane’s Anything Grows garden centre for 15 years, has been a hobbyist green thumb for more than a decade.

“Being involved with plants and working with them kind of perpetuated that interest, and it’s just kind of grown into what it is now,” said Heembrock, who added there are a number of advantages to gardening, including a therapeutic experience and an overall better quality of life.

“There’s something about being able to disconnect from the fast-paced world and kind of spend some time in nature.”

Heembrock said there’s value in growing vegetables.

“It’s nice to grow your own tomatoes and potatoes and stuff like that, knowing what you’re putting into the soil,” he said.

“You have the choice of knowing what you’re putting into your body.”

Beyond improving one’s own health, planting shrubbery and trees in your yard can increase your property value. However, indoor gardens also have benefit.

“They purify your air, pull a lot of harmful stuff out of it,” Heembrock said. “Plants just make a place feel more lively. It’s not so cold and stark.”

For those short on garden space, the Cochrane Community Gardens at Glenbow School can help.

“The Community Garden is entering its ninth year of providing rental space to students and staff of Glenbow School and to gardeners in Cochrane who might not otherwise have space available,” said Andrea Blonsky, chair of the Cochrane Community Gardens Society (CCGS).

She added gardeners can tend to their own space or work as part of a communal gardening group where plots are shared among participants.

Blonsky said the society has three sites in town with the primary rental space located at Glenbow School. She added, the location is fully equipped and gardeners are provided with everything they require, including the services of its resident horticulturist, Linda Fee.

Fee has been a resident of Cochrane since 1996, but has been a horticulturist for more than 30 years.

Blonsky said the horticulture society uses the community space as a teaching space, and boasts amenities such as an advanced compost system and self-watering boxes.

“It’s a very friendly environment,” Fee said.

“You meet strangers, and you have conversations just about what you’re doing in your garden.”

Those interested in gardening at the community gardens can email [email protected] or call 403-932-9713. The rental fee is $25 and plots are still available.

Both the Horticulture Society and the Community Garden Society are partnering for a series in May to teach fledgling green thumbs the tricks of the trades. Topics include vegetable gardening basics May 9, container gardening and self watering systems May 23 and composting May 30.


Airdrie Today Staff

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