Reading week at the garden!

Hello and happy Friday! This reading week has come and gone so quickly, and I can’t believe it’s already the end of February, but things are starting to grow all around the city and spring is very nearly here!​
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​Even though this was reading week, it was still a busy week in the garden. Every new season brings new preparations to be done and new challenges to face, and spring is no different! The weather has been back and forth, teasing springtime and then bringing us back into winter, so a big challenge this month has been in getting our timing right. This week, Jack was busy planting spinach, radishes, carrots, parsnips, mustard, arugula, parsley, AND cilantro! To help make sure the things we’ve started planting will make it through the indecisive weather, Kate organized building some cold frames this week. Cold frames are bottomless boxes that are placed over plants in the garden to protect them from colder temperatures, kind of like a mini greenhouse. We made ours using scrap wood and sheets of plastic that we had around! 

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​Another seasonal preparation task that happened this week was pruning! Lyndsay and Anuinder spent a lot of time in the food forest, pruning our currant, blueberry, and goumi berry plants! Pruning is an important seasonal task; it helps keep our plants happy and healthy, increases their fruit production, and overall ensures long-term thriving of the food forest!
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​There were also a couple of events this week, both of which happened today, actually! First up was the Special Collections Garden Tour, which was a real treat! Heather from the McPherson Library’s Special Collections organized a mini-tour of garden-related items from the library archives. There were posters, zines, and lots and lots of books! We learned about native plants, the development of UVic, the history of food growing in Victoria, and so much more. We are definitely interested in doing another tour in the future, so keep an eye out if you missed this! 

​The other event today was our work party! The focus of today's work party was spring cleaning, involving a variety of tasks to help the garden prepare for springtime. The main task was cleaning up the pathway to the garden!

​I hope you all enjoyed your reading week, and have a wonderful weekend :)

Happy gardening,
Jessi