Saturday 1 October 2016

Kazimierz Senkowski (April 8, 1936 - September 27, 2016)

Long time NAGA gardener, 'Kaz' passed away 27 Sept 2016. His obituary is posted at the Ottawa Citizen.


NAGA member and friend to Kaz, Ian Reid provided the following tribute to Kaz:

Kazimierz Senkowski passed away on September 27, 2016. I’ve known Kaz for about 25 years at the NAGardens. We shared neighboring plots for both the Annual and Perennial gardens during the past 25 years. Stakes mark the boundary corners. We only marked the plot boundaries, not by a string as most gardeners do, but by a foot path made by a shovel between the stakes. Kaz knew where my boundary was and I knew where his was. We never augured about the boundary .Kaz never stole from me nor I from him. To sum up you couldn’t ask for a better neighbor.

Volunteer work

Kaz volunteered for many jobs over the years: Here is a picture of Kaz and I cleaning out a compost bin to make room for the next year’s supply of plant material.




Here is that same Bin after being cleaned.




I’m showing this to point out that there is not a speck of compost in the bin even though it was being filled with plant material the next day. Kaz was a perfectionist. Most people wouldn’t bother cleaning out a bin like Kaz did. Everything Kaz did was done right, no short cuts. His gardens were laid out in straight lines and were weed free.

Cutting Grass

Kaz took over from me and cut the grass for several years. I used to ask him if he serviced the Mower (changed the oil, oil filter etc.) If he didn’t say it outright, he basically said that I have a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering (I think I’m right, correct me if I’m wrong) and in addition he said that I worked in a garage back in Poland. Kaz as it turned out he knew more than me about servicing the Mower than I did. He did a fine job.

Kas will be missed at the gardens and elsewhere..

Thanks for being my friend. Ian Reid.