Our gardening is just about done for the year, the beds have been tidied and only the cold hardy vegetables are left to browse from. We had an abundance of really big 
tomatos and made a lot of tomato sauce!
Sign-up to receive an email update of Gabriola's new listings and/or our Quarterly Newsletter.
Are you interested in the value of your Gabriola Island Real Estate?
Click here to fill out a form and receive by email, a free, no obligation Comparative Market Analysis for your property.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Read Reviews on YelpOur gardening is just about done for the year, the beds have been tidied and only the cold hardy vegetables are left to browse from. We had an abundance of really big tomatos and made a lot of tomato sauce!
It was a pleasant and sunny day, perfect for a fair! There was a good turnout and lots to look at with music as well. Being a somewhat rural community there was a nice selection of farm animals, including goats and rabbits, chickens, alpaca, a donkey and horses – all nicely groomed. There was a food section offering a taste of Gabriola, popcorn, corn on the cob and ice cream too. Raffles for fund raising, a display of an apple press with a wonderful sample of fresh apple cider, and a squash race that was met with hoots of excitement and appreciation. The home arts of cooking and sewing, drawings and flower displays and of course a great selection of garden vegetables were there to view, many with ribbons for the best, biggest or most amazing. 
We took the whole family, children, parents, grand parents and even great grandma – we all had a fun time!
We had such a cool start to the summer that I thought the garden would never grow, but I was surprised, we are able to pick a bountiful daily harvest of vegetables – enough for three families. We used sea weed and compost this year and the result has been market quality. 
When there is too much we can give the excess to the local food bank.
There were two curious little girls who were able to spend an afternoon exploring within a fairytale land. There were dragon’s, castles, lush greenery, faeries and so much more!
This past Saturday the girls went and explored the wonderful Once Upon a Time art market/tea house here at a private residence on Gabriola. There were 16 artists, a tea house, faeries and more located in beautiful lush gardens making it a very magical experience for all.
This beautiful dragon and its rider is made from foam found on the beach then carved and felted, absolutely stunning!
It was a lovely day and there was a very good turn out at the Home and Garden Tour which is a fund raiser for PHC (People for a Healthy Community). We were able to view most of the 11 fabulous homes and gardens that were on display in the four hours that we had committed to. The gardens ranged from compact displays surrounding patios and walkways to rolling acreage with hidden paths and quiet glens ringed in a riot of color. There were a multitude of fragrant roses and many flowers and shrubs that I have not seen before, very impressive! And the homes were truly inspiring. It was a
wonderful way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.
One of the wonderful things about living close to the ocean is seaweed. It is the best fertilizer for your garden and so easy to collect from the beach, plus it’
s free. We have a small trailer that we hook up to our car and use garbage cans to transport the seaweed from the beach. Seaweed breaks down quickly, adds trace minerals to the soil, and does not promote weed growth like horse manure does. Some of our most productive vegetable gardening years have been due in part to seaweed. This picture was taken at Pilot Bay on Gabriola.
I have been spending a fair amount of time looking online at farm co-op’s and how they are started and run. I looked at Glen Valley farm’s website located in the Fraser Valley and was inspired by what they have created there, a successful model of co-operative organic agriculture. The goals of this co-op is below and a model like this could work on Gabriola :
The original goals of the co-op when established in 1998 remain priorities today and figure into our decision-making processes. These goals are to:
Shareholders and friends of the farm meet regularly for a shared meal and meeting. All major decisions for the co-op are achieved through concensus. We believe this process helps to ensure that issues are carefully thought through before action is taken, that it gives everyone a voice in the process, which results in much greater buy-in by all participants.
Check out their website for more information at http://glenvalleyorganicfarmcoop.org/ and a local blog from a Gabriola group who is quite involved with the slow food movement at http://www.goal-2025.com/
I love this time of year, the air is clear and crisp but summer’s warmth still lingers. And the garden, I adore picking all the things a late summer garden has to offer. See the tomato rabbit?
How easy it is to grow and how beautiful when harvested. We grew garlic for the first time this year. Just plant cloves in the fall and they are ready to harvest in late July, no fuss they almost take care of themselves. And they are out of the ground early enough to mak
e a last planting of bush beans in their stead! We are so pleased with the result that this will be a yearly crop for us.
It has been pretty cool this spring and our garden is coming along slowly so we thought we should give it bit of a boost. We grabbed the older two kids and the wagon and set off for the Wild Rose Nursery which is just down the path from where we live. We raided the greenhouse for bedding plants and selected cucumbers, squashes, zuchinni and some tomatoes, added a few flowers, then browsed the seeds for more beans, carrots and chard. I bought some more tomatoe cages and we were set – good thing we brought the wagon!
Robyn & Carly McMahon and unlicensed assistant Lesley McMahon, your Gabriola Island Real Estate Sales Team
Located at The Folklife Village, #1-575 North Road, Gabriola BC, Canada V0R 1X3
Toll Free 1.877.422.8455 or Local 247.2088 or email mcmahon@gabriolaproperty.com
Copyright © 2007. All Rights Reserved.