The Assiniboine Park greenhouses are currently home to a varied collection of plant species as our horticultural team eagerly awaits and prepares for the spring and summer planting season. Alongside the beautiful flowers that Park visitors can admire in the gardens, are an assortment of vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, Turkish eggplant, onions, potatoes, and a variety of herbs to name a few.
In the springtime, along with our team at the Park, many home gardeners get to work starting tomatoes, herbs and squash indoors to shorten the time to harvest.
Potatoes however, are not as common a sight indoors. Home gardeners are typically accustomed to growing potatoes outdoors from seed potatoes. This means many home gardeners will wait until at least May to plant potatoes. Here at the Park, we have the privilege of an incredible greenhouse facility that allows us to grow potatoes from seed so we can get an early start.
Vegetables that are grown here at the Park are used in our restaurants and banquet facilities, for animal enrichment at the Zoo, and in the past we have donated our locally grown produce to Winnipeg Harvest. In the future, the Kitchen Garden at The Leaf will feature a variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs that will enable visitors to explore the connections between people and nature. The ability to start these vegetables in the greenhouse will be essential to making that vision a reality.
