...or maybe I just have ADD or am easily amused or can easily find 101 ways to avoid the work I really should be doing. It's likely that the last thing I need is another blog, but still, I couldn't resist. It seemed to me that with all of the enthusiasm over food security, gardening, healthy food for healthy communities and all that, we needed a place for west coast gardeners to have a forum. And when I mean west coast, I don't mean Vancouver or the Gulf/San Juan Islands or Victoria or even Seattle (although I may cut Seattle some slack). I mean the WEST COAST. Like Tofino or Ucluelet or Tahsis where we have to deal with (among other things):
- rain (in excess of 3 metres)
- cool evenings year-round (if, on summer evenings, you still have to wear a fleece jacket, you're in the club)
- summer fogs
- mud
- clay soils
- did I mention the rain?
So what I am hoping to do? As I was digging out in my yard, this is what I thought this blog might be useful for — to share these sorts of things:
- what your garden is growing now (and how you're doing it)
- gardening tips you have to share
- extra seedlings you have to share round
- images of local gardens
- extra produce you have to share ...
Are you in? I hope so.
Hey Adrienne! Danielle here in Ukee. I was involved in the UCFI (Ukee Community Food Iniative), and we were hoping for something like this. I'm glad someone got something started.
ReplyDeleteMostly I am looking to find out how others deal with the swamp. Last year, because of the birth of our first kid, I planted things later. Things mostly did much better (go figure), but it was also a great year for weather. I have a really hard time with certain "easy to grow" plants though. Lettuce barely makes it up, and my spinach seems to stay small and then bolt (how annoying). Chard, kale, raab - these all do well for me. And my greenhouse saves me sometimes. I even was able to grow tomatoes outside last year with limited success (although I hung plastic over the bed - it was pretty haphazard). I spent very little time on my garden last year, but am wondering what others do to deal with slugs or seriously stunted growth. I am often wondering in the summer "too dry?", "too wet?". Hard for me to tell. I think I will send this link to other real gardeners (those with more experience out here than myself), and hope we can create a reasonable planting calender for the coast. And anyone with any varieties of fruit trees that work out here - please pipe up!
Hi Dani,
ReplyDeleteSo glad you commented. (I don't have an alert to tell me when people comment; will have to change that setting!) Please encourage other Ukee folk to contribute. I will re-post this so others can answer your question but I have the same problem with spinach. Lettuce I do seem to be able to grow though. And, yes, a planting calendar for the wet coast is a great idea. Hopefully this will be a good repository of information to build on. (And I would consider you a "real" gardener!)