Our Vegetable Garden

Garlic Planting

2009-10-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

We finally got the garlic in the ground, woohoo! Having been told the best time to tuck it into its soil bed for the winter snooze is October 15th here on the west coast, we figured it was time to get it in. Not too bad - just a few days late....

We have planted 3 different varieties:

1) Purple softneck (Allium sativum) from westcoastseeds.com

2) Another softneck that we bought from a farmer's market in North Saanich at the end of the summer. I believe it is Red Russian, but I'm not entirely certain.

3) A hardneck (Allium ophioscorodon) variety from a family run farm store in Central Saanich. I don't have the variety name, but they have a bit of purple on them and there were 6 big beautiful cloves per bulb.

All in all we ended up with two and a half 8-foot rows of garlic cloves planted 10 cm (4 inches) apart and about 5 cm (2 inches) deep, pointy side up. The papery skin ripped off a few cloves when I separated the bulbs. These cloves are going straight to the kitchen as they can't be planted. We'll collect and shred some fallen maple leaves to use as a mulch over the garlic. Mulching maintains moisture and moderates temperature. I'll have to keep and eye on them though, as we can have very wet winters here! If all goes well, the bulbs will be harvested next July/August!

This is the 8' x 4' raised garden bed we selected to plant the garlic. This box also contains a mixed planting of beets and at the end, sugar snaps are growing on the trellis. For interest's sake, the other beds have lettuce (under the row cover) and peppers (in the hoop house).

Garlic cloves placed every 4 inches at 2 inches deep. All there is to do now is cover them with soil and mulch and wait!

I love garlic. It is such a wonderful addition to so many dishes. Plus... it has some interesting health benefits - heart protection, inflammation reduction, infectious disease-fighting, among others.

Here are a few more pictures I took a few days ago of part of the vegetable garden. It's somewhat more empty than it was during the summer, but now it is time for the brassicas to shine! Enjoy!

These 2 images are of the same set of raised garden beds, but taken from different ends. These beds contain cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, shelling peas, broccoli, celery, kohlrabi, more cabbage (these were started from seed in the spring) and rhubarb. We also planted marigolds for pest control.

Colorful brussels sprouts plants.

Shelling peas direct sown in August.

Our Yard - Facts, Figures & Pictures

2009-08-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

Before we jump right into how we created and organized our garden, it will be useful for you to know a bit about it and see it as we got it when we purchased the house. Here are some quick facts:

Location: Saanichton, near Victoria British Columbia

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Elevation: About 53 meters (174 feet)
Zone: 8a (Learn more about Hardiness Zones)
Average Annual Rainfall: 818mm (32.2 inches)
Average Annual Snowfall: 35cm (13.8 inches)
Lot Size: 100 x 151 feet
Existing Soil: Hardpacked Clay

When we moved in, there was no existing garden space, other than a few perennial flower beds in the front of the house. All other space was lawn. Here are a few images:

Hopefully this gives you an idea of what we had to work with. Unfortunately we didn't take many photos of the yard before we started the garden - we were too eager to get started!

In the next post, we'll show you our first attempt at growing our own veggies...

Welcome to Our Vegetable Garden!

2009-08-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

Last summer, after spending 5 years living in a small condo, we finally purchased a home. For many years we had been hoping for, thinking about and planning our own vegetable garden, and we now had the space to make it happen!

This blog will begin with where we started last fall - working through what space we had, how we turned it into growing areas, our successes and failures growing our own food, and more! By the time we catch up to the present day, we'll have nearly been through an entire growing season, and will be moving into winter.

We hope you get as much out of reading this blog as we do writing it! Please feel free to comment, offer advice, and ask questions... Gardening is as much about community as it is about growing things, so please chime in! Thanks for reading!