Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A Walk on 31st Avenue

The marine cloud cover did not lift until noon on the mid-September day when I took a walk on the block where I live on, checking for edibles in each front yard. In my own I found Swiss chard, the ever-present kale, sprouting broccoli, lettuce, and coriander gone to seed.

The next door neighbors get extra points because their two edible plants are also native plants. But they didn't plant them--likely a bird dropped salmonberry seeds.

Growing on further down the street is another salmonberry bush that has sprouted in a boulevard display. It's great to see these native plants.

Across the street are the healthiest Brussels sprouts that I've ever seen. Seeing them, I'm fairly certain that my two disease-ridden plants are losers.

The garden with the Brussels sprouts faces south; this next photo shows the left side. The garden is L-shaped, along the front of the house and west border. It includes a peach tree and an apple tree, along with tomatoes and more Brussels sprouts.


Not to be outdone, the next neighbor also has healthy Brussels sprouts and tomatoes. The cucumber plant has been producing since before Canada Day.


Back across the street, these gardeners have zucchini near the sidewalk and scarlet runners near their house, similar to their last year's planting.


New this year is this gardener's attempt to grow a cucumber on the boulevard, using a tiny decorative trellis.

An eclectic combination is growing on the boulevard--next to the bush is a potato plant and a tomato plant. Judging by the size of the tomato plant, it could be a "volunteer".

Arriving at Crown Street, I decided to check out the next block. It does not have as many adventurous veggie gardens in front yards, but there were two interesting places to see. This unconventional front yard has an apple tree.

But it also has a pear tree, with lots of pears!

Directly across the street is a vegetable garden that is easy to miss because it is situated in a corner next to the house and almost hidden by a boxwood hedge along the angled sidewalk. It is a fairly productive plot, with more of those Brussels sprouts! Can you see the eggplant?

Arriving at Wallace Street, I noticed a raspberry hedge, reigned in by a simple bamboo fence, in a side yard.

Returning home through the lane on the north side of 31st Avenue I came across a back fence with several hand-painted metal signs with sayings about gardening. This is one:

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Paved Lanes & Growing Vegetables

Do you find the next two photos interesting? In Vancouver, it is legal to pave the lanes from fence to fence, limiting potential green space and providing what is a rather drab and sterile scene.


In a lane behind West King Edward Avenue, these gardeners have "taken back" their lane that is paved edge to edge, and they have created an attractive and productive space for vegetables.



However, the garden structures attracted the attention of the City, and the owners received a letter from the engineering services department asking them to remove the boxes. There is a tongue-in-cheek article in the July 31 Vancouver Courier and a letter to the editor in a later issue.

There are many "lane gardens" in Vancouver, with smaller or no structures, particularly on lanes paved only down the middle. Here is a typical one that has been going for some years, producing raspberries, zucchini, a cabbage, and more.