Calgary Gardening Thread

[Chadillaccc]

My gardens apparently loved this recent cold snap. All of the pansies and other perennials are blooming like crazy

[Deepstar]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I've been harvesting epic amounts of raspberries this year. Up to about 6kg so far.

I've been pulling in huge amounts too, for whatever reason I didn't have many last year.

[Bigtime]

We had some great raspberry bushes next to our car port, sadly the flood last year wiped them out. They have been slowly growing back this year but did not produce any.

Our garden however has been pumping out greens like crazy:

-Kale
-Spinach
-Chard
-peas
-cucumbers

[Fuzz]

I've started pulling a few potatoes, and they are fantastic this year. Highly recommend white fleshed varieties, they do well here. Plus when they are fresh, you can chop them up and throw them right on a pan on the BBQ, no boiling required at all since they have so much moisture in them. They crisp up nicely and are generally awesome.

[Bigtime]

Good to know, we did plant potatoes this year too but I'm not sure which type.

[Innersoul1]

We have had epic amounts of:
-Arugula
-Lettuce
-Chard
-zucchini
-Parsley
-Beets

However, our peas have really struggled this year. As did our broccoli and cauliflower.

[Rusty van Reddick]

I don't get why this year was such a great one for veggies and berries and such- I'm hearing the same story over and over. Our apple tree, which grows apples that sadly are not great, was almost bare last year. Right now it's groaning with apples. Same as with my next door neighbour's crabapple tree. Even the dying plum tree in our yard, which we're going to have to chop down soon because almost half of it is dead, has maybe a dozen fruits this year when it's never produced more than two or three and most years produces zero.

But the purple clematis outside our bedroom window, which some years flowers so much it's like a purple cloud, has not opened a single one of its flowers and it's August 29. Last year we had a HUGE number of day lilies open up but this year only maybe five. So flowers did terribly but fruits all over the place.

[mersar]

Yep. Our apple tree has probably 200+ apples that are of tennis ball size on it, and half of them are starting to turn slightly red as well (I've had a few, the red ones are actually fairly sweet, the green ones are probably about the same as a granny smith). Looking forward to harvesting those, but we'll give it another week or two to let them ripen just a bit more.

[Allan83]

Would any of you green thumbed development types care to comment on this? Would one of these work in Ft. McMurray? Is there any waste heat from any of the plants up there that could be used?

The Next-Generation Greenhouse

...Not only do PPUs offer major savings in terms of resources and transportation; they are also not prohibitively expensive to build. Indeed, for something like $100 million, a partner could purchase the required land and construct a 500,000-square-foot (46,450 m2) PPU, with ten growing levels about five feet apart. (Operating costs depend, of course, on local water and electricity prices.)
The resulting farm would employ about 200 people for seeding, growing, harvesting, packaging, sales, logistics, maintenance, and management. And it would supply 50,000 people with a consistently high-quality seven-ounce (198.4 grams) daily requirement of fresh herbs, vegetables, and ground fruits like berries for at least ten years – all in less space that the average multi-story parking lot...

Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/com...hTVCsbffOal.99

More info here.
http://www.plantlab.nl/

See also:
• Video Link

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by Jimby

^ wow quite the growth! Is that Virginia creeper?

Yup, planted in 2002, so that's 12 years of growth from 5 plants.

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

If that's Virginia Creeper you'd better pray it never gets leafhoppers ... but how you'd manage that much growth, I don't even want to think about it, but you better had.

Actually it was hit hard in 2008 (I think). VCLH over winter in the grounds nears the plants, so that year we cleaned out all the leaf litter in the fall, and heavily watered with a diluted vinegar solution prior to freeze up. In the spring, the plants were heavily fertilized and just prior to bud out, and during the first 2-3 weeks of growth, the entire plant structure was sprayed daily with a vinegar mixture. Additionally we used lots of fly paper near the base of the plants after the thaw to collect as many as possible. Since then the infestation has been mild and decreasing yearly as the plants adjust and local predators do their bit. Glad we didn't lose the plants.

[CorporateWhore]

So I noticed these tall-grass looking plants that were installed by the parking lot of the Poppy Plaza building. Does anyone know what those are called? I thought they were pretty cool, and seemed like they could be pretty hardy. I was only driving by so I couldn't take a picture.

[Surrealplaces]

It's been an awesome year for growing. My tomato crop has been fantastic.....I picked most of these Saturday morning, which is only about a third of what I've already picked and probably only a quarter of what's still left (providing they make it through the next three days).

My spaghetti squash did well too. I managed to get a couple of dozen this summer.


Garden Haul by Surrealplaces, on Flickr

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by CorporateWhore

So I noticed these tall-grass looking plants that were installed by the parking lot of the Poppy Plaza building. Does anyone know what those are called? I thought they were pretty cool, and seemed like they could be pretty hardy. I was only driving by so I couldn't take a picture.

I noticed the same kind of shrub at the new City Operations centre at Rotary Park. I really like them.

[shogged]

Originally Posted by CorporateWhore

So I noticed these tall-grass looking plants that were installed by the parking lot of the Poppy Plaza building. Does anyone know what those are called? I thought they were pretty cool, and seemed like they could be pretty hardy. I was only driving by so I couldn't take a picture.

cant say for sure without a photo but its probably feather reed grass.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

It's been an awesome year for growing. My tomato crop has been fantastic.....I picked most of these Saturday morning, which is only about a third of what I've already picked and probably only a quarter of what's still left (providing they make it through the next three days).

My spaghetti squash did well too. I managed to get a couple of dozen this summer.


Garden Haul by Surrealplaces, on Flickr

Nice work! We pulled most of our stuff yesterday. Loads of potatoes and carrots! Looks like we are nearing the end...

[Spring2008]

Originally Posted by shogged

cant say for sure without a photo but its probably feather reed grass.

It seems like feather reed grass is becoming a much more popular landscaping choice around here lately.

[Chadillaccc]

Wow that's quite the crop, Kevin!

[RyLucky]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

It's been an awesome year for growing. My tomato crop has been fantastic.....I picked most of these Saturday morning, which is only about a third of what I've already picked and probably only a quarter of what's still left (providing they make it through the next three days).

My spaghetti squash did well too. I managed to get a couple of dozen this summer.


Garden Haul by Surrealplaces, on Flickr

Just in time!

The only thing growing in my garden is snow peas... without the peas.

[Fuzz]

I thought my snow peas were done, but checked them yesterday and saw a bunch of newish ones. I left them, so now there are probably really snow peas. Left the beats in the ground too, hope they are OK through this.

[mersar]

Beets should be. We're not planning on digging potatoes for another 2 weeks out at the farm, won't be the first time its snowed before we dig them.