Good morning blueberries! We hope you had a lovely couple of weeks. We know we have as we have been VERY busy. We had to take a break from posting last week as we were in volunteer week where we provide labour for local organizations such as Whitehorse Food Bank and Freedom Trails. A quick update on the current status of our tower - we had to chat with some coworkers because we were finding that our softneck garlic was being braided in the tower. Although it looks pretty, it is not good for our little garlics as they grow. If you are growing at home, do not braid them prematurely please. Our Alien onion arms are growing successfully! Who-da-thunk-it!? Although not expecting this outcome, we are pleased to support our onions. A quick update on our little red mites who have taken over our vermicomposting bin. We tried the bread soaked in milk which worked initially, although didn't get rid of all of the mites. Now they are crawling up our participants legs - kidding! Right now we are trying watermelon and honeydew as a blog posting suggested, results TBD. Another effort was to remove some sprouts that were growing in the dirt in the chance that the mites might be attracted to those, as well. Ta-da! Our last resort, when it is warmer than -30C, will be to pick up some horticultural oil spray which was also suggested for getting rid of unwanted bugs. Speaking of bugs, we are still having some wandering fruit flies so will be trying to keep our eyes open, and our minds exploring, for additional trapping options. BOKASHI! Been doing very well so far. Our garden guru, Catheryne, found some strainers which are supposed to be placed at the bottom of the Bokashi buckets (pictured below) and may be the cause of some different colours found (red vs yellow). However, they are all fermenting... deliciously... Now the moment you have been waiting for! The winterized greenhouse has been emptied of the contaminated soil - 120-130 buckets later - and has now been filled with 9 bails of new sunshine mix #4 from Cliffside Greenhouse (pictured below). We have requested an additional 6 bags as the 9 we have already used do not quite fill the entire greenhouse. We will hopefully explore this more next week. Today we had a fun, surprise guest speaker. A local gardener in town had some awesome results following developing a solar collecting irrigation system for his own growing needs and we brought him in today to explain to us what he did! The end result of his growing project led to a 5 inch tomato from an 8 foot tall plant which was planted outside, in the ground, 1 month after ideal growing season. We can benefit from his information as the Yukon is undergoing MANY sustainability projects at this time - such as our garden tower! Great experience to connect with local innovators and share information. Thank you! Keep sprouting! We'll catch you next week!
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about usWe are part of the Employ Ability Skills Program with Challenge Disability Resource Group. We take part in a 12-week program that allows us to learn new skills and foster our interest in growing our own food organically. Archives
August 2017
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