April 29 - Garden Beds Almost Full

May is almost here and the garden continues to progress ...... wheat, potato onions, broad beans and red mustard (starting to flower) are looking good, and the potatoes have been hilled.


Resowed spinach (Bloomsdale Longstanding) as our previous sowings failed to germinate ......  popped in a few nasturtiums (Gleam Mix). 
The strawberries and blueberries are starting to bloom

And some of our mason bee cocoons have hatched!!

The tomatoes and basil harden off in the hoop house - hopefully the weather will co-operate and they can be planted out next week

A few pics April 22

Happy Earth Day - April 22

The weather has started to warm, and with the help of regular showers, our seeds are now starting to germinate .......

Broadbeans are up, potatoes are starting to peak above the soil surface, our snap peas are finally showing and wee lettuce seedlings are now visible ......... the chives and sorrel are ready for harvest

Sowed Homesteader peas, pollinator blend flowers, African marigold and thought we'd even try some sunflowers - now we just need the sun to stay around for a while

And a big thank you to Itzia for trimming our unruly hedge - the garden is looking good

More to Sow - April 15

Cleared out the last of our winter parsnips in the garden and sowed beets, carrots and chard in rows in the cleared bed - another suggestion in Linda Gilkeson's book - carrots and beets grow under the soil, while the chard leaves grow above ground - a good use of our garden space.

Also broadcast mixed lettuce seeds amongst the potato onions, and slow bolt cilantro was seeded as a companion to our garlic. And the red mustard continues to amaze ..... if every crop were so hardy and prolific!

The blueberries and strawberries are looking better every week .....

New Bed - April 8

We now have a new bed and will try intensive planting as suggested in Linda Gilkeson's book "Backyard Bounty" ...

Two types of lettuce to start - Grand Rapids and Roxy - to be joined in June with Brussels sprouts once half the lettuce is harvested. By late June all the lettuce will be done and we will set out cucumbers. In August we plan to broadcast corn salad under the vines, then in October when the cucumbers are done they will be removed. The rest of the winter the bed will be dedicated to the corn salad and the Brussels sprouts.

April Sowing - April 8

Finally our radishes are starting to emerge .... but no sign of either the snap peas or the climbing peas other than a few nibbled seeds .......

The wheat, garlic, potato onions and red mustard all look good, and the raspberries are starting to leaf out. Hopefully our potatoes will start to show in a few more weeks.

The Tuscan Kale is flowering, so hopefully we'll get some seed to resow.

Work continues on garden structures - we now have two trellises for climbing veggies to be sown when the season warms.

Sowed more radishes - this time white ones, and Venidium for our flower bed ....

The Hoop House is Up - March 25

Thanks to many hands, the hoop house is now covered and the soil is getting a head start on warming up for the eggplants, peppers and maybe some okra

slow beginnings

Despite a cold start, we have hope that spring is coming soon! Below are some pictures from our recent meetings.

NEXT MEETING IS SUNDAY, MARCH 25 AT 10AM! EVERYONE WELCOME!

Last week we planted Space Spinach, Tyee Spinach, Radishes, and Arugula (along with red Fife Wheat in another bed)
Next time we will cover this with plastic to warm the soil for our warm crops.
there is not much left from last year, but this black tuscan kale is alive and well, and delicious to boot!

weeding...an endless task....

strawberry and blueberry patch.
this is our attempt to prevent dogs and other animals from going through the beds.
same day as above, Feb 24th after the soil was delivered.

John from West Creek Farms delivering soil.

We were thrilled to receive much needed soil for the garden this morning. A big shout out to Denise, Manuel, and Tracey for coming to help out - your support is very much appreciated!! Through quick work, we were even able to get done before the snow fell - whew! Thanks also to Catriona and Carole for organizing, and of course to SPEC for financial support. We look forward to working with this (mostly) blank canvas!!

Winter Green - February 19, 2012

So good to get back to the garden - and the rain let up long enough to do some planting - a new blueberry bush - Patriot - an early one with excellent taste, also did a block of Sugar Sprint and Sugar Lace II snap peas and two rows of purple pod snow peas .... and two rows of small seeded Lorane favas - a good start to the season - pea and bean seeds were treated with inoculant to help the plants grow better

A great harvest of parsnips (delicious roasted with a wee bit of salt and olive oil) - and have a look at the potato onions - came through the winter and thriving ........

Putting the Garden to Bed - November 16, 2011

Just to complete 2011 - a few final pics .... lots of leaves to feed earthworms and beneficial microbes and enrich the soil

a compost story

Sept 18 Fall Clean Up Begins

Look at the length of this spaghetti squash vine!! Mildew had taken over the leaves and no more fruit visible - so out it comes

Compost in our three bins has really worked down over the hot weather - this is the second full bin that has been emptied into our beds - lots of eggshells, fruit and veggie peelings mixed with dry leaves saved from last autumn and dry straw .... the best amendment for your garden

Cherry tomatoes are producing well now, although we did lose a good part of our crop to unidentified taste testers, and the red mustard keeps on growing and growing

Almost time to start saving leaves again ......

Sept 11 - Flowers Aplenty - Red Mustard Takes Over

What spectacular end of summer weather we have been enjoying -

bouquets of flowers from the garden

and the red mustard planted for winter harvest has taken over its bed ... this bed was amended with a whole composter worth of compost just prior to planting seeds; the brussels sprouts transplants are also growing well, although suffering somewhat from pest damage