Gardening In Canada

All of the photos in this post are pictures of my garden today. The above is a photo of my late summer strawberry patch. Strawberries are very easy to grow. In my patch I'm growing ever-bearing strawberries. They will produce 2-3 crops per year; one in late spring, summer, and fall. An interesting type to grow are day-neutrals, as they will produce berries constantly from summer through to fall. You'd want to keep them a distance away so they don't cross pollinate.

We had a very dry summer in Ontario, Canada this year. One way to prevent the soil from drying out is to lay out a thick layer of mulch around your strawberry plants. It will help keep weeds down and keep the soil a lot more moist. Strawberries also prefer slightly acidic soil, so they do well if planted with peat moss, which will also help maintain moisture - it should be planted under the mulch.

In Canada, it's so easy to grow berries. The above photo is my fall crop of raspberries. The are two main types of raspberry plants - summer and fall. In my experience, I prefer the summer raspberries over the fall, but by planting both it's a great way to extend your gardening season. We also have a ton of wild blackberries in the area, but I didn't get a chance to take some photos of them.

My favorite vegetable/leafy green to grow is Kale. The type above is Lacinato Kale (Dinosaur kale), it's a variety from Italy, but it's very hardy and does well in the Canadian climate. In the early spring, you can sow the seeds 3-4 weeks before the last frost date. As soon as the (baby) leaves are large enough you can start to harvest them. I harvest my kale plants all the way through late fall, even when there's snow on the ground. The first frost will actually tenderize the leaves and cause the leaves to actually taste sweeter. It's so hardy and easy to grow!

Kale and spinach are some of the most nutritious vegetables in the world. They are absolutely packed with vitamins and minerals that we need. Kale has a much stronger taste than spinach, so some people might prefer to grow spinach instead. Both are very easy to grow, but you'll have to plant spinach seeds several times through the season to have a continuous crop.

This last photo I think is of a pumpkin? I never planted any pumpkin seeds... but we do have a some chipmunks in the area. If anyone knows what this is, please let me know in the comment section :).

If you're located in Canada, and you'd like to purchase seeds, you can check out my store here at Seed Bank.