Winter Vegetables

After returning from a week in the mid-west U.S. (OH/IN/PA), I realize why no one believes that vegetables can grow over the winter in Vancouver. It's not California here, but we can eat some things, mostly greens, from our gardens. On January 30, I spotted beets and what I think is arugula in the front yard garden that is growing veggies to sell:

The same day, I saw chard and kale in this front-yard garden.
On February 5, I spotted this plot near a sidewalk--perhaps these red-leaved plants are edible.
The raised beds in this front-yard garden have the ubiquitous kale, plus garlic. Note that the residents are expanding with two more raised beds to the left and to the rear. Photo taken on February 14.
Looking like a logged-over forest, this plot of kale plant stems was spotted on February 21:
Darkness descended on February 21, so I had to use a flash to get this photo of the lane garden that got into trouble with the city government because the garden encroached onto the lane. Everything got resolved, and growing continues. See blog of September 2, 2009.
If you're not too tired of seeing kale...here are the two popular varieties, the Russian Red in the foreground and Lacinato in the background, on February 28.
Here is what happens when you don't eat the Lacinato kale! Seen in a southern exposed front yard on March 7.
Here is what happens when you forget to dig up garlic, seen on March 29.
Also on March 29, I saw this Swiss chard plant; unlike kale, not all Swiss chard plants survived the Vancouver winter.
Broccoli in March? Yes, this is purple sprouting broccoli, a nice change from all that kale!
A salmon berry bush, a native plant, growing in a boulevard garden cheers passers-by with its sparse but lovely blooms.

Creating a Boulevard Garden

Changes began to to the western end of 31st Avenue on February 8 when the the grass along the sidewalk and curb was dug out. Some of the dug-up sod was placed upside down in the middle to form a slightly raised bed. Cardboard was sourced in a nearby alley and placed over the site in order to discourage the grass from growing. A few leaves were scrounged to partially camouflage the cardboard and to provide additional organic matter. The area awaited the next dramatic phase.




On February 11, a city truck delivered a hot and steamy load of their compost to the block; one-half of it was dumped here.


Over the following weekend, the next door neighbours decided to create a boulevard garden, too.

Now there is a great big blank slate!

The Shadow of a Garden

Here are two quotes from Joe Eck's and Wayne Winterrowd's, Our Life in Gardens, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009:

"In the end, you cannot separate a mature garden from mortality, for on even the most casual stroll through it you are reminded of your own, in a tree grown to maturity or even a patch of snowdrops multiplied from one bulb into a hundred. One can learn to accept the fact that one's own demise and the demise of one's garden may be approximately simultaneous. Actually, that is our greatest hope, for it won't be at all pleasant to see the garden go before we are ready to. But great gardeners we have known have told us that you can get used even to that idea. We are working on it." (p. 277)

"...gardens always depend on the constant care and the vigilance of their creators. After that, they are shadows." (p. 312)

I began this blog in the fall of 2008 with the first front yard vegetable garden that I had seen in the west side of Vancouver. The garden was prolific and, with its substantial wall, resembled a Mediterranean locale. These two photos are from October 2008:



In May 2009, wooden stakes were ready for the tomatoes on the left and beans on the right. The winter cover crop was not yet entirely turned under. Peppers, planted in black plastic pots, were given a hot spot to grow on the wall.



Walking by in December 2009 and January 2010, I began to wonder about the gardener since the garden looked too empty.


In February, upon inquiring of some people on a nearby sidewalk, I found out from a teenager with a skateboard that the man who gardened there had gotten very ill and passed away. The teenager said that the gardener had insisted on using sheep manure as the best kind. Someone else said that the gardener had given vegetables to him. What a loss, of both this expert gardener and highly productive garden plot; both have no doubt inspired many people long before front yard vegetable gardens became so popular in urban areas.