Hello from South Okanagan BC

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Glaikit Gecko
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Joined: Sun 02-Jan-2022, 10:44

My name is Julia and I have been gardening organically for over 40 years; almost all of it in the Interior region. My husband and I are retired and moved to a small lot in Oliver 5 years ago (not big enough for all the things I want to grow!). We built a house and cleared the land. We grow grapes and raspberries along the fence lines and veggies/beneficial flowers in 6 raised beds. We put in drip irrigation. The herb garden is in the front and I’ve been experimenting with different veggies (sweet potatoes were great last year!) and flowers in containers on our small front patio.

Locally we have a Harvest Hut where you can donate extra produce and pick up for free anything you don’t have. Anyone in the community can pick up regardless of whether or not they donate so provides some food security to the community. I regularly donate extra produce as well as giving to friends and neighbours.

We have a seasonal vacation rental suite and share our produce with our guests.

We also have challenges with deer; so far the fence we put up last spring has kept them out. I’ve learned I have to share 50% of my leafy produce with the quail.

Many years ago I used to put the kitchen and garden waste directly into trenches in the garden which worked great until the bears discovered what I was doing. I am looking forward to learning the newer ways of no tilling, gardening and best practices of composting so I can increase the amount of available compost. Last season a friend let me use part of their new greenhouse which was a whole new learning experience for both of us.

Climate change is definitely a reality; the heat dome (47C here) shocked all the garden and now with record cold this winter, I’m hoping to have some ideas other than mulching and shade cloths to help.

I believe you can always learn more and am looking forward to learning from everyone.
Danoost
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Thanks for joining, Julia!
I'd love to introduce sweet potatoes to more gardeners and I'm glad to hear you've been successful. They're easy to grow in most regions with short, hot summers. Consider sharing your sweet potato tips in the forum under that topic.
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CoastRichard
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Hi Julia, would love to learn from you on growing sweet potatoes. On a whim, saw some starters so tried last year here on the Sunshine Coast. produced lots of greens but no potatoes. Likely a few newbie mistakes - zone, variety, soil type, ....
Glaikit Gecko
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Joined: Sun 02-Jan-2022, 10:44

Growing sweet potatoes was initially a lot of work. I bought a couple of organic sweet potatoes from the grocery store. The standard orange one and a Jamaican variety. I put each of them pointed side down into a large glass of water propped up with 3 toothpicks so 1/2 of the potato was above the water and changed the water every few days. After about 4-6 weeks there were fresh green slips. When they reached about 6", I pinched them off and put in another glass of water to grow roots which took a couple of weeks. The potatoes continued to grow slips. By this time the slips needed planting but it was only beginning of April and still too cold outside so I planted four of them in containers and pots and put in a south facing room. You remove the bottom few leaves when you plant and I added some compost to the bottom of the planting hole. At the beginning of May I put two out on our sunny west facing patio on 12C+ days to acclimatize - they came in at night. The other two went into a friend's greenhouse in containers. By the third week of May I could leave them out up against the warmth of the house and by June, further out on the patio. I watered as soon as the top 1-2" of soil got dry. The plants grew enormous amounts of green vine; the leaves are edible although tough unless picked young. In late September/early October as the night temps went below 10C the plants started to die. When I dug them up, the orange variety had medium to large tubers while the Jamaican variety had only a few small pencil size ones. The ones in the greenhouse were exactly the same so I think the growing season is not long enough for the Jamaican variety to mature or maybe they needed more water. I left the tubers in the garage for about 3 weeks to fully dry and cure before storing.
This year I am going to try starting the slips by cutting the potato and placing cut side down in some soil to shorten the time to slip growth.
jack oostenbrink
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Glaikit Gecko wrote: Mon 03-Jan-2022, 09:02
Locally we have a Harvest Hut where you can donate extra produce and pick up for free anything you don’t have. Anyone in the community can pick up regardless of whether or not they donate so provides some food security to the community. I regularly donate extra produce as well as giving to friends and neighbours.
Julia, I am intrigued by the Harvest Hut idea. Is this a community initiative, and do you have any advice or tips for our gardening club members if they would like to start something like this?
Alicia
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Location: North Okanagan
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We are in the North Okanagan and have a Harvest Hut too. I think it's run by the local food bank?
jack oostenbrink wrote: Tue 04-Jan-2022, 21:07
Glaikit Gecko wrote: Mon 03-Jan-2022, 09:02
Locally we have a Harvest Hut where you can donate extra produce and pick up for free anything you don’t have. Anyone in the community can pick up regardless of whether or not they donate so provides some food security to the community. I regularly donate extra produce as well as giving to friends and neighbours.
Julia, I am intrigued by the Harvest Hut idea. Is this a community initiative, and do you have any advice or tips for our gardening club members if they would like to start something like this?
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Andrew
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My wife and I frequently visit Oliver and actively work with some wineries in the region. Would love some info on your rental suite, could you send me a private message? Welcome to the course!
Glaikit Gecko
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The Harvest Hut in Oliver is one of the initiatives of the Food Secure Oliver Plan. Details can be found on the Town of Oliver website. I think this was probably a province wide sponsored initiative? The local businesses also plant veggies in planter boxes outside their businesses. Pretty and delicious.
Michelle Dargatz
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Hi Julia, I love the Harvest Hut idea! I'd also like to have some info on your rental suite as the hubs and I like the Oliver/Osoyoos area. Also, I'd LOVE to learn about sweet potato slips. I did try the glass of water last year, but it just went moldy. Hmmm...does that need to start now?
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