Over the past few years I have been experimenting with gardening (actually, it's just been the past three years I have actually placed my hands in the soil for anything substantial), specifically for the purpose of growing my own food. Last year, we had a decent harvest and this year I was determined to expand my horizons and even attempt to produce the majority of our food for the season! On speaking with my pilates instructor and partner-in-crime, they guided me to Apache Seeds on 149th Street, just north of Stony Plain Road.
The day after I passed my motorcycle license exam, I grabbed my leather jacket and wallet and headed over - what a great selection! The standbys are in full supply: zucchini, carrots, beets and radishes, but also the not-so-conventional for Edmonton's season: tomatillos, poblano peppers and even melons and artichokes! If you want organic, English seeds, heirloom varieties, they have it all!
So, when my Vespa's seat was full, I returned home full of excitement for my summer's project - planting a garden! But not only that, by the time I pulled into the driveway, I was determined to journal my seeds: when they are planted, when they germinated and how many harvests I could get out of the full growing season, compacted only by our small patch of land called the vegetable garden. I think my husband saw a look of determination, and simply moved aside - smart man, did I mention that?
Well, I bought a book on vegetables in Canada, and started mapping out when to plant, keeping in mind we would be in Europe for over half of June and wanted to get the longer-growth plants in and started before we left. I accomplished it! I had figured out I could get three whole harvests for simple items like beets and a huge assortment of lettuce (arugula, mesculin, heirloom and spinach) while probably only one harvest for my poblano peppers, tomatillos and onions. The patch was prepped, extra "meal" placed in areas where certain vegetables needed it, and seeds carefully planted. Before we left, most of the seeds had germinated and the peas (sweet and snow) and beans (edamame and fava) were well on their way! I can't tell you how excited I was - until we came back from vacation.
On arrival, 80% of the garden was gone - either by too much rain, drought or more likely, those pesky little rabbits that happily hop through our yard. Last year we had baby rabbits living under our shrubs to our daughter's delight and my husband's frustration! I thought it was nice. This year, it became personal.
So, now we have one harvest this year. The peas and beans survived, the raspberries, strawberries and blueberries were unharmed, but almost everything from seed had to be re-planted! Two weeks later, our seeds are germinating again, and I am pleased to say the we will have radish, beets, tomatillos, peppers, mesculin, romaine and spinach at least! I am in the process of creating a fine mesh to protect the sweet berries now coming to light and of course, on full rabbit alert!
The most pleasing on return from Europe was seeing the long awaited apple tree with over 100 little apples starting to form! In such a complex world, I really get a huge amount of joy out of the simple things in life, like growing food organically. It comes full circle: I love everything about food, from eating to preparing, so it makes sense to also want to grow it. It's fantastic to send our daughter out to "harvest" and immediately prepare it on the spot for lunch and dinner! Now, just to find a way to increase the square footage for next year's crop....
0 comments:
Post a Comment