Manitoba green thumbs are going ‘elbows up’ this spring

Some green thumbs are going elbows up this growing season. CTV’s Daniel Halmarson has the latest.

Some Manitoba green thumbs are going ‘elbows up’ this spring as they embrace their Canadian roots in their very own gardens.

Dave Hanson, co-owner of Sage Garden Greenhouses in Winnipeg, said customers are thinking about the ‘Buy Canadian’ movement when they’re shopping for seeds ahead of the growing season.

“Gardeners are absolutely being mindful and making choices about how they can plant with products that are sourced as locally as possible,” Hanson told CTV News Tuesday.

He said his greenhouse focuses on growing and selling Canadian-produced organic seeds, but it’s not as easy as it seems. Hanson said seeds originate from countries around the world, including the United States, because some seeds simply grow better in certain climates.

“So, we’ve had to make some careful decisions. But these situations always present the opportunity to do even a deeper dig into where things come from,” Hanson said.

He said gardeners can buy Canadian-produced seeds for most vegetables, but some may be tough to find.

“Artichokes, onions, and spinach seeds are often not grown in Canada just because of the climate, day length, and season length required to produce good quality of those crops,” he explained.

He said a lot of seed packages don’t state where the seeds were grown, but a quick online search can usually track lineage. He adds staff at greenhouses are usually well-versed on the matter.

Meantime, the planner of a seed exchange event in Winnipeg said most gardeners here already prioritize planting seeds native to the region.

Seedy Saturday Winnipeg is a meet-up for gardeners who have saved seeds from plants they’ve grown to trade with others.

“I think sourcing locally and trading locally has always been something that gardeners are interested in,” Stephen Kirk, co-organizer of Seedy Saturday Winnipeg, told CTV News.

Kirk said Seedy Saturday has seen a surge of interest in gardening over the past few years from people wanting to combat inflation and, most recently, avoid buying produce grown in the U.S.

“People want to reduce the cost of their groceries,” Kirk explained.

He said Manitoba gardeners should look for plants that can produce a good-sized harvest within our province’s three-to-four-month growing season.