2013 Gardening Season Begins

At last! Who’s ready to get started?

Of course, some of you have already been preparing with the seedlings. And did you know there are lots of things that you can plant outdoors in Edmonton in April? Some plants germinate just fine in chilly soil and can take a light frost besides: peas, lettuce, kale, spinach, radishes, and green onions, for example. In fact, most years you can plant these things in mid-April. I have managed to get full salads out of cold frames by this time in previous years, but this year the heavier than usual snow and slow thaw have made things difficult. Warmer weather plants should not go out for a month yet, until the end of May – or better, the beginning of June.

On to business!

• The shed is awesome (thanks again, everyone!) but not particularly beautiful. Over the next few weeks, we need to paint and roof it and move it back from the curb. We will plant scarlet runner beans in front of it and turn it into a wall of green. Please let us know if you can help! I can be reached through comments or at sustainability@parkallen.ca
• We are also considering taking the composters down a slat or two to give them a less intrusive profile, and hiding those behind a wall of sunflowers. Please let us know your opinion!
• Shortly afterwards, we will be holding our first work bee to clean up and plant the first greens. Details on that to come.
• Plans for this year also include building some raised planters for better access for seniors, and filling our shed with tools to make the gardening easier. We are still working on the funding – almost there!
• The WWF-sponsored Wild Wings project will be bringing habitat to the garden to encourage beneficial insects and birds to join our little ecosystem.
• And of course, there will be plenty of gardening with like-minded people throughout the neighbourhood and beyond … and perhaps a barbecue or two!

And now, a couple of pictures for fun: on the left are some of the seedlings growing on my window shelves (artichokes, peppers, leeks, lobelia). On the right, the haul of seeds we got from Sustainable Food Edmonton. It’s going to be a good year!