Comments (0)

By Miles Hunter, September 15, 2011

September 15th, 2011

Grow your own Garlic!

Vampires beware it’s time to plant garlic. Fall is a great time to plant your garlic crop for next year. Growing good garlic is fairly easy. If you just plant the cloves in the ground anytime between September and March and it will probably grow, but not very well. If you want to grow large, healthy bulbs, there is more to it. Click here to download our Garlic Growing Tips Information Brochure.

This year you can choose from ten different varieties of garlic, including three varieties of certified organic garlic. They include:

• Regular White – regular type of white garlic, has a mild flavor.
• Elephant - has large cloves but very mild flavor
• German Hardneck – A very nice strain for our northern climates. Great for roasting due to large cloves.
• Legacy - A rocambole type hard neck garlic produces 4 to 6 cloves in a large bulb. Has a strong, full flavour.
• Mexican Purple – This garlic has a hot flavour when raw, but becomes milder when baked
• Music - Music is large beautiful and a well-formed porcelain garlic. Its flavor is very rich and musky, strong and robust and sticks around for a while.
• Red - The standard of excellent flavor in rocambole garlic. This is a delightfully mild, full flavored, productive garlic that store very well, present a nice appearance and has an excellent raw flavor.
• Russian Red (Certified Organic) – A rocambole garlic with a rich, musky flavour and is very hot when eaten raw. Grows great in the northwest.
• Inchelium Red (Certified Organic) – An artichoke garlic with delightfully robust flavour. A large and healthy garlic to grow resistant to most diseases. It is a good for storing but still peels easily.
• Italian Porcelain (Certified Organic) – A hardneck type that produces large bulbs with easy-to-peel purple cloves that do wonders for Mediterranean cooking.

Comments (0)

By Miles Hunter, August 30, 2011

September 1st, 2011

It is time to start Your Winter Vegetable Garden!

As the summer begins to wind down you should be thinking about growing winter vegetables. There are many vegetable that you can grow during a west coast winter. You can start many of the vegetables from seed like lettuce, carrots, radishes, and many others. You can also buy plants that are already growing like broccoli, cabbage, kale, and swiss chard. You can even plant herbs like Sage and Thyme now for a fall or winter harvest.

Comments (0)

By Miles Hunter, July 20, 2011

July 20th, 2011

Enjoy the Bounty of Blueberries!

Blueberries are excellent plants for the home gardener, providing not only delicious fruit, but plants that have outstanding ornamental value as well. Blueberries are easy to grow, require little care and are seldom bothered by pests. Fruiting occurs from July to October depending on the variety. In winter, the leaves as well as the bark of the young branches turn glowing shades of yellows & reds.

For more information about the varieties of Blueberries that you can choose from and how to grow them click here.

Comments (0)

By Miles Hunter, May 9, 2011

May9th, 2011

Taste the flavour of home grown Tomatoes!

The weather is finally warm enough to start thinking about putting tomatoes outside in the garden. It is still recommended that you provide some protection from the cold night temperatures. You can do this by covering your tomatoes with plastic or a white cloth like our “Crop Cover” or “Frost Blanket”. When the night time low is above 10 degrees Celsius, or 50 degrees Fahrenheit, you can leave them uncovered.

Whether you are a seasoned tomato growing veteran or a new gardener here are a few tips to help you grow better tomatoes:

1. Tomatoes are heavy feeder, they are the teenage boys of the plant world. You should add manure and fertilizer to the soil before you plant.
2. When you plant the tomatoes plant them deeper as new roots will develop along the stem helping your plants grow faster and stronger.
3. Water regularly all summer, twice a week early in the season and daily during the summer months. Tomatoes that do not get regular water are more likely to develop diseases and are less likely to produce as much fruit.
4. Fertilize weekly with a water soluble fertilizer like Miracle Gro Tomato Food 18-18-21 or monthly with a granular fertilizer like Evegro’s Vegetable and Tomato Food 10-15-19.
5. Add Lime to your soil before you plant and every month during the growing season. Lime helps balance the pH and provides Calcium and Magnesium to the plants.

With so many varieties of Tomatoes to choose from here are a few varieties that perform well in our climate:

• Ball Extra Early – a medium sized tomato that produces early
• Beefsteak – one of the largest tomatoes with lots of meaty flesh
• Early Girl – a medium sized early producing variety
• Sungold – a golden cherry tomato
• Sweet 100 – an excellent small cherry tomato
• Sweet Million – a smaller version of the sweet 100 that produces an abundant crop
• Tumbler – a great cherry tomato for hanging baskets that produces all summer until frost

In addition to these varieties you can choose from a selection of heirloom varieties including:

• Bloody Butcher – a medium sized tomato that is great for slicing
• Brandywine Black – a large heirloom tomato
• Japanese Black Trifele – a medium sized mid season tomato
• Latah – an early producing medium sized tomato
• Nyagous – a medium to large early to mid season tomato
• Prudens Purple – a medium tomato great for slicing
• Red Striped Roman – a roma type oblong, full and sweet
• Super Snow White – a golden yellow cherry type tomato that is super sweet
• Thessaloniki – a large beefsteak type tomato
• Wapsinpinicon Peach – a golden yellow mid to late season medium sized tomato

Be sure to stake your tomatoes as they grow to give them support as the fruit matures. You can stake them up with a basic bamboo or cedar stake or buy a “Tomato Cage” that provides support for the leaves as well.

Comments (0)

By Miles Hunter, March 1, 2011

March 1st, 2011

Grow Your Own Potato’s!

Potatoes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow yourself. They require a nice sunny location in rich fertile soil. You can plant them from March to May and harvest them from July to October. You can grow white, red or yellow varieties that are good for cooking, frying, boiling, or baking.  Choose from the following varieties:

• Banana – yellow skin and flesh, buttery taste, late harvest, finger shaped, high yield
• Bintje – yellow skin and flesh, late harvest, medium size with a high yield
• Caribe – purple skin with white flesh, early harvest, very large size, high yeild
• Carlita (Organic) – white skin and flesh, early harvest, good for boiling
• Cecile – red skin with yellow flesh, finger shaped,
• Chieftan – red skinn with white flesh, early harvest, medium size, good yield
• French Fingerling – red skin with yellow flesh, creamy taste, late harvest, good yield
• Innovator (Organic)
• Kennebec – white skin and flesh, mid/late harvest, very large, high yield
• Mozart (Organic) – Red skin with yellow flesh, mid season harvest
• Nicola – yellow skin and flesh, good for salads and boiling
• Norland – red skin with white flesh, early harvest, large size, high yeild
• Pacific Russet – russet skin and flesh, early harvest, medium size, good yield
• Pontiac – red skin with shite flesh, mid/late harvest, large size, high yield
• Russet Burbanks – russet skin and flesh, late harvest, medium size, good yield
• Russian Blue – blue-purple skin and flesh, late harvest, medium size, high yield
• Seiglinde – golden skin and flesh, early harvest, medium size, very high yield
• Warba – white skin and flesh, early harvest, large size, high yield
• Yukon Gold - yellow skin and flesh, mid/late harvest, medium size, good yield