Ladner Community Garden

April is here and if you haven't planted your vegetable seeds yet, its time to get busy. Plants such as peas, broad beans, spinach, lettuce, carrots, arugula, potatoes and onion sets should be in the ground. Its still too early for plants such as basil, peppers, beans, cucumbers or squash but getting your seeds chosen is wise while selection lasts. I like to wait until night time temperatures are a steady 9-10C before placing my warm weather crops outside. Don't forget to harden off your new transplants before planting. They need time to adjust from a warm cozy greenhouse to the lower temperatures of the garden. Take them out for an hour each day to get them used to being outside and lengthen the time as you go. This hardening off can take up to a week but your plants will adjust better.  Thanks to the allotment gardeners that have cultivated their gardens. Try to have your gardens planted by the end of May so you have a successful harvest.      Have you see...

Happy new year to our allotment gardeners, our community sponsors and readers. We wish for all of you an abundant season like we had in 2013. Last year the weather couldn't have been better for growing vegetables.  All the gardens looked great last year so I will share a few photos of what did best. Just look at the kale. There were so many different types of kale being grown in the garden that it was mind boggling. They added some great colour to the gardens. The spinach also did well as can be seen by this photo.    Peas, peas and more peas. It seemed like they never stopped producing. Many gardeners grew a second crop in the fall. So many different kinds of lettuce. Look how this red lettuce adds striking colour to the garden and to a salad. Last year we finished the two pergolas, an arbor and built a fence. We also started a hedge row which will be an ongoing project.  The grade three class returned to the garden and had fun le...

To all our allotment holders and fellow gardeners, our new composting program is now in effect. Even though we had lots of composters, the green waste was not being chopped up sufficiently enough to make decomposition work fast enough. Whole plants do not compost as quickly as ones chopped into smaller pieces. So what could we do?   We sent out a message asking gardeners if they wanted to take over a composter to make their own black gold. So far we have over eight composters that are being managed by allotment holders for their own use. You will know if the composter is for private use of that gardener by the numbers painted on top. This is also the same for West Coast Seeds who have their name on one large wooden composter.  You will also notice that several composters are displaying this sign. Please do not add green material to these composters as they are full of 'almost ready to use' compost which we hope to use for a new garden. It just needs a few...

April has been a busy month at the Ladner Community Garden. We have a full allotment garden, with a few new gardeners this season. If you see someone you don't know in the garden, please take the time to say hello. If you have been at the garden in the last week, the pergolas are being prettied up. Gord and Jim are working on a new roof design and they finished the new arbor at the back of the garden. The fence has been pegged out along the back and sides of the garden. We are starting to plant the hedgerow along the front sides. We have plans to bring in some road base to fill in the wet area on the east side of the garden. As soon as that is done, we will hold our herb spiral class. The children have been busy planting in their garden. They have peas, broad beans and onions already up. Their next big project is the annual tea cup plant sale on May 9 at Southpointe Academy. Next week we will be planting up over 300 tea cups! Thanks to all for the donations o...

You sure can't beat this weather for the end of March. I don't recall having it quite so warm. It is definitely time to get our gardens growing. If you are unsure as to what to plant first ask someone in the garden or check out the handy chart from West Coast Seeds located in the front of the log book in the shed.  Our water has been turned on by the parks department and we didn't even ask. Thanks Delta! They must have seen the huge pile of soil we ordered last week. Its been a  busy couple of weeks in the community garden. We have had 38 yards of soil brought in for the gardeners that ordered and paid for it. It sure looks like great soil but I noticed it has dried out on top quite quickly. It must be all this sunshine. If you are planting seeds, be sure to water them after planting if the soil feels dry to the touch. Better yet, water the soil before planting to prevent washing the seeds away. Don't forget to label what you plant. You can save money by making ...

Work Party Reminder! Soil Shoveling Work Party: Saturday March 23 Big thanks to all those who made it out for last week's bed-raising and garden cleanup project.  Our second work party is this Saturday,10am-12pm.   This week, we will be placing fresh soil into the Children's Beds.  Soil will also be available for all those who arranged to have their beds raised, and who paid for soil to fill them.  Please come out and lend a hand: we always appreciate your help The shed is stocked with tools for the garden community to use.  Thanks for keeping it tidy!   The shed is also stocked with the new volunteer hours log book, so be sure to record any hours you spend helping out with community projects at the garden.  We hope to get our projects finished this spring so we can all put out feet up this summer and enjoy a community meal or two together.  Lynn and her helpers are busy getting some of the allotments...

The plans for Ladner Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo are almost complete. The Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo will be held on February 9, 2013 at Ladner Baptist Church from 10-3. The church is located at 5624 Ladner Trunk Road here in the village of Ladner, BC just  a short 20 minute drive south of Vancouver. When you arrive at Ladner Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo you will enter at the side door on the west side of the building. There is lots of free parking and handicap parking as well. As you enter the church there is a fireside room where we will be having our presentations. Next to the fireside room is a large gymnasium that will be filled with vendors selling seeds, plants and garden accessories or services. We will even have a children's table where kids can make a craft to take home. Admission to the event is free but if you would like to donate to the Ladner Community Garden, that would be great. We grow food for the South Delta Food bank and can always use se...

 Have you attended a Seedy Saturday before? For many it may be the first time so lets see whats happening. Seedy Saturdays have been around for over 20 years with the first one being held at VanDusen Botanical Gardens back in 1989. The event became so popular that they have sprung up all across the country. So what is at a Seedy Saturday? Its an event where you can come to purchase open pollinated seeds and heritage or heirloom seeds for your garden. Open pollinated seeds mean that in the fall you can let a plant or two go to seed and then you can harvest the seed and use it the following year. Think about it, saving seeds means you save money plus you are preserving seeds that may not always be available. Heirloom seeds are seeds that have been around for hundreds of years. For example, last year I had someone bring in some Swedish brown bean seeds that her family had brought to BC in the 1800's and they had been growing the beans here on Westham Island ever since. ...

As we enjoy the holidays with family and friends, the board of directors would like to wish everyone who has been involved with the Ladner Community Garden, a heartfelt happy holidays and Merry Christmas. Without out dedicated volunteers our garden wouldn't have accomplished what it did this year. Even in winter the rock garden looks fabulous with its seed heads feeding the birds and hopefully reseeding for us at the same time. It is now the end of the garden season, this is the time to decide whether you would like to come back in 2013 for another great season, we would love to have you. Thank you to the allotment owners who have dropped off their cheque or cash. Application forms are available at Bryan's Bookstore in Ladner, through director,Sharon Hagel or we can email it to you. Please read over the new garden rules for 2013 before sending in your registration, payment is due January 1, 2013. Application forms & cash/cheques can be dropped off at Krist...

Its almost the end of 2012 and with it we close on what I think has been a very successful growing season. Even though we started with a cool spring, the summer came quick and stayed hot and dry, something we aren't used to here on the lower mainland of British Columbia. I don't ever recall watering in the month of September but our dry weather continued until the end of October. We began 2012 with our first Ladner Seedy Saturday. It was a huge success and brought like minded gardeners all under one roof. We shopped and traded seeds, bought plants, listened to great speakers and enjoyed the camaraderie that gardeners evoke when all get together. I can't wait until our second Seedy Saturday on February 9, 2013! The first classes came from Southpointe Academy in March and we started to get the ground ready for planting.   The food bank garden grew very well and we were able to donate almost 300 pounds of food to the local food bank. We had our first plant s...