At a Foodlands Cooperative staff meeting late last year we were reflecting on Spring as a season of renewal and fertility – and also of hope and optimism. We eventually got to talking about browsing seed catalogues and getting excited by all the seeds we’d like to plant this Spring. 
I’m a big tomato and pepper fan which comes somewhat from early memories of my Italian grandparents’ garden. It wasn’t a large garden but there always seemed to be tomatoes when we visited.
I’ve been on a multi year journey to find a perfect hot pepper — one that has heat but doesn’t destroy my mouth, that pickles and dries well. My current favourite is the Spicy Slice. For the last few years I’ve been trialing several varieties of paste tomatoes. I don’t have a lot of green house space for tomatoes so I’m looking for varieties that are very productive and ideally ripen at roughly the same time.
Out of curiousity, I reached out to Foodlands members and friends for stories about their gardening/farming adventures and anticipations. I received some charming stories from Jon Alcock of Sunshine Farms, Rob Diether from Horse Lake Community Farm Cooperative, former board member LoriAnn Bird, seed saver Pete Amyoony from Dunster BC, and Melanie Buffel from Abundance Community Farm Cooperative. Thank you all for sharing.
From Pete Amyoony, Dunster BC
Some of my first memories were of spending time with my Lebanese Father in his “Victory Garden” behind our store in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1943. I was “helping Daddy” to water the garden with my new watering can and eating way more than my share of radishes, carrots and fresh peas.
I continued spending time in the gardens this way until I headed West to British Columbia in 1963 to teach school in Burns Lake. It didn’t take long to realize that something was missing in my life so I bought a garden fork and cut out a small patch and planted the usual fresh veggies I loved so much. 
From then until now (well into my 85th year) I have always had a garden and greenhouse. I subscribed to Organic Gardening, Mother Earth News, and Harrowsmith magazines and learned about Heritage seeds and how to save them. Eventually I ended up collecting over 200 varieties of Heritage Tomatoes and started growing up to 30,000 bedding plants for sale each spring in my large greenhouse. I helped start two Farmers Markets, a Seedy Saturday, a Community Garden and I wrote a weekly garden column for 20 years. I always claim that it is my “Healthy Addiction”.
From Jon Alcock, Sunshine Farm
When we first moved to the farm in the autumn of 1987, we started with 10 sheep, 9 ewes and a ram, 10 wiener pigs, a few guinea fowl, (much to Sher’s chagrin) and a few laying hens from Valley Auction in Armstrong.
Obviously we were able to build a pretty good compost right away with all that manure and the huge biomass of spent and seeded weeds and left over hay stalk from the previous owner’s cattle.
The following spring I started some Riverside Sweet Spanish onions in flats on our back porch next to the windows. With a front tine hand rototiller I worked up a patch in what had been a calf pen.
The ground was a deep black luscious earth that almost looked like German chocolate cake. I remember almost tasting it because it looked so good. Within 10 days the tilled up ground looked like a lawn with the profusion of weeds which had germinated. I tilled the ‘garden’ again to keep the weeds at bay while I dealt with the lambs being born, the fencing which needed upgrading, the hauling of hay for the sheep, the processing of the wieners , now 240 lb pigs with the assistance of my ever helpful neighbour.
My onion transplants were looking great especially after feeding them with fish fertilizer. I finally got them planted into the calfpen in beautiful rich compost by the second week of April and kept them impeccably weeded until the end of September when I started to harvest 2-3 lb bulbs. They were a definite success and I have continued to grow these amazing beasts now for almost 40 years with the success they showed that first year. The seed is impossible to find as either organic or untreated but I continue to get it from Stokes as untreated. I have been able to produce some seed but it seems never enough to grow more than just my own bulbs. They are a staple in our kitchen and keep well into the spring.
From Rob Diether, Horse Lake Farm Cooperative
Successful tomato growing in our part of the province requires a greenhouse. The elevation at Horse Lake is officially 3250 feet and higher in much of the surrounding area. Nearby Lone Butte is the highest spot along the PGE/BC Rail/CN railway line between North Vancouver and Prince George. We have very few frost free days to work with. Besides tomatoes the greenhouse offers a safe environment for other tender crops including peppers, cucumbers and basil.
I use the greenhouse to first grow a crop of starter plants that I sell at the farm gate and at the farmers market in 100 Mile House. After the bedding plants sell, with some going to plant at the co-op garden, it’s time to plant tomatoes, cucumbers and pepper into the greenhouse beds. Late May and even into June. It makes for a short season. I do rely on some hybrid varieties which grow robustly and quickly. The main one being beefsteak, a couple cherry varieties and roma tomatoes all offered by William Dam Seeds. I grow at least a couple open pollinated varieties- notably Yellow Galina cherry tomatoes and a large beefheart variety called Grightmire Pride. I save seed from both the Grightmire and Yellow Galina. I’d like to experiment with more open pollinated varieties but there is only so much room in the greenhouse. I avoid planting too closelythe . I generally use two foot spacing and keep side growth (suckers) trimmed. However I don’t radically prune foliage. Tomatoes are such lovely plants I hate to see them hacked to pieces!
Soil in the beds: I work in composted manure each spring then supplement the plants during the growing season with fish fertilizer and an organic granular fertilizer along with powdered kelp for trace minerals. I use dolomite lime and crushed egg shells for calcium. I’ve had issues with blossom end rot which may be due to irregular watering. Something perhaps worth noting is that I use cardboard to cover the beds and plant the tomatoes and cucumbers through 6″ holes I cut in the cardboard. The original intention was to discourage the cats from using the beds as a litter box. However I found the practice also served to control weeds and retain water.
Another variety I love growing is the San Marzano. The very best ones I grew came from Stellar Seeds and I kick myself for not saving any seed! Maybe there’s someone out there that has saved some – please let me know!
From LoriAnn Bird, former Board Member
I get excited to share seeds at this time of the season. The stories and teachings that arise when we sit together. The responsibilities to cocreate a diverse ecoscape that supports our relatives, the plants, the water and all that exists.
Please remember to plant medicine plants like yarrow and St John’s wort for insects to find their medicine too. Sow the Native flowers of fireweed and pearly everlasting who will become seed and fed the overwintering birds.
A biodynamic calendar is a great guide when best to plant roots, leaves, flowers and fruit.
Sing your seeds awake, touch the earth, give thanks to the gifts waiting to arrive.
From Melanie Buffel,
Abundance Community Farm Cooperative
Our ethos at Abundance has been to use open pollinated varieties almost exclusively. In part due to our desire to have the option to keep viable seed stock and to support the natural genetic diversity of the heritage varieties.
I have always had great success with Red Acre Cabbage – it is a medium, densely packed red cabbage that is not prone to splitting and tastes great both fresh and fermented/pickled. We have also had consistent results with Amazing Cauliflower creating large bright white, well formed heads. We have grown Natalino Broccoli a few times over the years and when it has worked out the heads are a beautiful sight to behold – the spiral of green peaks is a marvel of natural architecture and the taste is wonderfully nutty, unlike any other brassica I have ever tasted. It is a dramatic crowd pleaser!
One lesser known variety I really enjoy growing and eating is the Pineapple Ground Cherry. It is a bit larger than the more commonly seen Aunt Mollies variety and has a delicious pineapple flavour. I snack on them fresh for weeks over the late summer/early fall and because it is so incredibly prolific I also make a delicious jam with it…turns out very seedy but the seeds are tiny so easy to consume.
In terms of tomatoes I love the Striped Roma. It is a beautiful looking paste tomato that makes for good fresh eating and fabulous canning.
All the best to you for the season ahead!
