Local Delicious

In the ongoing saga of the Bumbling Gardener (that’s me)…

Once the moss was cleared, The Scientist did a fair bit of research to determine what the soil needs to be an optimal breeding ground for green, sprouting things. What the garden has going for it:

1. There are lots of earthworms in the soil — this indicates it’s pretty healthy
2. There is little evidence of pests in any quantity or variety
3. Good pH levels
4. Soil that hasn’t been worked or even touched in 10+ years, which means no chemicals have been pumped into it

What the garden has going against it:

1. The soil is clay-ish (not the technical term)
2. There are large-ish stones in evidence
3. There are lots of small stones amongst the soil — The Scientist says this can actually be a good thing as it ensures good drainage
4. There were a lot of weeds covering the area, I’ll need to be vigilant

The Scientist determined that our best bet was to turn in a quantity of manure and add organic bone meal, as well. I was not present for the turning in of the first 2 plots, but can vouch that the task is back breaking after witnessing the transformation of the third.

(Note the pile of roots and stones in the foreground — this is tough, slow-going work!)

Step I of the Seedling Saga is complete and Step II is underway — the little blighters (hmmm, maybe that’s not a good thing to say of seedlings) have moved on to bigger and better accommodations in mini plant pots of their own.

They started in peat pucks and those that have showed some sign of living up to their potential have graduated to small, individual pots. That’s Step II.

Near the beginning of my experiment, I was gifted with a huge, dusty, abandoned apple box FULL of mini starter pots when The Scientist spotted and salvaged them, thinking I might have a use for them. How serendipitous! They sure came in handy when it was time for my seedlings to move out of community housing.

I haven’t used nearly a fraction of them, so I’ve passed a few on to a fellow urban gardener-in-the-making.

So far I’ve learned this about seedlings:

1. Some seeds will sprout, some will not. Ours is not to know the reasons why.
2. Some sprouts will thrive in their new individual lodgings, some need more time in the mini greenhouse with their friends, in order to thrive.
3. No matter how sturdy those zucchini sprouts look, one clumsy, misplaced movement and they’ll snap.
4. Zucchini are impressive sprouters, acorn squash not as much, spaghetti squash wholly unimpressed with the housing and not cooperating.
5. Ignore the “rules” to clip the weaker of the sprouts and keep only one per peat puck — who’s to say in the early days if you clipped the right one. Keep them all until they are sturdy enough to trade up.

I guess if you’re in the business of shoveling cow poo all day, you develop a sense of humour. At least, that’s what I’ve gathered from the products available for purchase at local gardening shops.

The first one I came across in my travels is Moo Poo™. I spotted this bag on a shopping trip in search of inoculant for my peas and beans, and snapped a quick pic. I did some online research and the only HillView Moo Poo company I could find was out of the States. Does it seem weird to you that we’d ship cow poo over the border from Ohio when we have a dairy farms a-plenty in the Fraser Valley?

A quick search of the internet turned up another good one, Cow Wow by Miracle Moo. Their consumer-friendly site boasts a “Poo-lution meter” calculating the amount of manure eliminated from our environment. (Not sure what that means, but it sounds like a good thing!) Click on any of the menu buttons, for a laugh.

And last but not least, there’s a Surrey company, Way to Grow, selling sterilized steer manure. I’m not sure where the scantily clad dame in a nurse’s outfit comes in, or how it relates to selling manure. Truly, it has me puzzled. But it is eye-catching and memorable, which is more than can be said for a lot of products I encounter. Despite the very dated endorsement by none other than Bill VanderZalm, at least it’s local.

When you’re new at this gardening thing, every little event is worth celebrating. And the new rain barrel certainly fits our criteria of things to celebrate. Break out the champagne! (You think I’m kidding.)

The Scientist has jumped wholeheartedly on board with the 2008 Bumbling Gardener adventure and deserves a medal for all the back breaking groundbreaking he did to prep the soil. But that’s another post…

I have the good fortune of having a Partner in Grime (gardening is dirty work, people) with a nice big vehicle and the willingness to join me in the adventure. A little bit of scouting at City Farmer put me in touch with the City of Vancouver Rain Barrel Program which provides city residents with a subsidized rain barrel (50% off).

The Scientist hooked it up and is regularly watering the garden with it. In fact, after a few days without rain, and a dwindling supply in the barrel, we were actually pleased to have a recent overnight deluge. Can’t say I ever thought I’d be pleased to hear there is rain in the forecast!

When dreaming of my garden, I envisioned a 4′x8′ garden plot — maybe 4′x12′ if I felt adventurous. That’s about the dimensions of a typical community garden plot, the kind I am on a waiting list for…at about #56 in the queue.

I am, after all, a novice gardener, and that would be a reasonable space in which to try my hand. Don’t you think?

Well, after doing some research and drawing out a plan on paper, The Scientist determined that a 12′x12′ plot was in order. Then, after doing some digging and factoring in 1′ paths between the beds plus space for The Raspberries, the garden somehow reached an overall size of 16′x21′. Oops.

Now, that might not seem like a big deal. I mean, in for a penny, in for a pound, right? Well, except that the backyard in question was covered in moss. Still is actually, except for that 16′x21′ area.

Without consulting me and to my astonishment, The Scientist cleared the entire garden area, not only of moss, but of a significant amount of interconnected, green, non-flowering plants that I can attest are a bugger to root up. I joined in the effort when it was well underway and was amazed at how much effort it took to clear the field of green and expose the soil to sunlight.

Kudos to The Scientist. I’d have grumbled and whined exceedingly about clearing a 4′x8′ patch, never mind half the square footage of a downtown Vancouver condo.

The first step in creating a garden where there isn’t one at the moment is figuring out where it’s going to be. After a few days of trying to figure out where the sun would be, when in fact it’s early April and we haven’t seen the sun in days, we finally settled on what seemed like the likeliest of spots.

Now let me tell you, the garden plot in question is located in the backyard of The Scientist, not in my own, so I did rely on his “research” throughout any given day. In fact, I pretty much left it up to him on where the garden would be. Given that we’re not yet into summer, there was clearly some deduction required to estimate where the sun WILL be when/if it decides to shine come summer.

I’ll let you know how it pans out.