Tofino gardening in May

by Trina Mattson, Tofino

Spring gardening, what can you say about it, this year not so much. Is it just me or is every year so completely different that there is no way to prepare for our weather? It really was one minute getting a tan and peeling of the jacket, and the next, dodging the hail stones. And the confusion the plants must be going through putting out blossoms and growing, to having snow dumped on them, or a wind so chilly it actually sucked the moisture from the leaves, and the same thing happened last year, only early in the season, I think it was March. Watch for that wind, anything in a pot especially, if you look at some of your plants and notice the leaves starting to curl during or after that chilled wind, water, water, water, I know it sounds bizarre, especially if the ground seems moist, but it really does need moisture, or even wrapping the plant in a sheet of sorts, some plants will pull through, look crappy for a while, but some you will lose.

By now you should be feeding your pond fish, maybe not every day, but at least once a week, and as the weather warms up, more often. Keep in mind the pond temperature when you feed, if the pond is too cold, the food will not digest and sit in their stomach and rot. The hummingbirds are back, but most people have noticed, as they are hungry, and does there seem to be more than normal?

Bedding plant season is upon us, and it is time to plant your baskets and planters up, keep them sheltered for a while till the temperature raises to 10 degrees at night, putting bedding plants out too soon just stunts their growth, and they never really recover. May is still early enough to plant your summer bulbs, seeds for vegetables, herbs and flowers, lawns, and pretty much anything you want to put out. Water plants are starting to show some growth and need fertilizing to promote blossoms.

The re-in fashion garden project is vermiculture, or worm farms, it's a great way to compost without the rat and bear problem if done correctly. And worms will eat anything you can put into your composter, plus a few added treats, like cardboard, shredded newspaper and even dryer lint. They are easy to take care of; 1 lb of worms approx. 1000 will eat ? lb of food a day. They can consume what a family of 4 can compost in a week. It's a cool thing. You can either make your own, or buy premade worm factories. The added bonus of a manufactured product, at least as far as the ones we have for sale in the garden center, is they have a spigot on the bottom for draining the worm compost tea so you can use it as a fertilizer on your plants both indoors and out. The worms will make rich soil, faster than traditional compost, and it is organic of course. Plants love it! Using either red wigglers or dew worms are your best choice for rapid consumption, regular earth worms don't work.

The trend this year is grow your own, whatever it is you want to grow, especially in the vegetable, fruit and herb enthusiasts, nothing better than the flavour of home grown whatever. Better for you and better for the environment, less of a carbon foot print. Not having to buy products that are coming from further and yon.

For those that are interested, this year we are going to offer a hanging basket class at the garden center, if you are interested, let me know asap, as I am still ironing out the dates, time and cost. Also we are going to hold a class on composting, worm farms, and general organic growing. So if you are interested in this mini seminar please do call asap as well, so we can confirm the date.

Happy spring ?

Trina Mattson runs the Ordinary Corner Nursery in Tofino.