BC Farms & Food

Wondering how to grow a healthy garden in the face of weather extremes? Protect your plants using microclimates. Here are 13 easy ways to protect plants from wind, rain, cold, heat, and drought.

Cold frames protect vegetables from cold, wind, rain and frost, and extend the growing season.

Using Microclimates to Shelter Plants from Weather Extremes

Adapting your growing area to protect young plants from wind, rain, cold, heat, and drought is key to a successful garden. You can do this by creating microclimates—specially designed areas in your garden that offer protection from the elements, so that your plants can thrive.

Microclimates are small areas that have different growing conditions from the surrounding region. These spaces can shelter plants and seedlings that are not strong enough to survive weather extremes. For example, a microclimate such as a wind buffer or a sun trap (a space that captures heat and sunlight) can shelter plants from cold. In drought conditions, a cool microclimate, such as the area under a tree canopy or an umbrella, can shade the plants beneath it and retain water to minimize heat stress.

As climate change brings more weather extremes, it is more important than ever to build microclimates into your garden. The predictable weather patterns we knew and counted on are becoming unpredictable. One week the weather may be hot and sunny—perfect for tomato transplants. The next week a cold wind pushes over young plants and chills their roots. When you create microclimate shelter areas in your garden, you help plants not only survive, but flourish during unpredictable weather.

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A set of screens can simplify the task of cleaning barley seed.

Gardeners who save seed, or grow and harvest grains, know that separating seeds from their pods or husks can be a time-consuming job. While large industrial growers use machines to thresh and winnow seed crops, home seed savers can look to a number of simpler tools to accomplish the task. Once cleaned, seeds stored in moisture-proof containers can last for several years.

Here are six devices for separating seeds from debris and chaff:

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Kohlrabi is a fast-growing member of the cabbage family with an edible bulb.

With its tentacle-shaped leaves and green or purple bulbs, you might think it’s an alien life form. It is, in fact, kohlrabi, a cool-weather brassica that grows abundantly in South Coast British Columbia and provides a crisp, nutritious addition to salads and stir-frys.

Available in British Columbia from June to November, kohlrabi is named for the German kohl (cabbage) and rabi (turnip), which is more or less how it looks—somewhere between a cabbage and a turnip.
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RECIPE

Ripe tomatoes bring a sweet, sharp tang to this simple side dish. Broiled with virgin olive oil, white wine and parmesan, stuffed tomatoes are great as a vegetarian entrée or a side for grilled meat or fish.

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Beneficial insects can be a gardener’s best resource for protecting crops against destructive pests. Beneficials include pollinators, predators and parasites. By attracting a large enough population of helpful bugs to counteract plant damaging insects, you can keep your garden healthy using nature’s method of pest control. Planting flowers and herbs that build habitat for beneficial insects also helps make your garden resilient to climate change.

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White, pink or crimson Cosmos are advantageous flowers for the garden. Cosmos attracts pollinating insects as well as hover flies, parasitic wasps, lacewings and lady bugs.

Hyssop is one of the best plants for attracting pollinators like butterflies, bees and hover flies. Strong-scented hyssop repels white cabbage butterflies by masking the smell of brassicas nearby with its aroma. Related members of the Labiatae family, including mint, lemon balm, cat nip, pennyroyal are excellent attractors of tachinid flies, hover flies and parasitic wasps.

Dill and members of the Apiaceae family such as fennel, parsley, coriander, lovage, angelica and flowering carrots are powerful attractors of beneficial lady bugs, parasitic wasps, hover flies, tachinid flies, lacewings—all useful for controlling garden pests.

Yarrow is a good perennial for natural pest protection. The tiny yarrow flowers attract bees, aphid-eating lady bugs, hover flies and parasitic wasps.

Calendula (pot marigold) and other marigolds draw pollinating bees and butterflies to the garden. They also attract protective hover flies, lady bugs, and parasitic wasps. The older varieties of marigolds have stronger aromas. Calendula and French marigolds can repel nematodes.

Bee balm, bergamot, and other members of the Monarda genus attract pollinating insects such as bees, butterflies and hover flies, as well as hummingbirds.

Nasturtium, with its showy orange and yellow flowers, is an old garden standby known for its protective qualities. This bright flower attracts pollinators as well as pest-fighters.

Before you pull your weeds, consider— dandelions and other flowering weeds draw beneficial insects to the garden early in the spring before other flowers have a chance to bloom. Dandelions also provide early pollen to bees.

RECIPE

If you want to add more plant-based protein foods to your diet, green pea dip is a simple, nutritious choice. This fresh, light dip is an alternative to chickpea hummus, and is high in protein, minerals and vitamins.

Green pea dip makes a good appetizer or a lunch spread, and is a stand-out at dinner parties with its amazing bright colour.

You can make green pea dip with frozen peas, or with fresh shelled peas from the garden. If using fresh, it takes about three pounds of peas in the pod to produce three cups of shelled peas.

Peas, once out of their pods, begin to lose their natural sweetness and become more starchy. So, unless you use them just after shelling, they will lose some of their sweet flavour. Luckily, because frozen peas are quickly chilled just after shelling, they retain their natural sugars and work perfectly in this recipe.
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Study the weeds in your garden and you can learn a lot about the soil. Although we’ve been trained to regard weeds as a nuisance, they actually offer many benefits to gardeners and farmers. Not only can they tell you about the condition of your soil, but they can also add nutrients, minerals and humus to your growing area, serve as companion plants, and attract pollinators to the garden when other flowers are not yet in bloom.

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Is eating organic food better for your health? Does it have more nutrients than conventional food? A landmark analysis of organic vs. conventionally grown food provides answers.

No surprise, but good news. A comprehensive study from Newcastle University confirms that organic food is better for you and the world. Analyzing 343 studies on the differences between conventional and organic crops, the science team found that organic foods have more healthy antioxidants and have dramatically lower levels of toxic metals and pesticides than conventionally grown crops.
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By growing open-pollinated plants and saving seeds, you’ll always have enough for next year’s garden.

Seed shortages and rising food prices have generated huge demand for backyard gardens. Unfortunately for gardeners, this need collides with a rapidly consolidating seed industry. Dominated by a few global companies, seed corporations are determined to substitute patented seeds, which must be repurchased each year, for open-pollinated seeds, which gardeners can regrow indefinitely.

As gardeners, you can counter this trend by planting heirloom and open-pollinated varieties, and saving your seeds. This does more than simply save you the cost of buying new seeds each year—it builds diversity and resilience in the environment and our food supply.

Starting a Seed-Saving Garden

Starting a seed-saving garden is easy and depends on two things: 1) willingness to let your plants go to seed, rather than tidy up as soon as they bear fruit, and 2) choosing heirloom and open-pollinated varieties. Open-pollinated plants grow true to type, which means that (unlike hybrids) their seeds produce the same kind of plant as the parent. By selecting seeds from plants with the best flavour, size or other desired characteristics, you can create a garden most suited to your tastes and microclimate.
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A Guide to Local Foods in Season — November to March

It’s called the shoulder season — the cold months after the fall harvest and before the new planting season in spring. When you don’t see much growing outside, you may be wondering: What kind of local food is in season and available in winter?

During the cold season, fresh local farm crops consist mainly of hardy greens and root vegetables. Add in local food that has been stored, dried, frozen, processed, or is grown indoors, and there is a surprising range of available local food in winter.

Eating local food in season is a way you can reduce the carbon footprint of your diet and help curb climate change.

Slideshow: 10 Ways to Eat Local all Winter in South Coast BC

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Local winter vegetables are staples for winter slaws, braising, soups and stews. These hardy greens and root vegetables include arugula, beets, bok choy, chicory, Brussels sprouts, cabbage (above), carrots, kale, mache, mustard greens, parsnips, rutabagas and turnips.

Dried vegetables and fruits — especially dried beans and lentils — are basics for hearty soups and snacks. Dried foods from south coast BC (above) include: red lentils, white beans, kidney beans, dried cranberries, sun-dried tomatoes and Orca beans. Look for local dried beans, grains, fruits and vegetables from farmers and farm markets.

Sprouts may be the freshest food you can eat in winter (especially if you grow them in your own kitchen). Full of nutrients and enzymes, sprouts are available from many kinds of seeds, such as alfalfa, broccoli, mung beans (above), garbanzo beans. You can buy finished sprouts, or find seeds for sprouting in many grocery stores. A great boost to winter salads.

Microgreens, like sprouts, are tiny greens grown only until they open their first true leaves. These fresh greens bring an intense flavour and colour to salads and sandwiches. Microgreens grow from seeds such as arugula, broccoli, beets, cabbage chard, kale, basil, cilantro, radish, and mustard. Grow them indoors or look for microgreen farmers in your area.

Fresh winter herbs and leeks provide aromatic seasonings for cold weather cooking. Leeks, rosemary, thyme, parsley, winter savoury, chervil, sage, and bay leaves are available fresh during the cold winter months. Potted basil, a warm weather herb, will thrive all winter in a sunny window. Look for fresh and potted herbs in the produce section of grocery stores.

Frozen fruits and vegetables retain good taste and texture especially when preserved at peak season. Buy up or pick berries and other fresh produce in the summer to pack away for winter smoothies and cereal toppers. In winter, look for local frozen produce at farm markets, or direct from orchards and berry farmers who freeze extra fruit after the harvest.

Local preserves and canned goods come in many delicious and unusual combinations. Look for farmer preserved jams, jellies, pickled vegetables, chutneys, sauces, fruits, syrups, vinegars, honey and fermented foods. Locally preserved foods are available at farmers markets and food stores (or from your own pantry, if you like to can your own).

Mushrooms, foraged or locally grown indoors, are available year-round. Local edible varieties include: chanterelles, crimini (brown button), lobster mushrooms, morels, oyster mushrooms, portabellas, porcini, shiitake and white (button) mushrooms. Mushrooms add flavour to everything from pastas to meats, and stand out as a vegetarian main course.

Stored produce provides a stable supply of fruit and vegetables during the cold season. Kept in cool storage, many crops will last through the winter. Locally grown stored foods include apples, beets, garlic, onions, shallots, potatoes, rutabagas, winter squash, and turnips. In addition, local grains and nuts (hazelnuts and walnuts) are available throughout the winter.

Local meat, dairy and eggs are available throughout the winter. This includes poultry, beef, bison, pork, lamb and dairy products of all kinds. Pacific winter seafood and fish includes clams, cod, crab, flounder, mussels, oysters, scallops, and shrimp. Fresh wild-caught salmon is limited to summer season, but is available canned in winter.

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Chart to Local Winter Foods in South Coast BC

RECIPE

These scrumptious chayote chips are the perfect way to use chayote squash. A healthy snack food from an abundant fall vegetable.

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