David Suzuki Digs My Garden 2009

Gardening Starts Before Summer - Spring Even.....

2009-11-07T03:13:16Z

There are many ways to start a garden. One can wait until it is time to plant in the garden or start earlier by sowing the seeds in winter, in the house with proper heat and lights above.
I start my seedlings in the house under lights with appropriate heating. I learned from John how to do this. Who is John?
My John is the perennial John.
You know already the John of whom I speak....'John is out standing in his field'! It is that John who helped me.
John does not use anything that might jeopardize the Organic Certification that he has on his farm. And sometimes it seems extreme to me the efforts he takes to preserve that Organic Farming Certification.
It is not just that Certificate he is preserving. He is preserving the soil and all the things therein. That is what he does and he does it on purpose.
The flea beetle was creating havoc on his crops. The crops affected? Kale and others that I can't remember right now. Many growers would just spray a pesticide on that field. Problem solved? Nope.
Reason: Because the flea beetle would come back and all the predators that eat the Flea Beetle and all the other predator insects in that sprayed area would be dead.
Instead, John, used a flaming torch to kill that attacking insect. He would walk the beds (100 feet plus long) and use this flame torch to eradicate the insect that was eating his produce. He was not happy having to doing it but he would not do it any other way. Profitability was not on his mind.
What was on his mind was this: "I will not use pesticides, period!".
That is my John, my mentor and friend.

Farewell to Summer

2009-10-21T17:52:40Z

"God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done." ~Author Unknown

Summer now seems far behind us as we navigate through Vancouver's famous rain. Mid-September weather changed quickly sending the veggie garden messages to begin preparing for cooler times.

]]> We began cleaning up the garden for its winter sleep about three weeks ago when snap peas were dried up and their hanging seed pods were ready for picking. Corn stalks were pulled up to be chopped and left to compost. Oregano petals were dehydrated and crushed for winter's savoury dishes.

The twenty huge basil plants continued to grow as we madly gathered their leaves, preparing jars and jars of basil spread for the freezer. Tomatoes, large and small basked in their warm greenhouse surroundings. Green peppers were plucked and refrigerated and the last few raspberries that rebelled against the cold were appreciatively gobbled with wide-eyed delight!

It's been a grand summer, almost too perfect for words! Scrumptious corn and crunchy green beans were relished for the last month and fruit trees were prolific. Dried fruit leather sits in the pantry, crystal clear apple juice, both frozen and enjoyed freshly-made. We planted garlic and one winter crop but really haven't ventured into the how-to's of winter vegetables nor really care to, at this time.

After experiencing and sharing with family and friends, the splendour, excitement and glory of our organic garden, there comes a sadness that it's all over for another season. Like Terry's Manitoba farming cousins, we will take the winter off, do the housework more diligently, sit by the fireplace, make music and fill up on this summer's cache.

The world arrives on our doorsteps next February to enjoy the 2010 Winter Olympics and we will have forgotten what the warmth and generosity of summer feels like. But thankfully, the sun will eventually rise from the darkness of winter and the lovely daffodils will raise their trumpets to announce the coming spring so that once more the passion of organic gardening will re-ignite within us and we will remember that...

"There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling." ~Mirabel Osler

Thank you to the David Suzuki Foundation and the David Suzuki Digs My Garden Contest for giving me and Terry the opportunity to share the workings of our organic garden. May we love and take care of this amazing planet by getting on our hands and knees to notice and pay homage to the simplicity of life that lives in an organic garden. May human beings be as cooperative and intelligent.

Calgary is Trying to Go Pesticide Free! Support the Cause!

2009-09-24T16:56:53Z

Hi Everyone,

Calgary is currently working to pass a bylaw that will phase out cosmetic use of pesticides! Help support the cause! If you live in Calgary, please write or call the Alderman that will finalize this decision. Check out the link below. It's a great website that provides you with information pertaining to the bylaw and how to support the cause.

http://www.healthycalgary.ca/

Let's act now together!

Cheers,

Neshali

p.s. Comment and let me know what you think and if you live in Calgary, let me know if you wrote or contacted any (or all) the Alderman.

The Greatest Canadians

2009-09-20T21:08:05Z

In 2004, Canada's national TV broadcaster, the CBC, staged a contest allowing Canadians to vote for "The Greatest Canadian." Canadian TV and radio personality, George Stroumboulopoulos nominated Tommy Douglas. There were many wonderful choices with David Suzuki being amongst them.

Tommy Douglas was a Baptist minister in Weyburn, Saskatchewan during the Great Depression and the Dustbowl of the Prairies. With 50% of the population without work, he rallied citizens to help each other by delivering goods and food to neighbouring towns.

He was a Member of Parliament in Saskatchewan from 1935 - 1940 and was elected Premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 leading the socialist Cooperative Commonwealth Federation party. He also became a member of the House of Commons in Ottawa during the 60's and 70's.

It was during his political career as Premier of Saskatchewan that his government passed legislation creating North America's first universal health care program. In November 2004, I, along with my fellow Canadians voted Tommy Douglas, "The Greatest Canadian."

Aside from his ground-breaking health care reforms, he was also was instrumental in bring many changes that we often take for granted such as:

First small claims court in North America

First Bill of Rights in Canada

Full medical, dental and drug coverage for those needing social assistance

Establishing equality of education for all

Introduced free air ambulance service which was especially important for the Northern regions of Canada

First to provide universal coverage for hospital stays

First to introduce a budget bureau to provide his government's long-term planning

First to introduce government insurance

Paved roads, set up sewage systems, got power to farmers

First government to allow collective bargaining for all workers including civil servants

First Arts Board of Canada

First to introduce Farm Security Act in North America

First to grant the right to vote to 18 year olds

First to introduce the 8-hour work day, the 5-day work week and paid holidays for workers

I feel thankful for these important contributions that have made our lives better and easier. When I was growing up, farming was way down the list of desired professions. Most people looked upon farmers as simpletons with no desire to better themselves. But now, having gardened for over 30 years, I have come to enjoy and appreciate Nature's willingness to feed and nurture us and I feel a deep debt of gratitude to the good people of Saskatchewan; those farmers who came from foreign lands to settle Canada's prairies, who had the heart, the courage and the intelligence to choose a man and his government who cared about it's people. May we remember and honour these folks.

Tri-City News Article

2009-09-04T16:52:45Z

Coquitlam's Associated Labels goes green with employee garden

Shaun Ashworth of Associated Labels shows off some of the produce grown by employees in his company's pesticide-free garden.

COLLEN FLANAGAN

By Gary McKenna - The Tri-City News

Published: September 02, 2009 9:00 AM

Workers at Coquitlam's Associated Labels don't need to travel far for food on days when they forget to bring a lunch to work.

That's because the company started a pesticide-free garden last year on its property near United Boulevard and has been growing everything from herbs to strawberries and tomatoes.

Associated Labels employs more than 150 people and has been around for close to 25 years. It produces labels found on many products, from pharmaceuticals containers to milk jugs. Its employees get the opportunity to play in the dirt during their lunch hours and coffee breaks, and the company is planning on expanding the garden this year to add additional plots. According to Cory Ashworth, one of the directors of the family-run printing business, each employee will get his or her own plot on which to grow fruit and vegetables.

"The printing industry isn't known for being all that environmentally aware," he told The Tri-City News. "We took a look at our environmental impact and we definitely wanted to find ways of reducing that."

His brother, Jay Ashworth, launched the garden initiative last year as part of an environmental overhaul the company was conducting. They found a decent parcel of dirt on their property and got to work.

Fast-forward to today and the garden is just finishing its most productive season.

One of the employees harvests the produce, which is offered in the break room, where workers can eat the fruits and vegetables or take them home.

The garden has been so successful that it has earned the company recognition from the David Suzuki foundation.

Of the 500 entries in the third annual David Suzuki Digs My Garden contest, the Associated Labels dirt patch received top pesticide-free garden and was the winner of the Starting Over category. The company was chosen for the award by the more than 3,000 voters who participated in the contest.

"Everyone who participated in the contest, including the entrants and those who voted online, has shown that toxic pesticides simply aren't necessary for a gorgeous green yard," David Suzuki said in a media release. "Let's hope that our governments get the message and ban the use and sale of lawn and garden pesticides."

gmckenna@tricitynews.com

We are also waiting for the dvd for the shaw TV 3 minute segment on our company garden as well. =)

"Starting over" photo contest winner! =)

2009-09-04T16:31:53Z

On behalf of Associated Labels we would like the thank all of you for your support in voting for our vision. It means a great deal to our family at home, and family here at work to see the evolution and success of the garden.

Our company was so excited to just be a part of the "David Suzuki Digs My Garden" Blog!

And then to be honoured with being the winner for the "Starting Over" category means a lot to us.

Everything that surrounds this contest has gotten everyone really excited for next season, Our goal as a company for next year is of course to bring home the David Suzuki Garden gnome.

Maybe the company wide community garden will do the trick!

Thanks again,

Jay

Digging for GOLD NUGGETS!!!

2009-09-04T16:10:43Z

Their is Gold in them hills!!!

Well maybe not gold but Potatoes! =)

What a great harvest, we had four plants and the pay off was huge! At least what I think is huge... We must have gotten 10-15lbs of potatoes, and to me that is a lot.

And to top it off there were tons of hot peppers!

I tried one not knowing which type it was, and it was mouth burning! It was one of the plants that had 30,000cc of spice. I had that feeling of desperation, and hoped someone around the plant had a glass of cold milk waiting for me somewhere!

I wasn't 100% sure if I harvested the potatoes too early but the plant itself was looking kind of dreary. So I decided to start digging, and it is exciting to pull those guys out of the ground, its truly like a treasure hunt! So once again we put the harvest out for employees to take home, and everything was gone withing a few hours. People were pleasently suprised at the little garden that could!

Can't wait to cook up some of those tatters tonight! Giving P.E.I. a run for their money!

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Busy As Beavers

2009-08-26T22:16:55Z

The garden keeps on giving to the point where we are saturated with green beans, basil plants three and a half feet high and eating fresh corn almost daily.

It's also been a very good fruit year. Yellow and mini purple plums were ripe and falling to the ground. Part of us just wanted to ignore them but it's not easy to when we cross paths with them heading to pick fresh veggies. Also that part of us that so appreciates the gifts that Mother Nature provides couldn't stand to see them rotting or squished and I could hear the voices of my deceased parents saying, "Don't be wasteful!" So we have been pitting, blending and pouring many batches of fruit and dehydrating to make fruit leather. We've been like a little factory over the last few weeks!

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I think we have made and put away more than enough basil spread in the freezer. We've had a few BBQ's serving fresh corn-on-the-cob off the barby. Leftover corn we didn't have the heart to throw in the compost so we shaved the kernels and made corn soup. Terry also took the big bowl of several varieties of tomatoes and made spaghetti sauce that he's freezing. Right about now we could use another large freezer and I'm also calling relatives to see if they have any spare canning jars they want to part with!

The snowpeas are going to seed, cucmbers are slowing down but the tomatoes are in full glory. Peppers are slowly turning from green to red.

We have animal friends residing in the neighbourhood. We've had raccoons for many, many years but now have skunks as well. Don't know where or when they arrived on the island but they are most annoying in the middle of the night when they get spooked by something and let their odour permeate the still night. Apparently, they like to grub around so we have occasionally noticed some little holes dug here and there in the garden. Once we placed more mulch on those spots the digging seemed to stop.

A few of our cornstalks got mowed down, we are assuming, by the raccoons. They left some still-attached munched ears of corn. It really put us to the test of feeling both annoyed and generous. We chose to leave the stalks where they fell and just walk around them with an attitude that we can share what we have. So far, no more stalks have come down.

With the arrival of skunks, we have also noticed the number of squirrels has diminished. Squirrels too enjoy fresh corn and will haul their bounty around the yard, making quite a mess.

It's hard to imagine in a few short months we will be wishing we had beans, basil, corn and cucumbers again. Thank goodness all the freezing and drying will help soothe those losses! Cheers!

A Chemical Reaction: Premiering in Montreal

2009-08-25T18:08:29Z

A Chemical Reaction, a documentary telling the story of the first successful Canadian community movement to ban the use of lawn pesticides, is premiering this Friday in Montréal. Check out the trailer below, and if you're in the Montréal area head down to one of these theatres to see the film on the following dates:

Friday, Aug. 28, 5pm. Quartier Latin Cinema Complex, 350 rue Émery, Montréal
Saturday, Aug. 29, 1:30pm, ONF/NFB Theatre, 1564 Saint-Denis St., Montréal
Monday, Aug. 31, 7pm, ONF/NFB Theatre, 1564 Saint-Denis St., Montréal

If you're not in Montréal, keep an eye on your local papers and film festivals for showings.

Honest, the Rabbit ate my beans!

2009-08-17T04:38:32Z

Here we are at mid-August and I'm sad to say that one of the usual mainstays of the garden is in short supply!

What!!! you say, haven't you been gardening? What's wrong with you?

Well, this year in the garden, has been the year of the rabbit ... specifically, the rabbit we haven't been able to catch.

Go figure, fenced off yard, 2 Shiba Inus patrolling the perimeter most of the day, and yet ... RABBIT BEAN CARNAGE!!!! At least the green and yellow snap bean varieties. They've even been nibbling the pole beans down to little nubbins as soon as they get a couple of sets of leaves on them.

So, I have been tucking in bean seeds all over the place over the past few weeks, hoping that if they're planted in enough places, the rabbits will leave some alone. So far, these Blue Lake pole beans in pots are the only ones to have really thrived, BUT, they are only just starting to flower.

On the bright side, however, the rabbits don't seem to like any of the dried bean plants. Go figure! Don't know if the plants themselves are more fibrous, but in any case, they haven't touched any of this bed:

I planted about 4 varieties of dried beans in total, including Montezuma Red (just starting to colour up in the pods here). These little ones cook up very similar to black beans.

I also planted black beans, Jacobs' cattle beans (which are pretty and speckled), and these bi-coloured beans called Orca, which are just starting to get their distinctive colouring. The dark parts will get jet black, and look suspiciously like orca markings!

Dried beans are really easy to grow, and I'm really happy with the prospective yields per plant of all the varieties I grew this year. I'm going to be devoting more garden space to them next year. Having grown and cooked them in previous years, the taste of homegrown dried beans is also nicer than those you buy in the bulk bins, and they generally cook up a little faster, plus you can get all kinds of really cool heritage varieties with interesting markings on them.

Finally, there is something really satisfying about having jars of dried beans at the ready for the dead of winter!

For Vancouver readers: organic gardening workshop

2009-08-13T22:14:10Z

The Capilano branch of the North Vancouver District Public Library is hosting a workshop on organic gardening.

When: August 27th from 7 – 8:30pm
Where: Capilano Branch Library – Potlatch Meeting Room, 3045 Highland Blvd, North Vancouver

Cancer Prevention & Pesticides
Presented by the Canadian Cancer Society, the District of North Vancouver and expert gardener Arzeena Hamir, this workshop will provide you with information on the non-essential use of pesticides and their links to cancer. With the District of North Vancouver's Pesticide Use Control Bylaw now in effect, this workshop will offer simple steps and tips you can use to manage a lawn or garden without the use of pesticides.

Arzeena Hamir is an Agrologist and the organic gardening expert with CBC Radio's BC Almanac. Come and learn how to enjoy your garden more while spending less money, time, and water looking after it!

Free; please call 604-987-4471 to register.

Coming Out of Our Ears

2009-08-08T01:35:26Z

The last three weeks have been extremely busy in the garden. We have been picking, freezing and dehydrating many crops.

The earliest picking was the broad beans. We planted them in March and were eating them in May. We had so many that we ended up pulling the plants. They are not a particularly popular vegetable but we did manage to stuff a few friends with them and they were pleasantly surprised of their tastiness.

The cherries ripened next. We had made a major cutting of branches over the winter so we were not expecting a large harvest, but with the hot weather we were inundated with cherries. We picked what we could and dehydrated six large mason jars full. A few weeks later the cherries were full of worms so that was the end of that.

]]> The basil plants have been growing like wildfire. We usually plant a dozen or so with the expectation that we will lose a third of them to the elements or the slugs, but we had neither. Fifteen gigantic three foot plants! I have been picking basil leaves and making pesto spread with the freebie used food processor I scored from my sister's friend. The freezer is full of jars!

The cucumbers are loving this hot weather and growing like weeds. We haven't been able to eat them all so we are giving them away to anyone who will take some. The marketmore variety tastes sweet and crunchy and we are glad we took the time to tie the vines to the plastic fencing so they have grown straight and long.

We had never grown eggplant before. As the plants were getting quite large the leaves started curling and became spotted. We pulled off the leaves and the eggplants have appeared. We probably won't grow them next year having now realized that we don't know how we are going to eat them all. That's the one issue that crops up when much of the harvest arrives simultaneously. As much as we love eating our own veggies and fruit, there comes a time when we can't look at another snowpea or green bean!

It's been a banner fruit year. We have a tree that has two kinds of plums grafted together. The yellow plums ripen first then the small purple plums. I'm thinking of using the small purple ones to try making a traditional salty Japanese plum...the umeboshi. Our eight blueberry plants have provided us with a freezer full for winter and a huge jar of dehydrated blueberries. We have also stocked my sister's freezer and have shared another 30 pounds at least. Tomatoes are just starting to ripen and the first variety of corn looks like it will be ready within the week. My favourite is the Extra Early Extra Sweet because it's bright yellow cob is sooo sweet and can grow quite awhile before it gets tough and starchy. Ear-ye! Ear ye! There's nothing corny about these beauties! Happy Harvesting!

Summer harvest

2009-08-07T23:04:36Z

Garlic that was planted in October was ready to harvest in July. After a couple of days drying in the sun, it is ready. This garlic is incredibly delicious, and, an added bonus, cloves can be saved and replanted in the Fall.

Our garden is really producing this year. This is just the beginning of the tomatoes and cucumbers. We planted five different varieties of tomatoes and two varieties of cucumbers. The Foundation has a salad club and the garden is a continuous source of fresh produce.

When the Fall arrives, the salad club turns into the soup club, and by that time, this pumpkin should be ready.

Along with our cucumbers and pumpkin plants, we also have a variety of acorn and butternut squash plants which are slowly taking over this part of the deck.

These beautiful sunflowers grew from seeds. They are so strong and healthy, we haven't even had to stake them.

This sunflower is over five feet tall. One really important fact that I have learned is it is all about the soil. The best thing you can do for your garden, is use the best soil. Happy gardening!

— Kim

HELP!!! Attack of the Aphids!

2009-08-07T20:24:41Z

Does anyone have any tips on getting rid of these little guys?

I dont want to kill them, something organic and safe that will make them go away!

I planted fennel and this flower that was supposed to attract lady bugs, but it didnt work!

They are all over the mint plant!

This aphids are not mint, they are squares!

Any suggestions?

P.S. This isn't my picture =)

Emissions Free Turf: Final entry

2009-08-07T19:13:03Z

It's the middle of summer, and the turf has endured countless footprints already. Some from our neighbours that visit to help dad pick (and eat) the black raspberries!

]]> We don't make any secret about our emissions free turf: White Clover Rules. When people eat our black raspberries, dad points out how effective clover is when building sustainable turf.

It self-fertilizes the regular blade grass, and the deep clover roots grab all the water they need from our clay subsoil.

In this video, Calvin summarizes the cutting requirements, while dad does the (moderate) walking. We're proud that the lawn has cost $0 in the past 12 months to maintain.

P.S. It's nice to be back from vacation...and dad enjoyed the break from picking our black raspberries. Our 40 feet of organically grown canes produced over 10 000 berries this year!! That's alot of happy neighbours that had to walk across our sustainable turf to get the goods, hehehe....