Late Season Bounty

So even tho we've had bitter cold and snow for almost a month, I pulled these beauties out of the garden today! When I last checked back in Oct they weren't big enough to bother harvesting so we just left them in the ground.

They were delicious.

Slowly But Surely

We finally got the materials to build the beds- beautiful reclaimed Douglas Fir  from an old factory in Montreal- this stuff is seriously old, over 100 years but it's solid and rough cut as 3" x 12" planks. Perfect for our raised beds!

Next we got our soil delivered! That's 3 yards of soil, so a yard per bed.

The irrigation system is laid out and we're almost ready to plant!  

A Slow Start and Some Wonderful News

We've all been itching to get going on this project but spring has been so slow in coming this year and the weather has been far from cooperative until just recently. Last week I borrowed a branch lopper from the Toronto Tool Library and went to work on some of the over hanging branches - I had some help with the really high ones! On the edge of the lot there are a number of trees, mostly Manitoba maples, and one Norway maple. None of them are very well situated and the bulk of the branches have grown in one direction making many of them them lean rather precariously. Trimming back some of the branches will hopefully balance the weight a bit better and also allow more sunlight to reach the area we plan to garden in. So now the bulk of the smaller overhanging branches are gone but now there's a huge brush pile added to the debris that will need to be removed. If only we could have a bonfire...

On a positive note,  two delightful things occurred this week. We were chosen to receive a bursary of $750 from the Toronto Chapter of Landscape Ontario!! So we now have funds to purchase some of the much needed suppliers to build a raised bed garden. There will be some planning sessions in the next week to decide how best to use the funds, and now that the weather has improved we will finally be able to tackle the debris piles. Our other good new is that our newest member was born on Monday evening! Her name is Aurora and she will join her mom and big brother as part of our garden community.

There will be some more photos and updates once we get rolling!

10 Years Later, Starting From Scratch with a New Project!

Every new place where I live comes with the urge to create new space to garden. My current apartment is no exception but there's a slight difference with this space. For one it's much large than than I've previously had to work with and it's not actually attached to the apartment. In a rather unique arrangement, the parking area provided for the building I live in is a small lot that backs a neighbouring house and is reachable only from the laneway. The lot is wide enough for two cars but considerably deeper than needed for even the largest vehicle. That extra space has been used as a dumping ground for yard and construction waste for years and as it is open to a public laneway, other trash appears there regularly. So with the landlord's permission, a team of friends and neighbours hope to turn what is currently a pile of rubble into a green space capable of growing vegetables and fruit for the neighbourhood, as well as plants to encourage pollinators and wildlife. And a hedgerow, I'm slightly obsessed by the idea of hedgerows!

Starting last fall, we began sifting the debris that has accumulated for years. We hauled away some of the trash and sorted piles of metal (which went to a scrapper), rocks and concrete chunks (which we might use to build pathways or retaining walls) and wood. Some of the finished lumber will also be repurposed, and the logs and branches will be set aside to become the base of the garden beds using hugelkultur techniques. I previously used a modified version of this for raised beds and it works remarkably well and cuts down the need for watering. (See posts here and here).

At the time we had hoped to clear enough space to plant some garlic to winter over but it quickly became obvious that there's a lot more to be done to make the space useable. Over the winter we've had time to start planning and compile lists of task we need to do. And if the weather every warms up we'll start putting those plans in action!