Chinese Leaf Garlic

   On the way home from a walk last night, Mom popped into a community garden in the area to look around.  It's large and literally just a block away from the apartment, but has a 3 year waiting list.  She chatted with a man who was tending his plot there and told him about my garden in northern BC...and of my attempts to get a plot while I'm here in Halifax for a time.  He gave her something out of his plot to bring back to the apartment: Chinese Leaf Garlic.  (Also called, "Chinese Chives", "Chinese Leeks", I gather.)  I'd never heard of it before!  It has a strong taste and will be nice in soups and salads.  I hope to run into that fellow this summer so I can thank him for his thoughtfulness.  It will be fun to see what the community garden members have growing over there, too.

Early May in NS and BC

   It's a chilly, damp 11 degrees C at 2:45pm here in Halifax.  We've had a string of cool, overcast days with a fair bit of rain. Most of the seeds I sowed have germinated.  It’s nice to have something growing, even if it’s not growing particularly well.  Between the cloudy days and the limited hours of sun exposure the seedlings get on the apartment balconies, some (especially the kale) have become leggy and will likely have to be started again.  The cabbage seedlings are small, but I might try transplanting them into pots this week anyway.  Fingers crossed for sustained sunshine…

 

My little "greenhouses"  

 

 

Dwarf Siberian kale, "Hilton" Chinese cabbage, Five Colour Silverbeet Swiss chard, and Kalibos red cabbage

 

 

 Leggy oregano

 

 Pansies (and a volunteer brassica of some sort!)

 

 Chinese Cabbage ("Hilton")

 

 Swiss Chard 

 

 

   Meanwhile, in northern BC,  R. turned the raised beds, working compost and dry manure into them this past week. He was also able to till the main garden plots, as the weather has cooperated and the ground was dry enough. He'll be able to do another round or two of tilling before planting in the plots near the end of the month.  The garlic has started to come up in the south garden, the first "garden season landmark" I look for.

 

The north garden 

 

 The south garden (which contains the garlic patch this year).

 

Lou, with a graceful après nap ballerina stretch, kindly points out the first garlic sprout of the season.