Plant winter salad greens

I love having fresh lettuce on hand in my garden during summer. Now that fall is here it’s time to plant some hardy winter greens that I can use in my salads this winter. This year I’m trying two new greens. The first is Miner’s lettuce which is native to the area. Its heart shaped leaves (see picture) have a fresh taste. Miner’s lettuce should be direct seeded in early fall. Apparently it does not transplant well.

Miner's Lettuce

The second green is Ox-eye daisy, or the common daisy that grows by the side of the road, in BC, as well as all over Europe, Australia and the US. Apparently the ox-eye is considered a noxious weed by BC agriculture because if cows eat it their milk takes on a bitter taste. The leaves of the ox-eye daisy can be eaten in winter when the plant is not flowering. The leaves have a bitter taste so generally you would want to use them to accompany other more subtle tasting salad greens. You can buy seeds for these salad greens from Sooke Harbour House Garden ($5.95 for 200 seeds).

Plant sale and gardening workshop 26 May

Plant sale and Gardening workshop- Tips for a successful garden Workshop 10:00-11:30 Plant Sale 11:30-12:30 Fee will include workshop and some plants for your garden. Workshop will cover: – Site preparation – tips to help your plants thrive – Crop rotation – Sheet compost gardening techniques – What to plant and when – guidelines for our local area Participants receive 1.5 hour of instruction on gardening tips and techniques as well as several packs of vegetables and flowers that will be ready to plant. Hardy vegetable and flowers ready to go in the ground will be sold at the end of class, including: kales, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, squash, leeks, chard, flowers. WHEN: Saturday, May 23 10:00AM – 11:30 WHERE: Fernwood Community Center 1240 Gladstone Avenue COST: $20 PRESENTED BY: Amy Crook certified Master Gardener in conjunction with LifeCycles Fruit Tree project coordinator Renate Nahser-Ringer Workshop helps support LifeCycles Fruit Tree Project. PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED as space is limited. Please contact fruittree@lifecyclesproject.ca or 250-479-5475 for more information and/or to register for workshops.

Sustainable Home and Garden Series Saturdays 2pm to 4pm

Sustainable Home and Garden Series Saturdays 2pm to 4pm

The Greater Victoria Compost Education centre offers low cost gardening courses. If you are a member of the compost Club Members your first two courses are free and additional workshops are $10. For non members the cost is $15. Pre-registration is required.

The next course on 23 May is on growing tomatoes. The following two weeks the course is on winter veggie gardening. For full details seehttp://www.compost.bc.ca/learn/communityeducation.htm

Compost education centre 6th Annual Organic Plant Sale

It’s hard to say that things have been slowly warming up here in Victoria. The weather has been very capricious. Despite this people are heading back out to their gardens and there are an increasing number of garden and plant sales around town. This May the compost education centre is holding an organic plant swap/sale. Details on their website tell us:

Our 6th Annual Organic Plant Sale will be taking place on Saturday May 9th from 10am-1pm. This year’s event is shaping up to be our biggest and most exciting plant sale yet. We are offering free workshops on soil health, growing tomatoes and a culinary education course with local food educators Terralicious. In addition to this great complimentary education we will have live music to keep our plant sale vendors and visitors entertained. Another very fantastic addition to this year’s event is the Fernwood Coffee Company. They will have a booth set up for visitors to enjoy coffee and treats while everyone is busily planning out their garden!

details: http://www.compost.bc.ca/newsandevents/newsandevents.htm

UVic Plant sale Sunday, May 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m

Another plant sale! The UVic website says:

UVic Plant Sale, Finnerty Garden Tours in May This year’s edition of the ever-popular University of Victoria Plant Sale in support of Finnerty Gardens will be on Sunday, May 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the university’s McKinnon Gym. The following week, on Mother’s Day, special guided tours of the gardens will be offered. Organized by the Finnerty Garden Friends, the UVic Plant Sale—now in its 32nd year—will include almost everything for the spring garden: alpines, annuals, hanging baskets, shrubs, trees, vegetables and a lot more. There will also be a kids’ section and a silent auction. It’s best to arrive early to take advantage of the selection. Shopping carts will be available but shoppers are advised to bring along a carrying box or two for their purchases. Visa, Mastercard and debit cards will be accepted. Net proceeds from the sale support Finnerty Gardens at the University of Victoria. The gardens feature numerous heritage rhododendrons among more than 500 rhodo species, hybrids and an array of companion plants. All are artistically displayed along pathways that wind through the 2.6 hectare woodland site. April and May are when the rhodo blooms reach their peak. On May 13, Mother’s Day, visitors can get a free guided tour of the site courtesy of the Finnerty Garden Friends. The tours will be offered between 1 and 4 p.m., starting from the entrance to the Interfaith Chapel (with free parking in campus parking lot six). Coffee, tea and light refreshments will be available. The Finnerty Gardens are open all year, free of charge. Primarily through proceeds from the annual plant sale, about 300 volunteer members of the Finnerty Garden Friends help to finance and guide the development of the gardens.

Native plant sale April 18/9

Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary is having their annual native plant sale on April 18/9th from 10am-3pm.

Details:

www.swanlake.bc.ca/plantsale.htm

The location this year is very small but there is still a good range of plants. There are master gardeners on hand to give you advice about what to plant. And when you’ve picked out your plants you can enjoy a yummy Saskatoon berry pie and good organic coffee.

Seedy saturday: seed and garden show Sat 21 Feb

The James Bay community market is hosting a annual seed and garden show. There will be guest speakers, a seed swap and more. Check out all the details at:

http://www.jamesbaymarket.com/seedysaturday/seedy_saturday.htm