May Day

May is for Mothers

including Mother Nature!

Note to ALL MOTHERS:

Mother's Day is not about doing so much work in the garden that you hurt for a week.  Go Easy!  

Plant a little everyday, stretch often, change up the job to prevent injury and sit for a bit to watch Mother Nature   

Happy Mother's Day!



What to do in the Edible Garden in May

Seeds to Start Indoors

· Basil               -Beans

· Cucumbers     -Corn

· Summer and Winter Squash

Direct Seed (Into the garden)

Arugula            

Broad /Fava Beans

Beets

Carrots

Celeriac

Cilantro

Collards           

Corn Salad

Water Cress   
Endive              

Kale

Lettuce

Mountain Spinach

Mustards

New Zealand Spinach

Onion sets      

Pac Choi

Parsley            
Parsnip          

Peas

Perpetual Spinach  
Radishes       

Swiss Chard

Tubers in the Garden Include: 

Potatoes,

Sunchokes/JeruselumArtichokes

Plant Transplants into  the Garden

· Broccoli         - Brussel Sprouts

· Cabbage         - Cauliflower

· Leeks              - Onions

Transplant Long Week-end in May:

Basil  - Cucumbers

Egg Plants - Tomatoes

Peppers

                             

Garden Tasks:

· Feed transplants liquid fertilizer to help combat transplant shock

· Harvest Asparagus regularly over the next 6 weeks.

· Water tomatoes at the soil level.  Avoid splashing leaves with water.

· Most Fava Bean varieties need staking because they get tall and can fall over

· Cover Potato leaves with soil, compost or mulch to encourage more potatoes and prevent the potatoes from turning green

 

Winter Sowing – Summer Seeds

By Anne-Marie

This year I “winter sowed – summer seeds”.  Following the instructions on Kevin Lee Jacob’s blog:  http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/11/winter-sowing-101-6/ 

I started my summer garden in mid-January.

I gathered empty milk jugs, 2 & 4 L.  Removed the caps, cut the jugs in half up to the handle, drilled holes in the bottom.  Added coir, water, threw my seeds in and waited for them to sprout.  This year I had added coir to the level of the jug handle and all the seedlings ended up with very long roots.  Next year I will put in half as much coir.

I was completely successful with so many things!  A full packet of lavender grew well.  As did: leeks, sage, Sweet Annie, kale (3 types), blue eucalyptus, Saskatoon Berry, Welsh Onion, Spiked Zatar, Red Orach, Mock Orange (Chinese), eggplant, basil, Purple Fountain Grass.  Some others are slow in germinating (peppers, luffa, hollyhock).

My seedlings were so plentiful that I’ve been dividing them up to give to friends .. what a fun way to share the gardening experience.

I’m very happy with my milk jug greenhouses and will continue sowing seeds this way from now on.  As Kevin notes, there is no hardening up needed, the plants are strong.

Our yard will be filled to overflowing with lovely flowers and veggies grown with absolutely no fuss and without a greenhouse.   I urge you to try this method, you will not regret it!

The lavender was sown Jan 14 and look at Feb 14 .. all have sprouted!  The Kales were sown just a few weeks ago and are already quite tall.

 They're Here....  

                 Tent Catepillars are spreading out of their webs at this time of the year.  Time to go check your fruit trees and ornamentals.  Cut them out or destroy the webs by hand to prevent any more damage.  The web pruning can be placed in a bucket of soapy water.


What's Happening in William's Garden:

William and his brother Jaden are standing in front of their very first veggie garden.  Cardboard has kept most of the weeds down over the winter months.

During this last month, William has been taking good care of his seedlings that we planted in March and are now beginning to plant into the garden.

This week we designed the garden and placed cardboard in the pathways so that no one walks on the garden beds.  Walking on soil compacts it and makes it hard for small root hairs to find space to grow

So far William has planted peas and fava beans which he is watering in.  One rule to gardening, "Always water what you plant."

William is in need of a few tools.  A watering can and a hand trowel would be most helpful.  Can you help him out?

Tune in next time as we watch William's garden grow. 

Grow Food is about Growing Gardeners

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Clever Gardening System for City Dwellers

 Vancouverites are, for the most part, largely bereft of backyards, so yearning for a little garden of one’s own is rife. This window contraption – dubbed Volet Végétal – by French designers Nicolas Barreau and Jules Charbonnet employs a pulley system that lowers plants out and away from the window so as to provide them with direct sunlight.

When vertical, the unit sits directly within a window frame and provides plenty of space for three large planters. When it’s time for some sunshine, the plant-owner pulls the cord system, the bottoms of the planters rotate slightly, and the device lowers into a horizontal position outside of the window. Additionally, the product can be a freestanding, tiered plant holder inside the apartment but the concept is the most space-saving when mounted in the window. The designers say, “Our desire was to make a clever solution to the lack of space for a small garden.

 To watch the video:
http://vimeo.com/35209698


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Mother's Day Gift Idea

Does your Mom grow food?

This year consider giving her a Grow Food Gardening Journal.  
 This book will help food growers know what they can plant each month and provides a space to write down when they planted.  It's filled with hundreds of good gardening and composting tips as well.  




$15.00 can be ordered through our website or email me for pick-up.
www.growfoodnetwork.com

Grow Food Consultations:

If you are wanting to set up your own food production garden, but are unsure where to start, Grow Food offers on-site consultations.  This one and 1/2 hour consultation will cover site analysis, composting options and simple garden design layouts.  Cost is $60.00 for the Cowichan Valley area.  Outside this area will be slightly higher to cover transportation costs.  Contact Joy through our website at www.growfoodnetwork.com

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New Products Available

Cowichan Compost 
in Duncan is now selling Bokashi Composting Starter kits and liquid Effective Micro-organisms, EM's .  Kits start at $35.00, and 1 litre of EM's is $15.00 for when you want to make your own.

Bokashi Composting System

Bokashi is a great way to treat your compost.  Here are some benefits:

- smells are eliminated
- you can compost foods banned in the traditional composting (citrus, raw and cooked meats, fish and dairy)
- speeds up composting 
- pests and flies are not attracted to fermented material
the fermentation process kills all ecoli, pathogens, salmonella and parasites
- adds probiotics and restores soil to a healthy medium
- with bokashi composting no nutrients are lost in the food making your compost soil much richer than traditional composting.

This product in now available at Dinter's Nursery in Duncan.  For more information go to:
http://cowichancompost.com



West Coast Fishculture (Lois Lake) ltd.
is now selling Simply Fish soil amendment.  This family owned business is committed to growing fresh water fish in the most responsible manner since 1988.  Now they are offering a fish fertilizer for gardeners which is approved for Organic production inputs for gardens, greenhouses and nurseries crops.

ABOUT SIMPLY FISH

'Feed the soil'

• Soil that is healthy contains a balance between the organic particles that serve as plant food and the living micro-organisms
• Good carbon to nitrogen ration
• The approach to biological farming is to maintain healthy soil which will be able to support healthy crops
• Plants grown in healthy soil are able to feed and protect themselves from pests and diasease, which reduces the use of pesticides

For more information go to:  http://www.simplyfish.ca/


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Creating Shade

When the temperature changes too quickly for the plants to adjust, I often create shade for them by using clothes that I hang.  

This photo is one in the greenhouse protecting tomato seedlings that were just put out.  

Outside I will place two chairs over the seedling bed and hang a cloth between them to create shade.  

It's best to transplant seedlings in the cooler part of a day, or just before it's scheduled to rain.

It's incredible stressful on your seedlings if they are exposed to direct sunlight right after being transplanted.  Stinging nettle tea or kelp tea helps with transplant shock, and so does creating a little shade.

This Week-end in Duncan: 

SATURDAY , MAY 10, 2014

THE COWICHAN VALLEY GARDEN CLUB

invites you to join them on

Saturday May 10, 2014

for their

ANNUAL FLOWER SHOW & PLANT SALE

DUNCAN UNITED CHURCH HALL

246 Ingram Street, Duncan.   9:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION BY

JEFF DE JONG

10:30 A.M., 11:45A.M. & 1:00 P.M.

General Admission $3.00

With Special Presentaion by Jeff De Jong $6.00

Advance tickets available until May 9th at

Leaf & Petal 101 Station Street, &

Volume One 149 Kenneth Street, Duncan

HIGHLIGHTS

Flower Show, Plant Sale, Photography & Cafe

Raffle in aid of Providence Farm Therapeutic Garden

www.COWICHANVALLEYGARDENCLUB.COM

This Week-end inVictoria:

SATURDAY MAY 10, 2014

VICTORIA COMPOST CENTER

ORGANIC PLANT SALE

10 - 2 pm 

1216 North Park St.

Victoria, BC

For more info: http://compost.bc.ca/

  

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WEDNESDAY MAY 14, 2014

Victoria, BC

PRUNING WORKSHOP with Cass Turnbull

Horticulture Center of the Pacific HCP

7 - 9 pm, $15.00

Victoria BC

For more info: http://hcp.ca 

Nanaimo, BC

 

SEED PRODUCERS WORKSHOP
Learn to develop a seed processing facility 
Canadian School of Natural Nutrition
70 Church St., Nanaimo, BC
Central Island Seed Savers Network
5:30 - 7:00 pm
 

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THURSDAY - SUNDAY, May 22 - 25, 2014

Spring Plant Sale at Perennial Ridge Farms

,10 am - 5 pm 

4 Days ONLY, Thursday - Sunday

5605 Jordans Lane, Duncan

(off the Old Lake Cowichan Rd.)

250-748-0098

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SATURDAY MAY 31, 2014

Hugelkultur Workshop

Instructor Javan K. Bernakevitch of Permaculture BC leads a full day workshop on the principles of hugelkultur and the hands-on building and planting of a Sepp Holzer-style hugel bed. This incredible growing ecology can produce a large amount of food!  Cost: $65, space is limited to 25 participants. Register in person at the Cowichan Green Community, 360 Duncan Street. For more info email: nora@cowichangreencommunity.org

COMING EVENTS:


HANDS ON FOOD FOREST WORKSHOP

--WORKSHOP: Hands-on Food Forest workshop

--WHEN: June 6: 7-9pm; June 7-8: 9-5pm

--WHERE: Mossy Banks farm, Richards Trail, North Cowichan

--COST: $200 for event and lunch; $230 for event and all meals --MORE INFO: mossybanks.ca

Grow Food Network Blog is published every month and it is free.  If you would like to contribute an article related to growing food, send it to us.  (250 words or less with a photo) Event Listings are Free and product advertising is by donation.  We have an email listing of over 600 food growers on Vancouver Island and surrounding areas and we are still growing!