Garden 2013 SW Calgary
Still gardening in Zone 2 (barely) this year, but there are beds available for planting. The beds were intended for ornamentals with cedar chips as mulch, so there was work involved in converting them to food beds.
The season is off to a good start with tomato, broccoli and swiss chard seeds from Seedy Saturday started indoors in March and are now ready for transplanting.
A tomato bed with potted ever-bearing strawberries on the side
June 29: The tomotoes in their new homes in the garden. They have been in the ground for a month but very little growth has transpired thanks to a cool spring/summer and not much sun
June 29: The hot banana peppers bought as starter plants in Creston BC do not like the weather so far, nor do the strawberry plants next to them
June 29: A variety of veggies - squash, cucumber and some mystery plants are in this corner bed
June 29: The lettuce beds are doing better than some of the other plants
June 29: broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts and swiss chard are trying their best in this bed
June 29: The peas are also enjoying the cooler weather. They were started from seed and planted at the end of May
June 29: The purslane is sprouting and is tasty
June 29: The arugula is also trying to establish itself
June 29: Can't really see them, but there are onions sprouting up
June 29: The carrots are making themselves known
June 29: And more strawberries! As many as possible
 Jul 13: Tomotoes ripening |
 Sunflower growing |
 Swiss Chard doing great |
Aug 12: Swiss Chard, Broccoli, Kale
Aug 12: Peas and Cilantro
Aug 12: White and blue Borage ..never had white before..bumblebees love them!
Aug 12: Broccoli ready to pick
Aug 12: Brussel Sprouts growing
Aug 12: Red Romain lettuce - enough for us and anyone who wants it!
 Aug 12: Peppermint and Curly Parsley |
 Sweet Banana Peppers |
Aug 12: Peas are ripe for the picking
Aug 16: Thinning out carrot bed, peas and dried parsley
Aug 16: Sunflower bloomed!
Aug 16: Nasturtiums blooming too. Yellow in this bed
Aug 16: Various brassicas - kale, broccoli, cabbage
Aug 16: more brassicas
Aug 16: Carrots doing great!
Aug 16: Onion bed
Aug 16: Tomatoes, lettuce, carrots
Aug 16: Peppers, Squash, more Tomatoes
Growing lots of strawberries, but either the birds or something is getting them before we do, so no pics to show of them :(
 Sept 14: The Calendula finally decided to join us! |
 Sept 14: It started growing very late in the season but it looks like the Spaghetti Squash will make it! |
Sept 26: The threat of frost is very real so almost all of the tomatoes were harvested - about 25 lbs all together.
Sept 27: The Spaghetti Squash harvested along with the daily ration of Kale and Swiss Chard for smoothies and the ever present tomatoes.
Sept 28: The harvest continues - this time the carrots before the soil in the bed freezes too hard.
Sept 28: The catnip has been weathering the frosty nights and still captivating some kitties.
Oct 4: Everything has been harvested except the lettuce and brassicas, but the nights are getting more frosty so covering up at night. The peppers are still in pots inside along with the peppermint and parsley.
It has been challenging going from Zone 7/8 to Zone 2, but all in all I was pleasantly surprised with this years harvest. The key seems to be to start indoors early enough, plant outside as early as possible and hope the weather cooperates throughout the spring and fall.