Seedy Sunday Was A Green Thumb Paradise
By Annie MacLeod
In spite of the wintery conditions on Sunday, March 8, Moose Jaw Public Library was bustling with spring preparations as they hosted the annual Seedy Sunday event.
Christina Hinds, who works at the Reference and Information Desk at the library, helped to coordinate the event, which featured seed vendors, composters and “worm guys,” as she likes to call them, from across Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Hinds was very happy with the turnout of approximately 200 people.
“I wasn’t sure how the turnout would be, considering the roads and the weather today,” Hinds said. “It was a very busy, wonderful day.”
The Seedy Sunday event included a draw, completed by Christina Hinds and some little helpers. - Annie MacLeod photo
One of the featured vendors was Mike Lewchuk of Micks’d Greens, a relatively new waste management pickup service aimed at Moose Jaw residents who are interested in taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint with minimal effort.
“For people who want to compost but don’t have the time or the space, they can contact me and I provide them with a bin and a weekly pickup service for the compost,” Lewchuk explained.
Mike Lewchuk of Micks’d Greens attended Seedy Sunday to explain to Moose Jaw residents how his company can assist them in composting and reducing their carbon footprint with minimal effort. - Annie MacLeod photo
Micks’d Greens currently encompasses all of Moose Jaw, with pickups from Monday to Thursday. At this time, the best way to contact him for more info is to go to the Micks’d Greens Facebook page.
One of the “worm guys” in attendance was David Vanderberg, who runs a Regina based company called Prairie Worm Works. His company provides red wiggler worm starter kits to enable gardeners to set up their own live indoor or outdoor composting systems to take care of waste year round.
The worms feast on waste food such as onion ends and potato skins and turn it into vermicast (also known as worm castings), a highly effective organic fertilizer with numerous benefits to gardeners as well as the environment.
A craft table was set up outside the main event to keep little ones busy while their parents checked out Seedy Sunday.- Annie MacLeod photo
The company is entering its second year of business, and Vanderberg says he’s been having a hard time keeping up with demand, as more and more people are becoming interested in learning how to take care of their own waste more effectively and more sustainably, while reducing their chemical use and methane production.
“If you are throwing your waste in the garbage right now, it’s basically going to the dump and turning into methane,” Vanderberg explained. “Even if it’s organic waste, even if it would biodegrade naturally, it’s not going to biodegrade in the dump, because it turns into methane there. Our dumps are responsible for 11 to 20 per cent of the world’s methane.”
Vanderberg has been excited to see a revival of people eager to learn more about growing food and what’s in their soils, and realizing that there are alternative to using harsh chemicals.
“You are what you eat, and if we’re growing our plants in chemical-soaked soils, what do you think is ending up in our bodies?”
Vermicast has also been shown to improve soil water retention and aeration, enhance soil fertility and increase fruiting yields in plants, from fruits and veggies to cannabis.
David Vanderberg of Prairie Worm Works explains the process of using red wiggler worms as natural composters. - Annie MacLeod photo
It would take about four months for a batch of wigglers to produce enough vermicast to be able to use in your garden, so while it would likely be too late for this season, now would be a good time to start preparing for next year.
Anyone who would like to try the natural product without taking on a bucket full of wigglers can simply purchase bags of the finished product. For more info go to https://www.prairiewormworks.ca/
Post Horizon Booksellers was among the Seedy Sunday attendees. - Annie MacLeod photo
Dan Rollingson of Earthly Matters, a vermicast provider based out of Coaldale, Alberta, also attended the event. Earthly Matters has been steadily expanding over the last twelve years, from a small garage operation to a 4000 square foot warehouse that now produces around 20 tons of worm castings per month.
“In our process we actually feed our worms 100% organic grain,” Rollingson explained. “That allows us to feed millions of worms at a time.”
Bags of their product can now be ordered on Amazon, where they are highly rated and currently featured as Amazon’s Choice.
Dan Rollingson of Earthly Matters displays their array of worm castings (also known as vermicast), a natural fertilizer produced by worms. - Annie MacLeod photo
The Wandering Market, Post Horizon Booksellers and Broadview Farmer Roy Beck were also in attendance.
Broadview farmer Roy Beck had a huge array of seeds on display at the Seedy Sunday event. - Annie MacLeod photo
Anyone who missed it can still swing by the library any time for more info and to take advantage of the seed library, where plant lovers can check out seeds instead of books.