Recorder & Times / Ronald Zajac / 10 October 2018
In July and August, [Communities in Bloom] volunteer judges [Doreen] Hill and Ron Dubyk travelled to Brockville to evaluate how city officials, local industry and businesses and the overall private sector, including volunteers, had fared in six criteria: Tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, urban forestry and trails, landscape and floral displays.
Brockville got a five-bloom rating, and a special mention for heritage from Communities in Bloom Ontario.
“Within the actual context of climate changes and environmental concerns, communities involved in the program can be proud of their efforts, which provide real and meaningful environmental solutions and benefit all of society,” the Communities in Bloom statement added.
“The quality of life in Brockville has been enhanced by the efforts of all its citizens,” Hill told council.
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The Willamette Valley, usually known for it’s darn near perfect summers—dry, breezy, in the eighties with cool nights—has seen two serious heat waves this summer. One came at the end of June, the second at the end of July. Both were problematic for crops, as they came right when many young transplants were settling into the fields. My own small scale fall and winter garden went in about four days before the second heat wave. How could I keep them alive in the blazing afternoon sun when their roots were not reaching deep into the soil? I mulched. First, I worked all of the residual mulch from the early potato crop into the bed. Then I nested each start in a base of straw mulch laid over the ground and soaker hoses. They all came through. Mulch. Straw, leaves, winter cover crops, cardboard or woodshavings … it’s useful stuff. Placed neatly around the base of young plants and later worked into the soil, it has a multitude of benefits.
