5 Easy Steps To Get Started

By Ava Green

There’s a common myth that you need a lot of space to grow vegetables, but whether you have a few containers, a small sunny corner, or a larger garden bed, there’s lots you can grow! Here in Norfolk County, which is Zone 6 in Southern Ontario, some vegetables can go in the ground as early as the beginning of May, while many others are usually safe to plant around the May 24th weekend, once the risk of frost has passed. Here are five simple steps to get you growing your own food this season if you’re new to vegetable gardening.

Step 1: Decide What You’d Love To Grow

Start with a list of the vegetables you actually want to eat. Coming into Eising Garden Centre with a list in hand makes choosing plants so much easier! When building your list, consider:

• Vegetables you love
• High-value vegetables, the ones that are expensive at the grocery store but easy and economical to grow yourself
• Anything that tastes better when it’s freshly picked, like tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh herbs

Step 2: Make a Simple Plan

You don’t need an elaborate design; a rough sketch on a scrap of paper is just fine. The goal is simply to get a sense of your space and where things will go before you start digging. We recommend starting a garden notebook or journal to track what you plant each year and how it performs. It will be especially helpful next spring!! A few planning tips to keep in mind:

• Most heat-loving vegetables, such as tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant and beans, need at least six hours of sun per day
• Cool-weather and shade-tolerant crops like lettuce, chard, kale, radishes, and beets do well with just three to four hours of sun 

• Spacing in a vegetable garden can be much tighter than in other types of gardens. Less empty space means fewer weeds and bigger harvests. Square foot gardening is an excellent method to explore
• Layer your garden beds with plants that are great companions. For example, basil and marigolds planted beside tomatoes are said to improve flavour and repel pests. Carrot and beet seeds tucked in beside and between your lettuce plants (which are a cool-weather crop) are a smart pairing; as your lettuce finishes in the summer heat, your carrots and beets will be sprouting up to take their place. This is referred to as succession planting and optimizes the space in your garden
• Make use of vertical space with poles or trellises for peas, pole beans and cucumbers
• Tuck herbs into any gaps between your vegetables; they’re useful, beautiful, and most pollinators love them

Step 3: Prepare Your Space

Once you’ve chosen a spot with enough light, it’s time to get the soil ready:

• Remove any sod or weeds before planting. If you’d rather not dig, the No Dig gardening method uses a layer of cardboard as the base for the new bed. This suppresses weeds naturally and breaks down into the soil over time
• Add a good-quality compost to your soil by either spreading a layer across the top of the garden bed or scooping some into each plant hole 
• For container gardening, almost any container works, just make sure it’s deep and wide enough for the mature size of your plants. Also, drainage holes are a must! Fill containers with a soilless mix containing compost, peat moss or a peat alternative, and one of the following: sand, vermiculite, or perlite. Avoid using garden soil, triple mix, or topsoil in containers, as they compact easily and will restrict root growth. Learn more about soil mixes, amendments, and fertilizers here

Step 4: Water and Feed Consistently

Consistent watering and feeding are the foundation of a productive vegetable garden:

• Vegetables need regular, reliable watering. Inconsistent moisture leads to stressed plants and poor yields
• Always water the soil, not the leaves. Plant roots take in water, and wet foliage can invite disease. Water deeply so moisture reaches the roots. Use your fingers to check how far down the water has penetrated into the soil
• Containers dry out faster than garden beds and will need more frequent attention
• Morning is the best time to water. If your plants are struggling on a particularly hot afternoon, a second watering is fine. Just be sure to aim at the base of the plant and avoid the foliage, which can scorch in direct sun
• Feed with organic fertilizers throughout the season to keep your plants healthy and productive. Follow the package instructions for the product you choose

Step 5: Plant Flowers for Your Pollinators

A vegetable garden without pollinators is a garden that won’t reach its full potential. Attracting bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects to your garden is one of the best things you can do for your harvest. Some of our favourite pollinator-friendly flowers for the vegetable garden include marigold, calendula, nasturtium, borage, sunflowers and culinary lavender. As a bonus, most of these are edible, so they earn their space twice over.

It’s Time

Starting a vegetable garden is one of the most rewarding things you can do with an outdoor space. There’s a quiet satisfaction in growing something from seed or a seedling and bringing it to your own table. 

Start simple, grow what you love and don’t be afraid to learn as you go. 

The team at Eising Garden Centre is always happy to help you choose the right plants for your space and answer any questions along the way. This could be the season that changes the way you think about your garden!

Resources:

Why Use a Garden Journal?: https://eising.ca/why-use-a-garden-journal/

Square Foot Gardening: https://www.almanac.com/planning-square-foot-garden-grow-more-less-space

Fertilizers & Soil Amendments: https://eising.ca/fertilizers-soil-amendments/

Companion Planting: https://eising.ca/companion-planting-with-herbs/ and https://eising.ca/incorporating-vegetables-into-your-garden/

Optimizing the Gardening Season: https://eising.ca/optimizing-the-gardening-season/

No Dig Gardening Method: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/blogs/no-dig-resources/beginners-guide

Reading Plant Tags: https://eising.ca/full-sun-part-shade-what-do-plant-tags-actually-mean/

Growing Vegetables in Pots: https://eising.ca/planters-are-for-more-than-flowers/

Most of us want to easily pull together everyday outfits without overthinking it or overspending. In reality, putting stylish clothing combos together can feel harder than it should. If you stare into the closet and can’t find anything to wear, you’re not alone! Many of us struggle to assemble outfits that feel stylish and put together.

Your friends at Sassyfras Boutique in Eising Garden Centre are here to help with 4 go-to outfit tricks that always work!

These are simple style tricks you can rely on, and they're built around versatile essentials you may already own, plus just-right combinations and accessories that pull everything together. You’ll also find new ways to assemble simple pieces to create countless outfits.

These tricks come from years of helping people in our shop to build their wardrobes. Ready to get started? Let’s make getting dressed and looking great one of the easiest parts of your day!

4 Easy Outfit Tricks

1. Get a Great Jacket

In every season, a great top layer pulls an outfit together. Invest in a jacket, blazer and coat for cool or cold weather. Wearing a linen shirt/shirt jacket, sweater, shacket, or cardigan works well for summer, spring and fall. Or you can simply drape it over your shoulders just in case temperatures dip a bit while you’re out or the A/C is a little too drafty.  

The top, jacket, and pants are from B. Young, found in Sassyfras at Eising's Garden Centre.

2. Start with a Matching Base Layer

Begin with a neutral, matching base. Easy peasy. Once you have a neutral base, add any jacket colour and accessories! One of the great jackets you’ve invested in will enhance a neutral outfit and create multiple great looks. The key is to start with a dress, or a top and pants/skirt that are similar shades. Some examples of a neutral base are: blue/faded blue, cream/beige, grey/grey, white/white, or black/black. From there, add on any colour jacket or sweater and a similar or complementary shade of bag/purse/earrings/shoes.  

Pants by B. Young. Top by Culture. Bag by LaVolta.

3. Match Your Top and Jacket

Here’s a trick you can probably achieve with the clothes that you already have! Instead of matching your top and bottom pieces, match your top and jacket or sweater. Once you put together similar neutral shades on top, you can add almost any skirt or pants and look stylish.

Jacket by Tribal. Pants by B. Young.

4. Camel Adds Class

So you’ve put your outfit together using a neutral shade for your top and bottom, or matched your top and jacket…now do you want to make your ensemble look even better? Add a touch of tan or camel, maybe even a bit of gold.  Camel colour bags and shoes go with everything and are staples for easy, classic outfits. Add some gold earrings and a pair of sunglasses, and you’re set!

Top and skirt by B. Young. Hat by Kooriginal. Bag by La Volta.

Help!

We’re here to help you put it all together. Come into Sassyfras wearing your neutral base, and we can help you find that great jacket or cardigan, handbag and accessories to go with it. Or, start from scratch and find a neutral base you can build on. And for heaven's sake, let’s make it easy to look good!

Fall is the time to plant garlic if you want to harvest them next summer. Why grow your own garlic? Like any vegetable, fresh garlic just tastes great. It’s also very satisfying to plant one little clove and get a whole head of garlic from it. Think of it as a garlic bank: put in a little effort in the Fall, and next summer you will profit from that small investment in spades! 

If you’ve never planted garlic, it’s quite an easy crop to grow. Just follow these seasonal steps to help you get started. Hint: Mid-October to early November is when the majority of the work takes place.

FALL

Choose a location that is in the sunniest area of the garden. Lots of sun will produce large heads of garlic.

Prepare the soil in late summer, or as early in the Fall as possible. Or prepare the day before you plant if you can’t get to it sooner! Amending the soil is an often missed step but it will provide valuable nutrients for your garlic throughout the seasons.

Add organic compost like mushroom or sea compost, composted green waste, aged or composted manure, or a mix of any of these. Variety is best and all are great options. If you’re starting a new, raised bed, mix a ratio of 75% compost with 25% vermiculite to create a nice, light soil for your plants. This mix can also be added on top of the soil of an existing bed, making harvesting easier next summer!

Choose a garlic variety based on the flavour and size you like. There is softneck or hardneck garlic, but hardneck is recommended for growing in Canada. Also, hardneck varieties produce scapes which are a bonus crop - you can read more about that below. Red Russian, Music and Chesnock are just a few of the popular varieties grown in Ontario.

Separate the garlic cloves, or teeth, from the heads. As you’re breaking down the heads of garlic, it’s important to choose the largest cloves to plant. Starting with large cloves will increase your chances of growing large heads of garlic. Set aside any small cloves to cook with.

Planting! Sometime between early October to mid-November is a good range to get your garlic in the ground in Norfolk County. Basically, 4 to 6 weeks before the ground is frozen.

Here’s how to get your garlic in the ground!

1. When it comes to spacing, there are two options.  

Using a dibber or a hand trowel, create 3 to 4” deep holes in one of the following patterns: 

                     a) Make holes that are approximately 6” apart and in rows that are 6” apart. 

                     b) Make holes that are approximately 7” apart and in rows that are 7” apart. Then, go halfway between each row and make an offset row. This method is best if you don’t have a lot of space and will not impact the growth of the garlic.

     2. Place a handful of worm castings or organic 4:4:4 fertilizer in each hole and mix into the soil a bit.

     3. Place ONE clove in each hole, with the pointy end facing up and the flat end down.

     4. Backfill with surrounding soil so that each clove is covered 2-3”. This acts as protection during the cold winter months.

     5. Top with leaf mulch, leaves, or straw, and water in your garlic if there is no rain in the forecast for several days.

SPRING

This is the time to check on your garlic and give it a little more nutrition.

Look for signs of first growth in February or March, depending on how warm the weather is. When you see 3”- 4” of growth, remove the mulch from around each plant, or from the bed, and add it to the compost pile.

Add nutrients by amending the soil with 1 tablespoon of 4:4:4 organic fertilizer per square foot of the garden, or add a 1”- 2” layer of fresh compost. 

Water deeply from now on when the soil dries out. And that’s it! Your garlic is well set up to go into a BIG growth cycle.

SUMMER

Remove the scapes! Around mid-June look for the top of the stem of each plant to curl around forming what’s referred to as a “scape”. These curls, or scapes NEED to be removed so that the energy from the plant goes into growing the bulb, not into growing the seed head that is part of the curly scape. One full loop is a good time to cut or snap off the scape just above the top foliage.

All of the growth in the bulb happens once you remove the scape!

Here’s the bonus - garlic scapes are delicious! Chop them up and add them to soups, stews or anything you’re grilling. They also make excellent pesto!

Water and check your garlic for any pests throughout the growing season, just as you would with any other plants.

Harvest! Sometime in July, you will start to notice that the bottom leaves of your plant are dying. Don’t worry! The leaves on the plant correspond with the protective layers forming around the outside of your bulb, and they’re getting ready for harvest.

Around mid-July, 4 or 5 of the bottom leaves will be dead and this is your sign that it’s time to harvest your bulbs. 

• Stop watering your garlic 4 to 5 days before harvesting.
• Use a pitchfork or shovel to loosen the soil, keeping well away from each plant so that you don’t slice through the garlic heads.
• Gently pull up each bulb and shake off any soil hanging on to the roots. Resist the urge to wash the bulbs as moisture at this stage will promote mould or rot!

Cure your garlic harvest by hanging it in a cool, dry place that’s out of the sun and has good airflow for 2 to 3 weeks. You may need to use a fan for this step. 

Once cured, trim off the stems leaving 1-2” and the roots, and store in a dark, cool and dry spot in the house. Well-cured and stored garlic can last until sometime between December and February… unless you’re cooking, canning, and freezing with it and use most of it up! But don’t forget to save the biggest cloves to plant again in the Fall!