People who long for a patch of usable ground for growing plants face challenges in this period of housing shortages and density. Lots are typically small and plots in community gardens are often snapped up quickly. Here are a few ideas on making the best possible use of any available space, however limited.
鈥� Preferences. Make a list of vegetables, herbs and flowers that most delight you and your family. Give priority of place to them.
鈥� Grow up. Set up lengths of wire fencing or netting to grow vining plants: pole and runner beans, cucumber, peas, staking tomatoes, climbing zucchini (Tromboncino, West Coast Seeds), sweet peas. Along the plant bases and the other side of the support, grow bush zucchini, peppers, bush beans, basil, cabbage-family vegetables, marigold, nasturtium, alyssum. For dense plantings like this, make sure the soil is amply plumped with compost.
鈥� Block planting. Smaller growing vegetables such as the roots (carrots, beets, parsnip, onions) as well as cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower can be grown in a solid block rather than in single rows. This space-saving technique also demands a fertile, humus-rich soil.
鈥� Interplant. Fit fast-growing plants between rows of large, long-term plantings; for example, sow spinach between seeded corn rows and transplant lettuce around young zucchini plants and along the bases of pea vines.
鈥� Succession. In summer, when some spring plantings like peas, lettuce and early cabbages have been harvested, remove and compost the plants, re-plump the soil, and make followup plantings like bush beans, more lettuce, arugula, spinach and chard. Sow carrots and beets at the beginning of July for fall and winter use.
鈥� Containers. Check over your 鈥淧references鈥� list for smaller plants that could be grown in containers. Some likely candidates: dwarf 鈥減atio鈥� type tomatoes, basil, leaf lettuces and (mesclun) blends of mixed greens, bush cucumber and zucchini.
鈥� Garden sharing. In the Garden Events today, note the new Victoria Horticultural Society program aimed at linking gardeners seeking space for gardening with property owners with space to share.
A Good Read
Backyard Bounty, by Linda Gilkeson (New Society Publishers, 384 pages, softcover, $29.95.) We garden in a time of rapidly changing conditions. Weather patterns are increasingly variable. New pests arrive. Every year there are new varieties to try against old reliable favourites.
This second, updated and expanded edition of Backyard Bounty brings useful advice on dealing with current changes in gardening conditions on the West Coast while retaining all the basic information needed to grow healthy, nutrient-dense, flavour-rich vegetables and fruits organically, without undue amounts of labour.
Climate modelling for our region shows a trend toward longer, warmer, drier summers 鈥� and water shortages. Linda supplies a roster of methods for maintaining a food garden even with limited water supplies.
Sweet potatoes and figs have been added to the list of fruit and vegetable profiles, with detailed information on the plants鈥� cultivation and harvesting as well as recommendations on variety choices. Especially helpful is the clear explanation of how to prune figs to ensure a good harvest in our climate. Home gardeners will also find practical advice on dealing with recently arrived pests such as the spotted wing drosophila, whose larvae feed on ripening raspberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries and blackberries.
The book鈥檚 subtitle, The Complete Guide to Year-Round Organic Gardening in the Pacific Northwest, is no exaggeration. People just starting to garden and veteran gardeners will both find in this guide the basics and beyond, presented in concise, down-to-earth fashion.
The second edition of Backyard Bounty is available in local book stores and online from lindagilkeson.ca and westcoastseeds.com.
Garden Events
Rose meeting. The Mid Island Rose Society will meet on Monday, April 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the North Nanaimo Library on Hammond Bay Rd. in Nanaimo. Information at 250-390-2805.
Garden sharing. The Victoria Horticultural Society is undertaking a one-year Garden Sharing pilot project to connect members willing to share all or part of their gardens with gardeners who have limited access to garden space. The society will compile a registry of property owners and gardeners and facilitate, through a confidential interview process, a garden sharing agreement acceptable to both parties. The property owners and gardeners do not have to be VHS members, but if a suitable match is found, both parties will need to become members if they are not already. Anyone interested is asked to email [email protected] or phone 778-430-9438.
