A Winter Stroll

Although the temperatures are currently way above freezing, the cold and snow in November wreaked havoc with some plants, such as this previously thriving Brussels sprout plant in a boulevard garden.
However, right across the street, a nearby fence must have provided a different micro-climate. These Brussels sprouts did not freeze, and of course the hardy garlic is thriving.
This is the new front-yard garden, seen in my blog of May 22, 2010. It must be broccoli in the background. The pathways are obscured by leaves. Leaves may look messy, but they are an excellent ground cover during our soggy winter months.
This high raised bed with herbs on the boulevard isn't as striking as it was in the blog of September 23, 2010, but items can still be harvested.

It may be hard to see the leafless blueberry bush in this boulevard garden. It is mulched with cedar needles. Note the healthy parsley plant nearby.

I am featuring only one photo of kale, but it is in about everyone's garden. A couple of the kale plants seeded themselves outside the confines of this mixed veggie/ornamental front yard garden with a curved border along the sidewalk.

Now over to the garden of a retired librarian couple in my neighborhood. (For more on this garden see blog of October 6, 2009.) I don't usually take photos in back yard gardens, but they invited me to see this stunning January King cabbage that survived the cold in great style, unlike their more typical cabbages that turned to mush.

Going to their front yard garden, I found "Freckles" lettuce, trimmed asparagus stems, and leeks (note the pea plants used as ground cover behind the leeks).



Eating from a winter garden is definitely more thrilling than seeing photos of winter gardens. To avoid boring you further, I'm going to sign off until 2011, with this photo of a neighbour's new use for wire tomato cages:

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:

Vegetables Growing (?) in January

No, it's not a leek--it's a garlic, still alive after being covered by the heavy December snowfall. The size is small, so the five garlic plants can barely be seen in the next photo.


Mizuna and parsley are still alive but a little floppy in these raised beds in a south-facing corner lot. The next two photos show the "spinach lover's garden", now nearly snow-free. Note the raised rows mulched with finely chopped leaves. I wonder what will be planted there.

The "Intensive Front Garden plus Boulevard", the 2nd oldest entry in this blog, has kale emerging from the snow pile on the boulevard.
Thick fog for over a week prevented the snow from melting in their front garden despite its southern exposure. The tall Brussels sprouts probably escaped being completely covered by the snow. Note the handmade bamboo fence.
This leafy green vegetable appears to thrive in the snow. Does anyone know the name of it? It's the same plant as in the "Sunny Lane Garden".


The first dandelion of the season!! Found near the front of a house on West 16th Avenue.

Edible Landscaping on the 4000 Block of W. 31st Ave.

Lurking, almost unseen, are vegetables growing in at least four of the front yards of houses in the 4000 block of West 31st Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. Word has it that someone on the block has encouraged others to plant vegetables in their front yards.

The first garden features Swiss chard growing among native plants adjacent to the front sidewalk. Further back, in an unlikely shady location next to the northeast side of the house, the pole beans are finished for the season but the nasturtiums are still thriving.

In the second garden, Brussels sprouts grow next to a rhododendron. Earlier in the season there were tomatoes and cucumbers. The owners were in the vanguard many years ago when they removed the grass in the front and landscaped with rhododendrons, witch hazel, etc., but now they make more space for vegetables each year.

The third garden has Swiss chard growing near the house. There is potential on this sunny south-facing exposure to grow a variety of vegetables.


In this mulched fourth garden, the green onions would not be seen unless you knew they were there. (A reminder--clicking on the photos enlarges them.)

Since no one has transformed their entire front lawn to vegetables, these are small endeavours. However, taken together, can we see the beginning of a movement? Perhaps next season there will be larger areas devoted to vegetables and more neighbors joining in.

North-Facing Lane Garden

Situated on the opposite side of the lane of the previous lane garden, this one is growing vegetables an unlikely place, being challenged by the north shade. Nevertheless, Brussels sprouts have grown to a height of four feet in boxes on both sides of the garage. The black bin is for compost. Obviously, these gardeners are avid gardeners, probably with an extensive back yard garden, evidenced by how they utilize their back lane so successfully. November has been mild so far, not yet killing off the pesky aphids.