2009 Year In Review
Update from Alan

The pictures below were taken in the nursery garden on Wednesday morning. Surprising how mulch and a bit of snow can make everything look tidy and under control. The last picture is of all the mud and slop that was the west end of Block D when work started last April.





Having a long warm November to make up the beds, and having mulch to spread made all the difference. Each bed took a truckload and a bit of straw so it’s easy to see how many trips John and Sandra made to and from the arena to get this much done. Thanks to the efforts of all those who kept showing up and putting in hours through the fall, the 2010 intake should have a much easier time come spring.

Talking of hours and the summery in Update #26, it should be remembered that we only record in-garden hours. The time that Dick spends maintaining the web site; that Margaret burns relieving me of paperwork; or that John spent in my greenhouse - sorting through trays of rotted and/or desiccated dahlia tubers and potting everything that seemed to have a spark of life left in it - is all in addition.

For the first time in three years, PTG has ended up with a positive financial balance. The cost of the ill fated booth for the 2007 fall fair has now been recovered and there is a small surplus.

Last summer ranked the 12th coldest and 6th wettest in 62 years - Hamilton saw one of the wettest hours in Canadian history when 100mm fell in 90 minutes - but, despite the cool days and cold nights, the nursery garden did manage a record output. Not an American ‘short ton’ (2,000lbs) not a metric tonne (2,200 lbs) but a good old Imperial ‘long ton’ 2240 pounds of vegetables. Not bad considering that late blight took out the entire tomato crop - which averaged around 350 pounds over the past couple of years.

What saved the day were the onions - two flats of seedlings donated by Ian Armstrong Landscaping - and the 10 beds of potatoes which all matured just before the blight struck. Although many people contributed to the potato harvest, especial credit has to go to Chuck for his dogged war of attrition against the Colorado beetles. Every morning, week after week, Chuck was in the potato patch hand picking adults, larvae, and eggs. It was the first year that there was no second generation of adults; Chuck drowned all the offspring and squished every last egg.

Phyllis introduced leeks, broccoli and Brussels sprouts to the garden. The leeks did well, with minimal attention, and we should plant at least a full bed in 2010. The broccoli produced several pickings, but we really need someone to teach us how to grow brussels productively. The no name garlic - originally introduced by Tony - did well and a new bed was planted in October. Margaret has donated five named garlic varieties. These will be grown on for a couple of years to build up stock. They increase 7 - 10 times per growing season and one bed will hold about 250 plants.

In 2009 we planted twelve potato cultivars, twenty-six dahlia cultivars and fifteen sorts of tomato for general use and comparison. This year I’m thinking of adding sweetpotatoes as a crop and several cultivars of canna for multiplying. There is a mail order supplier in New Brunswick which ships ‘short season’ sweetpotato slips. Cultivation seems to be quite labour intensive, at least initially, so it will be a learning experience for all concerned. Cannas on the other hand are pretty straight forward and they grow well for us. It’s just that the two sorts we’ve presently got are little more than weeds and we should be growing decent display material.

2010 classes start next Saturday. As a bribe for attendees, there will be quantities of all the fancy potatoes which we grew as well as the usual garlic sables and pumpkin cookies (recipes can be found under Recipes at the side) - our garlic and pumpkin of course.

High Temperature:
Actual: -5°C cloudy flurries 1.30cm Wind WNW20km/h P.O.P.57%
Average: -1°C
Record: 9°C in 2007

Low Temperature:
Actual: -14°C cloudy Wind NNW27km/h P.O.P.40%
Average: -9°C
Record: -21°C in 1968