Ladner Community Garden

I haven't posted in awhile but received these photos courtesy of one of our directors at the garden, Lynn Dick. Wow, how well every one's gardens are doing now that we actually have some warm weather! This garden bed above belongs to West Coast Seeds. Isn't it amazing? I was told today that they harvested over thirty pounds of squash already. I love the Sunflowers that are planted throughout the garden. They are attracting the bees to the garden and that helps pollinate our crops. The benefits of a raised bed are many and as you can see here they are easy to maintain.Hmmm... love those colorful buckets for weeds. This gardener has a tiny wall around her bed to protect it from prevailing winds. The community garden is very open to south westerly winds which can mean cooler temperatures that our warmth loving vegetables do not like. Don't the gardens all look great? Our little community garden has the best new gardeners around. ...

Here it is July and the community gardens look great. I know there have been some concerns about how things are growing. Be sure to use some fish fertilizer or manure tea every couple of weeks to fertilize your garden. Its even been recommended to add some glacial rock dust to your gardens. I took a walk around the gardens last night and wondered why people weren't harvesting their crops that are ready. Check out Desiree's radishes. I know she is away but make sure you check yours to see if they are ready. If they have bolted due to the summer heat (Ya, I know, where is it today?) try putting the radish flowers in your next salad. They are delicious and taste just like radishes. These green onions can be cut to use in salads now too. You don't have to cut them all, just take what you need for tonight's dinner. They will continue to grow. I am not sure who owns the allotment with the mint in it but its ready to use as well. Can I say mint tea? Just cut a few branches, w...

Its hard to believe this garden was just built and planted on the long weekend in May. Look how great it is growing! I cant wait to start getting some of the flower beds in so that we have lots of colour. We plan to have 120 feet of flowers all the way across the front of the garden. It will be a welcome site for the neighbours. This is a shot of the food bank garden. I have just used manure tea on the garden. I am sure the plants are loving me right now. Most of the vegetable seedlings are just starting to grow. With the wind exposure it set them back at first but I see new leaves on all the plants. The above photo was taken on May 30. I was a bit worried about the bush beans we planted but its been a cold wet spring. Here they don't look too happy. Finally summer has arrived and look how the beans have grown! Lets hope summer continues right in to October. Adding the bark chips to the garden has made it look so tidy. It will help to keep the weeds down as we get busy in our gar...

Are you wondering about how to help your vegetables and flowers grow in the community garden? It is really crucial in the early stages of growth for your new plants and seeds to get enough water. Once established they will no longer need daily watering. I like to water every other day once the plants are established. With the often windy conditions at our garden, the soil can dry out quickly. The minuscule amount of rain we have had has not helped a bit. Last week I brought my jug of fish fertilizer over to use on the food bank garden. I use this extensively on my vegetable plants at home. Today I have a five gallon pail of moo poo tea brewing by the food bank garden. My friend, Annie Haven, makes Authentic Haven Brand teas for the garden. All I had to do was place one of the large tea bags in a five gallon pail of water. I will leave it for a couple of days and then water it in to the garden. It has a lid on it to keep flies away. The manure tea will condition the soil and allow the...

On Monday, June 20, we had our first general meeting in the garden. Twenty four members signed in and we introduced ourselves. Many of us had not met each other so this was a good opportunity to get to know each other. We started out our evening introducing our board member, Don Bruchet, who gave a talk on winter crops and how to use remay cloth in the garden to ward off pests such as cabbage moth and carrot rust fly. He brought a sample for all to see. He also showed members how to use a seeding tool so that you don't waste seed when planting. We walked over to one of the allotment gardens and Don gave us tips on how to thin our vegetables. He gently scooped a section of carrots out and showed us how to separate the plants. Yes, each tiny seedling is one carrot much to the disbelief of some of our members. Looks like we should have a thinning party and I don't mean weight loss. After our speaker, we proceeded with a quick business meeting.Future plans for the garden include ...

What an exciting day we all had yesterday! The Ladner Community Garden was officially opened by Her Worship, Mayor Lois Jackson. I have to thank the staff of Parks,Recreation and Culture for all the hard work that went in to setting up for this event. They were at the site at 8am making coffee,blowing up balloons and putting tents up to keep us all dry. Yes, Mother Nature decided it was time for a bit of rain but it didn't dampen our spirits. Councillor Robert Campbell also made a short speech about the garden.It sure is wonderful to be partners with the Corporation of Delta. I got up to say a few words. Needless to say I was a bit emotional. The volunteers have done so much in such a short time. They are so wonderful. Over the last month, one family has exemplified the word community and volunteerism. I had to thank them for all their help. Bonnie and her father, Don, have gone the extra mile. They have cut the grass, loaned us a generator when we needed power and even brought us ...

I am pretty excited! Mayor Lois Jackson is going to formally open our new Ladner Community Garden this weekend, Saturday, June 18. I hope you can all make it to the festivities. Our program will run from 10am until 1pm with lots of activities going on. The Corporation of Delta will be doing a ribbon cutting and we will have some cake and coffee. Our board member, Sharon, has a fun activity for the children who attend. She will be painting ladybug rocks with any child who would like to participate. I will be the one at the pumpkin planting table getting my hands dirty. Would you like to plant a pumpkin seed to take home? Come and see me. There will also be some lovely music by Ladner Guitar so bring a lawn chair, have a coffee and soak up some sunshine. Yes, I ordered sun and Mother Nature will not disappoint us.