Gardening

It’s a Slug Fest!

Posted by on Apr 26, 2013 in Gardening | 4 comments

It’s a Slug Fest!

You’ve seen them. You’ve probably sworn at them. Every gardener’s nemesis, beware the Great Gray Garden Slug – Limax maximus. ‘Slug’ is the common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusk. Have you ever heard of the Society for the Protection and Care of Slugs? NO! When it comes to protecting your valuable vegetable garden, there is no messing around with these guys. It’s all out war! There are many commercial and homemade ways to trap and kill slugs, but to be effective, you can’t use just one of them. If you’re going to annihilate slugs, it’s...

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Gardening is Seedy Work

Posted by on Jan 15, 2013 in Gardening | 2 comments

Gardening is Seedy Work

“The Seed Catalogues are here!” That used to be a special moment when we lived in cold, snowy Alberta. All cozy in our house, we would comb through them and circle beautiful flowers, dog ear the pages, and have sticky notes everywhere. Not anymore. Here on Vancouver Island, we discovered Seedy Saturdays. Instead of flipping through catalogues, we now wander around a huge hall and actually talk to people about their seeds, usually heritage seeds. These events are an incredible education in organic gardening with workshops, displays and seed exchanges, all focused on promoting local...

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War and Peace in the Garden

Posted by on Nov 12, 2012 in Gardening | 5 comments

War and Peace in the Garden

We didn’t buy any fruit or veggies between May and the end of September. Okay, we did pick twenty pounds of strawberries at the organic farm, because you can’t have enough strawberries. Oh, and maybe a few garlic heads because, well, you can never have enough garlic. But honestly, we savoured our own fresh produce for months, and enjoyed giving many care packages to friends and family. We are still picking fresh items and will continue to harvest things throughout the winter. My husband and I moved here just over a year ago with the intention of becoming somewhat self-sustaining. Between...

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