Marigolds on Main Street - 15 Colourful Years!

The new community garden at the Q-Plex

What a fun trip to Saint John, New Brunswick for the 15th anniversary of Marigolds on Main Street! I was thrilled to be invited to emcee this popular annual event that involves over a 1000 school children from Saint John, planting tens of thousands of brightly coloured marigolds down one of the busiest streets in the city.

I drove up on Tuesday, where I had the honour of a guided tour of the amazing new recreation facility in Quispamsis, just outside Saint John, called the Q-Plex. After a delightful lunch, I was able to check out their new community garden on the grounds. The Saint John area is home to six community gardens, and having a population of about 70,000 in the city itself, that is very impressive.

Thanks to Kent Building Supplies for donating the materials!
And congratulations to the winners of the 2 frames!

I also gave a talk at the Q-Plex that afternoon and one that evening at the Lily Lake Pavilion, set on the shores of Lily Lake and nestled within historic Rockwood Park. Rockwood Park is one of the largest urban parks in North America and is over 2000 acres (if I recall correctly)! Kent Building Supplies kindly donated the materials for two 3 x 6 foot cedar cold frames, topped in twin wall polycarbonate. The lovely folks who came to my talks were able to fill out a ballet and hope Lady Luck was with them! Trust me, I was rather tempted to grab one, toss it on top of my car and head for home.. Gorgeous structures!!

On Wednesday morning, it was time for marigold planting! Over 1100 kids came down to do the planting and within about 20 min, the long stretch of Main Street was transformed! I did get my hands dirty and planted some too, but I also took a lot of photos as you can see..

Once again, thanks so much to the Marigolds on Main Street committee for inviting me to Saint John! They have worked long and hard to make the event happen and it was a great success! I look forward to following the progress of the newly planted marigolds on the website for Marigolds on Main Street.

On my way home, I popped into a brand new organic garden centre/landscaping company in Fall River, NS that I keep hearing about.. it's called Natural Harmonics and the owners are working hard to create a business that offers a wide range of natural seeds, plants and gardening supplies. From biodegradable (but so colourful!) pots and containers to coir (a peat substitute) to organic seeds to worm poo (from local supplier Growing Green Earthworm Castings).. Thanks for the tour and I look forward to my return to your store. (And I can't wait to plant the dinosaur kale transplants I bought!).. like I needed more plants!!

Here are some more photos from Marigolds on Main Street and a few from Natural Harmonics: