Garden Share Bristol

Still time to sow some fall veggies ... Purple Top White Globe and Tokyo Cross turnips, Toy Choi and Giant Red Mustard

We harvested the garlic bed last week, added a full bin of compost and today transplanted brussels sprouts seedlings into the bed - they should do well with the lime provided by the plethorea of eggshells - if we can keep the slugs at bay!!

We also transplanted purple sprouting broccoli seedlings and did our last planting of pole beans with fingers crossed for a wonderful autumn .....

A perfect day for work in the garden ........

Harvested golden beets, arugula, spring onions, kale, chives ...

The spaghetti squash has taken off, the sunflowers are in bloom and the Sungold tomatoes will be showing some colour soon - summer at its finest

Astrantia major, masterwort

Hey gardeners! Here is something you may want to join in on, especially if you live on the Westside and are concerned about Food Security.


Building a Westside Kitchen Table: A Potluck Conversation about Your Connections with Food and Community

The Westside Food Security Collaborative and Kitsilano Neighbourhood House invite you to a vegetarian potluck (please bring a dish to share if you can) on August 3, 6-8 pm at the Neighbourhood House Hall, 2305 West 7th @ Vine. If you grow it, eat it, sell it, make it, serve it, throw it (or just plain love it) please join us. ...The evening will be an open space; come talk about what’s important to you about food on the west side with others who share your passion as we build a west side “kitchen table”. We will have graphic recording, a children’s table, and opportunities to learn about and get involved with the Westside Food Security Collaborative. All are welcome whether you work, play, study, volunteer, visit, or live in the west side.

Westside Food Security Collaborative: http://www.kitshouse.org/p​rograms/food-security/west​side-food-security-collabo​rative/

Kitsilano Neighbourhood House: http://www.kitshouse.org/

For more information please be in touch with Zsuzsi Fodor, Westside Food Security Collaborative Coordinator at zsuzsi.s.fodor@gmail.com or 778-855-0077


- marnie

Summer has finally arrived - and the plants are loving it ...

Our harvest today included lots of garlic, spring onion, potato, golden beets and kale.

The radish seed pods are growing plump and we have both cherry and roma tomatos set -

the sunflowers are amazing - and the dwarf plants should be flowering by next week.

We also discovered something new to us - a garlic bulb setting baby cloves up its stalk -

Also sowed more beets, green beans and a first sowing of watermelon radish - these should all make for a bountiful fall harvest along with our lacinato (dinosaur) kale

After one of the longest "springs" in memory - summer has finally decided to make an appearance!! Cucumber, frisee and parsnips have taken off - all trying to keep up with the sunflowers. We harvested some nice sized garlic bulbs and discovered a number of female blossoms on the spaggetti squash.

Crocosmia, Pot Marigold (Calendula) and another sunflower update. Calendula petals make a lovely addition to summer salads ....

Garlic will soon be ready to harvest, potatoes are taking over their bed and some lovely baby carrots were a taste treat. Parsnips, cucucmbers and golden frisee have sprouted and the sunflowers continue to stretch to the sky.

We have tomato blossoms! The cornflowers and larkspur add wonderful colour to the garden. Sunflowers are starting their climb to the sky - and the few summer turnips were harvested. The turnips were delicious and quick to mature - hopefully we can find more seed to sow again for a fall harvest.

Been away for a bit from posting - but time to catch up - here is the SPEC Cambie garden on June 19

Potatoes have a most beautiful blue flower, which should give us blue potatoes - and look at the snow pea blossoms ...... things are looking good mid June

Larix decidua

I'm off on vacation for a couple of weeks.  I'll be enjoying the cool, foggy coast and redwood forests of northern California. In the meantime, happy gardening!

Once my heart stopped pounding from the shock of almost stepping on this big fat guy, I grabbed my camera for a few quick shots.

a hornworm of some sort...

 As often happens, I couldn't really see the details of the beautiful color patterning on his skin until I downloaded the images onto my computer and gave them a good cropping.


The ideal mix of formal and informal rhythm that we often strive for in our garden designs.


If this were a fabric...

aaahhhhh! Hosta cool...

During the recent Wheat Ridge Garden Tour there was one plant in my garden that garnered the most curiosity and questions: Glaucium flavum, horned poppy.  Its alluring silvery-blue foliage and wanton orange flowers created quite a stir amongst my garden guests!

Sizzlin' silver foliage looks great all summer

Horned poppy is an import from western Europe that prefers light, sandy soil - it's become invasive in some coastal regions; it also goes by the name sea poppy.  It's a member of the poppy family, Papaveraceae, but is not of the genus Papaver, as are the more familiar oriental (P. orientale), alpine (P. alpinus) and Icelandic (P. nudicaule) poppies. (Our native, white flowering prickley poppies are of the genus Argemone.)

the new emerging foliage is quite "hairy"

Glaucium flavum is not a biennial, as I originally thought, but a short lived perennial. I let it go to seed in my garden and it jumps around from bed to bed.



A great accent plant for the xeric garden (if you can stand its flighty ways), it grows about 18 - 24 inches tall and flowers for several weeks from mid-June on. These plants are not widely available at garden centers, so best to grow them from seed, or beg one from a gardening friend (like I did!).  Then stand back, and enjoy the seduction of Glaucium flavum!