Westside Pocket Market - Thursdays 3-7pm

With the love for food and community, SPEC and Kits Neighborhood House (KNH) are putting together ten Pocket Markets this summer to nurture the growing local food movement and boost the local economy.

Pocket Markets play an important role in supporting the production and distribution of local food. The markets help bridge the gap for local farmers, urban backyard growers and local food eaters by providing an alternative market format that adds to the current make-up of the farmer’s market world.

Join us in celebrating community and the love for local food, starting every Thursday July 7 until Sep 8, from 3 pm to 7 pm at Kits Neighbourhood House (2325 7 Ave West). In addition to tasty food, SPEC will offer workshops on Winter Gardening, Eating Local on a Budget and plenty of other workshops! (We encourage curious people to keep an eye on our website for updates).

Vendors at the July 7th market

* Cherry Lane Farm
* SOLEFood Farm
* Salt Spring Coffee Co.
* Giddy up and Grow
* The World in A Garden

The vendors will vary from market to market. If you want to become a market vendor to sell eggs, fresh produce or baked treats, please contact Sara Blenkhorn at sarablenkhorn@gmail.com.

Workshop offered on July 7
Workshop #1 - Climate Change and Year-Round Gardening.
Time: 5 pm to 6pm.
Is your garden prepared for an unpredictable climate? Explore how climate change can affect the productivity of urban farms and gardens and how certain practices can minimize greenhouse gases in small-scale agriculture. Participants will learn climate-modifying techniques to extend the season, including mulching, greenhouses, coldframes and cloches. (All workshop are free but donations are always appreciated!).

The Pocket Market Voucher Program
Eating local is unfortunately not always the most affordable option for your pocket. At the Westside Pocket Market we want ALL community members to be able to enjoy healthy food, this is why we are launching the Pocket Market Voucher Program. The vouchers program will help low income families and individuals to access nutritious food by taking the financial edge off eating local. For more information on how to access the Pocket Market Vouchers, please contact Kits Neighborhood House at 604-736-3588.

Key to Successful Organic Gardens

Compost!!

The Beds are Almost Full

Today we harvested lettuce thinnings, chives, arugula and mesclun.

The beds are almost at capacity now - empty spaces were seeded with cucumbers, dill, parsnips, mesclun, mixed lettuce and frisee.

Fruit and Flowers Too

Looks like we will have a good crop of raspberries for July munching. The Lupins are also now at their peak - good for bringing pollinators into the garden.

Time to Plant Summer Veggies

Important to keep records of what we've planted, including date sown, germination time and general progression of the crop. The June 5th planting included beans, beets, parsnips, basil, hot pepper transplants and more tomato transplants - you can never have too many tomatoes...........

More Progress in the Garden

And a few more pictures - have a look at the potatoes - amazing growth - and the strawberries are loving the company of garlic and the newly added tomato transplants

First Harvest June 5

Time to harvest! And what a great morning we had for the event .....

We cleared out the radish beds to makes way for planting summer veggies, and the spicy mesclun mix and toy choi were also shared by all

Summer's Fast Approaching June 3

And a few more pictures of progress to June 3. Notice how healthy the leaves of the Oriental greens are with no flea beetle or slug damage. The toy choi needs to be harvested - flower buds just starting.

Due to the number of days with rainfall during May the garden did well with a once or twice weekly watering - with the weather so far in June we will have to keep an eye on our newly seeded beds.

And on to May 28

Looking good, and a new seeding of arugula in bed 1 has now sprouted - arugula can be seeded from March through September - and harvested at almost any size before it goes to seed. The toy choi is best suited to spring and fall plantings.

Fast Forward To May 19

Well May's weather was not much better than April's but that didn't stop our crops from growing. Here are a few pictures of the garden's progress on May 19. Spicy mesclun mix, toy choi seeded in bed 1 on April 26th. The bed also contains larkspur and strawflower transplants. I'm sure the leafy greens' progress can be attributed to the alfalfa meal added prior to seeding.

Also, we have overwintered garlic and potatoes starting to take off in two of the garden's other beds.