Jean Atkinson, Richbar Golf and Gardens
Special to the Observer
A crystal ball would have been handy to have last season. The garden centre industry was taken by storm last spring and plants, seeds and soil disappeared quickly from the shelves. What really stood out was how many new gardeners there were and we are curious to see if they will return again this year. Did they fall in love with this new hobby or did the wet summer extinguish that new found flame for gardening?
I recall one enthusiastic young fellow at the till. His cart was loaded up with seeds, vegetable plants, sacks of seed potatoes, onion sets etc. As he turned to leave, he asked, “So, do I need to water any of this?” My heart leaped and I quickly gave him a gardening 101 lecture. I often wonder how that garden turned out. The wet growing season may have saved this newbie.
There rarely is a perfect growing season in which everything grows happily. Last year plants such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, Swiss chard, lettuces, kale, kohlrabi and spinach thrived merrily in the cool moist summer. So did the slugs! And you probably have shelves full of canned green tomato chutney. Every year is a new slate and we don’t know what we will be hit with. There are some things that gardeners can do to avoid some of the curve balls mother nature throws at us.
READ MORE: Quesnel Farmers’ market plans for 2021 return
Let’s begin from the ground up. New gardeners should not be discouraged as it may take years to turn our Cariboo clay into a productive soil. At the beginning of the season the soil needs to be amended with 2-3 inches of organic matter such as well-rotted manures and compost. For a plant to thrive the roots must seek out oxygen, moisture, nutrients and microbes. This can be tough in a compacted tight soil such as clay, so every addition of organic matter will improve the structure.
Raising or mounding the garden beds are beneficial to improving drainage. Plants need moisture but are not happy if their roots are standing in water. They drown because there is no oxygen. Raised beds also warm up faster in the spring. Who likes getting into a cold bed, plants sure don’t? Transplant shock will be reduced if the soil is warmer. Seeds may rot if they are planted too early into cold wet soil.
Another trick of the trade is row cover fabric. I feel like I talk about this every year but can’t stress how useful it is. This light fabric raises the temperature of the soil and gives the plants a few degrees of frost protection. It prevents insects such as aphids, carrot flies, thrips, onion maggots, beetles or basically anything that flies from laying their eggs into the soil or feasting on your plants. However, this includes beneficial pollinators as well. So, it is very important that once your plants begin to flower you remove the row cover. Fold it up and store it for next year, it will last for years.
Now, what to do if the summer is a hot one. You will be canning lots of salsa with ripe tomatoes and peppers. There are a few things you can do to help beat the summer heat. First one being, watering in the morning with a deep soaking. You might want to invest in a drip irrigation system. These are easy to install, can be set on timers and allow the water to penetrate deep into the soil, rather than on the foliage. If using containers, use large ones with a decent soil volume so they won’t dry out too quickly. Growing one tomato in a 5-gallon pot is the smallest container you should use for a tomato.
Mulching your vegetable beds will retain moisture in the soil and reduce weeding. There are many options such as grass clippings (let these dry out first), hay or straw (although weeds may be a problem later on), composted leaves or compost.
These are a few management tools to help you be successful in your garden. Now if only you could buy a crystal ball for that tool kit.
READ MORE: Garden to provide community with food while remembering loved lost to overdose crisis
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: cassidy.dankochik@quesnelobserver.com
@GimliJetsMan
cassidy.dankochik@quesnelobserver.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.