Harvest Photos from 2011, Galiano Island, BC.

It was a slow start to the growing season this year, but things eventually warmed up and the garden finally produced some excellent food.

Potatoes were the first things harvested in late August. I had a mix of white and red potatoes that were excellent along with fresh cod and beer. I made some potato patties with grated potato and onion mixed together and fried in butter for 6 minutes per side. Very good snack food.


The tomatoes suffered a deer attack early in June, so they did some recovering before finally producing some tasty fruit. The plants from the Saltspring Island market were fast growing and very hardy.

My melons didn't do so well. Those vigorous tomato plants shaded out my watermelons and my passport melons were overtaken by the MONSTER pumpkin plant. Oh well, next year I will give them more space.

As always, I suggest mulching early and mulching often. That means getting out there and tossing on layers of seaweed (kelp), and straw, and whatever else you can scavenge to toss onto your beds. This will protect your soil over the winter and allow nutrients to seep into the ground from your mulch, instead of leaching out and leaving you with barren ground.

Enjoy the Photos.

Hot peppers in oil from the greenhouse, with a pumpkin on my driftwood bench.

First apples from my yard tree and a pie.

Sunrise on my garden.

From the garden into the pot. From the pot into the pie!

Caught this cod from the kayak. The heads get buried deep in the garden. Yum!

special sideways apples

My friend and his daughter with a jack-o-lantern that we carved

chanterelle mushrooms, apples, cucumber, pumpkin, and squash

pumpkins, squash, onions, and sunflowers

shaggy manes and a fairy ring of mushrooms

Mulch now, eat later.

Do you like sweet tasty fruit?
Do you or someone you know have a fruit tree in your yard?

If you answered yes to those questions then you need mulch. Mulch early, mulch often. Seaweed makes an excellent mulch to add around the base of your trees before the deep winter frost sets in. I like to use kelp, as it contains over 70 nutrients that can be used by the tree. These nutrients are chelated, which means they are soluble in water and can be more easily absorbed by the root system.  Aim for about six inches of mulch material around the base of each tree in a 4-6 foot wide ring. This will dissolve over the winter and spring, giving your trees protection and a dose of nitrogen and a wide range of micro-nutrients and macro-nutrients. Give it a try and you will be happy with the results next fall. Make sure to water the trees in the summer and apply my organic fertilizer tea during the growing season. You will have big tasty apples in the fall. 

 

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