Volunteer gardeners eager to get planting at Mennonite Heritage Village

The vegetable garden looks good already at Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach. 

Elsie Kathler says the Steinbach and Area Garden Club is eager to move things along by planting some of the seeds. She says the soil is warm enough for the seeds to go into the ground. 

“It’s exciting to try to put all the plants in,” she says. 

This experienced garden says the started plants will only be added to the garden after the May long weekend to make sure they avoid frost. 

Meanwhile, the rhubarb and garlic have already come out of the ground and those plants are looking healthy. 

Kathler says they work compost into the soil every fall to add nutrients to the garden, and they limit how much they work the ground. She explains this is done to help keep the soil in the best condition possible to produce healthy plants and crops. 

This garden is a living artifact at the Mennonite Heritage Village, demonstrating typical gardens of Mennonite settlers in Manitoba. 

Later in the season, fresh produce will be brought to the Livery Barn Restaurant each day to be used in their soups.   

The Steinbach and Area Garden Club also looks after the Dirk Willems Peace Garden as well as the flower beds and pots throughout the museum grounds. Volunteers will frequent the museum to water the plants and pull weeds.