Welcome to Flowery Prose! Growing words about gardening, writing, and outdoor pursuits in Alberta, Canada.
Just popping in to say IT’S PUBLICATION DAY! The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Seeds and The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Small Spaces are now out and about in the world!
The books are available nationwide at Chapters-Indigo locations (online and in-store), McNally Robinson, Amazon, and in independent bookstores and garden centres across the prairies!
More seedlings are popping up in my indoor garden! Can you guess what this little one is? (Hint: you can eat it. Edited to add: I’ve made this too difficult! Here are a couple more clues: It’s a common culinary herb. And I mention it in a post I made on December 27, 2020. I hope this helps!) 🙂
Share some of the happenings in your garden (indoors or out!) What plants are you growing right now?
More lettuce is happening in my kitchen! This heirloom variety is ‘Red Deer Tongue’.
The social media anxiety about seed shortages prompted me to order my seed potatoes yesterday from a local grower. It appears that the shortages are not completely unfounded; the supplier was already out of several cultivars. When you think that we don’t typically plant potatoes until May in this area, it’s incredible to see that many “sold out” labels this early in the year. The suppliers must be absolutely thrilled that their products are so high in demand. It’s truly exciting to see this surge in interest in gardening.
Have you placed any seed orders for spring planting? Or are you able to save most of your seed from your own garden?
I created this list for Alberta Gardening, the Facebook group I manage … and thought it might be super valuable here, as well! This list includes nursery stock, garlic, potatoes, and mushroom spawn suppliers.
SEEDS – ALBERTA
A’BUNADH SEEDS – (Cherhill) – www.abunadhseeds.com
ALBERTA GIRL ACRES – (Vulcan; limited offerings of flower seeds, see website) – www.albertagirlacres.com
ALCLA NATIVE PLANTS – (Calgary ; seeds and plugs) – www.alclanativeplants.com
BAILEY HILL GREENHOUSE – (Cowley; limited offerings of sweet pea seeds, see website) – www.baileyhillgreenhouse.blogspot.com
CASEY’S HEIRLOOM TOMATOES – (Airdrie) – www.caseysheirloomtomatoes.ca
CO-CREATIVE SEEDS – (Turner Valley) – contact info TBD
DEB’S GREENHOUSE – (Morinville) – https://www.debsgreenhouse.com/
HANNA’S SEEDS – (Lacombe; specializes in grasses/lawn/forage seed) – www.hannasseeds.com
HARMONIC HERBS – (Barrhead) – www.harmonicherbs.com
HEIRLOOM SEED VAULT – (Southern Alberta) – www.heirloomseedvault.com
WILD ABOUT FLOWERS (Turner Valley; specializes in wildflower seeds and plugs) – www.wildaboutflowers.ca
WILDROSE HERITAGE SEED COMPANY (Lethbridge) – www.wildroseheritageseed.com
SEEDS – SASKATCHEWAN AND MANITOBA
BLAZING STAR WILDFLOWER SEED CO. (Saskatchewan) – www.Growwildflowers.ca
EARLY’S FARM & GARDEN – (Saskatchewan) – www.earlysgarden.com
HERITAGE HARVEST SEED – (Manitoba) – www.heritageharvestseed.com
LINDENBERG SEEDS – (Manitoba) – www.lindenbergseeds.ca
MANDY’S GREENHOUSE – (Manitoba) – www.mandysgreenhouse.com
MCKENZIE SEEDS – (Manitoba) – www.mckenzieseeds.com
MUMM’S SPROUTING SEEDS – (Saskatchewan) – www.sprouting.com
PRAIRIE GARDEN SEEDS – (Saskatchewan) – www.prseeds.ca
PRAIRIE ORIGINALS – (Manitoba) – www.prairieoriginals.com
SAGE GARDEN HERBS – (Manitoba) – www.herbs.mb.ca
T&T SEEDS – (Manitoba) – www.ttseeds.com
WHISTLING PRAIRIE FLOWERS – (Saskatchewan) – www.whistlingprairieflowers.com
WINNIPEG SWEET POTATO – (Manitoba) – www.winnipegsweetpotato.com
SEEDS – REST OF CANADA
AGROHAITAI – (Ontario ; specialty: Asian vegetables) – www.agrohaitai.com
ANNAPOLIS SEEDS – (Nova Scotia) – www.annapolisseeds.com
ATLANTIC PEPPER SEEDS – (New Brunswick; specializes in chili peppers) – www.pepperseeds.ca
BERTON SEEDS – (Ontario) – www.bertonseeds.ca
B.C.’S WILD HERITAGE SEEDS – (British Columbia) – www.Bcwildheritage.com
B.C. ECO SEED COOP – (British Columbia) – www.bcecoseedcoop.com
BIRD AND BEE – (Ontario) – www.birdandbee.ca
BLUESTEM NURSERY – (British Columbia) – www.bluestem.ca
CHATHAM GARDEN SEEDS – (Ontario; specializes in seed kit for Canadian gardeners) – https://chathamgardensseeds.com/
CHOKED UP – (British Columbia; specializes in Jerusalem artichokes) – www.chokedup.ca
COCHRANE FAMILY FARM – (Nova Scotia) – www.cochranefamilyfarm.com
DE DELL SEEDS – (Ontario; specialty: corn) – www.dedellseeds.com
EAGLERIDGE SEEDS – (British Columbia) – www.eagleridgeseeds.com
ETERNAL SEED – (British Columbia) – www.eternalseed.ca
FLORABUNDA SEEDS – (Ontario) – www.florabundaseeds.com
FULL CIRCLE SEEDS – (British Columbia) – www.fullcircleseeds.com
GELERT GARDEN FARM (Ontario; specializes in sweet potato slips) – www.gelertgardenfarm.ca
GRETA’S ORGANIC GARDENS – (Ontario) – www.seeds-organic.com
HALIFAX SEEDS – (Nova Scotia) – www.halifaxseed.ca
HAWTHORN FARM ORGANIC SEEDS – (Ontario) – www.hawthornfarm.ca
HERITAGE SEED & PRODUCE – (Ontario) – www.heritageseedandproduce.com
HOMESTEAD ORGANICS – (Ontario) – www.homesteadorganics.ca
HOPE SEEDS AND PERENNIALS – (Nova Scotia) – www.hopeseed.com
HORIZON SEEDS – (Ontario; specialty: corn) – www.horizonseeds.ca
HOWARD DILL ENTERPRISES – (Nova Scotia; specialty: giant pumpkins and squash) www.howarddill.com
INCREDIBLE SEED COMPANY – (Nova Scotia) – www.incredibleseeds.ca
JARDIN DES VIE-LA-JOIE – (Quebec) – www.vielajoie.com
JARDINS DE LA GAILLARDE – (Quebec) – www.jardinsdelagaillarde.ca/fr/accueil
KITCHEN TABLE SEED HOUSE – (Ontario) – www.kitchentableseedhouse.ca
LA FINQUITA – (Nova Scotia) – www.lafinquita.ca
LA SOCIETE DES PLANTES – (Quebec) – www.lasocietedesplantes.com
LAUGHING SWAN FARM – (British Columbia) – www.laughingswanfarm.com
LE JARDIN DE JULIE – (Quebec) – www.jardindejulie.com
LE POTAGER ORNEMENTAL DE CATHERINE – (Quebec) – www.potagerornemental.com
LES JARDINS DE L’ÉCOUMÈNE – (Quebec) – www.ecoumene.com
LES SEMENCES DU BATTEUX – (Quebec) – www.lessemencesdubatteux.ca
MANHATTAN FARMS – (British Columbia) – www.manhattanfarms.ca
MAPPLE FARM – (New Brunswick) – www.mapplefarm.com
THE MARKET GARDEN – (Ontario) – www.themarketgarden.ca
MATCHBOX GARDEN & SEED CO. – (Ontario) – www.matchboxgarden.ca
METCHOSIN FARM – (British Columbia) – www.metchosinfarm.ca
MOUNTAIN GROVE SEED CO. – (Ontario) – www.mountaingroveseedcompany.com
MYCOFLOR – (Quebec) – www.mycoflor.ca
NARAMATA SEED COMPANY – (British Columbia) – www.naramataseedco.com
NORTON NATURALS – (Ontario) – www.nortonnaturals.com
OSC SEEDS – (Ontario) – www.oscseeds.com
PERFECTLY PERENNIAL HERBS AND SEEDS – (Newfoundland) – www.perfectlyperennial.ca
PIEBIRD SEEDS – (Ontario) – www.piebird.org
RAINBOW SEEDS – (New Brunswick) – www.rainbowseeds.ca
RAVENSONG SEEDS – (British Columbia) – www.ravensongseeds.com
REVIVAL SEEDS – (Nova Scotia) – www.revivalseeds.ca
RICHTER’S HERBS – (Ontario) – www.richters.com
SAANICH ORGANICS – (British Columbia) – www.saanichorganics.com/seeds
SAGE NORTH SEEDS – (Yukon) – www.yukonag.ca/listing/sage-north-seeds
SALT SPRING SEEDS – (British Columbia) – www.saltspringseeds.com
SEEDS FOR FOOD – (Quebec) – www.seedsforfood.net
SEEDS OF CREATION – (Ontario) – www.seedsofcreation.ca
THE SEED COMPANY (BY E.W. GAZE) – (Newfoundland) – www.theseedcompany.ca
SOGGY CREEK SEED COMPANY – (Ontario) – www.seeds.soggycreek.com
SOLANA SEEDS – (Quebec) – www.solanaseeds.netfirms.com/welcome.html
STEMS FLOWER FARM – (Ontario) – www.edgebrookfarm.ca
STOKES SEEDS– (Ontario) – www.stokeseeds.com
SUNSHINE FARM – (British Columbia) – www.sunshinefarm.net
TERRA EDIBLES – (Ontario) – www.terraedibles.ca
TERRE PROMISE – (Quebec) – www.terrepromise.ca
TOURNE-SOL COOPERATIVE FARM aka LA FERME COOPÉRATIVE TOURNE-SOL – (Quebec) – www.en.boutique.fermetournesol.qc.ca
URBAN HARVEST ORGANIC SEEDS – (Ontario) – www.Uharvest.ca
URBAN TOMATO – (Ontario) – www.urbantomato.ca
VESEYS – (Prince Edward Island) – www.veseys.com
WEST COAST SEEDS – (British Columbia) – www.westcoastseeds.com
W.H. PERRON (DOMINION) – (Quebec) – www.dominion-seed-house.com/en
WILLIAM DAM SEEDS – (Ontario) – www.damseeds.com
YONDER HILL FARM – (Nova Scotia) – www.yonderhillfarm.ca
SEED EXCHANGES
SEEDS OF DIVERSITY CANADA – (Ontario) – www.seeds.ca
GARLIC & POTATOES (ALBERTA & PRAIRIES)
DEEP ROOTS FARM (Lacombe) – www.facebook.com/visscherfarm/(Facebook)
EAGLE CREEK SEED POTATOES (Bowden) – www.seedpotatoes.ca
EARTH APPLES SEED POTATOES – (Stony Plain) – www.earthapples.com
THE GARLIC RANCH (Sundre; also sells roots such as peonies, hostas, dahlias, lilies; asparagus; horseradish; fruits such as strawberries and haskap) – www.thegarlicranch.com
ROAD 44 GARLIC – (Barrhead) – https://www.facebook.com/Road-44-Garlic-327340111244976/ (Facebook)
SASK GARLIC FARM – (Saskatchewan) – www.saskgarlic.ca
TWA DUGS – (Warburg; specializes in garlic) – www.twadugsfarm.ca
GARLIC AND POTATOES (REST OF CANADA)
ACROSS THE CREEK ORGANICS – (British Columbia; specializes in potatoes) – www.facebook.com/Across-the-Creek-Organics-108619199237183/(Facebook)
AUGUST’S HARVEST – (Ontario; specializes in garlic and onions) – www.augustsharvest.com
BOUNDARY GARLIC – (British Columbia) – www.garlicfarm.ca
THE CUTTING VEG – (Ontario; specializes in garlic) – www.thecuttingveg.com
D & H NEWMAN – (Ontario; specializes in garlic) – www.dandhnewman.ca
ELLENBERGER ORGANIC FARM – (Ontario; specializes in potatoes) – www.ellenbergerorganicfarm.com
EUREKA GARLIC – (Prince Edward Island) – www.facebook.com/Eureka-Garlic-121648878449492/(Facebook)
HELMER’S ORGANIC FARM (British Columbia; specializes in potatoes) – www.helmersorganic.com
NORWEGIAN CREEK FARM – (British Columbia; specializes in garlic) – www.norwegiancreekfarm.ca
RASA CREEK FARM – (British Columbia; specializes in garlic) – www.rasacreekfarm.com
RED LION ORGANIC FARMS – (British Columbia; specializes in garlic) – www.redlionorganic.com
TREES & SHRUBS/PERENNIALS (ALBERTA & PRAIRIES) – ONLINE ORDERING
DNA GARDENS – (Elnora, Alberta) – www.dnagardens.com
PARKLAND PEONIES – (deWinton, Alberta) – https://parklandpeonies.com/
SHERWOOD’S FORESTS – (Warburg, Alberta) – www.sherwoods-forests.com
TREE TIME – (Edmonton, Alberta) – http://treetime.ca
TREES & SHRUBS/PERENNIALS (REST OF CANADA) – ONLINE ORDERING
ARBORNAUT NURSERY – (British Columbia) – www.arbornautnursery.com
APPLE LUSCIOUS ORGANIC ORCHARD – (British Columbia) – www.appleluscious.com
CORN HILL NURSERY – (New Brunswick) – www.cornhillnursery.com
DENMAN ISLAND HERITAGE APPLE TREES – (British Columbia) – http://denmanapple.ca
FIGS FOR LIFE- (British Columbia) – www.figsforlife.ca
FRASER’S THIMBLE FARMS – (British Columbia) – www.thimblefarms.com
GENTLEMEN’S BACKYARD GARDEN AND APIARY – (New Brunswick) – www.thegentlemensbackyard.com
GOLDEN BOUGH TREE FARM – (Ontario) – www.goldenboughtrees.ca
GREEN BARN FARM – (Quebec) – www.greenbarnnursery.ca
GRIMO NUT NURSERY – (Ontario) – www.grimonut.com
HARDY FRUIT TREES NURSERY – (Quebec) – www.hardyfruittrees.ca
MOUNT ROYAL SEEDS – (Quebec; specializes in tree and shrub seeds) – www.mountroyalseeds.com
NUTCRACKER NURSERY & TREE FARM – (Quebec) – www.nutcrackernursery.com
PÉPINIÈRE ANCESTRALE – (Quebec) – www.pepiniereancestrale.com
RHORA’S NUT FARM & NURSERY – (Ontario) – www.nuttrees.com
SALT SPRING APPLE CO. – (British Columbia) – www.saltspringapplecompany.com
SILVER CREEK NURSERY – (Ontario) – www.silvercreeknursery.ca
TROPIC TO TROPIC PLANTS (British Columbia; specializes in tropical plants such as bananas, citrus) – www.tropic.ca
WHIFFLETREE FARM & NURSERY – (Ontario) – www.whiffletreefarmandnursery.ca
MUSHROOM SPAWN
ALL THE MUSHROOMS – (British Columbia) – www.facebook.com/allthemushrooms/ (Facebook)
FUNGI AKUAFO – (Calgary) – www.fungiakuafo.com/
FUNGI SUPPLY – www.fungisupply.ca/home
GROW MUSHROOMS CANADA – www.growmushroomscanada.ca
Please note: While I do use some of these seed suppliers, their presence on the list doesn’t imply or express any endorsement on my part.
And – if you have anything to add to the list, please drop me a line in the comments and I’ll make an update!
Yesterday’s post about sowing seeds in a small space (indoor) garden is an excellent lead-in to my post today … in which I reveal the covers of the two latest books in The Guides for the Prairie Gardener series! (It’s almost as if I had planned it!) 😉 Janet Melrose and I spent the bulk of this year working hard on these two titles, which we are thrilled to add to the lineup consisting of The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Vegetables and The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Pests and Diseases. Once again, our publisher TouchWood Editions and our incredible editorial team have been crafting these books into something amazing and we’re super proud of the results!
Without further ado, here is The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Seeds!
And The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Small Spaces!
The books are set for release in early March. Of course, we’ll have a lot more details to share with you over the next few months, but we couldn’t wait any longer for you to feast your eyes on the covers! (A massive shout-out to Tree Abraham, our illustrator and designer, for the stellar work on these!). We are giddy with excitement!
We’re in a winter wonderland right now! Almost 30 centimetres (12 inches) of snow fell on December 21st and 22nd here in Calgary and we all spent a few days digging ourselves out (then we had a bit more snow the night before last, just to add some extra frosting to an already thoroughly iced cake). Once again, I am grateful that I walk to work, and I am keenly looking forward to the snowshoeing treks this beautiful white fluffy stuff promises …
Now that winter has officially arrived, it’s time to start some lettuce! Not for outdoor transplant, because our spring doesn’t truly show up until June sometime (I exaggerate, but just barely), and I direct sow lettuce anyway, but for something to grow in the apartment. I recently upgraded my indoor growing system from the cobbled-together elements I’ve been using. Both set-ups are comprised of the same types of simple equipment – a grow light and a frame to put containers in – but the new one has aesthetic value and an ease of use that the old one didn’t quite possess (as well as a proper reservoir for watering, with a capillary mat. Not necessary, but absolutely delightful to have). Accordingly, ‘Flashy Trout Back’ is happening in my kitchen right now:
I don’t have room for any sort of big indoor gardening initiative (my little set-up lives on top of my refrigerator!), but I’ll grow some baby lettuce and some basil for a few months, then start some onion and tomato seeds for spring planting. If you live in a small space, don’t let the lack of room deter you from growing some food – especially during the cold winter months, when things seem pretty bleak and lonely. Small is something, and it can give you the chance to be inspired and creative and nurturing, which are some of the reasons why we garden in the first place. Plus – there’s the whole eating part. My mouth is watering just looking at those little lettuce seedlings. Aren’t they the most lovely things?
Yesterday, I reblogged a post of practical and useful gifts for gardeners – a “serious” list, if you will. Today’s list is slightly different.
Gifts for Gardeners (The Dare to Dream Version)
Join in on the fun! What “dare to dream” gardening gifts would you love to give or receive?
(Banana plant photo courtesy Pexels Free Images)
Book News and Events – November 2020
Exciting news! The next two books in The Guides for the Prairie Gardener series were sent off to the printers last week! A couple of weekends ago, Janet Melrose and I reviewed the final proofs and had our first looks at the full jackets for The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Seeds and The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Small Spaces. Our designer, Tree Abraham, has once again done an incredible job of the cover illustrations and exterior/interior design! We will be revealing the covers very soon – stay tuned!
And … we have some more thrilling news! We will be spending the winter working on books #5 and #6 in the series! They will be published in spring 2022. We will reveal more details over the next few months. In the meantime, we’re over here doing a happy dance!
Request for reviews!
Do you have a copy of either of (or both of!) our books, The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Vegetables and The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Pests and Diseases? If you do, can you please help us out and take a couple of minutes to give us a rating and review on Amazon.ca/Amazon.com? Don’t worry about leaving a lengthy review…two or three words is honestly all Amazon requires. If you’re on GoodReads, leaving a rating over there would be wonderful, as well! Thank you so much! We are so grateful for your support and encouragement and we hope you are finding the books informative, useful, and fun!
And the Winner Is …
In conjunction with our publisher TouchWood Editions, Janet and I recently held a contest in the Alberta Gardening Group on Facebook, with a set of The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Vegetables and The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Pests and Diseases as a prize. Congratulations to Kendra Victoria, who was the lucky winner of the books! Thank you to TouchWood Editions for supplying the prize!
Get Social with Us!
Sheryl:
Janet:
Facebook: calgaryscottagegardener
Instagram: calgaryscottagegardener
(Image of fountain pen courtesy Pexels Free Photos)
Welcome to the fifth issue of The Guides for the Prairie Gardener Newsletter! Janet Melrose and I are keeping you up-to-date on everything related to our book series Guides for the Prairie Gardener, letting you know about what other Prairie gardening-related projects we’re working on, and throwing in some gardening trivia and newsy tidbits, just for fun! If you like what you see, please follow us on our social media and hit the subscribe button on Flowery Prose.
Book News and Events
Janet’s chat on CBC Radio’s Daybreak
On August 15, Janet did an amazing interview with Russell Bowers on CBC Radio’s Daybreak programme, talking about our books in the Guides for the Prairie Gardener series and what to watch out for in the garden in late summer! Take a listen to the interview here!
Request for reviews!
Do you have a copy of either of (or both of!) our books, The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Vegetables and The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Pests and Diseases? If you do, can you please help us out and take a couple of minutes to give us a rating and review on Amazon.ca/Amazon.com? Don’t worry about leaving a lengthy review…two or three words is honestly all Amazon requires. If you’re on GoodReads, leaving a rating over there would be wonderful, as well! Thank you so much! We are so grateful for your support and encouragement and we hope you are finding the books informative, useful, and fun!
In Our Gardens
Sheryl:
Well, the first frost has already happened here in Calgary and so I’ve been watching the forecast like a hawk and covering the tomatoes as required. I swear, my tomatoes have been covered nearly the whole growing season – first, to protect them against the threat of multiple hailstorms, and now this! I have already harvested a pleasantly sizeable yield of ripe and ready currant tomatoes and my husband and I have been enjoying them in salads and I’ve been taking them to work just to snack on. I’m still waiting on my precious ‘Black Krim’ tomatoes, though…they are still green and I’m waiting on a bit of a blush to happen. If you pick them when they are TOO green, they won’t ripen indoors…you have to reach that special threshold.
I have picked quite a few lovely zucchinis over the past several weeks and they’ve been cooked up in various ways in my kitchen. Did you know that you can shred zucchini, drain the excess water from it, then pack it into bags and freeze it for later use? It’s a good solution if you’re swimming in summer squash! I saw a great tip in the Alberta Gardening group on Facebook last week from a gardener who goes one step further and freezes the shredded zucchini after packing it into the cups of a muffin tin. When it’s ready, she just snaps out the iced zuke pops, bags them individually, and puts them back in the freezer. Nice and tidy and ready for that chocolate zucchini cake at a moment’s notice!
And I’ve been saving seeds…calendula, dill, nasturtiums, beans, and sweet peas so far. I can’t stress enough the importance of labelling the plants that you want to save seed from so that you can easily locate them later on when they’ve stopped blooming. This year, I just tucked in some old wooden skewers I had kicking around and fashioned a tag with a piece of coloured tape. I wrote the colour of the flowers on the tape – for example: a calendula with DBL (double flowers) with BRN CENT (brown centres). I planted several types of calendula this year and wanted to differentiate the doubles from the singles, and identify the colours. I also had several colours of nasturtiums, so I tagged them to remind myself where the red ones were in the sea of cream-coloured ones. You’ll be sure to come up with a labelling system of your own – just remember to do it in advance, as it makes seed saving much easier. I always think I am going to remember the exact location of everything but I never do….
If you’re planning to save seed from your sweet peas, I’ve done up a little video with some tips – check it out:
And I’m talking about saving dill seed here:
Floral Miscellany
Sheryl:
Did you know…that hawthorn berries are not really berries at all? They are pomes. (Apples and pears are pomes, too). Hawthorn berries are commonly called “haws”; rather reminiscent of the ‘’hips” from roses. (And, in fact, hawthorns are related to both apples and roses – they’re in the same family). Right now, you’ll be seeing the bright red fruit on hawthorn trees growing on the prairies – they look a bit like tiny ornamental crabapples or indeed, like oversized rose hips. I’ve been experimenting with making jelly from hawthorn berries…stay tuned for a blog post containing the recipe!
Get Social with Us!
Sheryl:
Janet:
Facebook: calgaryscottagegardener
Instagram: calgaryscottagegardener
‘Til later! ♥Sheryl and Janet
My onion harvest was grossly truncated by theft this year – aside from an earlier picking of smaller bulbs, the remainder of my onions (somewhere between 20 and 30 of them) were stolen from one of my community garden beds just over a week ago. The garden coordinator said that theft had been a huge issue this year (perhaps understandably, given our current global health crisis and high unemployment rates) and she was taking measures to try to mitigate the problem. Installing a trail cam to try to catch night-time prowlers was one first step, and she was considering new signage. I have had some minor theft from my beds in previous years (a few carrots there, an onion or garlic bulb or two), but this was the first time that an entire crop had been taken. I am always happy to help out anyone in need, so hopefully the thieves enjoyed some good meals from the plants. It made me chuckle a little when I noticed that they left my beets and kohlrabi alone – it appears the culprits had a refined palate and only wanted onions!
Our community garden actually has several beds in the garden that have been set aside and planted by students from one of the schools in the area for anyone in the community (not garden members) to harvest whenever they want to, but our garden coordinator noted that these aren’t the beds that are mysteriously losing produce in the middle of the night.
If you’re on Facebook, the Calgary Horticultural Society held a Facebook Live session earlier in the year to discuss theft and vandalism in community gardens – you can view the archived video here. (It’s public, so you don’t have to be a member of the page to watch it). This sort of thing is fairly common in community gardens and you just have to be aware of it and try not to get too upset when you’re at the receiving end. Gardeners do love to share, after all…I just kind of wish that the thieves would have left me a couple of onions. 🙂
