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It seems like most of North America is a lot closer to summer, while the Avalon is still in early spring mode. That being said, there’s a big advantage to this: spring crops can get a second (or third) round before the heat starts. As well, while we may not have had a lot of sun, we’ve had plenty of rain, which is great for some plants. The question then becomes, what do we do with all the extra? I have one word for [...] 
Hi everyone! Sorry for the rather long hiatus on Pioneering in Paradise, but it’s been a crazy month. On the plus side, things have calmed down and I’m happy to report some real progress on some of my projects. I’ve built my first potato tower, and planted out 16 seed potatoes. The boards on the outside are 8 inches high, and as the plants start growing up, they will get buried up to the top set of leaves. Since high amounts of nitrogen can cause issues with potatoes, I used a mix of composted sheep manure and black earth as the growing medium, so we’ll see how that goes. Since I still have some seed potatoes left, I’ll be building a second box, so stay tuned! [...] 
Thanks to the listing from Seeds of Diversity, I was able to locate a gentleman in Newfoundland who has a great deal of experience growing a wide variety of potatoes here. Last week, I recieved by my set of samples from George, and here’s what my benefactor told me about the varieties: Red Dutch: A very dry, yellow flesh red from Holland in the 1940’s. An excellent potato. Late maturing. Northern White: A white flesh variety, from Quebec apparently, from the early 1900’s. Very high yield. Good taste. [...] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AmfnFn8aLM”>Pioneering
Hi all! Hope you had a great Easter weekend! I apologize for not having my usual Monday morning post for you – I’ve been under the weather the last few days, but I’m bouncing back. On that note, here’s my belated weekly contribution: 
On Saturday, St. Thomas church played host to Spring FEASt Fest in St. John’s, and I ran demos on how to save tomato seeds. Overall, I think it went very well; people seemed to respond pretty well to the demo, and I managed to swap for some seeds that I’ve had trouble finding. I also met Dan Rubin, who runs Perfectly Perennial Seeds & Herbs out in Pouch Cove. We had a great time chatting about saving seeds, and the importance of localizing varieties [...] 
When you’re trying to garden organically, it can get kind of expensive buying all the compost you’ll need. You’re much better off making your own – you can divert a surprising amount from the landfill (which makes taking the garbage out a lot easier), and you’re turning waste in to gold! It’s not terribly difficult to get started, since we’re working with what nature does on its own! If you’ve got a yard, then you should definitely look at an outdoor compost pile. Either [...] 
Yes, there are actually things growing already! Here are a few things I’ve got on the go so far: Peppers: The first sprouts came up just as April started, and I’m seeing lots of growth in some of the varieties already. Not all of the types have sprouted yet, but peppers can be a bit slow. In fact, I was surprised to see any this soon! I’ve got 13 varieties planted, with a good mix of sweet and hot peppers. Right now, the [...] 
Just when we thought that spring might be on its way to the Avalon, Mother Nature has thrown a fresh dose of snow at us. Despite this, it’s still possible to plant outdoors. No, really! 
The posts so far have been working on the assumption that you have a readily available place to dig in and start growing your own. What if you live in an apartment, or some other place where the land is either unfit or unavailable to you? Well, I have good news for you: there are a few different options. The most common solution is container gardening. Essentially, this is just growing plants in pots, and it can be just as rewarding and productive as gardening in the ground. You can set pots out on a balcony, door step, or even a flat roof (IF there is appropriate safety equipment installed, and IF you don’t put too much weight). There are a few things to keep in mind when container gardening anywhere: [...] 
No matter how good you are at keeping track of things in your head, it’s always a good idea to keep records of your gardening efforts. I didn’t do much in my first few years, and I really wish I had – I know there were a lot of interesting things that happened, but I can’t remember all of them! At the most basic level, pen & paper is all you really need. It’s always “online”, and you can format your notes any way you like. As well, you don’t need to worry about it dissapearing in to the mists of the internet. The big downsides are that it is a LOT harder to share your experiences with the wider world, and it’s not easy to search if you want to go back to a particular bit of information. [...] |
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