new host for canada

Hi all
I have been asked to become the regional host for Canada, and despite it being a bit broader than most in size we DO have some issues that are unique to us.
I have been living in the US for the past 15 years and moved back January 2011. I am a physician and left Canada when Canada was trying to get rid of doctors and came back for a variety of reasons, aging parents... and health issues.
In Feb 2009 I was diagnosed with advanced endometrial cancer and underwent aggressive surgery chemo, radiation, and then more chemo.
WHen faced with an early demise, the one thought that kept reverberating through my mind is "how many more garden years will I have?"
So 2010 I took to gardening like never before, I had to grow EVERYTHING, and LOTS of it. Everyone said, why not save some for next year, but I thought, you never know where there will be a next year.
AND SO even though I have gardened for years, I have really put it into high gear for the past 3 years.
We currently live in the Okanagan area of BC, and I am calling our place "our final resting place" since we have left behind WAYYY too many asparagus and blueberries and fruit trees that we have never seen to fruition.
So this is the most exciting year of gardening of my life.
I discovered All New Square Foot Gardening in January of this year and was quite interested for 2 reasons (and I do think everyone has different reasons).
We live on an acreage that has pretty poor soil, and is totally inundated with Quack Grass. So using raised beds with a very specific recipe just seems to fit the bill. I can define what land I want to garden in and what land I only want to walk on and keep all my precious soil in one place.
I do not have the experience that many others here have, but from what I have done this far, I really am impressed, I have 150 square feet in Mels Mix. and about another 70 square feet I have not gotten to changing over yet.
I have a special interest in working to extend the season here with hoop houses and greenhouses, so I can grow more things well.
My grading zone is 5a, and after the frost last week, I am thinking perhaps lower.
When you live in very small towns it is very hard to find out which zone you are in, and Canada does not have the new hardiness zoning that the US did this year.
But my last frost was supposed to be May 7th and the first frost in the fall should be October 15th.
I am hoping we can compare notes.
Please post and we can get a Canadian Thread going
I will post some photos separately

lol just to correct you already

Now I'll have to get used to saying 'ey but I was already to give up huh

its EH not ey, the way it sounds,
Perhaps we could annex the pacific northwest....

GWN wrote:lol just to correct you already

Now I'll have to get used to saying 'ey but I was already to give up huh

its EH not ey, the way it sounds,
Perhaps we could annex the pacific northwest....

Thank you AND I'm in!

Debs.......who thinks the western states are to the eastern seaboard as the orginal 13 was to the British in 1775. I'm just sayen.

Debs.......who thinks the western states are to the eastern seaboard as the orginal 13 was to the British in 1775. I'm just sayen.

I have heard vermont wants in as well........ just sayin

I bet they do, NH & Maine might too.

Debs...I just said

GWN.......I know you'll do a bang-up job of hosting. Wishing you a good year and many more.

HMMMM thank you all, now if I could just find a few canadians......
I guess they are all out in their gardens since this is really our first frost free week...

Hi GWN:

This is my fourth year gardening here in Hamilton ON, and I just found out about the SFG methods a few months ago. It just makes so much sense. So I am new to the forums and just found the regional forums here on my lunch break.

Finally another Canadian.
So do you have any beds yet?
What are you growing now?

I am eying my early potato plants for a possible meal this friday, have had lots of spinach and Kale thus far.

GWN wrote: So do you have any beds yet?
What are you growing now?.

Yes I have two beds and pots all over the place. We have a small backyard (small realative to everything we try to fit in there). We decided in the winter that the 9x12 bed that I built last year had to go to make room for a 8x13 trampoline - more about that in a future post

Anyway, so far I have growing tomato (Big Beef and Rutgers), ground cherry (two varieties), zucchini (2 varieties), swish chard (2 varieties), beets, snap pea, snow pea (2 varieties), winter squash (butternut and an orange-skinned spaghetti and also a few plants from seeds I saved last year but did seclude for pollinating so who knows what will grow on those plants). Also trying again with amenian cuccumber which set many flowers last year but never produced a single fruit. Plus strawberries planted last year and asparagus from seed last year and raspberries (here when we bought the house). All of this years plants were started from seeds and, well, lets just say I got a little carried away with how many plants I started. Yesterday I started a plot in a neighbours yard since they stopped using the space years ago, nice little sharing arangement there.

As for harvesting, so far we've had little of anything but bugs! My plum tree is full of aphids (again:evil: ), chard and beats are overrun with leaf miners, and starwberries are being devoured by robins. Add to the mix 7 rats caught in the last 10 days (never had those here before), snow peas that practically failed to germinate (i think I have 2 plants out of 15 seeds), black knot that won't let up on the plum tree I'm thinking about getting out while I still can. We did enjoy some chard a few night ago and a few strawberries here and there. Despite the pests, most of the plants seem to be growing well and I hope to be overrun with zucchini, tomotes and ground cherries in the next 3-6 weeks.

Your garden sounds quite a bit ahead of mine, my squashes are just starting out, no flowers even.
I am going to get some potatoes tonite from one of the plants, just because it is special dinner tonite, (not that they have flowered yet)
It really has not been that warm here yet.

Thought I was "following" the Canada thread, but just saw this posting... glad that there have been some!
This is my first year SFG with MM... in Ottawa, ON (also zone 5a).
Looking forward to seeing some more posts!

starwberries are being devoured by robins.

Interesting that my strawberries get eaten by wasps,...... very weird
I guess we need to get onto our wasp catcher.
mmathedrader: So how does y our garden grow?

I guess this thread was just announcing that I had become the new canadian regional host
I will try to start a new thread each month to know how things are going WELCOME.........

[quote="GWN"]

I guess this thread was just announcing that I had become the new canadian regional host
I will try to start a new thread each month to know how things are going WELCOME.........

Soon will be Canada Day, July 1st.

Yep, a new thread Weekly update thread would be good

We could discuss Canada Day there

We could discuss Canada Day there

OR
OK then its a deal.

Today my DILL is taking over, it just seems so slow slow...... and than all of a sudden I cannot keep up with it.
So I am making dill rice tonite, have a colander FULL of dill.
I am writing the rookie friday topic for this week, and it is on growing globe artichokes, and it IS actually hard to do in Canada, anyone else up here growing it?

I think that the buds are SO DARNED CUTE...

Okay if I start a weekly thread you ALL have to post

I've never tried to raise Globe Artichokes here, but perhaps I should They have to be one of the most strikingly beautiful plants; leaves as well as the chokes. So how many Square Foots do we need for an artichoke?



I bought Canada Day Pinwheels today. It was windy walking across the parking lot with them, Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Probably be no wind on July 1st,

Greetings from Alberta. I'm getting a late start on my veggie garden, as I wasn't going to do one, but changed my mind at the last minute. We often have lots of snow in March/April and this year we even had some in May/June! So I was a little reluctant to plant anything too soon. I'll be sticking to quick growing crops like spinach, radishes, etc. Wish me luck!

It was a nice surprise to see a host from Canada. Thanks for taking this on!