New Brunswickers get ready to garden as spring officially begins

Maritimers had an extra spring in their step on the first day of Spring.

The first day of spring in southeastern New Brunswick brought a renewed sense of energy, with warmer weather encouraging residents to embrace outdoor activities.

“The beautiful weather, the snow is over with, go out and go walking through the trails, looking at the plants and the flowers. I can’t wait,” said Deb Kilbourn at MacArthur’s Nurseries in Moncton.

“Seeds are right now the thing that we’re selling a lot of, and supplies and things to go with starting them off,” said owner Tony Deluca. “It’ll be about another month before we open up our tree lot and then our perennial section.

“Our busiest months are obviously May and June. People are doing their gardening around here; we sometimes take pre-orders for certain items. We generally have lots of product when everything opens up for spring. We’re getting some nice spring-like weather and the snow is gone; people are anxious about being able to do things outside and plant outside.”

Deluca also observed a trend towards more home-based gardening this year.

“What we’re seeing now with the tariffs and the trade wars, we see an increase in prices with groceries and stuff,” he said. “People will seem to be staying closer to home this year and concentrating more on their properties and growing more of their food. In that, we’ve seen a surge in sales in things like seeds.”

Heath Richards of Vestiaire St-Joseph food bank and thrift shop in Shediac noted the community benefits of spring cleaning.

“We collect gently used items as far as clothing, household items, books, children’s toys; pretty much anything that’s been gently used can be dropped off at the Vestiaire,” she explained. “Every dollar brought in helps fund the food bank so we’re able to help individuals in our community with food security. We’re open five days a week and we serve about 1,200 clients a month, and we’re getting people in almost every day applying to use the food bank.”

Richards noted Shediac’s seaside location contributes to the increased donations during this time of year.

“It does get a little more busy because everybody’s into their spring cleaning mode, and we’re a cottage town,” she said. “People are starting to come to their cottages and they want to clean things out, they want to refresh items.

“Our clothing sales are really popular, especially with children’s clothing because the stuff they had last spring is not going to fit this spring, and the only way we’re able to meet the needs of those shopping is because of the generous donations that we receive from the community.”

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