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.