By Alison Colwell|2018-05-30T20:16:16-07:00May 30th, 2014|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments
Want to learn to grow garlic? The Garlic Co-op is a great way to get started. We’re a friendly group who grow organic hard neck, with scapes, at a sunny southend site. Monthly work parties are approximately 1.5 hours. Membership is $30, to cover seed and amendment costs.
Join us on Sunday, June 8th, at 11:30am at the end of Morgan Road, as we get started on our upcoming season. We’ll break bread and then break ground on our new bed!
By Alison Colwell|2018-05-30T19:51:21-07:00April 30th, 2014|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project), Workshops|0 Comments
The Food Program will hold a Soil and Compost Workshop on Sunday, May 11th from 10:30am-12:30. Barry New and Roger Pettit will lead a discussion and demonstrations about the soils we encounter on Galiano.
The topics covered will include soil of Galiano and sampling suggestions for you to try at home. There will be many ideas to improve any soil with organic methods without a big outlay.
Topics covered:
Soils of the Allotment
Soils of Galiano
Soil Health & Soil testing
Organic Techniques and Soil Amendments
Adding Fertility with Composts and other materials
Water Conservation techniques
We will have the results of our soil testing for the allotment site and soil sampling suggestions for you to try at home.
The workshop will take place at the new allotment site on the Lions Field. This is the area behind the ball field and Health Care Centre. The newly formed Galiano Allotment Society is developing this garden site on land that has been recently cleared and fenced, and the workshop will include an introduction to the allotment site.
Come with a sample of your own soil to be viewed by the “experts”.
Sliding scale $10-$15
By Alison Colwell|2018-05-30T19:33:44-07:00January 30th, 2014|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments
For the spring of 2014 we will begin on Saturday, March 1st, which isn’t all that far away. Everything grew really well last year and we harvested many varieties of tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers and more. Cantaloupes worked very well too. Last year we tried early carrots, pakchoi and peas before the main summer crops; something we should try again. We also grew artichokes at the greenhouse for planting at the Garlic Co-op site.
The Greenhouse Group had good participation with new members joining throughout the season.
Last year we started with a get-together to share seeds and discuss what we would want to grow which is something we will do again. After that we could start our first seed trays. No-one has to commit for the full year because our aim is about participation at any level of experience.
The cleared beds in the Greenhouse have been planted in rye and clover cover crop for the winter. Last year’s harvest went really well and we should be very proud how 2013 turned out.
By Alison Colwell|2022-03-15T23:55:47-07:00June 20th, 2013|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments
As an experiment, last year I acquired seeds for ten varieties of wheat and four of barley from Salt Spring Seeds and other sources and planted a small test row of each variety in my garden. After initial watering no further water was provided to the growing grain other than rainfall. Germination rates varied among the varieties but all produced grain, which was harvested in late September. In addition to the amount of grain produced, I wanted to see how susceptible the different varieties were to “lodging”, i.e. falling over in wind or rain due to height and top-heaviness of the seed head. Wheat breeders for many decades have selected for shorter, sturdier plants, and more recently for hull-less and bristle-less seed heads to make threshing easier.
Wheat varieties tested included Emmer, an ancient Near Eastern wheat, and Kamut, another ancient wheat with high protein content. Also grown were Ethiopian, Egyptian, Brazilian, and Mexican wheats. A trio of Canadian heirloom wheat varieties was also grown, including Red Fife (originating in 1885), Marquis (1910), and Thatcher (1935), which made up 70% of the Canadian prairie wheat crop in the 1950s. As expected, yields of the ancient wheats were lower than the more modern (century old) varieties. For example, Red Fife grain produced in my test plot would have yielded almost 3000 pounds of grain per acre if scaled up. (Once milled, that would be enough flour to bake 5000 loaves of bread.)
Wheat and other grains were being grown on the Saanich Peninsula and the Gulf Islands in the late 1880s, but the availability of mass-production prairie-grown grain put an end to the practice. There has recently been a mini-revival of grain growing on Vancouver Island, and The Roost bakery and cafe on East Saanich Road sells bread made from locally grown wheat. Who knows, we may see a grain-growing revival on Galiano too!
By Alison Colwell|2018-05-20T19:28:55-07:00April 20th, 2013|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments
Sunday May 5th from 10 to 12am.
Barry New will be leading a workshop on Greenhouse Growing. Everything will be provided using the resource of the School Greenhouse. The focus will be on Soil Improvement and Plant Propagation.
The main Benefits of a Greenhouse:
Teaching Aids and good links to further your skills in the Garden.
Cost for participating $15 and we will have giveaways.
Contact Barry New at galianofoodprograms@gmail.com
By Alison Colwell|2018-05-20T19:22:11-07:00April 20th, 2013|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments
Sunday’s work party went very well – we weeded, made squash mounds, sprayed compost tea, and covered paths and borders with cardboard. The garlic looks great, the phacelia is doing well, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for the rye.
If any of you have our potted artichokes, now is the time to divide them and pot them up to a 4″ pot so they have room to breathe. You can start hardening them off and get them outside at this point. We’ll be planting them in June.
We have quite a bit to do in May: We’ll be harvesting scapes (yay!), as well as planting squash, making beds for the artichokes, and hopefully digging in the rye.
So, the next work party will be from 5:00pm-7:00pm on Thursday, May 23. Please come at whatever time works best for you and plan to stay for at least 90 minutes if you can.
As always, please bring any organic material you can contribute: seaweed, compost, nettle stalks, leaves, compost tea, ash, lime, manures, grass clippings, cardboard, newspaper, etc. are all welcome!
Next time you’re at GIRR, please say a big Thank You to Lisa, who has been personally delivering our great stash of cardboard to the site.
By Alison Colwell|2018-05-20T19:17:23-07:00April 20th, 2013|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments
Our next work party is next Sunday, April 14, at 10:30am.
We’ll be spraying compost tea on our beds and making squash mounds. We’ll also be weeding, and if we have time we’ll be laying more cardboard and burlap and covering compost piles with corn tarps.
This month I have a little homework assignment —a very simple compost tea ‘recipe’ to try. It will only take a few minutes. This 4-minute David Suzuki video shows you how to do it (you can start watching at 1:09). The tea takes 5-7 days to brew and only lasts 1 week so you’ll want to start it sometime this week to have it ready in time for the work party. All you need is cheesecloth, a bucket, and some non-manure compost. I suggest you double the recipe – one for your garden and one for the garlic co-op!
Also, some good news about burlap: JJ Bean in Vancouver will give a dozen burlap sacks free to anyone who comes to their corporate office at 1904 Powell St. (enter from Victoria Dr.), 8:00-4:00, Mon-Fri. If you find yourself in Vancouver and able to pick some up, please do! Best to call ahead to make sure they have some on hand – 604.254.0161. Other coffee companies may well have some to spare too.
TO BRING:
[Please remember that cardboard should be large sheets with minimal ink and tape, and no staples. Please also note that ash should be clean – no processed wood products that contain formaldehyde and other toxic glues and preservatives. Thank you!]
By Alison Colwell|2018-05-20T18:58:12-07:00February 20th, 2013|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments
Everyone is welcome to jump-start the Gardening year in the community greenhouse.
Soil making, seed planting, transplanting, knowledge sharing and general puttering in the warm greenhouse at the school are on the agenda. Ideas currently being explored involve: cuttings, propagation, and medicinals.
Activities for the next Saturday session will be planting early starts and soil testing for PH. Bring some of your own soil samples! Please bring seeds to swap, and any extra seed trays you have.
We are meeting on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10 am at the Greenhouse behind the School.
By Alison Colwell|2018-05-20T18:56:25-07:00February 20th, 2013|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments
We’ll be sowing the fallow bed in rye and phacelia as cover crops. We’ll also be amending the soil, so please bring any organic material you can contribute: seaweed, compost, nettle stalks, leaves, compost tea, ash, lime, manures, grass clippings, cardboard, newspaper, etc. are all welcome!
[Please remember that cardboard should be large sheets with minimal ink and tape, and no staples. Please also note that ash should be clean – no processed wood products that contain formaldehyde and other toxic glues and preservatives.]
The Trading Post wasn’t able to give us any replacement tarps as they’ve changed the way they order and won’t have any to spare until at least the fall. Since the tarps break down in the summer sun anyway, and we’re getting near to the end of our wet season, I suggest we use cardboard to cover our piles until the fall and tarp then. As our tarps are NOT recyclable (I checked with GIRR) we’ll need to bag up any we remove.
If you have any questions at all, just give me a shout.
By Alison Colwell|2018-05-20T18:38:17-07:00January 20th, 2013|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments
Happy new year, everyone! My name is Emma Davis, and as one of the Food Program’s new coordinators, I’ll be organizing the Garlic Co-op from now on. I’ll do my best to follow in Janice’s very big shoes.
What is it?
The Garlic Co-op is a group of garlic enthusiasts who collectively grow a few varieties of organic premium garlic, with scapes, in a large, shared, sunny plot at the end of Morgan Road, at the south end of the island. We meet about once a month for work parties. Together we learn about this easy-to-grow, hardy crop, share the load of bed-preparation, seeding, weeding, mulching and harvesting, and enjoy some delicious garlic. We also explore various soil-building and composting techniques.
Membership
Annual membership is $30, which covers the cost of our seed and soil amendments. Each member gets garlic to take home; your participation level determines the size of your share of the harvest. A portion of the crop goes towards Food Program community meals as well as the food bank.
How do I join?
To get involved, send an email to galianofoodprograms@gmail.com, call 539.3389, or just show up at the next work party. No previous experience required.
Next work party
February 7, 10:30am.
We’ll be adding organic matter to the beds, so please bring any material you can contribute—seaweed, compost, nettle stalks, leaves, compost tea, ash, lime, manures, grass clippings, cardboard, newspaper, etc. are all welcome!
Please bring gloves and forks if possible.
