City Square Update

The big news of the week is the purchase of a toolshed and more tools for kids!

We also harvested our first batch of green beans -yum!

Our tomatoes, however, are not faring too well. One theory is irregular watering, an issue which we're working on.

a lovely tranquil spot for the kids to relax

although some tomatoes are not faring well, these were mighty tasty!

one lone calendula escapee from the garden. Giving unexpected brightness in an otherwise gray space.

We look forward to redesigning the garden over the coming months, stay tuned for changes!

Here comes the fruit!

young strawberry

Here on the rooftop our veggies are growing....

cucumber

...and fruit is ripening!

little tomatoes

more tomatoes

Despite worries about our tomato plants (some curled leaves and spots), they are still producing fruit. Hope the sun stays out next week!

-Laura, SPEC Summer Student Intern

ups and downs

Last week, we were able to harvest enough lettuce to share with both the Mount Pleasant and the Little Mountain Neighbourhood Houses!

Teomi and Kiana with Karen from LMNH

and then this week, bad news - the fava beans that we had planted last year and were growing so big and beautifully got infested with APHIDS and unfortunately didn't survive (sniff!). We did manage to salvage a bag full of beans, not insignificant, but definitely anticlimactic! I wish I had my camera that day, but the beans had big black spots on them and were starting to rot...

on the bright side, now we have a big new area to plant in! planting planting planting!

We've had a relatively relaxing few weeks at City Square. Mostly everything is in the ground, and we've planted more lettuce, carrots, and spinach in the few spaces we had. We've harvested parsley and peas, as well as

radishes

lettuce

and

calendula

to make yummy

salad!!!

And as always, weeding and watering

little boy, big (fava) beans

We're looking forward to doing some long-term planning for the garden, if you would like to contribute ideas or just come help in the garden, email bakervicky@shaw.ca

The tomatoes are coming!

The vegetables and flowers are absolutely loving the sunshine and hot weather we have been having here in Vancouver. Sometimes a little too much so. The heat can get a bit extreme on the roof. That reminds me....we should get a thermometer to record what's going on.

Jennifer, Laura and I pruning, staking and securing the tomatoes. The wind blew over a whole bunch the night before.

Laura is our new summer intern. She will be working with SPEC's Food Safety and Security Committee on a number of projects. Welcome aboard Laura!


One of our many varieties of tomatoes.

Marigolds and other flowers have been placed between the rows of tomatoes to attract pollinating insects to the tomatoes.
Our nasturtiums grow like crazy. We had to do a massive trimming because they were growing so much that they were starting to block the solar panels.

I will forever think of my cabbage patch kid - Ken George when I see cabbage plants.

Jennifer and Laura are hanging out with the solar cooker.

The tomato growing upside down (to the left of Jennifer) in the topsy turvy is doing okay. It does not seem as large as the other ones but there are a few small tomatoes coming in.
Time will tell.

These are pictures from Karen's garden on Bowen Island. The pea trellis is made from bamboo that was invading the community garden site.

Hoop house over raised beds.

Container gardening for your boat!

After the rains....

Wow, we have just finished a long week of rain here in Vancouver. It feels more like April than June but hopefully the weather is turning around.

Ilse, our wonderful SPEC employee, that keeps things running in the office.

Tomatoes are starting to form...

Our vertical food container.

We moved the tomatoes in order to give them more room to breath and better access to sun.

Insect mimicry....this fly looks like a bee.

Alyssum flowers have a rich honey perfume. They are a great living mulch and also attract beneficial insects to your garden.

Topsy Turvy - the upside-down tomato planter. This is our first year of using this technique. So far so good.

Our snow peas taste wonderful!

soggy spring

After a hopeful planting a couple weeks ago, we have had one of the coldest springs in recent memory, but still the noble plants have held on -

above - our 2nd square foot plot after May 23 planting

below - 2 weeks later

In this plot - (along the back) cucumber, tomatillos
Marigold, Fennel, Onions, Onions
Eggplant, Cauliflower, Cauliflower, Eggplant
Beets, Pepper, Pepper, Radishes
Poppies, Pepper, Pepper, Nastursiums

We also planted nine varieties of tomatos, lots of basil, some winter squash and summer squash, and two kinds of beans, which have sprouted, and will soon be off and growing for the bean teepes.

Teomi beside the fava beans planted last fall - aren't they gorgeous?!


Over the next two Sundays we will harvest the lettuce (some greens are going to seed!), do some weeding that's overdue, and try to squeeze in a few more seeds.

Join us!

Lettuce us be lovers....

American Gothic

Kitsilano Gothic


The rooftop greens harvest....ummmm freshness.

Lettuce

Arugula

Mizuna

Kale

Nasturtiums

Its been very wet and rainy here with some sun in between. Things on the roof are growing well. We didn't make it to the roof last Thursday due to rain but we will definitely be there this Thursday rain or shine.

Cheers,
Tara

SPEC Open House

We had the SPEC open house yesterday and what a day it was! There was a great turnout of SPEC members, volunteers and community members. The weather was perfect for showing off the rooftop garden and our solar panels. The goal of the open house was to officially launch 'Growing Gardens - A Resource package on How to Start Your Own Community Garden'. This handbook was developed by UBC Geography students working in conjunction with SPEC.

The brains behind the 'Growing Gardens' manual.

Katherine Richardson, professor of Geography 447, presenting the manual.

All of the work done on the rooftop garden paid off. It looked great! Many, many thanks to our volunteers!

Solar panels and veggies make great companions. The veggies help to keep the panels a little cooler which makes them run better.

We have so many tomatoes! Perhaps we should use the solar cooker to make some tomato sauce when our harvest comes in.

Jess, a SPEC director, cooling off in the shade with Betsy Mae.

Rob, a SPEC director, giving a tour of our solar panels.

Another group for the rooftop tour.

Thanks to everyone for helping out with the open house. It was filled with wonderful people and great fun. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Cheers, Tara