In this Issue...
Have you noticed the days are getting longer? With spring around the corner, there is much to be done to get ready for planting. In this issue, Arlene guides you through the garden planning process in In Your Garden.
Also: The City is coming alive with pre-spring events, workshops, and job opportunities with the BUFCO Team. And, with the possibility of more snow, Marc has a few tips for dealing with it safely. We also hint at some big changes we have incubating.
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A Warm Welcome to Our New Subscribers
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| Calling all social (media) butterflies to follow BUFCO! |
We would like to welcome our many new subscribers into the extended BUFCO family. Feel free to invite your family, friends, colleagues and gardening companions to sign up! We hope you’ll also be following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, where you can share your gardening questions, stories, and photos.
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 In Your Garden
Winter is garden planning time. Seed catalogues fill our mailboxes, their bright and bold covers a welcome contrast to a white wall of snow, their new product list a feast for our gardening starved appetites. If you’re like me, you’re at your computer, credit card in hand, tempted by every new seed variety from arugula to zucchini. But experience has taught me to channel all that creative energy into putting it on paper before putting it on my Visa.
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| Garden Plan for success. |
Taking a thoughtful approach to planning your garden will help prevent impulse buys that lead to costly mistakes, wasted seed and time, over-spending, over-crowding and ultimately, disappointment.
Garden plans come in all shapes and sizes, anything from a rough, hand-drawn sketch of a garden bed against a fence to technical drawings of entire landscapes. No matter how simple or elaborate a design, the process of doing a garden plan is an important first step in achieving a successful and satisfying end result.
A garden plan will tell you where to plant, what and when to plant, how much to plant, exactly what to purchase, and tell you what you planted last year (unless this is your first garden plan).
So arm yourself with knowledge. You will need to know a little bit about what a productive vegetable garden needs to thrive; ample sun, healthy soil, quality seed and seedlings, the right amount of water and perhaps most important of all, love. Tending a garden is a relationship like any other. Better to start small and enjoy yourself rather than overcommit and feel burdened.
Learn how to assess your site to ensure that you are planting the right plant in the right place. No sense in forcing a sun loving crop like tomatoes to struggle in a shady backyard. Know your hardiness zone on which the entire garden schedule is based, including last and first frost dates, the length of your growing season, as well as when and what to plant. Expanding your knowledge to include the main vegetable plant families will help you understand the basics of crop rotation and companion planting, two very important practices in organic gardening.
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| Get to know the unique conditions of your garden. |
Once you have a sense of your big picture, make a list of what you and your family like to eat. It’s much more likely you will take good care of your favorite foods. Don’t plant kale if you hate it but think you should eat more. Consider incorporating colour and texture into your crop selection. A big part of gardening (and eating) is visual. Include herbs and edible flowers like pansies and nasturtiums to help brighten your garden and make it more fragrant, but it also to provide habitat for a diverse population of insects, butterflies and birds.
Having a plan doesn’t mean you’re confined to a predetermined box. Even the most impulsive and intuitive gardeners among us can benefit from having a simple plan that empowers us with the freedom to play.
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Marc's Tips in the Middle #1: Walking on Ice
Most people know intuitively to shorten their gait when walking on slippery slopes and slick sidewalks. It’s ok to look like waddling penguins in these circumstances. Keep your hands out of your pockets, which will naturally help you keep your balance. Keep your knees bent at least a little, which will lower your centre of gravity and help you maintain balance. A lot of people are using to cleats that slip easily over your shoes or boots. They have little metal spikes that bite into ice and make an enormous difference to your ability to stay on your feet.
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Pre-Spring Events for Urban Gardeners
Seedy Saturdays & Sundays
Seedy Saturdays and Sundays are a great place for adults and kids alike to trade seeds with other gardeners, purchase from quality seed savers and sellers, and attend workshops and lectures. Admission is free! Here are a few of the upcoming Seedy events in Toronto:
For a complete list of all Seedy events throughout Ontario, have a look here.
BUFCO will be at TBG Get the Jump on Spring Saturday, February 23 from 10am-3pm. At 11:30am, Arlene will be speaking on a panel hosted by Seed Voyage founder Dushan Batrovic along with author Steven Biggs, exploring many aspects of vegetable gardening.
We’ll also be at Evergreen Brickworks for their Seedy Sunday event on Sunday, March 17th, from 10am to 4pm, where we join a host of excellent vendors answering gardening questions and offering products and services. At 11am, in the newly renovated Kiln Room, Arlene will be leading a workshop on growing micro greens, the world’s healthiest food (said someone at some time). Micro green kits, complete with soil and seed, will be for sale at our booth.
Workshops @ Toronto Botanical Garden
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| Hands-on and months-on fun |
First up is a workshop at the Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) on Thursday February 21 at 6:30pm. Learn how to start your own vegetable seedlings indoors during this class that covers what seedlings to start and when, potting up, organic pest controls, indoor lighting, and much more. Sign up here. Hurry, space is limited and time is short!
Our three-session workshop on Urban Farming for Beginners has only a few spots left and is sure to sell out. Sign up here.
Canada Blooms 2019, March 8-17
Once again this year, BUFCO is very excited to be contributing to a Feature Garden at Canada Blooms. Feature Gardens are one of the main reasons people by the thousands visit Canada Blooms year after year, and the 2019 version will be as beautiful and engaging as ever. BUFCO is working with Come Alive Outside and Landscape Ontario with the creation of the Green Streets Play Zone, designed to highlight the physical and mental benefits of the diverse landscapes in our communities. BUFCO's contribution? Three raised garden beds, two of which are our new Wheelchair Accessible Raised Garden Beds, as well as family friendly workshops on starting seedlings. Marc and Arlene will host sessions at 10am and noon on Saturday March 9 and 16, and Sunday March 10, while knowledgable Canada Blooms volunteers will be on hand at other times. Hope to see you and the kids there!
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Marc's Tips in the Middle #2: Shoveling Snow
Injuries from broken bones due to slip-and-fall incidents to heart attacks from sudden over exertion, are not uncommon in winter wonderlands. When preparing to shovel snow, warm up with a good 10-minute stretching session, a walk around the block (cleats anyone?), or a spin on the stationary bike to get your muscles limber and your heart ready for more. Shovel smaller amounts more frequently – it’s easier to shovel three inches of snow three times throughout the day than it is to shovel nine inches all at once. Instead of lifting and tossing shovels full of snow, push it as far as you can before lifting it onto a pile. And do NOT twist. Lift with your knees and toss straight ahead.
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| This could be you! |
Work work work work work
Although it may seem far away, spring is just around the corner. In preparation for what promises to be an incredible season, we turn our attention to finding the very best, most talented candidates to join our team. If you love working outdoors, love plants, love eating, and love to learn and expand your career horizons, then you’ll be wanting to check out our job postings. Positions available include Gardener, Lend Hand Installer, Greenhouse and Farmer's Market Attendant, and strong-backed Labourers. You can find all our job postings on the BUFCO Careers page.
Please feel free to share these postings with anyone you feel might be interested and qualified.
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Marc's Tips in the Middle #3: Removing Ice
With our big-city winter patterns of freeze-thaw-freeze, conditions get icy fast. In the “olden
days”, we used heavy steel ice choppers, but society has generally become too lazy for that. There is no store-bought de-icer that is truly eco-friendly, despite their many claims. If you’re willing to make the effort, try this recipe for a low-sodium pickle brine and sugar beet juice. This page has a few other good ideas and insights. Whatever you use, please use it sparingly. Remember, you’re not trying to melt it all away, but rather to create some traction for walking, and helping to lift the ice off the surface below. A little de-icer goes a long way.
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10 years on, Good ol’ BUFCO, Exciting New Look.
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| Can you guess what??? |
This winter, we’re busy putting all our ducks in a row to get the 2019 season under way, and we’re excited to announce a new duck!
Coming very soon is our new look for The Backyard Urban Farm Company, in honour of our 10th Anniversary. Stand by for the big reveal next month!
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Give us a call!
Arlene at (647) 290-2572
Marc at (416) 450-3899
Email us at info@bufco.ca
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