Let's Pretend

Well, since this weather is altogether too depressing for those of you champing at the bit to get out on the garden, let's engage in a little daydreaming and imagine we live in the Napa Valley or the south of France. Of course we need a lovely, long rustic table on which to have dinner en plein air with a dozen of our friends. No table? No worries. Here's some inspiration from the magazine Readymade (click on image to increase size):

	Look inside >
ON THE COVER: RECYCLED WOOD DINING TABLE

There are lots of pallets kicking around town, in fact I have two in my backyard that I have big plans for, but the plans just might have to change.

Here are the instructions. It would make a great gardening table, too.

Start Planning for Winter

As promised, here is Linda Gilkeson's post on what you need to do now if you are planning a winter garden.

Here is the Get Ready for Winter part:
Do you have all the seeds you need for fall and winter crops? As local garden centres are increasingly tuned in to mid-summer seed demand it has been getting easier to find seeds later in the season. However, in past years seed suppliers have run out of some of winter varieties so don't leave it too late to order seeds.

Right now is a good time to sow the hardy fall and winter cabbage varieties that take the longest to grow (Danish Ballhead, Melissa Savoy, Embassy, etc.). These take a long season to produce large, heavy heads.

Next week is a good time to start Brussels sprouts. I start them the first week of June so the plants begin to form sprouts in late September. This timing avoids the period when cabbage aphids are most active and can really mess up the sprouts. If you have already planted Brussels sprouts, be vigilant in August for the first sign of aphids attacking the sprouts. Blast them out with water and keep the plants well watered (aphids thrive on drought stressed plants).

If you are starting your own plants, you will need seeds for winter broccoli and winter cauliflower ready to sow in mid-June.
By July 1 you will want plenty of carrot and beet seeds on hand for the crop to be eaten over the winter. Other seeds to have for fall through spring harvests: winter lettuce, leaf beet, kales of all sorts, Chinese cabbages, leaf mustards and other leafy greens, Komatsuna, spinach, corn salad.

Coping with the Cool Spring

The rain, the rain. Please make it stop. Tomorrow. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow.

I'm going to pass on some excellent words of wisdom from Linda Gilkeson's newsletter. (I hope she forgives me, but it's such great advice. You should all run over to your computer and buy one of her books. I have the winter garden book and it is an excellent resource. And sign up for her newsletter, too while you're at it.) Here is some great advice for coping with the very cool spring we've been having. (Note that she's not on the wet coast, so consider that when she's talking about things like tomatoes, melons, cukes, peppers. Sorry, gang, but with rare exception, they're only going to make it out here in a greenhouse or cold frame. Please, prove me wrong if you can explain otherwise! I know some people do grow tomatoes on their decks.)

Cool Spring: As often happens a warm winter hasn't led to a warm spring. In fact, there has been some pretty cold weather this month that will have those who have already put out their tomatoes, beans, corn, squash and other heat-loving crops worrying. Root diseases are the biggest problem in wet, cool weather and if infected, the plants usually die.

If you have plants under cloches or floating row covers they will fare better in this weather. My favourite cloche for individual plants is a gallon milk jug with the bottom cut out. Set it over the plant and push a stick through the handle of the jug to keep it in place. Put the lid or a flat stone on the mouth of the jug at night to keep the heat in and take it off during the day to allow ventilation. For seedlings in beds use floating row covers to warm up the crop (also useful to keep birds from pulling up small seedlings).

If you haven't set out the most delicate plants (cucumbers, melons, peppers, sweet basil), I would wait until next weekend when it sounds like temperatures will be higher. I just gave my seedlings a good dose of fish fertilizer to see them through a few more days in their pots. If you planted beans earlier this month, it might be a good idea to sprout more beans in vermiculite indoors to fill in gaps in the rows. The new seedlings will quickly catch up to earlier sown plants that have been struggling outdoors in cool weather.

Tomorrow, I'll put up her advice on winter gardens. Yup, you read that right.

SoCal Community Gardens

I nipped away a few weeks ago to hang out with my in-laws here (no snickering). While zipping through the madness of Southern California I made my husband screech to a stop on a six-lane highway to take these photos for you of the community gardens in Escondido. Not the greatest photos, but a bit of inspiration perhaps.







And I love the west coast, but wouldn't it be fine to have one of these in your backyard?



Enough rain already.

More on Upside-Down Gardens

Further to this post, visit The Cheap Vegetable Gardener for instructions on how to make your own upside-down planters.

Stubbs (Clayoquot) Island Gardens

If you didn't have a chance to get out to Stubbs Island yesterday then there is still time today. I can't recommend this outing enough even for people who couldn't care less about gardens. It is a treat to be able to visit this private island where the community of Clayoquot once sat. (Clayoquot was here long before Tofino existed. It was the first non-native community in the sound.) Don't miss the enormous rhodos on the trail across the island. They were planted by Betty Farmer and Jo Brydges who ran the hotel there for years. (They are also responsible for the rhodos down by the Mini Motel/Armitage Point area by the Crab Dock.) But, of course since you are probably keen on food gardening, you can also go and drool over their beautiful, and very productive, veggie garden. I pine for raised beds such as these.



Such an ingenious, yet quite simple, design. Love the height of the bed and also the flexibility the rolled plastic "walls" give.







And then there's the beautiful little greenhouse...





And they are growing mushrooms, too...



And, of course, there are lots of lovely details to look at in the gardens...





Boats leave the 1st Street Dock beginning at noon and the island is open until 6pm. After that, you'll have to wait until next year!

Teas and Brews 1 - Aerated Compost Tea

Thanks to Leah Austin for this great post. (Remember, this blog is for all of us, so if you have something to share, let me know!)

Just as we enjoy our tea, so does the garden. We often don’t have enough manure and compost for our entire garden, so compost tea is a great way to spread that composty goodness around. Other benefits? Aerated compost tea:

- feeds the soil beneficial micro-organisms and nutrients
- prevents pests and treats diseases
- improves plant growth

So just what is it? ACT is a “brew” made from non-chlorinated water (rainwater is ideal), high quality compost (and/or well-rotted manure), and microbe food. (Microbes includes bacteria, fungi, protists and nematodes. They enhance the life of the soil and, in turn, your plants.)

Recipe for Aerated Compost Tea

What you need:

5-gallon bucket
4 gallons non-chlorinated water
pump with a minimum of 0.05 cubic feet per minute per gallon capacity*
nylon sock or paint bag
up to 8 cups of compost**
30 mL unsulphured molasses
30 mL liquid kelp
15 mL liquid fish

* Using a ½ - 1 inch diameter hose is best as smaller tubes produce bubbles that break up and kill the beneficial fungi.

** Use great compost — a mix of any/all of worm casings, well-rotted manure, kitchen/garden compost, forest soil and healthy garden soil.

What to do:

1. Add the compost to the sock and immerse into the non-chlorinated water. (If you have to use chlorinated water, aerate it for 20 minutes first, then add the compost sock.)
2. Add the molasses, kelp, fish.
3. Aerate for 12 to 24 hours. This increases the microbes.
4. Strain and foliar feed (spray plant leaves) right away. Spray both the top and the bottom of the leaves. It is best to do this in the early morning or late evening, preferably on a cloudy day or when it is not raining. Strong sun and heat could kill the microbes.

Note: It is important to use the tea right away. It cannot be stored. Once the aeration stops, the microbes start to die off if they aren’t added to the soil.

The tea can be made and fed to the garden every two weeks. It’s a great boost for poor soil and diseased plants.