Vegetables & Food Plants

With today’s increasing economic and environmental transportation costs, the more we learn to be self-sufficient by growing our own food the better. As well, our mild coastal climate here on the North Shore enables us to grow food year round!

Siting your Garden

Site your garden in an area that is level with well-drained soil, ideally in an area that gets 6-8 hours of sunshine daily. Stay clear of trees and shrubs where roots and shade may interfere. Have your site close enough to the house for convenience.

Raised Beds

One of the best and easiest ways to grow and food and tend to the garden is in raised beds. Raised beds ensure that soil is well drained, and there’s no need to worry about soil depth, since you will be adding garden soil to the beds.

To find out how to build a raised bed click here (be sure to use unpainted, untreated lumber). Let the soil settle in the beds before planting – you may even need to top the beds up.

Basics of Veggie Gardening

• Prepare the Soil: Buy a good quality garden soil and dig in organic matter (compost). Adding organic matter improves soil aeration, water permeability and nitrogen retention. Add 2 inches of mature compost on top of your beds in February.
• Practice Crop Rotation: Rotate crops so that each year a different vegetable or flower grows in a given area. This helps to prevent nutrient depletion.
• Fertilize: Add kelp meal, manure (if over 1 year old) or dolomite lime in the fall (if growing potatoes do not add lime).
• Cover Crops: In late summer plant a cover crop like fall rye – it will tie up nitrogen in the soil and will prevent soil erosion and compaction.

Winter Gardening

With our mild coastal climate we can continue to grow swiss chard, kale and other hardy greens, winter cabbages, leeks and spinach. Many of these need to be seeded at the end of June and early July – check the West Coast Seeds catalogue for details.