August 10, 2013
I needed photos for the edible garden tour Facebook page and would not be able to get them on the August 11th tour day because of hosting our garden as part of the event. So even though I normally would have spent the day before a garden open obsessively tweaking the garden to complete perfection, Allan and I took the morning off to go to the other gardens with two of the other garden hosts. (I do not understand why people whose gardens are on a tour are not ALL obsessed with seeing the other gardens…but not everyone loves garden touring the way I do.)
Lisa Mattfield, tour organizer (whose garden, Homewood, was my favourite on last year’s edible tour), and Patty from “Lavender And” and Deanette, another tour garden owner, and Allan and I met at the Planter Box at the very early (for us) hour of ten AM. Ray Millner took us on a tour of his garden, the second favourite of mine on last year’s tour. We began by the enviably big pond just north of the Millners’ Planter Box garden center.
The Millner pond
Ray is in the process, since retiring from teaching and from running the garden center, of turning the back side of this small lake into a park.
First we all trooped to the beds behind the garden center where Ray uses old potting soil and compost to grow lettuces and Jerusalem artichokes.
Ray and Deanette
Ray used to be a teacher and is good at imparting information.
lettuce and Jerusalem artichokes
lettuces and Jerusalem artichokes
Deanette, Ray, Lisa, Allan, Patty
Back to the pond, Ray describes his park in progress.
We then go to the garden behind the family homes.
plant starts with edible garden in background (looking NW)
the main part of the garden
the chickens come running
Deanette takes notes
chickens with a pond backdrop
corn and beans
big healthy plant
I must confess that while I am pretty good at recognizing perennials and annuals, I am not so good at veg. Kohlrabi? Brocolli? Kale?
handsome onions
a parade of gardeners
berries
raspberries
The garden continues around the north side of the pond.
around the corner
potato flower
behind the chicken coop
protected strawberries by the pond
a harvested raised box planter
Ray said these tomatoes were much improved by the row cover protection.
raspberries by the pond
squash
Ray and Deanette
Deanette is on her second year of veg gardening and took lots of notes.
Ray in his element
I happen to know from last year’s tour that Ray also has a big potato patch off in the woods down a green road. He says checking on it makes him take a good long walk every day. We did not have time to see it on our pre-tour because Patty and Deanette had other places to be, so we departed for a look at Pink Poppy Farm.
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