Exploring Urban Gardening in Vancouver

Vancouver plays host to numerous farmers' markets which are lush with locally grown produce. It is amazing to have access to fresh locally grown produce and this year I wanted to try growing some of my own vegetables. Spring and Summer are generally warm and sunny in Vancouver making it optimal for gardening. We did have a couple of rough weeks of cold rainy days, but aside from them that, my garden has been thriving! 

I went with a diverse mix of vegetables for my garden. I opted for mostly little starter plants from Gardenworks and Home Depot because there is a higher success rate. I did plant some seeds, but it was a bit of a hit or miss for me. 

The vegetables I went with are:

Tomatoes: Roma & San Marzano

Chillis: Sweet Banana Pepper & Thai Dragon 

Bell Peppers: Sweet Pepper Gold Standard

Strawberries: Everbearing & Berries Galore

Broccoli: Destiny

Zucchini: Dark Green

Cucumbers: Slicing cucumber

Lettuce: 2 varieties

Carrots 

Sweet Peas

Spinach

There are pros and cons to both seeds and seedling plants. Seeds are far cheaper, but there is a trade-off. You could plant an entire packet of seeds and only get a few mature plants. I went with seeds for my sweet peas, carrots, lettuce and spinach. The lettuce and spinach has done very well and I could not be happier! On the other hand, I only got three mature sweet pea plants and ZERO carrots! Which is an absolute bummer because carrots and peas are two of my favourite vegetables. 

Seedlings are considerably more expensive, but on the positive side, the plants are more likely to mature and produce vegetables. It also makes planning out the garden easier and you are really able to maximize your space. 

From everything I have planted, the carrots were my only failure. ZERO carrots sprouted; however, I have had a lot of success with my other plants! As of right now, July 23, 2020, I have been able to harvest several plump zucchinis, a couple of cucumbers and lots and lots of spinach and lettuce. The real exciting vegetable for me was the broccoli and all three of the plants have given me a massive head of broccoli. One of the plants did get a bit mouldy, so I decided to remove it, but my other two plants are still healthy and are now producing medium-sized heads of broccoli. 

The chillis and bell peppers are starting to come in. I cannot get over how cute the tiny bell peppers are! The tomato and sweet pea plants have lots of flowers and there are signs of vegetable growth. 

Lastly, my beloved strawberries!!! I have a total of four plants and all four are currently brimming with fruit and flowers. They are slowly beginning to ripen into juicy red berries which I cannot wait to cram into my mouth. 

For next year, I want to plant corn, more sweet peas, re-attempt carrots, more strawberries, gold nugget potatoes as well as all the vegetables I planted this year. Gardening at first seemed like a daunting tough task, but I could not be happier with my yield. 

BYES