Gardener's Give and Take: Winter Conversations That Grow Community

When the ground freezes, gardeners don’t hibernate—they gather. At Five Points Bakery, the Gardener’s Give & Take series turned Saturday mornings into a salon of soil talk, seed swaps, and collective problem-solving. Over four sessions, a mix of regulars and newcomers pulled up chairs around a sunny table to trade knowledge on everything from beneficial nematodes to tomato blight.

Session Highlights: What Gardeners Actually Talk About in February

Beneficials, Blight, and Books

The final winter meeting covered releasing ladybugs and nematodes for natural pest control, troubleshooting last season’s pH imbalances and rodent raids, and swapping recommendations for gardening books and upcoming Urban Roots workshops. The consensus? These gatherings are “a really nice way to feed our heads with ideas when we can’t get out and dig.”

Fungi, Ferns, and Propagation

An earlier session welcomed Colleen O’Neill Nice, who brought home-grown ferns and previewed her “Three Simple Ways to Propagate Plants” workshop. The group dissected fungal foes—mildew, black spot, rust—then pivoted to edible mushrooms: cultivation, identification, and the fine line between edible and delicious. A pondless waterfall sparked plant recommendations for water gardens, and a Christmas cactus mystery rounded out the morning.

Seed-Starting Struggles and Winter-Sowing Wins

The series kicked off with Liz Lipsitz reminding everyone that “gardeners don’t stop being gardeners just because the ground is frozen.” Richard Price shared seed-starting expertise (later leading a hands-on workshop), while a public-space gardener on a tight budget collected suggestions for tough, self-sowing plants—especially those that prefer a chill period before germination, perfect for winter sowing directly in the bed.

Why the Format Works

Gardener’s Give & Take is deliberately unstructured: participants set the agenda. An expert is present to facilitate and fill lulls, but the real value is peer-to-peer exchange—questions, failures, successes, and “I tried this and it worked.” Coffee, tea, and Five Points baked goods sweeten the deal.

Join the Next Round

Sessions run Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. at Five Points Bakery. Sign up for one or all at workshops@urbanroots.org or call 716-362-8982. Whether you’re troubleshooting a specific pest or just craving gardening conversation in January, there’s a seat at the table.