Live and Learn

I have been reading and reflecting a lot on my yoga practice recently and am in a really positive space but when planning this Blog post I realize it is going to have a somewhat negative feel to it! Mostly the post is intended as constructive criticism and as we always hear 'live and learn'. The positives first, the Inuvik Greenhouse and people's yards and garden planning right now is all amazing. The community as a whole is greening up this week, I can tell by my allergies that leaves and plants are bursting out right now. I have also picked my first harvests of the garden season (micro greens, basil and chives). However, as I look around there are a few 'mistakes' people are making with their gardening.

 

Here are a few things to avoid in your own future gardening and so we don't make the same 'mistakes' twice:

• People are putting their plants outside in May. Please don't do this, plants should wait until early June to go outside. We can always expect a bit of snow in early June and yes, I saw snowflakes this morning for June 1.
• Rhubarb- I am seeing rhubarb planted in a row, like carrots or lettuce and I have seen rhubarb planted in a very shallow garden box. Rhubarb should be planted one of two ways; plant in a corner of your garden plot in the greenhouse where it can stay contained and overflow a bit or plant outside directly in the ground or in a very large pot/barrel. For sure you only require 1 plant. I had 2 plant at one time and gave one away.
• Beans/Peas- Do not plant these in the middle of your plot/garden! Beans and peas need to grow upwards and must be planted against a trellis or wall.
• Cucumbers/Squash- These do not need to be planted in a row like carrots or lettuce seeds. You only need 1-3 plants and in small space gardening can be grown in a tomatoe cage to save space.
• Basil- I use a lot of basil as I make/jar/freeze pesto for the entire year. I would say 2 -3 plants of basil will be more than enough for a household, even with making a bit of pesto during the summer months. PS- The greenhouse has amazing basil plants on sale (tri-colour/blend).
• Potatoes grow great outside and I would recommend building boxes or using old tires instead of using up greenhouse plot space for these. I tested potatoes outside last summer and it worked great and I will be doing this again.
  
  

Again please take this with a grain of salt as I strongly believe that in Inuvik anything and everything can grow successfully!

S.