Time: 7 pm. Place: Creekside Commons, 2202 Lambert, Courtenay. Directions. To reach Creekside Commons from Courtenay, take Cumberland Road, turn left onto 20th Street, then the first right onto Lambert. Follow to the end of Lambert. Parking: There is limited parking in the Creekside complex so please park on Lambert if possible, it’s a short stroll to …
Category: Gardening tips
Jan 31 2019
Meeting February 7th
Our guest speaker for the February meeting was Arzeena Hamir. here are the meeting notes prepared b y Valerie Bernier. GUEST SPEAKER: ARZEENA HAMIR -trained agrologist and owner of Amara Farm a local Certified Organic farm -Has been growing in the valley for 6+ years -Was staff agrologist for Territorial seeds Canada which became …
Nov 20 2017
December 7th Monthly meeting Lucy speaks about potatoes
Our end of year potluck is the final celebration of a year of gardening and harvesting. The evening started with the potluck and was followed by a talk by Lucie DesJarlais disclosed her secrets about how to grow and enjoy potatoes all the year round. Here is her handout about how to do it. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_rfPRezZsufMkVYQXNNRzNYbVFrME5jNlRqWW4tRVltbVBB/view?usp=sharing …
Jan 07 2017
Selecting and getting those seeds started.
From presentation by Arzeena Hamir. Seed Catalogs – what to look for – The seed catalog companies do not grow their own seeds. They have their growers in many different places. This means that if you buy from a local company this does not mean that your seeds will be local. For this you need …
Aug 08 2016
Saving lettuce seeds
Ralph Watts has the following method for saving lettuce seeds. “For some this may be an easier way to save lettuce seed.” he says. Get two plates – same type with smooth rims, or a bucket with a lid. Place plates under lettuce. Work lettuce above the plates with your fingers as the …
Jun 09 2016
Tomato pollination and isolation
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-pole-beans-planted-next-sunflowers-57178.html Link to pollinating tomatoes with an electric toothebrush for better yield. An Interesting question is whether to isolate tomatoes or not; whether to bag or not. As tomatoes are self pollinating a lot of people don’t bother to isolate. This is fine when saving tomoato seeds for ones personal use but we have a …
Dec 04 2015
Seed savers favourite books.
Oct 26 2015
Growing Great Garlic – Talk by Neil Turner
GROWING GREAT GARLIC. Speaker; Neil Turner of Amara Farm. Garlic needs a minimum of 3 months of cold temperatures to clove properly and is a heavy feeder. Why eat garlic- lowers cholesterol lowers the risk of stomach and prostate cancer prevents colds antiseptic – was used to treat gangrene – taken internally It has been …
Jul 01 2015
Saving squash seeds
Squash cross pollinate readily with other squashes of the same variety. They are insect pollinated so the insects are flying quite long distances. First thing is to know which variety of squash you are growing and what it will cross with. You will also need to know what your neighbours are growing! Next step is …
Jun 12 2015
Bag isolation of tomatoes.
June is here and the tomatoes are flowering. Time to bag them! Many of us have small gardens and want to grow several types of our favourite heirloom tomato. We do not have the space to plant them far enough away for the correct isolation distance. The solution is to put a little bag over the …