Cambie Garden June 17 Update

Good news and not so good news last Sunday at the Cambie Garden

we arrived to see the majority of wheat plants pulled out and the flowering Red Mustard plants broken in half - we were really looking forward to baking some bread with our wheat harvest, and the bees were so enjoying the mustard blossoms -

on a brighter note, our raspberries are just about starting to show some colour, and our mixed bed of chard, carrots and beets is looking really healthy - even the brussels sprouts are growing by leaps and bounds - and flower starts are visible on the zucchini

Summer here we come .............

Powdery Mildew Tips from the YWCA Rooftop Garden

We put our summer out early, just like everything else at the YWCA Rooftop Food Garden.  A combination of row covers and black plastic mulch (we re-used black trash bags) kept them nice and warm, and hopefully will keep the encroaching horsetail at bay.  Squashes are starting to emerge, but so is powdery mildew thanks to our rainy BC springs.

The first 'Soleil' yellow squash starting to emerge

pesky powdery mildew

these small round zucchinis are called '8-Ball'

To counteract the powdery mildew, we've been mixing up a foliar spray of 1 part kefir (or milk) to about 3 parts water, and it seems to be helping.  The downsides of this method?  You have to spray about once a week and a sunny day can smell a bit like baby vomit.  Small price to pay for healthy squash though!

Cambie Garden Update - June 10

The garden is looking lush and green with all the rain we've had of late .......

Last Wednesday the City Hall daycare group helped transplant eggplant and peppers (under the hoop house), marigolds, tomatillos and tomatoes and direct seeded carrots, kale and swiss chard .......

Today we broadcast mild mesclun mix around the Brussels sprouts and direct seeded a wide row of Buttercrunch lettuce, one last row of cylindra beets and more nasturtiums - the beds are almost full - now we just need some sunshine to bring on the harvest

speaking of harvest - we had our first harvest today - white icicle radishes ........the Blue Russian potatoes are now in flower, and we even have blossoms on some of our tomatoes - the picture below shows Galina, Gurnsey Pink Blush, Medovaya Kaplya and Kimberley

Cambie Gardens - June 3rd

Another lovely morning in the garden .... no need to water as we've had plenty of rain this past week.  We recovered the hoop house to allow for better air circulation for the soon to be transplanted eggplants and peppers - we are trying out red okra under cover as well - this crop needs lots of heat - so here's hoping for one of our rare hot summers.

Ladybugs have arrived - and the bees are enjoying the red mustard flowers.

Poona Kheera cucumbers were planted out today, the strawberries, potatoes, mixed salad greens, brocolli and wild arugula are all loving our weather ........... here are a few pictures of our garden in early June -