Abbey Gardens

Down the road aways there is something magical happening.
A 210 acre gravel pit site, has morphed into a massive garden. They call it Abbey gardens .
It is part of a robust local foods movement, whose aim is to provide local organic produce to restaurants, families and weekly customers.
I went for a wander through the gardens yesterday.

A straw bale building houses the produce for sale.

 

Lots of produce for sale inside

 

 

Garlic drying on the veranda.

 

The gardens are an abundance of vegetables and flowers, and there are signs  describing what is happening in the various areas and why.

Bush beans

 

 

Red cabbages in the pickling garden

 

Corn

 

I found myself lusting after the hoop houses and the raised beds

 

Kale

 

Poppies for a shot of colour

 

Scarlet runner beans are worth growing just for the flowers

 

This sunflower seemed too perfect to be real

 

These chickens are an older breed,that does well in cold climates

 

 

 

Abbey Gardens is a wonderful place to find inspiration, and to learn more about how to provide food for ourselves, while at the same time caring for the environment that we grow it in.

How and why I garden

I love to eat and I love to garden, it's that simple.
I don't want to eat pesticides or herbicides, so I don't use them.
Because of the way we live I garden in four very diverse climates. In Canada(zone 4) I have a short season garden-2 1/2 months frost free if I am lucky, followed by very cold winters. In New Zealand I garden in a mild temperate climate-almost frost free all year round, and in Thailand I am gardening in a tropical climate.
Most of my garden practises are based on a permaculture approach. That is I try to be sustainable and build in lots of diversity which cushions me against crop failures and pest invasion.
My gardens aren't big, but there is always something to eat in them no matter what.
I try and eat in season, and according to the country I'm gardening in.
I have compost bins and worm farms on the go, and every now and then spend enough time in one place to even keep chickens
.
Here is the garden on June 29th a few weeks after arriving back in Canada, just weeks after the last frost of the season.

 

and here it is again today, 1 month later.

 

 

I am eating lettuces, arugula,peas-both sugar snap and sno pea,beans,summer squash,pak choi,rhubarb,basil,chives, parsley.

The lettuce and parsley self seeded from last fall,so that gave me a good start.