CROP SELECTION
Select crops that are easy to grow, for example:
- collards
- red russian kale
- parsnips – feed you all winter, easier than carrot, plant late May, harvest in winter, better after a frost
- plant leeks instead of onions – feed you all winter, slightly more nutritious, start from seeds in May in nursery bed, transplant in early July. By Oct/Nov, they get big. Can grow alot of food with less effort. If direct seed, sow in late May, early June.
- potatoes – can eat in winter
- jerusalem artichokes – ready in winter
Learn crops by family – DON’T plant consecutive plants of same family
- Recommend Book – Maritime NW Garden Guide
- group plants that have same needs
- think, “when is plant finished producing, what to start next”
- Practice crop rotation – DO NOT plant in same family in same place year after year. I.E. Brassicaceae (cabbage) = club root – builds up in soil and deforms roots.
- Onion family – White rot fungus. Especially alternate the brassicas and the onion families
- Alternate heavy feeding plants (tomatoes, squash, cabbage) with light feeding plants
- Tomatoes – called narcissistic plants – like to grow in same place every year – using early variety tomatoes good idea (i.e., stuppis, vining tomatoes)
- Water deeply, once or twice a week.
- Fall- top dress with leaves
Favourite Tomatoes
Here is a list of some great tomatoes, from our garden friend Colin who lives in Kelowna. Costoluto Genovese is a beautiful, reased tomato that is a “must have”. Sicilian Saucer is alos a tremendous tomato that produces huge globes of red beauties. Alacante is a small but tasty tomato. Red Calabash is very early, small, tart, productive and magnificent. Hill Billy (or Flame) is a bi-colour that impresses people who like big, sweet tomatoes. Black Krim is also sweet and gets great reviews from sweet tomato eaters. Tiny Tims always find a place in my garden and on my table. Small plants, tons of tomatoes that are very tasty. Giant Belgium tomatoes are large, pink/red, a very good producer.
All of these except Tiny Tim are indeterminates. They require staking and a STRIGENT pruning routine. Most of these should be available from Salt Spring Seeds.