CHEX TV airdate: Sept. 4th, 5-6pm Click here to watch this episode online. 
Sue Chan is an expert on bees. Her life is buzzing all the time! Sue works for a variety of organizations including Farms at Work. (http://www.farmsatwork.ca/about-us) ?It was with that organization that she wrote a booklet about bees called A Landowner’s Guide to Conserving Native Pollinators.(Available at The Avant-Garden Shop for just $10.00) ? On this episode of The Garden Gate , we talked about why bees are so important, how they are affected by neonicotinoids, and also what types of plants they like. We carry bee houses at the shop as well which we also talked about. ?These bee houses are made locally and are meant for mason bees to lay eggs in. ?Putting up a variety of “houses” for the bees will help them to increase in numbers and pollinate your plants!
Month: August 2015
Garden Gate: Episode 70 – A visit to Horling’s Garden Centre (A member of Garden Route)
CHEX TV airdate: August 21st, 5-6pm Click link to watch this episode 
Horling’s Garden Centre is located just outside of Lakefield on Lakefield Highway (formerly Hwy #28). They have been in business in the same location for 40+ years! I remember going there as a kid when it was a butcher shop! At the time they also sold a few plants, but the business is totally transformed now. They offer quality plants as well as full landscaping services.They have a large selection of trees and shrubs including many native plants. The Hydrangeas were blooming when we were there in late July! I visited with Ian Nichols, the greenhouse manager. We talked about Garden Route and their involvement in this cooperative group of garden related businesses in Peterborough area. (www.gardenroute.ca) In addition Ian highlighted a new stonework service they are offering. It was a hot day! I hope you’ll tune in to watch us sweat!
Garden Gate: Episode 69-Quality suet, with Mark Bennett from Millcreek seed
CHEX TV airdate: August 7th, 2015 Click link to watch this episode. You might think that there is no difference in our suet vs. box store suet. ?Well there is! ?A BIG difference. Mark Bennett from Wildbird Trading and Millcreek seed shares his vast knowledge of suet with us on this episode of The Garden Gate. His suet is made with peanut meal instead of corn meal. ?Box stores mostly use corn meal. ?Corn meal goes moldy and birds don’t like it. They prefer nut meal. I’d prefer nuts over dry corn any day! In addition they have studied closely what nutrition birds need and what they love. ?Millcreek seed has devised many different varieties of suet for a wide variety of birds. ?For example the Fruit and Nut suet is an Oriole favourite in the spring. ?The Baby birthday suet is specially formulated for parent birds to feed to their babies. FULL of nutrition. They devour this one. There is also a Summer Nut suet which is very dense and won’t melt in the warm days of summer! ?Many other varieties to choose from. 
Tune in, then drop by to see the wide varieties of suet available.