SEPTEMBER 2013
MONTHLY ONLINE MAGAZINE FOR PEOPLE WHO GROW THEIR OWN FOOD INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Tour 140 Gardens at the Capital City Allotment Gardens, Saanich, BC What to do in the Edible Garden in September Saving Seeds is Easy, Robin Sturley, Edible Earth Seeds A Pretty Pallet Planter A Gardener’s Favourite Tool Clever Deer Proof Fencing New Movie: The Symphony of the Soil Zucchini Soup Recipe by Jocelyne Avoiding Gardening Burnout September Courses & Events Grow Food with JOY course Classified Ads
GARDEN FEATURE: SAANICH, BC Innovative ideas for composting, greenhouses, sheds, gates or deer protection, are bound to be found here. The garden is run by a board of 9 volunteers who are dedicated to keeping the gardens operating in the best interest of everyone. The garden also provides wheelbarrows and lawnmowers as part of the agreement to keep the gardens tidy. Geof Squarok stands in front of his garden at the Capital City Allotment Gardens in Saanich, BC
The gardeners come from every ethnic background and the diversity in the style of gardening proves that.
If you ever need inspiration for your own garden, you will probably find it by touring the Capital City Allotment Gardens in Saanich BC. There are 140 gardens to tour. All the gardens are very different bursting with clever ideas for growing food and flowers. This garden has been a designated allotment garden for over 43 years. It is now part of Saanich “Green Space� parks. To help gardeners, Saanich Parks has provided leaves in the fall, while the Victoria School board has provided grass clippings and The Victoria Compost Center has supplied compost. The cost to rent a garden space for the year is only $65.00 and the sizes range from 700 square feet to 1400 square feet, depending on what people can manage. People are encouraged to share plots.
Two clever ideas in the gardens are this strawberry tower and a way to keep soap close to the hose for easy wash up after getting dirty. If you would like to learn more about the gardens, go to their website at: http://www.saanich.ca/living/afs/ communitygardens.html Better yet, go to the gardens: 641Kent Road. Saanich, BC.
For a picture show of the gardens, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=2yDNIvS-iEc
2
GROW FOOD
with……………...
What to do in the Edible Garden in September Seeds you can plant directly into the Garden:
Starts: These are plants that have already been started available at nurseries
Tomatoes will taste better and won’t split. Water the salad greens and green peppers that are still producing and growing.
Lettuce (winter varieties) Corn Salad
Once berry patches have stopped producing, cut out woody canes of raspberries, blackberries, tayberries, boysenberries, loganberry, and cascade berry. Tie up new shoots to prevent winter damage.
Continue to check winter veggies for yellow eggs on the undersides of leaves or green caterpillars chewing holes in the leaves.
Yellowing leaves indicate time for liquid feed, especially plants growing in pots.
Winter Veggies Salad Greens
Tasks:
dig up potatoes when tops die down
Harvest herbs for winter use by either hanging them to dry or putting in a brown paper bag. Basil likes dehydrators.
Beginning of September, pinch off the tomato tops to encourage fruit to ripen.
Some gardeners remove the leaves of the tomato plants to expose tomatoes to the sun.
Harvest cucumbers regularly to encourage fruit production. Side shoots can be cut back to leaves just the after last fruit producing.
Pick beans regularly for more production. Leave missed beans on plants for seed collecting
Reduce watering in the greenhouse.
Powdery Mildew: Advice From Linda Gilkeson: That dusty white coating on leaves known as powdery mildew is showing up 'big time' these days. To see what it looks like on various plants, go to http://www.lindagilkeson.ca/ foliage.html#147 and scroll down to images for page 147. I wrote a detailed note on it last fall, so have a look at my Sept. 10, 2012 note: http://www.lindagilkeson.ca/ gardening_tips.html In addition to the controls described in that note, there is a new biological control product called Serenade®. It contains bacteria that attack fungi and is registered for some fungal leaf diseases, including powdery mildews. The product is widely available in garden centres. I have not used it, but would appreciate hearing how well it works from anyone who hass. To receive regular emails from Linda, get on her mailing list at http://www.lindagilkeson.ca/ 3
Saving Seeds is Easy
By Robin Sturley, Edible Earth Seeds http://edibleearthseeds.com/
It’s late summer and the garden is looking full and abundant. Tucked behind the leafy tomatoes and the lanky borage you may be discovering that some of your vegetables took advantage of your busy schedule to push on through to the final phase of their lives – they’ve gone to seed. Are all of these finds worth keeping? Well, that all depends. Now and then a fortuitous mistake can lead to a bountiful crop of seeds. It must be said however that not all of these lucky finds are worth harvesting.
Whenever I answer questions about seed saving, I try to communicate two seemingly contradictory messages. #1 Seed saving is simple. #2 Seed saving is not as simple as we might like to think. Why the mixed messages? On the one hand I believe we need as many seed savers as possible, and the plants do most of the work by far, so in that sense it really is easy! I certainly do not want to discourage anyone from saving seed. It is necessary, and all-round a good thing to do. On the other hand, seed saving done well requires some ground rules, and real food security requires seed saving done well. So in this sense it is not quite as simple as one might hope, and is something that should be given the attention it deserves. So, in a nutshell, how is seed saving easy? The plants do most of the work. Let’s face it: creating a perfect package of nutrients and genetic information to carry on a unique life form is something we still don’t quite have a handle on. Plants on the other hand have it down pat. Take care of the soil, and it will take care of the plants. Take care of the plants and they will take care of the seed. For more: http://growfoodwithjoy.blogspot.ca/
The next time you are in Cowichan Bay, stop by the Cow Café & Cookhouse to check out these great pallet planters that Jenner (the owner) made. They are hanging on the outside wall on the patio. Cow Café & Cookhouse Cowichan Bay Road, Cowichan Bay, BC www.cowcafe.ca 4
A Gardener’s Favourite Tool By Joy Story
Although it’s not technically a tool, it is just as important as one and once you try it yourself, you will always keep one on hand. It’s a tarp. Tarps are better than wheelbarrows in many ways:
Tarps can be dragged instead of lifted.
Tarps hold more garden waste material.
If need be, the materials can be wrapped in a tarp, tied with a bungie cord and hauled away to a composting facility.
When loading soil into your trailer or truck, lay down a tarp for quick easy clean up.
Laying a tarp under your pile of soil will deter weeds from growing up through it.
When collecting leaves in the fall, try raking them onto a tarp or mowing them onto a tarp for perfect ready to use mulch.
Collecting grass clippings onto a tarp is a lot easier than loading them into a wheelbarrow.
Tarps work great for fall cleanup and can be dragged to the location where they can be composted.
Tips for using Tarps:
Start with a small tarp to limit the weight you are moving thus preventing injury.
Avoid lifting the tarp. Instead drag to the desired location, then grab one end of the tarp and slide the load off the tarp.
Geoff from Capital City Allotment Gardens built his deer fence out of apple pruning branches cut last spring. Not only does it work but it looks great too.
Check out this trailer for a soon to be released film on what happens in the soil that we grow in. http://www.symphonyofthesoil.com/ Film will be showing at the World Community Film Festival held at the VIU Duncan Campus on Oct 5th at 7:30. For tickets and more info on other great films http://cowichanvalleyfilm.ca/schedule/ 5
Recipe by Jocelyne 2 tablespoons butter 2 medium zucchinis, chopped ( about 4 cups) 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 cups vegetable broth 100 - 250 gm herbed boursin Salt and pepper Saute onions in butter until translucent. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until zucchini is tender. Blend soup and slowly mix in cheese. This soup can be played with quite a bit by adding herbs. It's delicious on it's own but you could also spice it up. I tried using soft goat cheese instead of the boursin and it changed the flavour but was still yummy. Try freezing a batch without the cheese and add it when you heat it up.
By Joy Story Some gardeners experience “hitting the wall” come September just when harvesting and processing need us most. Here are some tips for avoiding burnout.
Take a chair or a blanket out to the garden and sit in it or lie down on the blanket. Learn to spend time differently in your garden. Watch the insects at ground level or read a book or take a nap when you need one.
Do a little bit everyday. Make a commitment to spend one hour in the garden everyday, then go outside and enjoy it. When the hour is up, go do something different.
Change up the jobs. Shovel a little, plant a little, harvest a little. Eventually, it all gets done and you haven’t hurt your body in the process
Share the harvest instead of processing it.
Save some seeds and mark down what they are and the date saved.
Watch and listen to the life in your garden. The season is changing, so are the plants and the animals in it. Pay attention.
When all else fails, remember that all the plants will eventually go dormant or die and you can try again next year. Perfection exists in Nature, Not in the Gardener. We are the Care-takers, Not the creators. Take Care of your Body, Your mind and your soul While you take care of your plants And all will be well. You will eat well, and feel nourished. 6
SEPTEMBER COURSES AND EVENTS Sat 14 1 - 4 pm
Intensive Canning Presenter: Lindsay Kearns Greater Victoria Compost Ed. & Lifecycles http://www.eventbrite.ca/ org/3022484318
Sat 14 12 - 3
Mushroom Growing Workshop $40.00 per person LUSH Valley, Courtenay, BC http://www.lushvalley.org/
Tues 17 6 - 7 pm
Organic Master Gardener Info Session Cowichan Green Community, Duncan BC Free Intro class for Oct 8 - Nov 30 course http:www.cowichangreencommunity.org/
Sat 21 1 - 3 pm
Pruning Your Berry Bushes Helena Hartwood 250-871-1077 LUSH Valley, Courtenay, BC http://www.lushvalley.org/
Sun 22 1 - 5 pm
Sun 22 3 - 6 pm
Tues 24 - 26 10 am
Feast of Fields Metchosin Farm, BC 542 Woolton Rd. For tickets: http:// www.farmfolkcityfolk.ca/events/ feast-of-fields/vancouver-islandfeast-of-fields/ Raw Food Classes Learn to Prepare delicious raw Vegan recipes that are animal-free Dairy-free, gluten-free. EZ Raw Living with Maureen Terrey 250-338-3380 (3rd Sunday of each month) Growing for Market Workshop with Michael Ableman Foxglove Farm, Salt Spring Island http://www.foxglovefarmbc.ca/ programs/program-descriptions2011/
Wed 25 6 - 8:00 pm
Grow Food with JOY Oct 2 & Oct 9th
3 onsite Organic Gardening Classes include, Winter Gardening, Growing Healthy Soil & Planting seeds. Some winter veggies plants included. $60.00 or all 3. To register: growfood@shaw.ca or call 250-743-1352
Sat 28 4:30 - 6:30
Getting Your Hands Dirty: a talk by Seann Dory of SoleFood Farms Greater Victoria Compost Ed. Center. Check out the video : http://solefoodvictoriaeorg.eventbrite.ca/
Seann Dory is the co-founder and co-director of SoleFood Farm a social enterprise that trains and employs Downtown Eastside residents in agriculture. SoleFood has transformed 4 ½ acres of Vancouver into Street Farms that supply Vancouver’s markets and restaurants.
Sun 29
Salt Spring Apple Festival Salt Spring Island, BC For more info: http:// saltspringapplefestival.org/
Mon 30 7-9 pm
Grow Your Own Sprouts & Grasses LUSH Valley, Courtenay BC Raymond Bacon 250-331-0152 http://www.lushvalley.org/
If you have an food growing related event or course, send us the info and we will include it in our next issue. growfoodnetwork.com 7
CLASSIFIED ADS FOR SALE: I am selling uncertified organic beef and pork, grown in the Cowichan Valley. For more information please call Colin at 250-732-8255. atticusgere@hotmail.com
FOR SALE: $200.00 - Registered Black Welsh Mountain lamb - ewe - For more information phone 250-743-1990 or email gillpower@shaw.ca FARM HOUSE FOR RENT: Nov 2013 – Feb 2014
Want to give winter farm life a try? 1930’s 3BR farmhouse on 5 acres, big greenhouse and organic garden for winter gardening, a 1-mile walk/bike to Sunrise Waldorf School, in beautiful Cowichan Station. Chickens & buffalo, hot tub in the woods, fireplace, fully furnished. $1200 plus utilities. Ramble@WildSide.ca FOR TRADE Apple cider press with apple grinder and operator available to press your apples into juice for you in exchange for a percentage of the juice. Phone 250-745-3406 to set up a time or email to: marcroft1@shaw.ca Grow Food Network Subscription are $17.00 a year, it can be ordered online at wwwgrowfoodnetwork.com
FOR SALE: We have beautiful Swiss Chard, lots and lots of it, so if anyone is looking for chard we have it. All colours and varieties. Good big bunches at $3 each and a carton of 24 for $45. The top raw food restaurant in Victoria is now producing Chard Chips. I think if they changed the name of Swiss Chips they would likely sell even more. Nanoose Edibles Farm mailto:neorg@telus.net
FREE: June Bearing Strawberries. Too many for the bed, if you want some starts, bring a bucket. Mill Bay, BC area. Call Joy at 250-743-1352 or email growfood@shaw.ca FOR HIRE: Need help with increasing production in your vegetable & Fruit gardens? Grow Food can help. In our 1 1/2 hour consultation we will help with garden design, composting set up and assessing problems with recommendations. Cost $60.00 Call Joy at 250-743-1352 or email growfood@shaw.ca NEED: A reliable vehicle. Mine just died. My mechanic says to look for an older Honda, Mazda or Toyota, but will consider others. Looking to spend about $1000. to $1,500. call Joy at 250-743-1352 or email me at growfood@shaw.ca if you know of one. Thanks
Avalon Design CUSTOM NEW HOMES, RENOVATIONS , ADDITION PLANNING & Garden Projects
250 743-0414
avalondesign@shaw.ca www.avalondesign.ca 8