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With the advent
of spring, thoughts turn from the ski trails or hibernation to visions
of fresh peas, the crunch of the first cuke plucked from the vine and
tomatoes that taste like the real thing. If you are a first time gardener, there's a tendency to be a little ambitious. Best to be moderate in approach rather than take on too much and spend the summer weeding, watering, and wondering who will get your next bucket of beans. In the planning stages, you need to decide on the size of your garden, |
how you will lay it out and what you want to
grow. Part of this will be
determined by the size of your backyard, and the help you can rely on.
You'll also factor in the size of your family and whether or not you
will be freezing, drying, canning or storing vegetables for fall and
winter.Approaches can include plotting a small kitchen garden, e.g., focused on growing greens, tomatoes and peppers and perhaps a few herbs, beans, cukes and baby carrots. A more ambitious garden will be include root vegetables and things which take more space like corn and squash. Vegetables can be grown in containers, raised beds, or the more traditional rows. |
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Resources ~ For excellent reading material and free fact sheets, drop into the closest government agriculture office and ask for their publications on home gardening. For more in depth |
information, read The Garden Primer, by Barbara Damroch; The Complete Gardening Almanac by Marjory Willison; Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman or The Northern Gardener by Jennifer Bennett. | ||||||||
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Soil and fertilizers ~ With some exceptions, most fruit and vegetables need a ph of around 6.5. Potatoes require a more acidic soil and some vegetables, like asparagus, need a higher ph. The best way to determine your soil's ph is to take a soil test and have it analyzed by the Department of Agriculture (see directions below). If your soil has a low ph, adding lime or wood ashes can raise the ph levels. In order to grow, plants need nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. These help with leafy green growth, strong root development, and fruiting |
capacities. If your soil is heavy, water clogged or lacking in humus and
nutrients, a number of natural additives can be incorporated including: compost, manures, bone meal and rock phosphate (high in phosphorous), dried blood or fish meal (high in nitrogen), straw, leaves, peat moss and seaweed. Go easy on sawdust and wood shavings. They leach out more nutrients than they add. For a list of organic associations in Atlantic Canada, see the reference list on the left sidebar. They often put on workshops or seminars and can advise you who to talk with in your area. |
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| Ordering
seeds ~ All your seed requirements for flowers, vegetables and herbs can be met in the Maritimes (see 'Seed Houses' on the left sidebar). These seeds have been field tested to grow and perform well in our northern coastal climate. They are products you can trust. |
Although you can start a lot of seed indoors e.g., peppers, parsley and tomatoes - initially, it's simpler and cheaper to purchase plants from a local greenhouse and transplant them after the night temperatures have warmed up and all danger of frost is past. | ||||||||
A little adventure ~
Don't forget to try something new like brown peppers, blue potatoes,
leafless peas or yellow tomatoes. Also, include some edible flowers such
as nasturtiums. The bees will love you for it and you can toss a handful
or nasturtium leaves in a salad for a taste sensation. If you have the
space, be sure to try cantaloupe or watermelon. You will marvel at
the results. |
In future articles, watch for features on: how to compost, grow
asparagus, raspberries, green manures and over crops; the benefits of
seaweed; ad infinitum. If you have suggestions for articles, send them
to countrygardener@outdoorns.com. Get your paper and pen out, start to map out your garden, and order those catalogues and free garden brochures now. Then do a soil test. Next, make a list of the organic things you can round up to add nutrients to your garden. And finally, watch the earthworms migrate to your plot and pray for a pleasant spring! |
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Soil testing ~ For $10.00, the Analytical Services Section of the Department of Agriculture and Marketing analyzes soils and provides recommendations for either organic or commercial amendments. Their mailing address is: P.O. Box 550, Truro, Nova Scotia, B2N 5E3; contact them by phone at: (902) 893-6565; their e-mail address is: Bharnish@pam.nsac.ns.ca Contact the department for a soil box, information sheet and instructions on how to take soil samples. Most soils in Nova Scotia are acidic and require liming, which supplies |
calcium and magnesium to the soil. Lime can be purchased in bags at garden
centres and farm co-ops, or provided through wood shavings or wood
ashes. A soil test will also determine the current levels of available nutrients in the soil - especially nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and will tell you the additional nutrients needed for optimum growth. If you inform the department of the type of organic materials you have on hand, they will recommend how to use the materials. |
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Have a question for the Country Gardener? Send your comments or queries to: countrygardener@outdoorns.com.
Country Gardener Issue #1: Well Rooted Advice, first published in March, 2001. Designed & maintained by Outdoor Nova Scotia, Liverpool, N.S. BOT 1KO. Material protected by copyright. Last revised: December 29, 2001 |
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