Nature Makes Sense

Last week the snow hit and just like that I realized I was feeling totally unprepared for what was coming in the Community Greenhouse. As I was shovelling it out I fretted, how do we keep the plants warm and happy in January with no heat? What happens if we get an outbreak of aphids? Are the plants getting enough carbon dioxide?

Outside-Inside

And so I wrapped myself in a blanket and pulled out Eliot Coleman’s book The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year-Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses. He is a lovely writer and a phenomenal treasure trove of great growing systems and hard facts about how he does what he does at Four Season Farm.

He set me straight, assured me plants to want to grow through the winter and it can all be quite simple and straightforward. He had an especially amazing perspective on disease and pest management in the greenhouse, which just the thought of what I don’t know and understand, makes me shake in my bones. He sums up his approach when he states “nature makes sense”.

Whew, okay.

So when problems do hit and your plants aren’t doing so hot the question begs, what am I doing wrong? Well here is a great list of questions to help your identify your misstep and start on the road of growing healthy happy plants that will do their best to resist the temptations of pests and disease.

In the words of Elliot Coleman, ask yourself:

• Is the soil ready for that crop, or should the rotation or choice of cultural practices be changes? (Some, like the Brassica, benefit from higher nitrogen availability; others, like tomatoes, will produce all leaves and no fruit when given extra nitrogen.)
• How long ago were the green manure or crop residues turned under? (Three weeks is the minimum. The soil bacteria need time to digest the green matter and return the soil to its balanced state.)
• Was the compost mature? (…Immature compost can cause a wide range of problems.)
• What was the preceding crop? (If it was a heavy feeder, are more nutrients necessary?)
• Have you corrected the mineral deficiencies indicated by your soil test? (Trace elements can often be the key. You need a complete soil analysis to get that information.)
• Were the transplants stressed? (If transplanting on a dry, windy day, you need to irrigate immediately…)
• Have you chisel-plowed or subsoiled to break up the hardpan? (Impenetrable or airless conditions under the surface are invisible until you plant a crop and then wonder why it is having problems. Take a shovel and do some digging to find out.)

(From The Winter Harvest Handbook, 2009, pg. 182)

I’m on my way to the library now to pick up his other well-known book, The Four Season Harvest: How to Harvest Fresh Organic Vegetables From Your Home Gardens All Year Long. I’m not sure what other wisdom it will bestow but I will keep you posted. 

Written by: Garity Chapman

Stormwater Central

When the rain falls heavy or the snow starts its annual melt, it creates what we call “stormwater”. It’s a technical sounding term for a resource that we pay little attention to, in simple terms, our water.

As gardeners we don’t often think about the words “Stormwater Management”, but it’s something we are doing all the time. We catch our rain in barrels, saving it for dryer times, we worry about flooding and drought in our gardens, and we build structures and systems to hold, spread, and sink that precious water into our plants and land. Yessiree, we gardeners know a thing or two about stormwater management, and yet there is always so much more to learn and teach.

Our cities are not built to hold, spread and sink our water where it is needed, instead our buildings and sidewalks cover the land and water runs off of our roofs and our roads straight into the gutters and sewers below. It overflows our sewage plants and carries our city’s pollutants along with it, leaving nothing in our tanks, our homes or our gardens for later when it might be needed to flush a toilet or water the garden.

And so I wanted to let you all know that my colleagues here at the Ecology Action Centre have launched a blog all about stormwater management called Stormwater Central and you all should take a look. This winter lets start to think more about the roles our gardens can play in managing, capturing and caring for our rain water. Lets learn more about harvesting our rainwater, building swales and the role a rain garden can play alongside our other garden spaces and systems.

Rain harvesting

If any of this sounds like fun, get in touch and let us know what systems you’ve devised in your garden or tells us more about rain and gardens that you have been learning about on your own. Lets hold, spread and sink it into our mighty little gardening community.

 

Written by: Garity Chapman

Garden Blog Roundup

This week I thought I’d write a blog post for all of you gardeners out there who are looking forward to a winter under a warm pile of blankets. In between great books, some windowsill gardening, and keeping my eyes on our new Community Greenhouse, I’ll be checking out some other great blogs and seeing what other gardeners and farmers are up to.

I don’t read many blogs but these are a few that won my heart. They are beautiful and written by lovely and interesting folks. Check them out and tell us about some of your own favorites in our comment section.

Homemade Crackers

A blog written by a young family of five in Ontario, their first line states:“One day we wondered why we’d never tried making crackers before.”

And so they set off into a series of sweet and intriguing explorations into the food grown and produced around them and learn to make more at home.  It has exquisite photos and interesting posts about local foods and farms of southern Ontario.

The Ruminant

This is a beautiful and amazing site created by an organic farmer in the Okanagan Valley, BC. It is all about swapping ideas for great systems, and resources for rural and urban farmers. It’s a DIY, low tech, low cost solutions mecca. Check it out and contribute your own homemade solution to the site.

City Farmer News

Urban Agriculture Notes is a website started in 1994 by City Farmer and was one of the first urban farming web resources. It is still an amazing resource today and this blog is an edited, easier to navigate companion to the City Farmer Notes site. It’s mostly a collection of recent stories about urban farmers  and urban agriculture projects from around the world.

Queer Farmer Film Project

A blog by Jonah Mossberg who is a farmer, filmmaker, and creator of The Queer Farmer Film Project. He is quoted in a Grist article explaining that he thinks there’s a natural connection between the instincts involved in rethinking food production and those involved in rethinking human relationships.

This blog visits Queer Farmers across America and is so heartwarming and brain stimulating to read.

You Grow Girl

Written by Gayla Trail, author of several gardening books and a Toronto urban gardener. Gayla has been blogging on You Grow Girl for 11 years now and its a great resource for DIY urban gardeners new and old.

Year Round Gardener

Written by Niki Jabbour, a local garden writer and radio show host. Her first book- The Year Round Vegetable Gardener is coming out this year. It’s always nice to keep up on what folks are doing close to home and get some of that good ol local knowledge, and this blog has a nice focus on gardening in our lovely Nova Scotian Climate.

Adventures In Local Food

Finally a shout out to another Halifax blog written in the Food Action Committee’s office at the Ecology Action Centre. Great recipes for local food, written by special folks, some of whom I’m sure you know. If you’d like to write for either of these blogs (Adventures in Local Food or Halifax Garden Network), give us a call at 442-1077 or send us an email.