Not long ago I came across a few lines of poetry that led me to think about the adventures and challenges that lie ahead for home gardeners in 2019. The lines were from a Horatio Nelson Powers poem titled The New Year.
鈥淎 flower unblown; a book unread; 鈥� A landscape whose wide border lies/ In silent shade 鈥檔eath silent skies; 鈥�
This is the year that for you waits
Beyond tomorrow鈥檚 mystic gates.鈥�
What waits for us? At this point it鈥檚 all possibility. We can look at our landscapes and plots and survey our collection of containers for planting and imagine all sorts of things 鈥� brilliant blooms, fragrant herbs, juicy tomatoes, the first still warm, sun-ripened strawberry.
Hopes and dreams for next year鈥檚 gardens will be as widely diverse as gardeners are, but for many of us, looming over the prospective picture will be an item highlighted in the news a few weeks ago: Produce prices are predicted to rise dramatically in 2019.
This was a significant message in the gardening community. This month, Brian Russell, former owner of Russell Nursery in North Saanich, added this note to an email: 鈥淒id you hear the forecast for increased prices on produce next year? It鈥檚 substantial, apparently due to an El Ni帽o year and drier conditions in California and Mexico. If ever there were a time for gardeners to plant a big vegetable garden, it is surely 2019.鈥�
At about the same time as the predicted cost increase was being featured in the news this month, The Current, a CBC radio program, devoted an entire 90聽minutes to climate change.
The reason for the program鈥檚 focus was climate scientists鈥� warnings that time is running out for stopping the train of warming before it becomes an unstoppable runaway.
Asked what the average person can do to help, one of the scientists interviewed on the program said: 鈥淕row food,鈥� just as ordinary people did during the Second World War, when we were in another fight for survival.
During the war, almost everyone planted vegetables wherever they could find a spot 鈥� front yard, back yard, laneways, pots on balconies, in any nearby unused areas they could access.
For anyone concerned over food prices, a useful winter project would be to begin looking for growing spaces. Perhaps a patch of lawn could be dug up, and the soil readied for planting in the spring. Spaces between plants in ornamental plots cold be used for food plants that are handsome and would fit in. Swiss chard with coloured stalks, parsley, peppers, frilly kale and lettuces come to mind.
Limited growing space? Grow as much as possible vertically, on netting or wire fencing. Cucumbers, pole and runner beans, tomatoes, peas, climbing zucchini (Tromboncino, West Coast Seeds) are suitable for growing on supports. Small plants such as lettuces can be grown at the bases of the vining plants, all in very limited space.
No garden? Inquire about nearby allotment spaces. There might even be someone on your street or in the neighbourhood with unused space they would be glad to see producing food. Put up a notice on a community bulletin board: 鈥淟ooking for garden space.鈥�
A wide variety of food plants can be grown in containers. Last summer, my friend Caron had an impressive array of vegetables on her condo deck. She didn鈥檛 need any of my carrots. She had her own.
Salad vegetables are naturals for containers. Seeds for mixtures of salad plants (mesclun blends) are readily available and easy to grow. There are sweet and crisp mixtures. Others are spicy. Most salad blends produce attractive plantings that can be cut up to three times before they need replacing.
The compact, potted tomatoes I grow every year on my patio deliver masses of tasty treats all through the summer and into early autumn. Most herbs do well in pots. Unbelievably productive in pots is Redskin 鈥� a thick-walled, blocky sweet pepper from T&T seeds.
Lightweight containers are available at garden centres. Garage sales, especially those staged by people moving away, will often yield low-cost planters suited for growing food.
Next week. I鈥檒l be taking next week off from writing columns. I鈥檒l be back on Jan. 9, answering your questions. Happy New Year! May 2019 bring the best gardening season ever.
GARDEN EVENT
Qualicum meeting. The Qualicum Beach Garden Club will meet on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 7:30 p.m., in the Q.B. Civic Centre on Jones Street. Doors open at 7. Laurene Ebbett will present 鈥淕ardens in the Lake District, Wales and Ireland.鈥� Non-member drop-in fee $3.
