November 7, 2026
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The Kincardine and District Horticultural Society held its annual general meeting, Monday night, and learned about The Indoor Garden.
The annual meeting was run by Karen Redmond, District 8 director and second vice-president of the Ontario Horticultural Association (OHA).
The newly-installed officers for 2027 include Sue Telford, Rosalie Zettler, Debbie White, Dan Roy, Lori Solomon, Grace Morris, Marie Starrs, Bonnie Waite, Brenda Colquhoun and Caroline Gorski.
The speaker for Monday night was David Bannister, talking about “The Indoor Garden."
For 50 years, he was a creative director and writer for an advertising company. That's where he found his love of illustrating and eventually painting. Later, he developed a love of growing food in his basement with LED full-spectrum lighting.
Now, don’t go out there cutting up your grandma’s old housecoat but he offered some ideas on how to make a container for seeds by using scraps, mats, etc., cut up for self-watering.
Bannister is retired now and recently moved to Teeswater. His upbringing on a mixed cash crop farm near London, gave him a good grounding on how things grow. An interest in art and writing led to a life-long career communicating about this. Clients included multi-national seed, crop protection, fertilizer and equipment companies, with work on their behalf encompassing print, radio, television and social media.
He said all indoor plants need the same thing as outdoor - water, growing medium, ventilation, drainage and pest control.
His most successful plantings are tomatoes, peppers, romaine lettuce, bok choy, celery, radishes and herbs. The ones not as successful, are carrots, peas, beans, onions, broccoli and large spreading plants.
You need a good foundation to start with, a soil-less mix, avoiding topsoil. Lighting is also important and self-watering containers are the best. You can start seeds in sphagnum moss in the self-watering containers, and seedlings can be started right in pots.
It is important to feed your plants with a good nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. There are always pests and disease to deal with, and sometimes insecticidal soap will work or an organic pest-control spray.
The most rewarding part of indoor gardening is the harvesting and, of course, then eating. A good idea is to keep a journal which will help year-to-year.
It appears we are at the end of the growing and gardening season for 2026 and what a fall it's been! There has been plenty of sun and warmth so no excuses to not have all that fall garden work done.
The horticultural society has been a busy one this year with the volunteers working on the flagpole garden and the cemetery gate gardens. Along with the municipal planters, these gardens were spectacular. The members will be busy looking forward to planning another year of gardens for the “Through the Garden Gate" tour, as well as another plant sale.
The Kincardine and District Horticultural Society's newly-installed officers for 2027, include Sue Telford (left), Rosalie Zettler, Debbie White, Dan Roy, Lori Solomon, Grace Morris, Marie Starrs, Bonnie Waite, Brenda Colquhoun and Caroline Gorski
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