Apr 1, 2013

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot • I recently met my first Young Agrarian (YA) at a farmer-2-farmer conference on Vancouver Island. A Young Agrarian is self-described as someone who values food, farmers, nature and community and is intent on growing food sustainably. YA is partnered with FarmFolk CityFolk, a not-for-profit society that cultivates...

Mar 1, 2013

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot • Seed selection: To answer the question “What shall I grow?” ask yourself what you and your family most like to eat. It also makes sense to grow food that costs more to buy, especially when gardening space is an issue. Select varieties that will mature and produce in your garden’s microclimate. Soil: Most...

Feb 1, 2013

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot • For North America’s early colonists, the introduction of wheat, rye, oats, peas, cabbage and other vegetable crops was critical to their survival. In the 1850s, the US government recognized that feeding an expanding continent required a diversification of food seeds and seeds were sourced by way of horticultural seed...

Jan 1, 2013

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot • As a seed is capable of becoming a tree, all human beings are also capable of realizing their own full potential. In order for the seed to become a tree, it must be planted in the soil, underground, in the dark and almost forgotten. In relationship with the earth, the seed surrenders its separateness, its identity, its...

Dec 1, 2012

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot • On September 10, 1939, Canada joined World War II to fight against Germany. By the end of the war in 1945, one out of 10 (1.1 million) Canadian citizens would have served in military uniform and Canada would possess the fourth largest air force and the third largest naval surface fleet in the world. As...

Nov 1, 2012

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot • This year, a sharp decline in the bee population in my garden, eerily noted by the lack of the buzz of lively bees, made me quite concerned so I happily agreed to the installation of a Kenya top bar hive (Ktbh). In the process, I am learning about natural bee keeping. Top bars are “slats” to which bees attach and...

Oct 1, 2012

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot • If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make the change. – Michael Jackson, Man in the Mirror. Each morning, I start my day perched on a wooden milk stool at the door of my greenhouse. From this perspective, I survey the food garden and take time to contemplate what I see. Birds...

Sep 1, 2012

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot • When I grew up we had a saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” a reminder that it was healthy to eat fruit. Fast-forward to 2012 and the apple’s image as a healthy, natural food is about to be undermined, with “non-browning” GM apples next up on the list of biotech foods seeking approval. It seems...

Aug 1, 2012

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot • Nobody said growing your own food was easy and the way this year started out proved to be no exception. It was another long, cool spring, which we may as well get used to here on the West Coast, as this was the fourth year in a row of long, cool springs. It started out with bean weevils on the favas, one of the earliest...

Jul 1, 2012

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot We are so fortunate to live in a part of the world where we can grow a plethora of winter vegetables to harvest from October to May, a period when gardeners typically leave garden beds empty. You can either allocate garden space specifically for winter crops, or follow earlier crops of broad beans (favas), peas, lettuce,...