gorgeous greens

So apparently it has been some time since I gave an update on the Bloomfield Community Greenhouse; the last time I posted on the greenhouse (scroll down), these babies were just seedlings. Now they are gorgeously gorgeous and ready to eat! 

Prior to the holidays, our plants were looking a bit leggy. Perhaps due to the reduced light levels, maybe due to a lack of carbon dioxide. We made some adjustments, a fan for one,  and this along with increasing day length seem to have made the difference. At a time when produce has all but disappeared from the farmers' market, it's quite wonderful to enjoy a freshly picked salad of local, organic greens. 

baby pics

As promised, here are a a couple of photos of the first seedlings to inaugurate the Bloomfield Community Greenhouse. It's now been three weeks since the first seeds were planted and the photos show the seedlings after one and two weeks. I'm so very happy that they are coming along so well and can't wait to enjoy my first harvest of tender, baby greens

week one 

week two

bloomfield community greenhouse

I feel pretty lucky and grateful to have been selected as a participant in the first year of the Bloomfield Community Greenhouse. What a great opportunity to grow food throughout the long, cold Canadian winter! Also a lovely boost for the spirit - the greenhouse was a cozy 42 degrees celsius when I stopped in today (we're still calibrating details like temperature regulation).

The greenhouse is a collaborative project between two community organizations - Imagine Bloomfield and Ecology Action Centre. It's a pilot project with a vision of community greenhouses throughout Halifax Regional Municipality. A handful of us were selected through a membership lottery and now we're responsible for the day-to-day operations of the greenhouse, logging our experiences along the way.

 

Features of this passive-solar design include solar-panels, re-purposed barn boards, solar hot-water heating that circulates under the interior beds, an interior rain barrel, a community message board and a vermicomposter. I'm eager to meet the buider, Zak Miller of Full Cycle Builders, to learn more about the technical components of the building.

I planted seeds about a week ago and they are just starting to emerge. I am so excited to get started with a new crop just when the gardening season would usually be slowing down. I'll be back soon with pics of the new babies!

garlic planting tutorial (it's time!)

Right about now, at least in the temperate north, it is the perfect time to plant your garlic. Here is a simple guide to next season's bounty:

• A stop at your farmer's market will provide you with garlic that is adapted to your local conditions. I bought bulbs of two varieties from different farms in Nova Scotia as well as two red types that aren't local that I am experimenting with.

• Choose large well-formed bulbs. And from these choose the largest individual cloves to plant. Clove size is a better genetic determinant than bulb size of healthy, abundant garlic. I especially like the purple-tinged ones.

• Before planting 'crack' the individual cloves from the main head and choose those big, robust ones.

• This is the time to give consideration to next year's garden configuration. Remember garlic needs full sun.

• Plant garlic (pointy side up!) 4" to 8" apart and cover with at least 2" of soil. 

• Adding a layer of mulch - I used fresh seaweed but straw, hay, compost and leaves will also work - keeps the soil temperature constant. Garlic hates freeze and thaw cycles which are common here in NS.

• That's it for now! In early spring you will start to see your garlic shoots emerging. And in July the tops will start to brown and fade signaling time for harvest. We'll talk more later about harvesting, curing and storage.

hot hot hot!

I took this photo of my cayenne peppers on my last day on the farm in Oregon. It's the first place I've lived that I could really grow these spicy little heat-lovers. I'm now home in Halifax, NS and the lovely fall we had been having has turned bitterly cold! Just thinking about that long hot summer takes away a bit of the chill...

fall finale...

My last big harvest of the season

golden beet

    late October berries

A long, fantastic gardening season is coming to a close here in Halifax, NS. Here are a few shots from last weekend - just after a few light frosts. I'm kind of amazed that I am getting such a great harvest this late, especially the strawberries! Last year I took things a bit further with a cold frame, but a recent life change has had me questioning where I'll be spending the winter so it looks like I'll soon be closing the garden down for the season. I just read a post over at diggin'food that lifted my mood at a time when I really need some brightening:


"...I was reminded that one of the best things about gardening is that you know what will happen. And you don’t.You know if you sow a bean seed it will crack open underground. A little root will emerge, and soon the emerging bean will nudge aside a lump of soil. The sides of the bean will open up like wings and a tiny plant will unfurl slowly like it just woke up from a very long nap.But sometimes a bird gobbles up the seed. Or your dog digs up the bed. Or the seed just doesn’t germinate. It’s a mystery. This risk factor is what makes gardening and life so interesting. It is never the same. The expected and the unexpected happen. And that, of course, is the whole point."

Summer being the busy time it always is, over the next few weeks I'll share some post-season posts that I meant to share in real-time, but you know, didn't get around to.

plant combinations: cabbage and marigolds

Another gorgeous plant combination: cabbage with marigolds. Spotted in a garden neighbour's plot.

garlic time

I decided to arrange my garden plot into a modified square foot (14") method this year. I made the mistake of moving my garlic into formation in late March. It really didn't like it and the stalks remained pencil thin until recently dying back completely. I just uprooted it and was pleasantly surprised to find decent size bulbs. Root vegetables are always such a delight to harvest.

borage cubes

When talking about how to use the borage that has taken over the communal herb garden, my friend Eileen suggested I put the flowers in ice cubes. And so I did. These sweet blue flowers that I often nibble on are the perfect addition to a gin and tonic. I also wonder if the cucumber-taste of the leaves might infuse gin nicely.

coneflowers and bumblebees

The echinacea is in bloom and the bumblebees are loving them, even more than me! They are also all over the borage (more to come). As I was picking borage flowers one ran smack into my arm and didn't sting me. That is the way of the gentle bumblebee.

twined

My fellow community gardening friend, Crispin, has strung up twine through a neighbouring Japanese maple and connected it to his bean poles to allow them to keep 'twining'. It's quite lovely, I find twine to be very simple and elegant.

I tried something similar with my plot: I have been growing scarlet runners up tomato spirals and they too had reached the end of the line. Following suit I connected twine between the poles and my neighbours trellis to create an arbour. Unfortunately someone didn't like my idea and pinched the bean tips. Oh well.

Pesto!

The basil is finally ready and I made my first batch of pesto this season. I used this recipe which I fine-tuned last summer. Sooo delicious!

eggplant and potatoes

I harvested these gorgeous potatoes last night. They were delicious with fresh dill, butter, salt and pepper. I've been hilling my potatoes up with compost and exploring gently with my hands to unearth potatoes near the surface...

I'm also growing eggplant for the first time. Somehow the fruit just snuck up on me as I discovered them with delight a few days ago. These attractive plants caught my eye and I picked up a white variety at the local farmers market. I've chosen to grow them on my sunny SWest facing deck in a pot rather than transplant them into my gardening plot. I'm also growing watermelon and tomato on the 4th-storey deck and they're all thriving.

'happy' gardening

In the midst of a rough couple of days, I stopped by my garden last night in a horrid mood. As soon as I walked onto the sun-drenched site in the early evening I found myself thinking 'I love my garden, it makes me so happy!' Sappy I know, but true. Do you think of your garden as therapy?

pretty partnership

I just came upon this photo on the Evergreen website - cabbage and nasturtiums - what a lovely edible plant combination.

bok choi beginnings

I uprooted my bok choi today, as it had bolted. I meant to post these photos a while ago, when the garden had first taken off. Now they've been harvested and replaced with heirloom tomatoes.

I've started a 2nd sewing of the purple variety. Hopefully it's not too late...

lady birds

Snap of lady bugs on the sweet cicely at my community garden's communal herb garden. Apparently these little ladies have been scarce the last couple of years. The garden was practically teeming with them as they feasted on aphids so perhaps the pesticide bans are helping to bring back the pollinators and other beneficial insects.

diy outdoor lighting

I love the industrial/DIY/adaptive reuse of this garden lighting . I spotted it on DigginFood , my new favorite blog. It features delightful posts on gardening and eating. I am especially taken with the creative use of such unusual veggie parts as kale buds and garlic scapes. Check it out.

life envy

Oh my, where to begin, this is so much more than a girl crush. Artist Bobbie Burgers has what I concede to be the perfect life. I saw her featured in Canadian House and Home a couple of years back and have carried those torn-out pages with me. Here is this young, beautiful artist living in a colorful modern house in Vancouver with gorgeous blond children and a furniture designer husband. I've often thought of her as a role model for where I'd like to be. Painting at home, hanging out with the kids in the garden. Maybe her idealic family even won me over to the idea of children...

Just this week I stumble upon an article about her Okanagon summer home and new love of farming on the properties orchards, gardens and vineyard. Her perfect existence just became more perfect. *sigh*

{images via bobbie burgers and house and home }

can you make this outfit into a garden?

So this is my kind of garden design! Studio G occasionally features a post entitled 'can you make this into a garden (CYMTIAG). She uses an outfit as inspiration and then creates a mood board for a garden. Surely a spin-off of Domino's (RIP) 'make this look a room'. I really miss Domino's column but  CYMTIAG is so much fun it almost makes up for it! Check out the Pish Posh and Christian Dior inspired garden.