With spring just around the corner, members of the newest gardening group in Cambridge are ready to connect with others and share their passion and knowledge for flowers, plants and all living things.
Incorporated in 2017 under the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in Ontario, Cambridge Rivers’ Edge Gardeners offers a series of events, presentations, garden walks, celebrations and excursions each year for anyone, at any age.
“We need people to get outside, to socialize, to be physically active. It’s about that connectedness. We lost that during COVID-19,” said Cambridge Rivers’ Edge Gardeners president and co-founder Jeanette Berenz.
“And you really see it. People in our group come together, talk and laugh. That’s healthy. And this is not just people in their 80s. We have young people and children too.”
Mostly it's about the fun, said group treasurer Wendy Pitblado.
“It really is. There's so much laughter and love. You can hear giggling at every meeting. And there’s such good energy, whether it comes from nature or from others,” Pitblado said.
“This club inspires. I started coming to garden walks all by myself wanting to get to know people and they were so friendly from the beginning. This group is different from others. It has a community spirit.”
When Cambridge Rivers’ Edge Gardeners began eight years ago, there were about 50 members. Today there are over 300.
“We believe that the most important thing is the people. I think that our success is due to that,” Berenz said. “And we owe a lot of it to our volunteers.”
The group aims to ‘to provide opportunities for friends and family to embrace nature and build partnerships.'
Cambridge Rivers’ Edge Gardeners is not affiliated with the Ontario Horticultural Association as many other gardening groups in the province are.
The group offers garden walks on Tuesday evenings from May to August where members can enjoy a large variety of self-guided tours of local private gardens.
“Each evening has two, three and sometimes four private gardens to see and there are some public things too. This year, we are going to Blue Gables Acres Winery which is a new winery in Brant County,” Berenz said.
“We’ve been to the Lavender Farm and we are going to see the Langdon Hall Gardens this year too. There are about 30 private home gardens that we visit yearly. And we’ve done that since we started. Our garden walks have about 62 volunteer opportunities. And homeowners are always happy to answer questions about their properties.”
The Homes for the Holidays Tour takes place at the end of November, where visitors can take a walk through some private Cambridge area homes that are seasonally decorated, both inside and out.
“Our Homes for the Holidays has 70 volunteer opportunities that we fill every year. Proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region. We will have our third one this year," Berenz said.
“Our volunteers are so important or else we would not be able to hold these events. ... It seems we never have an issue with getting hosts for these events. It's wonderful that people embrace the opportunity of inviting others into their space.”
Coming up in April, Tea Time offers an afternoon full of sweet and savoury food, tea and all the fixings while being entertained by two presenters at Avenue Baptist Church. Tickets are now on sale and everyone is invited.
Berenz, a retired school teacher, developed her passion for gardening many years ago.
“My love of gardening came from my grandmother, my mom and then over different properties that we’ve had. I just love it,” she said.
“For me it’s about exercise and mental health. And the beauty. There’s always something new to see when I take my coffee and walk around the garden. Every day something new is coming out or passing."
Pitblado agrees and says that every flower, whether misshapen or a different colour, has its own beauty to share.
“They are all beautiful in their own right, each flower, each bush and each tree,” she said.
“This club has no labels for things. Other clubs can be so regimented and limited. That is not what we are about. For us, it's about having fun. And today, there’s a real movement to get people back to nature, and grounded.”
The annual membership fee to join Cambridge Rivers’ Edge Gardeners costs $15. For more information, visit here.
