Oh my glorious garden. What an unexpected success. I didn’t expect the veggies to grow so well. Naysayers and seasoned green thumbs filled my head with noise about the difficulties of growing in a short Alberta growing season. But oh did I prove them wrong.
I lucked out because Renee wanted to share a community garden plot with me. I always get a little freaked out and anxious when I try something new so I am glad she didn’t laugh at my silly questions. (Seriously people can be mean!). We divided our plot in half. And off we went in our separate growing directions.
I am all about the leafy greens so I planted swiss chard, spinach, and leaf lettuce. Carrots and beets were only root vegetables. I think next year I will try potatoes. If you have been reading my blog, you will know my spinach bolted before I had time to pick it all. That was my one big suck. Other than that misstep everything grew smoothly!
Everyone asked me about the weeding. What weeding? Truth be told, I spent less than 2 hours in total weeding since May. Imagine that! I have magic weeding powers! It must have been karma after all those summers having to weed the family gardens.
All my leafy greens went quickly into daily smoothies and into my coworkers’ fridges. I made dill pickles and pickled carrots with my bounty. Score another point because I have never tried this before! (Still a little nervous about cracking open the jars.)
Next year I want to try different veggies! It’s going to suck having to go back to buying from the supermarket. I tried to freeze as much as I could but I am not very good at using frozen food.
I found much joy in my little garden. It was very rewarding to toss a bunch of seeds in the ground then watch them grow. As a plant-based eater, I love growing my own food and eating as close to the ground as possible.
I just wish Alberta had a longer growing season! (It would also be nice to have more fruit options.)
That's so awesome! My boyfriend has done some planting on our patio, but the darn squirrels make things so difficult that I think he might give up next year. Community gardens are so cool, that's awesome how yours turned out!
Squirrels? lol usually we have to worry about the deer.
I would love a garden, I have considered community garden but never took the plunge. Although looking at all your goodies now I wish I had.
There's always next year! Thanks for stopping by!
That is great!! I am so jealous!! I'll have to try out my skills next year! 🙂
Great job taking the plunge and starting your own garden. Something I would love to do if I had more time. Instead I'll stick to supporting local farmers with veggie shares. Like you, I'm sad to have to go back to the grocery store for produce soon.
Yup it was a productive season. I have to get the the public market this weekend.
I've made a goal for myself to join the community garden next year. This year I had a tomato plant and some herbs on my deck but I'm jealous of all your veggies!