My Garden Is Embarrassing

But that’s going to change

This month has been busy. Crazy busy. So busy when I write ‘May on the Mountain’ it’ll need to be a 2-part post. Thanks for sticking it out with me when I don’t have time to write.

I watch everyone in the excitement of spring, starting seeds and with already flourishing greenhouses. When I tried to do the same in the past, I didn’t have the same results. My garden sucks. Even though this is my fifth spring here, it’s still unsuccessful for many reasons. Gardening at 5,000 feet in Canada is a steep order, but something I’m sure I’ll figure out. Eventually.

April 5th, still very cold

It’s Always Cold

Seed starting has been a real struggle. The altitude makes for frigid nights and spring hailstorms. It isn’t uncommon to see -5 at night in July and to wake up in the morning to wilted seedlings. The balance between cold and overheating myself in my tiny house is a tricky one. I strongly prefer not to have a fire going and prefer sleeping in the cold.

Soiled

This mountain was once mined for minerals. Clear-cut and scraped to the rock in search of gold and copper. Beneath the thin layer of topsoil is clay and rock. Digging fence posts and footings is challenging, and most domesticated plants can’t handle the thin soil. Thankfully the bunnies, chickens and goats are working hard to help build soil back up for the garden. Their manure is crucial for the hopeful success of future growth.

They are cute though..

Other Critters

I had a mildly successful garden the second summer here. That is, until the gophers decided to take over my yard. Those little buggers ate EVERYTHING. One time, I looked out my window as I was cooking dinner - spatula in hand, to see a gopher taking down my already dwarfed sunflower.
The nerve.
I put down the spatula, picked up the .22, swiftly dealt with the gopher and went back to cooking dinner. After I ate my dinner I discovered another one in its place eating the same sunflower.

Wild!

Being Cautious

The ecosystem here is wild. Although the land was used for mining a century ago, it was likely never used for farming. Since common farming-related pests haven’t been introduced, I want to be careful not to let them take hold. Bringing in foreign soil puts that at risk.
Another story;

When we lived in a townhouse Curt and I had an indoor greenhouse. We experimented with growing all kinds of things under synthetic light. Tomatoes, beans, peppers, and more.. it was awesome! Until we splurged and bought the ‘good soil’.

It looked excellent and rich as I put it into my little pots, I never expected it to be the demise of every tomato plant. After a couple of weeks, we noticed some fruit fly-type bugs in the greenhouse. We set some fruit fly traps and thought nothing of it. A couple more weeks and the tomatoes looked stunted.

Upon further investigation, the little bugs were NOT fruit flies, but ‘fungus gnats.’ They were eating the roots of our plants. Where did they come from? The fancy dirt. Apparently, they help to accelerate decomposition and get that dirt into the bags faster.
I never would have figured that out if we’d put it in an outdoor garden.

A New Greenhouse

The greenhouse on the roof worked well but had its flaws. It kept out vermin and caught warmth from the house. The biggest downside of it has been that when the wind catches it, it makes a racket. During really windy storms it practically roars. When the acrylic plastic walls disintegrated in the cold, we saw it as an opportunity to begin a new path.

Serendipitously, a few days ago our friends gave us three French-style doors. Excited to build a new greenhouse I dropped what I was doing and got started. The front walls will be repurposed windows and doors. The windows sat in the junk pile for 5 years, and seeing them finally used gives me an immense feeling of pride.

The roof will be vapour barrier. The plastic that keeps walls dry from within has proven to be the most durable and cost-effective material. The back wall will be painted white against the barn.

I already have a sunburn, but hope to be done in the next two days. Not only will it be functional, but it’s looking incredible! I’m excited to spend time in there, and up my gardening game.