Q&A – Douglasdale Community Garden
1- What lessons did we learn from last year?
Plant your seeds as early as possible as we have a very short growing season. Some vegetables are tolerant of cooler weather and can be planted now e.g. spinach, lettuce, radishes, peas, onions, dill, and broad beans. Veggies such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers are not tolerant of the cold and should not be planted till after the last frost-free date (which is generally after the full moon in late May or early June).
Think creatively when planting. Circular planting allows you to get greater volumes from small garden space. If you use the traditional row method you can decrease the space between rows for smaller plants (radishes, spinach).
Choose plants with care, avoiding those that will become too large for the space.
Only plant annuals. Perennials are not allowed, as you need to completely clean your plot at the end of the season.
You may want to fence in your plot to protect it from two and four legged critters.
Don’t forget to thin out your radishes, carrots and other crops to allow for better growth.
Until we have a composter, bring bags to put your weeds and other garbage in.
If you’re going to be away, see if one of your gardening neighbours can help look after your plot in your absence.
2- What do you need to know to prepare your plot and start planting?
Prepare the soil for planting by raking it and breaking up any large clumps. You may wish to add more soil and amend it with organic fertilizer.
Plan your plantings – You may want to graph your planting schedule on paper before you start. Think about the space requirement for each plant and the volume of produce you desire (one zucchini plant will provide enough zucchini for your and all your friends).
Plant larger plants on the north side of the plot so they won’t shade out sun loving shorter plants. You can start planting cold tolerant plants now and the more sensitive, after the last frost free date.
Check your seed packets for dates to maturity and choose seeds with the lowest maturity date keeping in mind our season can be as short as 80 days.
Best planting time is in cool weather, late afternoon or cloudy day. Plant according to instruction and water lightly and frequently until established. Thin seedlings as needed.
3- Crop rotation
It’s good gardening practice to change or rotate plant family location every year. This discourages disease organisms and insects ability to infect plants. Another reason for rotation is to avoid depletion of soil nutrients. Some crops such as brassicas (cabbage family) are heavy feeders depleting the soil of nutrients. Others are light feeders (root crops) draining very few nutrients from the soil in a growing season, and some are nitrogen fixing (peas, beans). Divide your plot into 3 or 4 sections and in each section plant veggies belonging to the same family. Rotate plant groupings each year planting light feeders where heavy feeders were the year before.
4- What fertilizer should I use?
The best fertilizer is compost or worm castings, but failing that, I would recommend an organic fertilizer. Donna Balzer recommends kelp or fish fertilizer. Some of my gardening friends swear by alphalfa pellets. I use and like Sea Soil. You want to stay away from animal manure fertilizers at this time of year as they could burn your plants. Once your into the growing season, pay attention to your plant growth. Leafy plants such as salad greens require nitrogen to promote leaf growth and plants such as tomatoes require phosphorus.
5- Plant inoculants.
Plants such as peas and beans benefit from plant inoculants (powder you can purchase from gardening store). Inoculants are used to promote growth and overall health of the plant. For faster germination, soak seeds in water the day before planting, then shake seeds in inoculants, coating them and finally plant them according to instructions on packet. You will find the inoculants will contribute to a sturdier, larger, healthier plant and will promote greater fruit.
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