Garden Bulbs on Sale.

This just came across in my emails this morning, and I couldn't help myself from sharing it with you.  400 bulbs for the garden on sale for $57.99 with shipping & handling included.  Apparently they are deer resistant (although you can never be sure).  Here's the link, with planting instructions :
http://www.costco.ca/Spring-blooming-Bulbs-Assortment.product.10352482.html

Of course, I'd still recommend hitting our local Gabriola nurseries with their fantastic knowledge, but if you're looking for a little supplement these might help.

Gabriola Home & Garden Tour 2009

Well hopefully everyone is enjoying watching their gardens grow and flourish with all the beautiful weather, even if you don't have a garden there's a unique opportunity to view some gardens that are rarely open to the public.

Gabriola's 11th annual Home & Garden Tour will be held this year on the 28th June 2009, there will be 9 private homes/gardens that will be open and two local nurseries, so you can go & shop after viewing all the inspiration of others.

Tickets are $20.00 and all proceeds go to People for a Healthy Community, right here on Gabriola and is their largest fundraiser of the year. It helps to support local programs such as our Emergency Food Depot, Violence Prevention porgrams, the Christmas Bureau, Social Soupls, Gardening Projects, and so much more.

The hand selected locations are carefully choosen to represent a variety of west-coast gardening &/or unique island homes, this year there are 5 new locations that have never been on the tour before, including culinary gardens, and everything from new to well established gardens. This fundraiser tries to showcase and give a glimpse of island life.

Make sure to get your tickets early for this popular event... Tickets are available at Artworks, Wheelbarrel Nursery & WildRose Garden Center her on the island. In Nanaimo at Dig This, Falconer Books & Carpe Diem, or you can hold tickets with a Visa or Mastercard by contacing Diana Mumford at #250-247-9092 or by email at: dmumford@shaw.ca .

(Also for the third year in a row, there will be the auction of a Sheila Norgate painting, which she so kindly donated for the use of our posters)! So bid big...

Visit the online website at: http://www.gabriolatour.islandbrowser.com

A Little Change....

We went for a little day trip yesterday to celebrate Mother’s Day, we decided to leave the Island for the morning and visit the garden stores near Coombs.

After the excursion to a couple of lovely nurseries, to pick up a beautiful hanging basket, we made an excursion to Qualicum. My Mother-in-law, who lives in the area, had told us about the change machine... It’s great - the kids poured the change they had saved onto a tray on the machine and watched through a little glass slot as it got sorted. It prints you out a receipt and you visit the teller to collect your bills.

The kids loved it and so did I, they had enough money to take me for a special DQ treat and buy a few more seeds for the garden, a nice change of scenery for the day.

Qualicum Beach is about a 40 minute drive from the Gabriola Ferry, if you'd like to visit the Quality Foods and cash in your change it's located at 705 Memorial Avenue. Submitted by: Tina LYNCH

Checking the neighborhood fridge.

It’s the perfect place, just a short two minute walk down a quiet street the kids run to see if there are any fresh veggies growing in Dennis’s road side stand on Thompson Road. If you’re interested in the 100 mile diet, look in your own neighborhood to see what might be available. Dennis supplies many happy customers with kale, strawberries, raspberries, cucumber, zucchini and fresh greens, just to mention a few. I’m always delighted to see a fresh bouquet of Dahlia’s from the stand sitting on my table, for about $4.00 it’s definitely worth the warmth they bring into a home or the smile on a friend’s face.

The other neighborhood fridge, is literally everyone in the neighborhoods, it’s great when you run out of your essential grocery items to knock on a door and arrange a trade for that much needed milk for your morning pancakes, rather than driving in your car to go to the grocery store. We enjoy when this happens and when our friends and neighbors end up making good neighbor cookies, a compilation of eggs from one neighbor, flour from another and chocolate chips from the family at the end of the street, the trade off for this is usually a few freshly baked cookies & time talking to the people that surround you.

Getting Rooted in Community…

In keeping with a tradition our family has started, and wanting to help share & create something for future generations on Gabriola, we have made a donation this year of the Blueberry plants to the Gabriola Commons, an organization committed to community service & sustainable living.

Next Saturday, October 25th after much planning and preparation by the volunteers of the Gabriola Commons, the Blueberries are going to be planted. If you have some time to spare between 9:30 and noon, we could use some extra hands (green thumbs or not) to help with the planting. For newcomers & long time residents this provides a great opportunity to help create something for future generations, as well an opportunity to meet some new people and get rooted in the community.

While there make sure to check out the Apple Orchard, the community garden, the new beautifully crafted cob fence, and the many upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

We look forward to seeing you there! Remember to bring some garden gloves & gum boots (in Gabriola fashion)…

Composting 101

Composting is a great way of reducing the amount of organic materials going into our landfills.
Not only can composting significantly reduce the amount of waste – compost can also be use to amend soil or as a soil conditioner, which returns valuable organic material to the soil.

When we moved from our “hobby farm” on Gabriola years ago, the first thing we did in our new home was to build a composter. With our challenging gardening conditions, we saw the great benefits of being able to add compost to our soil to improving soil structure, aeration & water retention.

Materials that can be composted include;
* Grass clippings (not wet) up to 6 cm deep
* Leaves (chopped to speed their breakdown) up to 15 cm deep
* Plants and weeds (without ripe seeds), shred weeds/trimmings
* Food scraps, fruit scraps, vegetable trimmings (small pieces/uncooked)
* Egg shells (crushed)
* Coffee grounds & filters
* Manure, straw/hay
* Shredded paper

The first step to composting is to decide whether to build a composter or purchase one. Gabriola is in the Regional District of Nanaimo, who has put together a list of local suppliers of composter which can be found online at: http://www.rdn.bc.ca/cms/wpattachments/wpID103atID889.pdf

Once you have your composter the next step is to place your composter in a sunny area with good drainage. Make sure that the location is convenient and accessible year round.

Turn soil where composter will be located. After placing composter, cover floor of it with layer of small branches – allowing for air movement and drainage. Alternate wet and dry waste. Adding some finished compost, or garden soil will help speed up the start of the composting process.

Have fun composting!

Tulipa commonly known as Tulips

My sister brought me the most beautiful boquet of tulips today, handpicked by my neice & nephew from their garden.

Gardening on Gabriola has it’s challenges, the deer tend to eat
everything (even the things they aren’t supposed to like!), water
conservation is a high priorty, the soil on the island tends to be full of rock, not to mention the rabbits & peacocks that have taken residence in some neighborhoods on the island.

If you have some soil, and a fenced in area, tulips are a great choice of flowers to grow, these early blooming bulbs, seem to thrive in the islands mild climate. They are easy to grow, and you don’t have to have gardening experience to plant the bulbs in the fall & watch in amazement as they grown in the garden in Spring. Tulips can also make a great gift by potting up the bulbs in a nice pot, or additionally then can make the most beautiful fresh cut flower arrangements.

I have two all time favorite types of tulips;
1) The double tulip – that has a full body, and reminds me of one of peonies. Mass plantings of these in the garden are especially attractive.
2) The fringed edge tulips – which has fringed petal edges. They make a beautiful focal point & are unusual and elegant.
One of the nicest pairings in the garden with tulips can be pansies which can offer a contrast in color & height.

I’m almost looking forward to the fall to introduce more plantings of more tulips into the garden!

The Humming Birds are Back!

Every April we eagerly await the return of our hummingbirds to Degnen Bay on Gabriola, yesterday we saw the first two return. To us it symboloizes a sure sign of Spring! So we quickly got out the hummingbird feeder and made up some nectar.

Directions: One part sugar to 4 parts water, you can boil the mixture to help it dissolve, although it’s not necessary. (There is no need to put red food coloring in the mixture!) At this time of year, the birds are not feeding as heavily, as well all of them have not yet returned, so we usually have extra syrup, the syrup can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks. In another couple of months, we’ll have to put up additional feeders as they go through the syrup in a matter of hours, and we want to ensure we keep them around.

There is little maintenance to do, however, it’s important that each time you re-fill make sure to rinse thoroughly with warm water, don’t use soapy water – the birds seem to be detracted by it. Once a month, it is necessary to clean the feeder, any easy way to do this is to soak it in a bleach/water solution for at least a ½ an hour and rinse thoroughly before re-filling it.

In my garden, I have also included some flowers that attract hummingbirds including; Bee Balm, Columbine, Foxgloves, Nasturtiums (I just spent the morning planting 750 seeds – hope there’s no more frost!) & a butterfly bush. I’m hoping the abundance of plant nectar & syrup will increase the buzz of these amazing creatures at our feeders! Just another spring pleasure here on Gabriola.