President Bill Cheeseman welcomed 30 people recently to the Clifford and District Horticultural Society meeting at the Community Hall in Clifford.
Conversations surrounded planting and growing.
Doris Jaunzemis introduced guest speaker Michael Freiesleben who brought information concerning non-toxic lawns and vegetable gardens.
Freiesleben is an independent soil, farm, and human nutritional consultant with 30 years experience operating at TLC Animal Husbandry Inc. Aches and pains and improper diagnoses led Michael to a man who showed how nutrition could cure his ailment and that sparked his interest to study bio chemistry and micro biology.
Michael Freiesleben is passionate about plants and helping people see life in a new way to educate themselves on better practices. He said healthy soil is needed to grow healthy edible plants. Building nutrient reserves and following the cycle of nature help acheive this. Let earthworms, the plowmen of the deep help cultivate the soil. A mixture of black strap molasses and water will keep them happy. With the banning of pesticides, it is time to reconsider soil and tillage practices, he said.
Freiesleben passed around handouts on building soil reserves and recipes for molds and mildews. He showed a number of pictures of plants and crops in the field that were not the picture of health. He believes hay works best as mulch in the garden to reduce the weed population. Lack of phosphate minerals leave food tasteless and people hungry and listless. Reduce intake of hollow calories can help.
Freisleben suggests revisiting recipes like pioneer bone soup, molasses cookies, gingersnaps, a molasses drink and properly grown grains to provide necessary nutrients. He offered two copies of The Calcium Connection as door prizes.
Volunteers will be out knocking on doors or finding people in their flower beds looking to renew their membership or sign up to be a new member of the society. Every membership helps the society beautify and village with plants, flowers, hanging baskets, planter boxes, and flower gardens. So far, 11 youth have signed up for the youth partnering program. They met and prepared sunflower seeds for planting.
Janet Huth, Alieda Murray, and Isabel Senek prepared lunch.
Earth Day clean up
The society organized an Earth Day tidy the town clean up on April 20 at the Rotary Pavillion on Allan Street East. Vests, gloves, garbage bags, and bottles of water were supplied with a hot dog barbecue lunch provided up at noon.
Upcoming events also include the plant and bake sale and the flower show with Chinese auction.
