Organic Gardening on Gabriola Island

Sara and I spend all our spare time making sure that our plants get fed the best 100% organic fertilizer on the market (Advanced Nutrients Organic Iguana Juice), and are also protected from pests and pathogens through the use of preventative products, such as Scorpion Juice and Barricade.

I sprayed with Scorpion Juice every week throughout the summer. It not only immunizes our flowers and vegetables from attacks from all sort of critters--seen and microspopic--but also ensures that our plants are robust and our flowers and fruits are abundant.

We've harvested the Snow Peas and the Scarlet Runner Beans, and most of our Tomatoes have gone into salads or soups. Our Cucurbits have grown to incredible weights and sizes and they served the noble purpose of making sure that Hedgehog and Jim did really well in the Zucchini Races at the Annual Fall Fair.

The last Rose buds of the season are opening, the Clematis is still going strong, and our Geraniums are enjoying the late Summer, early Fall sunshine, before they get moved indoors for the winter. Our Black Eyed Susans are very prolific this year and our Upside Down Tomatoes have all been harvested.

The big job of pruning all the Roses and deadheading our wilted flowers remains, and pretty soon it will be time for planting our Spring bulbs. Sara managed to get a whole bunch of Hyacynth, Daffodil, and Tulip bulbs from a Vancouver park (she carted them over in her new bought trailer) and she will be transporting compost and manure all Fall and Winter to rejuvenate her flower beds and my vegetable beds, as well.

Organic Gardening Pays Off in Spectacular Blooms

Sara's flower garden is the talk of the neighborhood. Passers-by are constantly asking, "how did you get your Roses to grow so big?" "How is it that I try to grow Phlox, and they're three feet maximum, while your Phlox are six feet tall?"

Sara has asked me to print out a page from the Advanced Nutrients website on Organic Iguana Juice. After all, this 100% organic plant nutrient is the secret behind the robust plants that she grows, whether using Grow during the vegetative stage, or Bloom, during flowering.

So now when people ask, she just hands them the page and smiles. "It's available at your local hydroponics store," she adds. And we've had many neighbors make a beeline for such a store and purchase this fish based miracle food, because they've seen the results.

We also use other AN products, such as Scorpion Juice to keep pests and pathogens at bay, but most of the glory should go to Iguana Juice, and of course Sara's diligence in creating the best, most fertile soil on Gabriola Island.

"The soil on the island is quite sandy. So we've brought in trailer loads of composted horse manure and kitchen parings, and bought the best, organic soil stocked by our garden shop," explains Sara to Melanie, a single mother from further down the road, who brings her six-year-old daughter each day to see the pretty flowers.

"We have nine different kinds of Phlox, Black Eyed Susans, two different kinds of Cone Flower, ten varieties of Hybrid Roses, three or four Lilies, and the Anemonie is in flower right now, with its graceful canopy of delicate blooms."

My vegetable garden needs some catching up to do, even though last night we enjoyed some fresh Snow Peas with our meal and our Zucchini Squash are growing big in anticipation of the Zucchini races at next month's Fair.

Our upside-down tomatoes are thriving, but I'll leave that 'til the next posting, when I'll have some close up pictures of the fruits of our labor.