This past weekend, I went with a dear friend on a garden tour of edible gardens grown organically around the Cowichan Valley. Wow! Was that ever inspiring! Gardeners had created something from nothing in such creative ways and developed such productive gardens to feed both their families and their market businesses. I learned a lot about new ways that I can add to my city garden space– no space is too small: think vertical. There were discussions happening between neighbours about increasing areas for bees to find, water saving methods (in a word: straw), buying crushed oyster shells (which are super cheap and spreading them in a wide strip around the raised beds ( see photo), and using off-cuts from mills to create raised beds made locally from cedar. We toured almost all the gardens on the map, but I have only featured some here. I love all the little touches that represents the gardener’s individuality, humour and beauty.
Thank you to those kind gardeners who gave up a day in the garden in order to teach and inspire strangers and share so generously your learning, your sources, your love of growing food (and even some great recipes- for what to do with tomatillos -something I’ve never grown, but will next year)!
If you get a chance to go next year – I would certainly recommend it.
Lise-Lotte
Some fine examples in these gardens of using vertical space in a city lot. This gardener has already harvested 40lbs of thorn less blackberries and gotten them into her freezer plus all the ones that her family has enjoyed warm from the vine!
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