Plan your organic vegetable garden now so you can reap and eat a rainbow of flavours in the months to come.
Join Elke Knechtel this Saturday, March 17, at 11 a.m. at the Sparling Pavilion in the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden in Sechelt for a lecture and demonstration of which vegetables have the most success in our coastal climate.
We have the advantage of a very long growing season, but spring and autumn can be wet. Different vegetable varieties thrive better here than in the Interior. Which tomatoes ripen before the blight comes? What are these new salad greens about? How can I get the earliest and latest crops? Which lettuces won't bolt the first hot summer day? What's best for me: heritage varieties or hybrids? Are there perennial vegetables that come back each year?
Bring your questions for Knechtel, a gardener who has many years experience with vegetables and perennials.
She and husband Ken recently became specialty vegetable growers, supplying wholesale plants to nurseries as well as selling veggies at their Red Barn Plants farm in Maple Ridge. The Red Barn has an amazing selection of lettuces and other salad greens plus an astounding 50 varieties of tomatoes! Choosing vegetables that are selected to thrive in our temperate climate gives us an advantage, so come and hear her suggestions. Did you know we can grow edamame here?
An added bonus of home organic gardening is the beauty of the vegetables. Not only are they fresher, tastier and healthier than vegetables that have been shipped or sprayed, their shapes and colours make the garden and the meal a thing of beauty. From yellow chard, red carrots and orange beets to purple beans and blue potatoes, the taste buds can be well satisfied while the colour palette is explored.
After the talk, wander down to the demonstration organic vegetable garden, which supplies huge quantities of produce to the Food Bank. See what's been planted so far and what's been planned for this year. Some of our experienced gardeners will be on hand to chat, and you might consider learning by volunteering.
Whether you are a new to growing vegetables or just want to expand your knowledge, this talk will kick-start your edible year.
Admission is by donation and vegetable seedlings will be available for sale.
For more information visit www.coastbotanicalgarden.org.
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