My west coast garden

Wow!! I'm so happy to read this and see your pics. The garden looks WONDERFUL. Your friend clearly has woodworking skills, that fence and gate are lovely! I'm jealous of all the great inputs you're finding. I should really try harder.
I'm building a new garden this year (I have two small beds from last year), and it will be a similar size to yours. I have a few flats of seeds started (got my west coast seeds order last week :D ) so I hope my guy and I can get the new beds built in time. We will be bringing in soil mix from Quality farms, although my preference is to minimize the amount of bought soil, and use rotted alder and other organic matter under the beds.
Do you know about Seedy Saturday next week?
We are out past Langdale, on the side of mount Elphinstone. Lovely view, but our soil is basically rocks. We still have some snow here :/ so today I scraped it off the two small beds I have, hoping the soil will thaw and I can plant peas.
Brace yourself for slugs. Ugh. I'd be interested to hear how the copper works.

I have so much to learn, and I really love how you share your process! It's so helpful and interesting :)

Nicole, how do ducks do with predators? Would they be able to free range and be locked in at night?

Hi Mike: Thanks. Yes, there's nothing more fun that getting a new garden up and running! I hope the rain stops long enough for you to get yours happening. We've got some nice weather for the next few days, so lots of outside work getting done. Happy spring!

Hi Karla;

I'm glad it's inspiring to you. Yes, he builds beautiful things. I love the gate he made for our garden.

We did a bit of driving around to find our garden inputs - especially the wood - but it was totally worth it. I don't know the area, but he's lived here for a long time, so he knows the good spots! It was fun. Like a treasure hunt. :)

Where is the Seedy Saturday? I live up past Sechelt and have no wheels, so if it's in Gibsons I probably won't make it. But I'll try.

Yes, still waiting for snow to melt. Ugh. It's a pretty shady property, so hopefully these next few sunny days will get rid of the last remnants.

I hope you get your garden happening!

Cheers
Tracy

It's at the Roberts Creek Hall http://www.onestraw.ca/events/annual-events/ so it's a ways, but at least it's on the bus route :)

Ooooo, cool! I just might have to get there. Thanks!

Well, I think spring is officially here. The snow has melted off the garden and the soil has thawed out. We've been having some really beautiful days; and had our first cookout in the yard last night. Food always tastes so good when it's cooked outside over a fire.



I've got lots of seeds started, and have put some transplants in the greenhouse. And yesterday I just couldn't resist planting some seeds out in the garden. Just a few small patches of cool season greens - mustard, radish, cilantro, spinach, and maché. And I planted a snowpea patch. If winter decides it's not done with us yet, I've still got lots of seeds, and can replant later. But I'm thinking we're safe now.











I've also been helping my friend build a rock retaining wall. We started out just working on a short wall, then thought we'd extend it a little further and build a little potting/sitting area, and then maybe just around the corner, and then . . . well, it's quite a complex we're building. Not quite finished yet, but the end is in sight. He had all of these rocks that he had gathered many moons ago and piled up along the bank, thinking that one day he'd get around to building the wall. I think that was over 20 years ago. Apparently I'm a good influence. Who knew?! The main thing is - I'm getting a potting area, and an outdoor sink! And it's a really cool old cast iron sink, too.







We used some of the rocks in the garden area, to build up some low spots, and make the herb corner a bit taller. It's going to be nice there - thyme, oregano, rosemary and sage. Yum.

He also cut me some metal plant markers from some old steel something or other he had laying around, so I can reuse them each year. Much better than the ones we cut from milk cartons to mark the transplants. They get floppy pretty fast. These ones will last forever!

So, I'm all set for seeds, mostly. Just a few more to get. And now I'm on the hunt for raspberry canes. We're going to plant some wild berries on the bank above the rock wall - blackberry, salmon berry, and probably huckleberry - then have the raspberries in the garden where the deer can't get them.

Now, if I could just convince him to get rid of the ornamental trees by the garden and let me plant fruit trees . . . : )

Happy gardening, everyone. I hope spring has sprung, and you're out there getting your hands dirty.

Cheers
Tracy

Wow that's a beautiful garden you have out there.. My garden is out in the forest takes time and serious effort just to get there.

This is my snake fruit garden.



What do you think?

I'm soooo jealous of that rock retaining wall! How beautiful! Lovely garden, Tracy!

I love spring. Green things are growing, things are blooming, and spending time outside in the garden is far more pleasant than slaving away over a hot computer. But I have to support my seed habit somehow. :)

So far in the garden these are green and growing:

kale, broccoli, broccoli raab, snowpeas, green onions, mustard, pac choi, radishes, cilantro, thyme, cilantro























And these have been seeded:

turnips, kohlrabi, arugula, parsley, spinach, nasturtiums, calendula, borage, carrots, sweetpeas, mixed greens, cosmos

I've also planted a couple of flower beds, and will be doing a couple more around the yard. Right now I'm just planting a wildflower mix for shade areas. But eventually I'll have some flowering perennials in there. Pretty.







Still more to be planted next month - black beans and zucchini. Yum. I've also got starts for tomatoes (Juliet and Gold Nugget), sweet peppers, marigolds, garlic chives, bergamot, leeks (summer and winter), basil, oregano, lovage, and celery.

The greens in the greenhouse are now ready for munching on.

The magnolia tree is blooming beautifully, and shedding its flowers on the garden.




It has been exciting sharing permaculture with my friend. He has really embraced it, and has become quite good at sourcing stuff for the compost. And he is learning about rocket stoves, too! Today he built one out of fire bricks, and we heated up some stew on it. It worked pretty dang good for his first try. He's going to keep working on the design, and learn more so we can build an outdoor kitchen. I think I've even convinced him to try building a rocket oven! Pretty excited about that.

I'm so happy that he is enthusiastic about permaculture. Just today we were talking about how we can use the greywater to water the flower beds, and he thinks he's figured out a good system. Awesomeness. And it didn't take much to convince him to pee on the compost. : ) He's quite a guy.

Stay tuned for further instalments!

Cheers
Tracy

You’ve really been busy! It’s all so nice :) Those stone walls are really lovely too, well done!

Mice are eating almost everything I try to plant. I’m thinking of getting a cat.

Cats are essential to me having a garden. Without them, I have a mice explosion as well as an insane amount of bunnies and I literially cannot grow anything.

My gardening is made possible by animals. The ducks eat the slugs that would eat all my plants, and their bedding gets used at mulch and composts. My cats eat the mice that try to live off of the duck poop, as well as the copious amount of bunnies. I couldn't grow food without my feathers and furred friends!