Alicia's Introduction

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Alicia
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue 04-Jan-2022, 21:59
Location: North Okanagan
Has thanked: 1 time

Hello!

I'm excited to join you all from the North Okanagan!

Prior to that our family of 5 lived in Chilliwack in a very small home with a very small yard and a very small garden. And I loved every minute of it. We always dreamed of having a bit more space and a few years ago that became reality with a move to the North Okanagan.

We moved the fall of 2019 and I decided I was going to wait a year to put in a garden as I needed to focus on the Haskap berries. The previous owners had planted 2 acres in 2017. We were now farmers!

Early 2020 I went to a local seed swap and heard a talk from a local farmer on no-till. It was the first I'd heard of it and was intrigued.
Then March 2020 hit. So much for waiting a year for the garden, it was going in now.

It was a great first year, we had a decent harvest, and learned a lot. Being Zone 6a, we have a much shorter (but more intense)? growing season. I was sad I couldn't put my tomatoes in the ground until June 1st last year and had to harvest a hundred pounds of green tomatoes late Sept. this year. The weeds in the Okanagan are much worse than the Fraser Valley! Even with no till, I'm constantly fighting quack grass and with the heat wave this past year the thistles and burdock exploded. I ended up having to use some black plastic to cover sections that were really bad. I didn't want to but I was at the end of my rope with weeds. I will admit 2021 was better in the weed department so I do have hope that every year will get better.

I'm so excited about every aspect of this course. I know I could be doing a much better job of feeding the soil. I've practiced covering the ground each fall but we have never established a good composting system so that I'm looking forward to. I also have dreams of a garden space that is more aesthetically pleasing, adding a sitting area, a small greenhouse and more fruit and nut trees. And less weeds. Food security is important to me and I'm excited to grow and learn how to better nourish our family and share that knowledge with our kids and beyond.

Alicia
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