Starting the orchard

As the summer progresses I am starting to see what limitations the cool climate here has on the garden. None of my findings were unexpected.
Of course the salad greens and brassicas are doing well as are the carrots, beets and peas.
The beans and summer squash are big enough to harvest though a little later than I thought. Next year I'll try growing them under plastic a little longer into the summer.

Tomatoes are flowering like crazy but no sign of fruit. I'll have to see if they make up for it in August. Looking forward to that greenhouse in the future.
The Italian and Holy basil never did grow very big. The Holy basil went to flower early on and while it looks very pretty hasn't given me many leaves to harvest.

The garlic is harvested. Considering that the garden was newly built last fall and the soil not particularly great I got a pretty good harvest.
We still continue to have lots of crab on the table and the odd fish. Looking forward to discovering some of the great fishing holes around here.

I bought a couple of apple trees last week. I now have an early apple called Early Free and a mid season apple called Gala. Even though they are on some kind of dwarfing root stock I'll have to keep them pruned regularly to keep them at the 6' height I want. I planted them hedge style - only 3' apart as research shows this is supposed to help keep them smaller.

The 3 blueberry trees I bought bare rooted in the spring are settling in well. They are Superior,Northland and Polaris.
So I have made a start with the orchard. If the gardens gets built in time I may add a plum tree or 2 this year.

  The potatoes are growing well in their grow bag as I keep adding soil to it.
The ones in the garden are already starting to die back so I think this grow bag idea is working. The somewhat dry conditions that they are growing under don't seem to bother them. Though I won't know for sure til I empty the bag at the end of the season.

I saved these marigold seeds from a friend. The flowers are small and the leaves are fine. Not sure what kind it is but it has flowered well and seems to like this climate. Next year I envision a border of them instead of the odd plant I scattered through the garden this year.

 Another new plant I grew from a friends seed is edible chrysanthemum. It has done well and I really like the taste of the leaves in a salad or stir fry. The flowers are looking good also and don't seem to have changed the taste of the leaves.

The Shirley poppies are blooming and blooming. They are so delicate looking and yet so tough.
I like that.

All is well

Back in BC and all is well in my garden.
The deer stayed on the right side of the fence and there was enough rain to keep things growing. The cool weather veges thrived though the basil is still sulking and will probably do so for the rest of the summer. I can see a greenhouse is needed here if I want to be successful with warm weather veg.

The poppy seeds I sprinkled around last fall are growing and blooming.

The lettuce in the last few weeks have gone from seedlings to fully formed heads so lots of salads on the menu.

Peas, cabbage and collards all doing well.
The first round of pak choi is flowering. Fortunately the seeds planted a month ago are almost big enough to harvest, and in a few weeks I can harvest the pak choi seeds to save for future crops.

Lots of scapes on the garlic for cooking with. In a few weeks I'll see how the garlic crop did.

I am growing potatoes in a grow bag and in the ground to see which gives the bigger harvest. Both seem to be doing well above ground, so time will tell about what is going on under ground.
Now it is just a matter of starting seeds regularly to keep the harvest going both into the fall and through the winter for spring harvest when we return from our winter escape. It's all in the timing...something I'm learning this first season in this new climate.

Quick Trip

I am winding up a quick trip to my garden in Ontario.
What can you do to a garden in 3 weeks. Actually quite a bit as it turns out.
The weeds have been removed and the bare earth planted. I have sown  lots of beans, peas and sunflowers from seed I have saved over the years.Any other areas I find the space I have sprinkled alyssum seeds. I'll call it all green manure if I don't return this summer and if I do get back there may be something to harvest.
Lots of herbs growing strong- both perennials and self sown. The apple trees have lots of small apples and the flowers are elbowing each other for space, so not so many weeds there.

I may or may not be back later in the summer, but hopefully I have done enough to get the garden through another season.
Now it is time to pack for the return trip to B.C and see how the garden has fared there. I have anxiously been following the weather there and it seems like the rain fall has been adequate, so if the deer kept out all should be well.

Fence finished

Finally with the help of some friends we finished the fencing that is to keep the deer from devouring my garden. There are a few finishing touches to be done but the gate is in place and the garden should be safe when I go back to Ontario for a few weeks.

A final touch to the job was a sculpture done by John Leonard using some of the interesting drift wood we found on our excursions.

The garden is growing, though some things are doing better than others. The plastic came off early and the basil didn't like that one bit.
But we are harvesting lettuce, radish and pac choi, so the cold isn't bothering them at all.

The cilantro I wintered over are flowering, so lots of seeds for future plantings and curries.

A generous layer of the local sea soil compost has been applied to all the vege beds. That should set the gardens up for the summer.
Finally we had some rain. Six weeks with almost none! Hopefully there will be enough over the next few weeks while I'm away to keep things growing. At least the deer will be kept out.

Fencing out the Deer

One of the big changes around here is that the wood to build our deer fence finally arrived.

So we have been busy building a lovely cedar fence along the 2 road frontages. The building is on the 3rd side. On the remaining open side we have put up bird netting supported by T bar posts. Hopefully that will do the trick until we finish fencing in the remainder of the property.

The raised beds continue to be built and I am slowly planting them with seedlings I started a month ago when we arrived here.
The raised beds are 12" high and built on the lawn. Then I put down a layer of cardboard and fill the beds 1/2 full of some local screened top soil. In the near future I'll get in a load of compost and top the beds up with that.
The climate here is a bit of an unknown to me. On one hand there is no danger of frosts, but it does stay cool with the odd very chilly windy day. So I will be learning what will survive at this time of the year and what should wait.
Always fun to learn.

B.C Spring

Back in Canada we are enjoying spring weather. A nice contrast to the sweltering days we were having in Thailand.

This is the first spring we have experienced on this new property in B.C.

The spring show has been beautiful with the flowering cherry and the rhodos putting on a brilliant show.

The plants I brought out from Ontario last fall have for the most part put down roots and survived their first winter here.

We are still waiting for the wood to start building a deer fence.(Ordered it 9 months ago, but hey we are working on island time here).
In the mean time we are putting in new raised beds that will be surrounded with bird netting that will hopefully also deter the deer.

I've also started a lot of seedlings. A plastic covered mini hoop house is protecting the plants until they get big enough to be transplanted. At least it helps me feel I am making progress on the gardening front.

The lilac tree that I've been threatening to chop down is now putting on a wonderful show. It is in the wrong place, but maybe if I give it a hard chop back it can stay around for a little while longer.

New Beginnings

It is getting hot these days in Thailand as we head into the hot season.
That is why I am so excited to be moving to a beautiful town in the mountains. At 1000 meters above sea level the climate is lovely.
We are heading for Canada in a few weeks so the move won't happen til we return in October. But already I have lots of gardening plans.

The panoramic views are incredible of the mountains, valleys and nearby village.

Last season the land was used to grow tomatoes. Now it is a meadow, so the 1 1/2 acre field is wide open for landscaping choices. There are a few trees at the lower end of it and 3 mango trees at the top end. The property slopes gently to the west.
I can see lots of tree planting in my future.

Market days are very colourful and are well attended by the numerous Hilltribe people that live in the area.

The next few months will give us time to put some ideas on paper.

Of course my new garden development plans in Sointula (British Columbia) will keep me busy as we head into my first spring there.

Exciting times!