The End of the Season

Gardening season seems to come and go so quickly in Inuvik, although yes, I know we live above the Arctic Circle and should expect a short season but as they say 'time flies when you are having fun'. So in early- mid April I was planting seeds and now in early- mid September my garden is almost completely cleaned out and harvested. It has been a great gardening season as usual with a good bounty of healthy food and nutrients and of course the always present variable that some things worked and some things didn't work so well. The joy of gardening!

The last harvest included chives (which I will leave in the garden cut off and hope they grow back in early season next year), lots of beets were still in the ground until the very end and I got a good harvest of herbs to be dried. Amazingly enough there was still some good lettuce at the end of season, a second or even third planting of the season. And lots of green tomatoes that will ripen on the kitchen counter.

In my estimate I will have garden veggies in my fridge for another 7-10 days and then the season will officially be over. Thank you for listening (reading)!

S.

An Absent Gardener

I have been an absent gardener for the month of August as I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Olympics in Rio. If you ever a chance to go to the Olympic games DO IT, it is the most amazing experience being able to cheer on Team Canada. When I returned from Rio (after 3+ weeks of travel) I was pleasantly surprised at the state of my garden. I have never left my garden unattended for such a long period of time and to the extent that I have even been critical of people who abandon their gardens in the summer. So what did I do with my garden?!?!

Before I left for Rio I did a good purge of my garden. I pulled out most of my leaf greens (lettuce) and seed herbs (dill, cilantro, etc) and I cut back all my hearty plants (tomatoes, kale, squash). And my hard work seemed to pay off!

Once I pulled my lettuce, etc. I planted and all new seeds and even despite poor weather I had a whole new crop of great looking lettuce upon my return. Beets and kale didn't take over the garden as they even seemed to enjoy the time to grow without interruption! :) The tomatoes and squash were over grown but nothing a good snipping couldn't fix. And I returned in early September so it meant it was time for picking green tomatoes to ripen at home anyways.

 

My advice for others is that you can leave your garden unattended without totally abandoning it but put in a bit of time preparing for your departure before you actual leave. Like I said, do a purge, trim back plants and make sure there is someone watering your garden somewhat regularly!

My hard work paid off even more when I enjoyed a good home cooked meal after being away from home for so long. Surprisingly, Brazil does not have great food and very little fresh veggies in their cooking (think bread, cheese and lots of meat and potatoes). So it was such a treat to be able to eat the fresh produce from my Inuvik garden.

Happy travels everyone.

S.