You don’t need a huge outdoor space to grow your own vegetable garden. Even with limited space, you can build a thriving garden that can potentially save you thousands in grocery bills.
Still on the fence whether to build your own vegetable patch or not? Maybe the next few sections will convince you.
Is it worth it to grow your own organic vegetables?
Safety is always at the forefront when it comes to all things you and your family eat. Ingestion of food even with the lowest levels of harmful substances for extended periods of time can seriously affect your health. According to a study commissioned by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, even buying food labelled as organic won’t guarantee that. Thus, growing your own food can get you in control of what gets to your dining table.
Toxic pesticides can still linger on fruits and vegetables we buy, and these can cause a myriad of serious health issues ranging from hormonal imbalances to cancer. Beyondpesticides.org lists some brain and nervous system disorders that can be brought about by long-term consumption of pesticides from food.
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Dementia
- Epilepsy & Seizures
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Other Neurological & Nervous System Disturbances
Aside from safety, growing your very own organic veggies can be very convenient. Just pick your produce from the comfort of your own backyard when you need it. So, if you want to be in control of your food safety and into saving quite a bit of cash, having your very own organic garden is a great way to do that.
Starting and nurturing your garden
Now, that is not to say that gardening in Calgary would be a walk in the park. There could be a few challenges, especially Calgary is considered as a Zone 3 climate in gardening terms, meaning being known for cold winters and short growing seasons.
Here are a few planting and growing tips to help you out:
- Timing – Roughly three months of frost-free weather is simply not enough time to plant and harvest your veggies. As such, you need to start growing seeds indoors in the spring, right around March and April. If you do this, you’ll be ready to transplant outdoors after the last frost day and even have greater success producing hot weather vegetables such as eggplants and tomatoes.
- Location – Your garden will need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight every day. Choosing the sunniest part of your yard and placing your garden near a fence for protection will ensure your vegetables will grow well.
- Soil preparation – Adding good quality compost to your garden bed at the start of the planting season will ensure a good source of nutrients for your vegetables. Regularly adding organic fertilizers and vericompost to vegetables grown in containers will also nurture your veggies.
- Vegetables to grow – Parsnips, peas, spinach, and radish are just some of the recommended vegetables to grow in your garden in Calgary. Check out this list of recommended veggies, along with average harvest time and suggested varieties from the Calgary Horticultural Society.
- Watering – You need to constantly keep the garden soil moist until the vegetable seedlings have established themselves. It is recommended you water early in the day, and you should never let the soil dry out. As much as possible, you need to keep foliage dry by watering only the soil. This is because water droplets left on plant foliage for extended periods of time tend to encourage the growth of diseases.
- Protecting your veggies – Maintaining your garden can be tedious, especially during rainy days. Awnings can make life easier for you as you tend to your garden, and shield your plants from rain damage.
We would be delighted to answer any questions you have about installing proper awnings for your home. Please call us if you have any questions or if you’re ready to put some awnings or shutters onto your home or commercial space. Please call us at 587-317-6933 to schedule a time to discuss your awning and shutter needs.