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Monday, June 7, 2010

I Have a Plot in Cottonwood Gardens!

I now have a plot at the Cottonwood Community Gardens here in Vancouver.  The gardens are located on the South-Eastern corner of Strathcona Park.  Oddly enough, another community garden known as 'Strathcona' is located about five minutes away and not in the park itself.  This had me confused for about two weeks but know I have everything figured out and have my own plot!
 It's only $10 for membership and then $5 per plot.  That's on $15 each year for water, compost, pots and the ability to grow whatever I want (within legal bounds of course).

I decided that the part of the plot nearest to the paths will be used for vegetables and the rest will be for decorative plants.  So far I've planted purple orach, leeks, tomatoes, pak choi, spinach and some rainbow chard.  The leeks could take up to 3 months but the growing season here is longer so I should be fine.  I've also ordered some stevia seeds which should be arriving within a week or so.

Today myself and James spent about three hours adding soil, edging with rocks that people had dug up, level the bed and planting.  We also dropped in our two Lantana plants.  They have barely grown since last fall.  We just dug them up, cut off their roots and jammed them in pots.  It's probably about time they get some good soil and room to grow.
Although I intend for the rest of the space to be for decoratives, I really some more tomatoes, zucchini, and strawberries.  We'll just have to see what the future holds and time permits.

We also saw this on the way home.  They have the most priceless store branding.  Look at the picture next to the store name.  WARNING:  Not for people without a sense of humour.  Oh Vancouver, how I love thee.

16 comments:

  1. Good luck with your patch! It's got to be nice finding dirt again!

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  2. Congrats on getting your own little patch of earth... I fully expect to see lots and lots of pics of plants in the near future.

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  3. That's good news! If your summer is going to be cool some other things that will work well are peas, broccoli & potatoes.

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  4. welcome to the gardens - and the 'hood. Hopefully we'll meet up one day soon.

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  5. Thanks! I'm excited to get going again. Potatoes are a great idea. They're so cheap though. Maybe I'll do it anyways.

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  6. Wow, you got a plot so quickly!!! Awesome! Looks like you are already on your way to a feast!

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  7. I know eh? Crazy fast. I guess my arrival was perfectly timed. I know someone in a satellite city that's been waiting two years at another garden.

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  8. Breasteses. Can you grow those in the garden? LOL I've been harvesting some of my crook neck squash and burpless cucumbers. I thought they were all burpless, as I've never heard a cucumber burp! I'm trying sweet potatoes this year. I've never grown them, and I had about 8 plants out in the garden now. Got some morning glories and candy cane zinnias growing, too.
    ~Randy

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  9. LOL. You're the only one to comment on that. I've never heard of a cucumber burp either. hmmmm....

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  10. Congrats on the new plot and I loved your store sign too. Ah, the Left Coast is all the way up there too and it feels good.

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  11. Congrats! It looks like a really nice one. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

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  12. @Thomas, my veggies are already sprouted (all but the tomatoes)!

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  13. So here in Santa Monica the wait time for plots in the community gardens is said to be as long as 10 years!

    I didn't bother signing up since I have a balcony and am not sure I will even be living here that long.

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  14. 10 Years? That CRAZY! They should do more to encourage new gardens.

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