Graham Sucha visits the garden

Graham Sucha is our local MLA and visited the garden this summer. He is an avid gardener and has joined the waitlist to join the community garden for 2016.

Thank You To Our Sponsors

A big thank you to the following sponsors:

Linda Beny
Thirty-One

www.greatbags.ca

www.facebook.com/groups/greatbagscanada

Jolene Airey
Norwex
joleneairey.norwex.biz

Laura Nelsen
Epicure
laura@doggonehealthy.ca

Rototiller For The Garden

Midsun community garden has purchased an electric rototiller using funds from the Lowes Heroes Program for Midsun Community Gardeners to use in the Fall or Spring.

Please contact the garden committee if you would like to use it on your plot.

Plant Share Success

There were lots of great plants brought for the plant share

It was a lovely fall day to come out and find some new treasures

Thanks to everyone who came out and supported the annual plant share and bbq and especially the volunteers making it such a success.

Don't forget the Midsun community garden has a spring and fall plant share if you weren't able to make it this time. 

2nd Annual Plant Share and Community BBQ

Fall Plant Share & Community BBQ

Saturday September 19th

9:30am-3:30pm

Mason Bees

We had twelve Mason bees return to the garden this summer, making the past efforts of building the below houses a great success.

Fall Plant Share

The fall plant share is scheduled for September 19th so mark it on your calendar!

Informal Exercise

I want to invite people on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in the garden at 9:30am.  Bring your resistant bands if you have any...I have a few extras.  And any exercises that you know using them and we will do an informal work out with resistant bands to build strength.  No instructor, anybody sharing what they know. I know about 10 different exercises.  Can get a print out going of the exercises that people can do at home too if they want to.    As long as it isn't raining I will show up and meet in the bench area.  If I am not there I am away, continue to do your thing.  

 18+ please only.

Lowes Hero Program

A big thank you to the Lowes Heroes Program for their support in helping make the MidSun Community Garden a continued success.

Tomato Pruning

Indeterminate: Determinate:

`Vine’ tomato `Bush’ tomato

Grow indefinitely Grow to a certain size, branches terminate with flowers

With no pruning, they will turn Do not prune, eliminating side shoots reduces yield 
into massive sprawling plants

In Calgary, you will typically get In Calgary you may ripen all fruit on early varieties
3-4 trusses to ripen

Super Sweet 100 F1, Super Red Baby Roma F1, Tasti-Lee F1, Fresh Salsa F1, Fantastic F1, San Mazano OP F1, Patio F1

Our Main Pruning Focus:      Other Pruning:

Suckers Heading (1 month before frost) 
aka: "Side Shoots" Heading (1 month before frost)

aka: "Lateral branches" Bottom leaves

Grow an Ind. with 2 stems The Missouri Prune Simple & Missouri

Garden Photo Contest

Have a great photo of the garden to enter into the contest? Make sure to enter by August 15th by clicking on the image above.

Pruning Tomato Plants

Saturday June 27th 9:00am

If you ever wanted to know the nitty gritty on pruning tomato plants

Richard is the one to tell you.  All of last year's returning gardeners

will remember Richard's PLOT 32 and can't wait to try Richard's 2015 crop.

Join us at plot 32 for this presentation and if enough gardeners

are interested in attending, we might even cook up some food

 on Mid Sun Garden's new Bar-B-Q.

Let us know if you are coming by Friday June 26 at 9:00 PM 

Dave Bisanti (for the garden team).

midsungarden@gmail.com

Tomato Plants

Richard is our resident tomato expert and he endorses the link below:

Craig is a highly regarded tomato grower from North Carolina. His first book, Epic Tomatoes,

 is an excellent source of information and has received very favourable reviews. 

http://www.mothgardeningerearthnews.com/organic-gardening/vegetables/growing-tomatoes/prune-tomato-plants-zmvz15jjzsor.aspx

Garden Update

When the tangled cobweb pulls 

The cornflower's cap awry, 

And the lilies tall lean over the wall 

To bow to the butterfly, 

It's July

Susan Hartley Swett 

 May Plant Share Members and friends of the Mid-Sun Community Garden gathered on May 30 for an enjoyable morning of plant sharing, coffee drinking and visiting. Planned with aplomb by Kim Taylor from the garden team, the second annual spring plant sharing event was a big success. Thank you to everyone who signed up to help, including (and sorry if we’ve missed you on this list) Kim Taylor, Dave and Maureen Bisanti, Anna Sokolowski, Deanna Mallon, Sabine Sellmer, Catherine Webber, Cheryl Gibson, Karyn Booth, Fred and Sheryl Stenhouse, Chuck and Flo Naylor, Carol Taylor, Bonita Felton, Lloyd King, Theresa Mowatt and Katherine Matiko. Leon Drinnin and Judy Heynen also provided valuable assistance. We couldn’t have done it without you! Thank you for helping to make the community garden (and the world) a beautiful place. It was nice to see fellow gardeners Erin Rainet, Marie Coates, Carol Johnston, Angus Macdonell, Bernice McClaren, Jennifer Pake, Kerry Peters, Verna and Jake Froese, and Laura Ellis out that day, too. 

We raised almost $500 for the garden through enthusiastic participation in our prize draws and plant sales. 

Thank you to all of our donors and vendors!

 Upcoming Events We like to emphasize the “community” in community garden. Watch for announcements of the following potential community events (open to one and all): a herb butter party in July, a family barbecue in August, a harvest “stone soup” supper in September, a fall plant share in September, and, of course, a garden clean-up in October. If you would like to help out with any of these events, please let the garden team know at midsungarden@gmail.com. Learn more about the Mid-Sun Community Garden and pick up some valuable gardening tips at 

mid-suncommunitygarden.blogspot.ca. The garden is located beside the Mid-Sun Community Centre at 50 Midpark Rise SE. Admiring visitors are always welcome.

Thanks to Katherine for this article!

Plant Share May 30th

One Magic Square

I checked a few books out of the library this spring in order to get some new ideas for my garden plot and One Magic Square was one of them. I've enjoyed every page of this book, from all the vegetable information, to the plot plans, and discussions about companion planting. 

Do you have a favourite gardening book you'd like to share?

Plant Share May 30th

Plant Share May 30th 10:00am-12:30pm

Saving Seeds

If you've been wanting to save seeds from your garden Mother Earth News has a great article on doing just that! The article includes information on recycling seeds, the best crops to save seeds from and other popular vegetables to save. 

Thank you Lowes for saving the bees!

We’re buzzing: Lowe’s, one of the world’s biggest home and garden retailers,  just announced it’s no longer going to sell bee-killing "neonic" pesticides. There’s no way Lowe’s would have done this without you and almost a million other SumOfUs members. Together with Friends of the Earth, SumOfUs members have been pushing Lowe’s to save the bees for almost two years -- and it worked! We’re at a critical moment in the fight to stop the mass bee die-off -- with this move, we can push other big retailers and governments to save the bees as well. Here are three easy ways you can help right now: 1. Make a donation to keep the momentum up -- your gift will supercharge the Save the Bees campaign! 2. Share this image on your Facebook wall celebrating this huge victory for the bees! 3. Forward this email to five of your friends and show them that people power works.

Lowe's commitment is the real deal: in the next 4 years, it will phase out all bee-killing pesticides in shelf products and plants that it sells.

Open House With Atco Gas

There will be an open house at St. Mary's University May 7th 4:00pm-7:30pm in the McGivney Hall regarding the new pipelines being installed by Atco Gas through Fish Creek park.

Check out the Metro news article here

Garden Plots Available!

There are two garden plots available! 

First come, first serve!

Contact us at midsungarden@gmail.com to get a plot while you can.

Spring Clean Up April 25th

The spring clean up usually includes:

- raking dead leaves and papers from the garden and bagging them   

- installing the butterfly houses and preparing mud pullding ponds for summer

- tidying up the compost area

- weeding the perrenial garden and the raspberry /strawberry plots

- repairing any damanged plots if neccessary 

- installing the hardware on the 4 new rain barrels.r

- cleaning and and weeding your personal plots

- installing hoses.

 and anything else not listed.

Please RSVP by Saturday April 25  if you are attending  to permit us 

to order sufficient refreshments for this work bee. 

midsungarden@gmail.com

April's Garden to-do list

Theres still time!

It's hard to believe April is already here! With all the great weather we have been having you may be itching to get your hands in the dirt so here are a few suggestions of things to get you started on this month.

It's time to clean out those beds and dig compost in as soon as the soil can be worked. Be careful of the bulbs you planted that have yet to show themselves as well as those perennials. Dig and divide perennials, such as day lilies and irises if the ground has thawed.

Fertilize established lawns and make sure to first rake away all the snow mould and dead grass left behind.

If weather allows, plant onion sets, lettuce, spinach, peas, sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus), carrots, radishes and parsnips in the garden.

Indoors, continue to start seeds of squash, melons, and corn. Start tomato seeds if you plan to set them out under protective covering next month. 

Start gladiolus corms indoors. (We have a great selection of bulbs and perennial packages at the store now so definitely come out and take a look!)

Sprout seed potatoes by moving them from cold storage into room temperature. We have potato sacks that you can plant up now and they can be moved inside and out to utilize the days warmth. 

In the last week of the month, remove winter covering from tender roses, perennials, and strawberries. 

In flowerbeds near the end of the month, plant lilies, primroses, and lilies-of-the-valley.

Plant raspberries towards the end of the month, but wait until the soil has begun to warm before planting strawberries. You can plant them indoors and place them in a sunny south facing window until your beds are ready.

Start broccoli seeds indoors for an early crop - but don't delay: soon it will be too warm.

Thanks to Lisa for sharing Garden Retreat's April gardening tips! 

Alder Talk with Peter Demong Ward 14

I will be hosting another session of ALDERTALK this Saturday, April 11 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Queensland Community Centre (649 Queensland Drive SE). ALDERTALK is an opportunity for Ward 14 residents to visit their Councillor in an informal face-to-face setting. It's a chance to get to know one another, discuss problems, or even brainstorm for the future. You can learn more about Aldertalk at www.calgary.ca/aldertalk.
If Saturday doesn't work for you, ALDERTALK will be back again on May 30 at the Lake Bonavista Community Centre. I hope you can join me on one, or both, of these occasions.
Sincerely,
Peter Demong
Councillor, Ward 14
Phone: (403) 268-1653 / Fax: (403) 268-3823
Twitter  /  Facebook  /  Linkedin  /  Contact Ward 14

What's Going On At The Garden

Grow With Us

Gardeners love the month of May. At this time of the year, we gaze upon our beloved patches of dirt, seeing in them what perhaps no-one else can see, and begin to tend them like pampered children. If you happen to drive by the Mid-Sun Community Garden this month, there you will see us, heads bowed, digging and dreaming, raising up something truly beautiful for our community. Why don’t you join us? Garden plots are only $20 for the year and everyone – rookies, seasoned gardeners, anyone longing to fall in love with a patch of dirt – is welcome. To enquire about available plots, please contact us at midsungarden@gmail.com.

Watch Us Grow

The growth of the Mid-Sun Community Garden over the past few years has been remarkable. Through the efforts of our dedicated volunteers, the garden has become a manicured oasis in the heart of Midnapore. We have a shed, composting bins, a delightful seating area and mulched walkways surrounding our individual plots. And there is more to come, thanks to the wonderful staff at Lowe’s on 130 Avenue SW. 

As part of the Lowe's Canada Heroes employee volunteer program, these community-minded folks raised money all through the month of March for the Mid-Sun Community Association and the community garden. The store was covered with posters promoting Lowe’s support for our community. Customers were asked to donate $2 so that their names could be prominently displayed on paper pagodas in the store. What a great way to raise awareness and support for the community garden program at Mid-Sun!

One of our garden volunteers, Kim Taylor, agreed to be thrown behind bars for the cause on March 20, raising over $600 in bail money. Bravo Kim! Thanks for stepping up for the community garden.

Lowe’s donated over $1,000 to the community garden in 2014, and we look forward to working with them to bring more improvements to the garden in 2015. Thank you to the Lowe’s staff at 130 Avenue SW and to all the customers and supporters who helped make this fundraiser a big success.

Be Beneficial

This is going to be a great year in the garden, but we need lots of help. All our gardeners are asked to be “garden beneficials,” choosing a volunteer role according to their interests and abilities to help make the garden – and the world – a better place.

You can contact any of the volunteers on this list for more information:

GARDEN TEAM 

Secretary/Treasurer – Dave Bisanti
dbisanti@shaw.ca
403-201-2202

Fundraising – Kim Taylor
kimandav@telus.net
403-466-8388

Activities Assistant – Sabine Sellmer
sabine2396@hotmail.com
587-228-3337

Garden Blogger – Brianna Maryon
shoesaremymuse@gmail.com
403-701-8095

Mid-Sun Messages – Katherine Matiko
katherinematiko@gmail.com
403-256-8818

We are currently looking for a volunteer to represent the community garden on the Mid-Sun Community Association Board of Directors. Please email midsungarden@gmail.com for more information.

Learn more about the Mid-Sun Community Garden at mid-suncommunitygarden.blogspot.ca.

The Mid-Sun Community Garden is located beside the Mid-Sun Community Centre at 50 Midpark Rise SE. Admiring visitors are always welcome.

Thank you to Katherine for submitting this post.

The Planning of the Planting

Do you know what you'll be growing in your garden plot this year? It's always a good idea to plan well ahead, especially if you're growing everything from seed and will need to start them indoors. Check out this Vegetable Growing Guide for a timeline on when best to start your seedlings. To follow this timeline you will need an estimate of when the last frost will be for your area from the Canada Frost Dates. Gardener's Web also has some great resources for planting guidelines where you can choose where you're located, the vegetables you want to grow and etc.

For some different vegetable ideas check out Lee Valley's article on trending veggies.

Choosing Tomato Variety Seeds

“Which tomato seed varieties should I start?” is is a very common question, and choosing the wrong varieties in Calgary will mean lots of green tomatoes in the fall. Calgary’s Zone 3a climate is not tomato friendly, so the list of genuine options here is quite a bit shorter than it is in other locations. Tomatoes are tropical vines, so our short season, very dry climate and cool nights are not to their liking! So we have to be selective. Each summer I grow 50 varieties in open beds, and to be quite honest, I can easily provide a short list of varieties which always do well for me. I grow both hybrid and open pollenated varieties, so am not aligned on either side of that debate.

So here are my Calgary stars, where you can most easily find them, and a short blurb about each. I do not have a greenhouse, so my list is directed to gardeners in the same circumstance. Let’s start with cherry tomatoes where the clear winner is SunGold F1. In my community sampling bed last year (11 cherry tomato varieties), not a single person said any of the other 10 varieties were tastier than SunGold. Case closed. Seeds are available in Calgary from Garden Retreat.  My two favourite small earlies are Stupice and Early Treat F1. Stupice seed can be found at Garden Retreat, and Early Treat F1 is a Burpee seed available in their displays at Greengate, SuperStore etc. A bigger early which always does well for me is Moskvitch. Unfortunately I have not seen this seed in Calgary but it can be purchased from EBay seller (and Calgary master gardener), aprilshowers2010. My most successful determinate variety is Arctic Fire, from Alberta based Bow Seeds, available at Sunnyside. Moving to midseason varieties the three I recommend are Big Beef F1, Early Girl F1 and Caspian Pink. Big Beef F1 is sold by McKenzie Seeds and available in their big box displays. I have not seen Early Girl F1 or Caspian Pink seeds in town this year, but aforementioned Calgary master gardener aprilshowers2010 lists both inexpensively on E-Bay. Late season varieties? I don’t have any to recommend since our climate does not reliably support them. Are there others? Of course there are – my list is based on 
what has reliably done well for me. Good luck!

 Sun Gold F1 - Season: Early, Type: Cherry, Size: ⅖oz, Colour: Orange, Taste: Intense, Origin: Japan, Plant: Indeterminate, Breed: Hybrid, Leaf: Regular, Height: 60-72". It has become the most popular cherry tomato of all time. The sweet-tart intense fruity flavour is amazing, developing early, so it is great a week before full maturity, when it becomes very sweet and delicious.

Stupice - Type: Salad, Season: Early, Size: 1-3oz, Colour: Red, Plant: Indeterminate, Breed: Open pollinated, Leaf: Potato, Height: 48-60". This Czech tomato from the 1950s is valued for its early maturity and sweet taste. The yield per plant is extraordinarily high. This potato-leaf heirloom is a very cold-tolerant tomato that bears an abundance of deep red fruit.

Early Treat F1 - Type: Salad, Season: Early, Size: 2-4oz, Colour: Red, Plant: Indeterminate, Breed: Hybrid, Leaf: Regular, Height: 48-60". An early Burpee hybrid similar to, but not identical to Fourth of July. The germplasm for these two varieties is different, but the resulting flavour of Early Treat is very much like the Fourth of July variety – which is average, but very reasonable for an early variety.

Moskvich - Type: Beefsteak, Season: Early, Size: 6-9oz, Colour: Red, Plant: Indeterminate, Breed: Open pollinated, Leaf: Regular, Height: 48-60". An appealing extra-early tomato with fruit which are smooth, deep red with a fine rich flavour. Moskvich is a cold tolerant heirloom variety from Russia which produces good yields.

Arctic Fire - Season: Midseason , Type: Slicer (Medium), Size: 4-6oz, Colour: Red, Taste: Mild, Origin: Canada, Plant: Determinate, Breed: Open pollinated, Leaf: Regular, Height: 30-36". Arctic Fire is a large, early tomato. Almost seedless, having solid red flesh with fine flavour. They do not need pollination, therefore can set fruit well through cold weather.  Plants stay compact and fit well within a tomato cage.

Big Beef F1 - Season: Midseason, Type: Slicer (Large), Size: 10-12oz, Colour: Red, Taste: Balanced, Origin: USA, Plant: Indeterminate, Breed: Hybrid, Leaf: Regular, Height: 40-48". One of the finest hybrids for home gardeners. Impressive yields of extra-large, smooth tomatoes with real old-time flavour. Its virtues include great disease resistance, early midseason harvests and enormous fruit until the end of the season.

Early Girl F1 - Type: Slicer, Season: Midseason, Size: 4-6oz, Colour: Red, Plant: Indeterminate, Breed: Hybrid, Leaf: Regular, Height: 48-60". Early Girl produces bright red, meaty tomatoes with good flavour and aroma. Its globe-shaped fruit are perfect for slicing on sandwiches and for salads. This variety starts bearing fruit earlier and produces for longer than other medium-sized tomatoes.

Caspian Pink - Type: Beefsteak, Season: Midseason, Size: 6-16oz, Colour: Pink, Plant: Indeterminate, Breed: Open pollinated, Leaf: Regular, Height: 40-48". An heirloom tomato that originated in Russia's Black Sea region, this variety yields large, finely flavoured pink tomatoes on vigorous vines. One of the best tasting tomatoes on the market.

From 2014 Season:

1. Big Beef F1

2. Steak Sandwich F1 (not discussed)

3. Moskvich

4. Early Girl F1

5. Early Treat F1

6. Stupice

7. Arctic Fire

Thank you to Richard for submitting this post.