Learning New Tips and Tricks for the Garden

I was spring cleaning and going through some household paperwork at home the other evening and came across my notes from a gardening workshop/lecture I attended this winter. Despite the workshop focusing on 'northern' gardening there was a lot of information that didn't pertain to the unique-ness of gardening in the Beaufort Delta region and Inuvik. But the workshop did reinforce the idea that all of us should try to soak in as much gardening information as we can and to take advantage of workshops, lectures, books, tv shows, blogs and social media posts to continue expanding our knowledge of gardening.

 

The lesson in this is that it does take some learning and effort to be a successful gardener!

According to my notes from the winter lecture, here a few experiments or ideas I might try to incorporate into my gardening this upcoming season;

• Create some shade on your northern garden or install a 'shade cloth' over parts of your garden to limit the 24 hour sunlight and prevent plants from bolting and going to seed.
• Try to increase/create heat in my outdoor planters/garden boxes; create a wind break, plant rows North to South and remember that clear plastic creates more heat than black plastic.
• Add wood ash to garden for nitrogen, this is the same as adding lime and much cheaper, especially in the North.
• Anything metallic or reflective will help keep aphids away. Use some shredded foil/mylar in your mulch.

These tips and tricks sometimes eem so easy but it might make a big difference in gardens in Inuvik and at the greenhouse.

In other news, the new roof is now completed at the Inuvik Greenhouse. This will make a huge difference to the growing season; fixing holes where there was heat loss and allowing more rays to enter through the plexi-glass ceiling. A lot of volunteer work over the last few years were put in to get this new roof. Thank you everyone!

 

Remember... keep learning and expanding your gardening skills, it will take more than a new roof to get your garden in tip-top shape!

 

S.

Inuvik Garden Growing Timelines

Everyone is Inuvik is anxious for spring right now. It is so close that it feels like we can touch it but reality is that our muddy/melting season is still here for a while. But I have pulled out my rubber boots and as usual am enjoying all the weather and activities that Inuvik offers us. My favourite parts of this season are the sunlight (that already seems endless) and also love that zero degrees and sun feels SO warm to everyone right now.

 

As I think about seasons and weather here are some timelines that I generally work with during the garden growing season in Inuvik:

• Early May- Start working in the yard (picking up garbage, raking old grass, taking junk to the dump, cleaning out flower beds)
• Mid- May- Start working in the greenhouse (digging up garden plot and preparing soil)
• May Long Weekend- This is usually planting weekend at the greenhouse.
• First Week of June- Usually the bedding plant sale and time to plant flowers outside. You can usually expect another little cold spurt so have plastic ready to cover your plants if need be.
• End of June- Many plants such as radishes and spinach will be going to seed and it might be time start a new crop of seeds. Many plants think our long days of sunlight is the end of the end of the season and they bolt and go to seed.
• Beginning of September- Time to harvest potatoes and other crops at home.
• End of September- Inuvik Greenhouse closes and crops must all be harvested.

 

Always lots of tasks to do and lots to keep you busy in the garden and with food production. I think the key is not to abandon your 'duties' as a gardener. Once your produce gets out of control or your lawn becomes a jungle then tasks seem too daunting. A few years ago gardening seemed like a chore to me, or another task on my list of things-to-do but now I try to enjoy the process and treat this as a hobby. Enjoy it all!

S.

What to Expect with Your New Greenhouse Plot

A couple new people to Inuvik have recently asked me what they should expect when the get their new greenhouse plot in May. Meaning what will be in it and what will it look like. This is similar to inheriting any older/used garden plot (raised bed garden). In the case of the Inuvik Greenhouse, in May all the plots will be in a similar state, whether they were well taken care of or somewhat abandoned in the previous year. All of us will be working with the same base line garden when we get into the greenhouse. This is a fun time of year.

 

First off, the soil will be hard and depleted of all nutrients. After a growing season in a raised bed garden all of the nutrients will be taken out of the soil. This means that there are no nutrients left to grow another healthy crop. All the beds will require a big helping of 'additives'. This could be organic compost material, manure, chicken pellets, bone meal, egg shells, organic fertilizer, fish liquid, etc. The list goes on and on. As you start digging you will start adding as much new materials as you can find or want to invest in. The more you add to your soil at the start of the season the better crop you will reap later in the season!

The soil will also be hard packed from the previous year. This means you will need to turn over the garden and yes, this means blood, sweat and tears! The more you dig, the better your yield will be also!

 

In the Inuvik Greenhouse you will also inherit all the garden decorations and hangers, etc that are in your plot. This might be plastic covers, tomotoe cages, garden gnomes, trellises, pots, stakes, etc. Keep it all neat and tidy in your plot or at the end of your plot as you never know what you might want, need or recycle for your own use. What you don't want to do it to invest in a bunch of brand new lumber and start building from scratch. Again, see what you need and want and stay low maintenance. This is the same with a new garden at home or in any neighbourhood. See what you can recycle, and just build what you need as the season goes along. Tomatoes will grow with a simple cage and good soil, they don't need any fancy hanging systems to succeed!

 

In all of these cases, start simple and just go with the growth of your garden. Don't overly plan ahead of the season. Start will working your soil and adding what you can, including lots of TLC. As plants grow, continue monitoring to see if the plants needs stakes, cases, tied back and then just for from there.

Another note, on your first visits to the greenhouse or your new garden, wear your rubber boots. For many, many reasons, you will thank me for this tip at some point!

S.

Patience Little Grasshopper

This is the time of year when the best virtue we can have as gardeners is PATIENCE! Even I get anxious and overly involved to get the many gardening tasks completed but it will all happen in due time. Realistically we will not get early lettuce micro greens until the first week of June at the earliest so we still have about 2 months of being patient and slowly getting through our gardening tasks. They talk about a slow food movement but maybe we are also having a slow gardening movement?!?!

This week I started my garden seeds (fennel, kale, tomatoes, squash and peppers) and I paid my Inuvik Community Greenhouse member and plot fees and got my registration forms submitted that is enough gardening tasks for this week.

 

My roommate is a newbie gardener both to the greenhouse and to gardening!! Yahoo! My best tips for newbies is just to be patient and go with the flow. You will not do anything horribly wrong with gardening and you will NOT have an empty plot/garden come June. Just ask your garden neighbours lots of questions and watch what other tasks people are doing in the greenhouse. Don't even worry about buying too much materials and supplies ahead of time as first see what appears at the greenhouse (free compost, some free seeds, etc).

That being said also take ownership of your garden, meaning don't rely on veterans for all your gardening needs; read the internet, experiment with own seeds and own planting and see what happens. You might have more success with your own approach then the veterans. But at the end of the day make sure to take advantage of the community part of the gardening experience.

As my roommate and I were planting seeds last night I thought of a few other tidbits for garden planning. You garden (Inuvik greenhouse plot/small space garden) should have a mix of experiments, tried and true, space savers and space wasters. Here are some examples:

Experiments- purple peppers, fennel, corn, sunflowers (just pick 1-2 of these)

Tried and True- carrots, green onions, basil, beets (easy to have 4-5 rows of this)

Space Savers- kale, cucumbers and tomatoes that are caged and grow upwards, peas and beans against a trellis at the end of your plot

Space Wasters- cabbage, broccoli, squash

There is definitely gardening excitement in the air right now, even North of the Arctic Circle. Don't get too caught up in the planning panic of this but rather take a deep breath and enjoy each task as it comes along.

S.

What I Am Planting This Year

I just got back from holidays in BC (the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island) and I forget the abundance of garden centres you can visit even just by going for a neighbourhood walk. I was in seed heaven! My go-to seed company for years was Vesey's in PEI and I was lucky enough to visit them in person during one of curling trips to Charlottetown. They loved having a curler in their on site store! This year with my recent trip to BC, almost all my seeds are from West Coast Seeds. I have tried these seeds a bit in the past and know they are good seeds also. In as many cases as I can I have gone for organic or heirloom varieties. The Inuvik Community Greenhouse promotes organic gardening by all members but they cannot guarantee organic as they do not heavily monitor what members have added to their soil and the seed plugs they order for the commercial greenhouse are not always organic from the start either.

So 'what am I planting this year':

From seed (planted directly into my garden plot):

• carrots (I always use the seed tape)
• lettuce (lots of new varieties including arugula and mustard)
• basil
• parsley
• cilantro (will not last long before flowering into coriander)
• Swiss chard
• spinach (will not last long before it bolts)
• radishes (first time trying radishes as they never seem to work in the greenhouse)
• green onions

Seeds I will start at home (experimenting so we will see what happens):

• heirloom tomatoes
• purple peppers
• fennel
• sunburst yellow squash
• yellow squash
• cucumbers
• kale

Starter plants I will buy from the greenhouse plant sale:

• tomatoes
• thyme
• sage
• mint
• kale
• rosemary
• celery (buy from Yellowknife)

Things I will plant outside:

• potatoes

This seems like a lot but I might try planting some of the larger plants outside this year in big pots or planters. And some things like Swiss chard might only be a short 2-3 feet row. herbs I always plant in pots and might try putting these outside mid-season also.

Lots of fun now as the snow is finally melting and gardening does seem right around the corner.

S.