Mid-March Garden

I took some photos a few weeks ago, showing what's going on in my garden (and in my kitchen). Of course this was the year that I really got on the early seeding in indoor flats and just as a few things needed to be hardened off, the snow, sleet, hail and horizontal rains came (and stayed for a week). We seem to be back to rain now, so I'm starting to harden off some oriental greens, lettuce and peas to go into the garden (most under plastic or cloches for a bit yet) by the weekend. Wish me luck! Gardening is always a bit trial and error, but they're only seeds. They can be restarted.



My stalwart rhubarb bed that seems to hang in there every year despite having to deal with the shade and roots from a nearby "hedge" of cedar. I gave them a good mulch of alder leaves this winter and have fed them a few times with manure.



Greenhouse harvest! These radishes were planted last fall and just put on a nice growth spurt. Very tasty; not too woody.



Greens in the greenhouse: arugula and tenderheart (an oriental green, I believe). I have some other small lettuces starting to grow well in the greenhouse as well as mizuna in the garden.



This was the first winter for my little lemon tree. It seemed to survive just fine, despite the cold snaps and the greenhouse being blown apart a few times. I harvest 3 lemons from the tree (which is how many blooms there were on the plant when I bought it). It needs a good fertilize and perhaps a larger pot, but I'm eager to see what it will get up to this year.



I am a firm believer that the biggest challenge we have here is not so much the lack of sun, but the abundance of rain. I usually try to cover beds I'm about to plant with plastic (or glass) for a week or so beforehand. Then, once the seeds or seedlings are in, I also keep the beds covered until I think they are well-established. After that, I keep a close eye on the beds and when excessive rain or wind is on the way, I cover them up for a bit. I also have a small portable cold frame (about 3'x4') that I move around and an old window that I use to cover newly seeded sections of the beds.



Of course the kale is hanging on. This is Lacinato. I'm using most of the kale in juices and green smoothies at the moment as there will be new greens soon! Other plants in the outdoor garden include fava beans and garlic (both planted in the fall and looking well), a few stalwart beets and mizuna.





This year I have done a lot of seeding indoors. It helps that only two of us are at home at the moment, so most of the kitchen table, the sunny window seat and a table downstairs (with my first grow lights) are taken over by seedlings. Here's what I've put in:

leeks, sui choi, artichoke, fennel, broccoli (two varieties), lettuce (two varieties), collards, cauliflower (two varieties), several varieties of flowers (calendula, lupine, cosmos, sweet peas, etc.) I also sprouted peas and fava beans in moist paper towels. This worked very well and all of the sprouted seeds are now in peat pots and I'm hardening off the peas already, with some going in the garden this weekend. (The first batch were planted a few weeks ago in my cold frame.)

Outside, under glass, I have seeded: arugula, corn salad, kale, collard, radishes, carrots (a bit early; but they're only seeds!) and oriental greens (Gai Lan).

Lessons from the Green Man

This blogger has been trying to eat something from his garden every day of the year. Here are some of his lessons learned. I broke a few yesterday, but it was finally so nice. I optimistically planted some seeds in the garden, but under glass. I've had greens in the greenhouse for about a month now, so I think it will be okay! As I was preparing one of the beds, I found three small lettuces growing! Little miracles to have survived the snow and freezing temps we had several times this year.

What do you have growing?

Giving Colanders a New Life

Check this out. That's a mighty pretty enamel colander.

What's Growing in May Gardens

Some of you may be curious to know what is growing or can be planted. Leah let me know what was happening in her garden. What's happening in yours? Fire over an email or leave a comment.

In Leah's Garden, she and Jonathan have:

"Direct seeded carrots (nantes, baby finger and danvers ....didn't use row cover and found that some of the birds were pulling out the little carrot sprigs. weve got tons of seeds so re-planted and will hope for the best.

Planted onions (that I had pre-grown inside the house) and onion sets that we bought. Planting onions around the carrots is a way to prevent the carrot rust fly.

Planted early potatoes...yukon gold.

Planted peas (sweet and shelling), once, twice, three times....birds love the little spoutlets....they look like little worms. They're netted now and seem to be coming up slowly but surely.

Last week we put out the leeks (grown inside first) as well as planted celery seed. I usually buy celery starts but have seen good results here in Tofino using seed so thought I'd try it out. Celery takes a long time to germinate and there are so many adversities ....birds, slugs, etc that starts are desirable. However, the very fragile tap root can be damaged while transplanting starts so direct sowing seemed like a good idea.

Planted lots of edible flowers...calendula, borage, nasturtium. Some parsley and cilantro too.

Transplanted some sunflower seed sprouts. I sprout seeds and grains in the winter/spring and these sunflower sprouts were some that didn't get eaten and just kept growing.

Transplanted another bed of strawberries. Also, planted 3 blueberries this spring.

Planted swiss chard (rainbow and a white stemmed variety ...can't remember the name). We have some pre-sprouted red russian kale babies that we will be transplanting with the chard. The kale sprouts came from a plant that exploded with seeds ....some of the seeds landed inside the greenhouse and started growing on a piece of wet wood. Kale grows anywhere and is the best edible for Tofino!!

In the next week, will be transplanting artichokes (greenglobe & imperial star). Also, we'll be planting under row cover, broccoli (including gai lan, a chinese variety), cauliflower and cabbage. We had terrible army worms and a few cabbage worms last year so hope to prevent with the lightweight row cover.

We've got tomatoes (mostly early varieties and cherries), eggplant, peppers (including jalapeno) & basil inside the house and some in the greenhouse.

In pots I have baby finger carrots and onions and tons of lettuce blends. Can't get enough of them!!

Later this month....gold rush zucchini, gold nugget squash and queensland blue squash (seeds from a friend in Duncan) as well as cucumbers and a cantaloupe (in the greenhouse).

We are going to be intensively growing a number of plants in the greenhouse so will be feeding them heavily (lots of fish fertilizer!!), EM and aerated compost tea."

Here's a short report from my garden:

- Two pots of potatoes are growing well. I can't add any more dirt so once the plant dies back, I'll have an early crop. I also planted two varieties in potato bags and put some directly into the garden. (Can you tell we like potatoes?)

- The leeks, broccoli, artichoke, lettuce starts I began inside are in the garden now.

- Carrots, parsnips, beets seeds sown and I'll keep this up every two weeks for awhile.

- Peas are up and growing well, as are fava beans.

- Other bean varieties (filet beans, for example) are planted inside so they'll be ready to transplant out when the soil warms up.

- The nine-square garden I started over a month ago worked really well and I have great arugula, mizuna, radishes, spinach, lettuce and other greens in that garden.

- Herb garden is sprouting nicely and I planted some parsley and creeping rosemary into that garden.

- The strawberries, blueberries, apples and plums all have/had lots of flowers so I'm hoping for the best. The apple tree has never really produced despite all the flowers so we did get out there this year with a Q-tip, and transferred pollen (we hope) between the two trees. Will report back in the fall! We did put in Mason bees this year, but you certainly can't tether them to your yard and they were released before the flowers were out in force.

All for now. Let us know what you're up to in your garden. Many new (and old ones, too) wet coast gardeners are keen to know what to plant and when as well as what grows well here.

From WCG Readers

I'm on the road at the moment, but a few things have come into my IN basket from others that are worth sharing. TW sent over this article from the Guardian: Fowl Play: One Many's Year Keeping Chickens and Trina over at Ordinary Corner let us know (via her email list) that the following items are in stock:

"Earth bank fish compost. LLOOVVEEDDD IT!!! great as a mulch in the vege garden.

EM Mother culture in 1 L jugs in. and activated Em as well, for those that may not want to activate it, or don't need such a big jug of mother culture.

For those long awaiting the temperature and weather is great to order nematodes for the garden. get rid of those nasty larvae that eat holes in your rhodos, azaleas, camellias, and also ring your rhodos at the soil level causing to die. If you want any let me know and we will add to our order.

Also ladybugs for the greenhouse and garden are also starting to come in, so if you have aphids here's a friendly way to get rid of them. and as an added bonus, we also have ladybug lures and houses in stock. If you want ladybugs let me know as well.

And our eagerly awaited order of mason bee homes and blocks for those that may want to build their own home.

we have a great selection of mint in, apple, ginger, chocolate, spearmint, peppermint. lots of seed potatoes, speciality potatoes, garlic 3 types, onion 3 types, horseradish root, blueberry and raspberry plants.

hyacinths and tulips planted in pots are starting to come into bloom.

Air pumps for making aerobic compost tea have arrived."

And she ends her email with: "WOOHOO!!!! spring spring spring." Yes indeedy. Woo Hoo Spring! I'm wondering if my new raspberry bed will have magically appeared while I've been away?

West Coast Seeds also sent their April newsletter, which is full of great information. This month there are tips on growing lettuce and planting a bee garden and they say "April is the month to direct sow beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, collards, endive, fennel, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, scallions, spinach, Swiss chard and turnips. Indoors, you want to get your cauliflower, celery, and eggplants started, and there is still time to start peppers and tomatoes indoors, but sooner is better than later."

And finally, Leah let me know that the Growing for Market Workshop is coming to the west coast if there are enough people. See all of the details below and don't fall to Tofino time when it comes to signing up. Sign up asap, svp.

Growing for Market Workshop
with Ellen Rainwalker

Sunday June 6
10 am to 4 pm
Tofino Botanical Gardens
Cost: $50 per person, or $75/couple (cash or cheque only)
Pre-registration required - please contact Leah Austin at tofinolocalfood@yahoo.ca

Co-sponsored by the Tofino Community Food Initiative and the Tofino Botanical Gardens.
Coffee and tea provided. Please bring a bag lunch.
This workshop is about making an income from backyards and small acreages by selling produce and other farm products to people in your community. Ellen Rainwalker is a former market gardener who has been growing food organically for over 40 years. She has a certificate in Ecological Agriculture.

Some of the topics covered will be: identifying high-value crops, labour-saving tools and equipment, soil improvement, succession planting for year-round harvests, growing in hoophouses, adding value to your products, direct marketing for best prices, developing customer loyalty, and much much more.

Each person will receive a packet of Resource materials (couples get one packet to share). There will be books on market gardening for sale at the workshop. If you have questions or want more information, email rainwalker@telus.net.

Part 1 - Small-Scale Organic Market Gardening from the Ground Up

- Characteristics of small-scale organic market gardening - what does this kind of farming look like?
- What do you need to get started in this kind of farming?
- Choosing high-value crops
- Market garden planning
- Seeds for market gardeners
- Soil & soil testing
- Maintaining soil fertility
- Season extenders - hoophouses, cloches, etc.
- Tools & techniques for transplanting & direct seeding
- Dealing with pests & diseases naturally
- Irrigation
- Harvesting techniques
- Post-harvest handling
- Where to get help

Part 2 - Marketing Your Farm Products

- Direct marketing - creating customer loyalty
- Organic certification and alternatives
- Obtaining BC Farm Status
- Low-profile and high-profile marketing styles
- Creating a farm identity
- Marketing techniques for profits - adding value, pricing, displaying products
effectively, etc.
- 10 different ways to sell your products locally
- How to network with like-minded growers over the Internet

Your Source for Drunken Women Lettuce

And then there's Georgescu chocolate peppers, yellow mortgage lifter tomatoes, and bullsblood beets. (For a word nerd like me, reading a seed catalog is about as much fun as reading the names on all those paint samples at the hardware store.) These seeds and dozens more are available from Salt Spring Seeds.



You can find a 2010 catalogue, as well as a selection of seeds, at Green Soul Organics on 4th Street. And, of course, Trina at Ordinary Corner Nursery has a great selection of seeds from West Coast Seeds as well as other brands.

Have any of you tried seeds from Salt Spring? What about other sources? I'm putting together a post on what people are seeding (and how and when). Let me know what's happening in your garden. Don't be shy. This is going to be awfully dull (for all of us) if we only learn about my garden.