How to save tomato seeds...and other brilliance...

Check out this link to the Lee Valley newsletter!
Learn how to save those tomato seeds!
 It has a fabulous photo tutorial!

Find the Lee Valley newsletter here

garden gratitude for the season

Garden gratitude for a great 2013 growing season

We have much to be grateful for during this 2013 GROWING SEASON

·         A CELEBRATION TO BEGIN THE YEAR!  5 years of growing and all the plots rented in ONE DAY! 

·         NEW GARDENERS! What a treat to welcome many new gardeners and it was very exciting to work alongside them and see their delight in their growing and celebrate their successes.

·         RASPBERRY RAZZLE DAZZLE—Our raspberry bushes were adopted by a hardworking crew of gardeners and given a fertile bed to thrive in!  We look forward to a bumper crop of berries in 2014—with a strawberry patch too!

·         SHED—we are still so honoured to be given a shed, a safe and beautiful home for our ever growing tool collection!  Thanks, community partners!

·         PATHWAY PROJECT PROGRESS!  After hours of digging, hauling, calling, emailing, wheelbarrowing...mulching...the paths look MUCH better and hopefully the maintenance will be less for a while. 

·         Hard working gardeners and community helpers from the Dream Center, Options Calgary make our garden great!

·        Garden experiments...COVER CROPS and a POTATO CONDO.  One of gardener’s creativity and curiosity at work—and such a great learning experience!  See our blog from more info.

·         Our First GARDEN FIELD TRIP!  to Jeff Casey’s Urban farm in August, this was a follow up to a generous invitation he gave during his early spring Tomato workshop we hosted.

·         FUN-DRAISING—we continue to sell notecards, teacup bird feeders, and later this season we sold garlic for fall planting and seed for cover crops for soil improvement. All available to you.

one gardener's zucchini adventure...:)

My last zucchini was very small & shriveled on the vine. I picked it anyway & put it in a bowl on the table with my tomatoes & onions.
On a recent Friday morning when I was on the phone & computer my 2 year old grey tabby cat, Boomer, decided he wanted to play. He dropped the zucchini on my computer & proceeded to make a nuisance of himself until I threw it down the hall & returned to my phone call.
Within seconds he was back with the little zucchini  dropping it on my computer again. I think he was telling me I need to eat more veggies while simultaneously asking me to play Fetch the Zucchini. At this point I was laughing so hard I couldn't continue my phone call for a few minutes.
Who needs cat toys when you can use produce from your garden?

I learned a lesson that morning. Vegetables aren't just for people!
Incidentally Boomer is still playing it. I have no idea where it is at the moment but I'm sure he does.
Jennifer Pake

BUTTER BONANZA!

The secret ingredient was laughter shared among friends

 when we made herbed butter

one sunny morning in the garden.

 

We worked and we ate samples of 2 kinds of butter;

 

 one savory & one sweet --using herbs from our gardens...

we sampled our creations on baguettes & bread & homemade biscuits that Dave and May brought. Thank you!

 It was good. Maybe a little too good. We ate a lot!

 

Come see the garden display at the ward 14 bbq!

Wintersowing update--from gardener Jennifer!

Here are some pictures I took of the results of the winter sowing class I attended.

I sowed wildflower seeds & put the milk jug in the snow as directed.
About 6 weeks later or so tiny plants started to grow. Soon they filled the jug. When they got tall enough I transplanted them to a pot & set it on my east facing front steps. Beautiful flowers grew on long stems.

 Now they are dying but some new little green plants are popping up, perhaps to take the place of the other ones.

I planted seeds in 3 jugs @ that class. This is the only one that grew but the results are amazing & I plan to do this again next winter.
Thanks for the class, it was educational & I love the results I got.

Some of our community gardeners...and their amazing garden success

Check out Lisa's vertical garden

 

Dinner at Cheryl's...does it get any better than this?

 

 

PATHWAY PROJECT CONTINUES

Gardeners,

Just when you thought the garden was winding down....

• keep harvesting, plenty of delicious produce waiting to be eaten!

• Saturday--two gardeners are bravely steering a sod cutter through the center block, follow them down the garden path and roll up the sod
• cover crops can be planted!  Email the garden to buy yours or show up on Sunday for the City of Calgary Neighbourwoods tree planting presentation at 12pm
• an INTERFAITH FOODBANK donation is
  
  getting organized...stay tuned
• a POTATO CONTEST is spudding along...stay tuned.
• a crew from outside our garden is coming on Sunday to roll up sod, lay down cardboard and landscape fabric, mulch heavily...
• please come on out, cheer on Sunday's crew, share snacks, and enjoy the late summer blitz

SAVE THE DATE! Mid-Sun Community Garden Harvest celebration

Friday, October 4, 2013   6-9pm

Mid-Sun Community Center meeting room

Join your fellow gardeners and guests to celebrate the season

Hope to see you there!

Details to follow



Cover Crop update--you can still plant yours!

Flowering pea

·         Look at the beautiful blossoms on the cover crops!
·         An eager gardener will soon “chop and drop”, before they go to seed.
·         The tops will be left on the plots to decompose over winter.
·         Then in spring, one month before planting, the roots and tops will be tilled under.
·         12 plots have already been planted this September. Very fast work, gardeners.
·         Most crops have germinated and a few are 2” tall. YES!!!
·         Remember to water, just like in spring.
·         Crops planted in September will not flower but will freeze except for fall rye. All good.
·         Root development now will nourish the soil. Organic matter is also added.
·         A garden is regularly tilled in the fall and the spring so the only extra step is scattering the seed. For minimal effort and cost, soil can be improved.
·         It’s not too late, you may still plant and we expect rain next week.

Sundance gets their Neighbourwoods Tree Education event

Nasturtiums

Some great garden learning on nasturtiums....

Won't produce flowers if the nitrogen is high in the soil,  the fact mine haven't produced flowers is a good sign.  And companion planting will seduce those aphids away from your vegetable crops.  

Cover Crops for Community Garden Plots--we have seed for sale!

Cover Crops or Green Manure

·         Cover crops are grown to be dug into the soil before maturity in order to improve the soil for the next food crop. Cover crops feed the soil.

·         When an area is not being used for food production, cover crops can and should be grown.

·         Benefits:

1.      Replenish nitrogen and “fix” it in the soil.

2.      Add nutrients that are depleted.

3.      Increase water holding capacity.

4.      Loosen packed soil.

5.      Suppress weeds.

·         Some examples of cover crops are the grass family (fall rye, barley, buckwheat or oats) and the legume family (clover, hairy vetch, broad beans or field peas). For overwintering (leaving the plants in the ground all winter), we have:

Crimson Clover: ·       Sow in July, Aug., early Sept. ·         Can interplant with vegetables. ·         Red flowers in late spring. ·         Hardy to -23 degrees.	Winter Field Peas ·         Sow in late Aug., early Sept. ·         Use inoculant on seed. ·         Plant 1 to 3” deep ·         Hardy to -23 degrees.
Fall Rye ·         Sow in late Aug., early Sept. ·         Sow no deeper than 2”. ·         Looks like grass. ·         Hardy to -40, good for Calgary. ·         May continue growing in spring. ·         Cut down before it is 12”. ·         Excellent soil builder.	Buckwheat ·         Sow in spring or summer and in empty spaces during growing season. ·         Grows tall with broad leaves. ·         White flowers attract bees. ·         Winter kills. ·         Adds calcium. ·         Good after breaking ground for new gardens. Grow 2 successive crops.

*** Time is needed in beginning for roots to establish and after tilling for decomposition.

Procedure:

1.      Clear the area and till it.

2.      Scatter seeds evenly, rake in and water.

3.      Till entire crop under before mature or one month before planting.

4.      Never let it go to seed.

Congratulations to the many keen Mid Sun gardeners who have taken the initiative to improve their soil through cover crops! We still have seed available for gardeners in the community who wish to purchase. Each package covers approximately 32 sq. ft. and is $4.00. You may email us at midsungarden@gmail.com.



about summer squash--a weblink