We are not quite ready to say the F word yet. Although it’s popping up everywhere, Fall doesn’t officially begin for another 2 weeks. If you have a green thumb then you have most likely done some Fall planting. Don’t worry if you think you don’t, starting a small Fall garden is a great way to explore the joys of raising your own food. There are a number of amazing cold hearty plants to flourish from August right thru to sometimes January.
We have been hot for our urban gardens for the past few seasons. Not only is it tremendous to plant, grow and harvest your own crops; it is an absolutely awesome activity for the family to do together. Tending for a small urban garden is not a ton of work and the rewards are incredible. Going outside to your balcony or backyard with your children to plant, water, weed and of course harvest is something that they get excited about right from a young age. The kids love getting their hands dirty!
We teamed up with “The Backyard Urban Farm Co” (BUFCO) to help us get rolling on our garden. They are an amazing Toronto based, family run business that design, build, install and maintain organic vegetable gardens. Their signature product is a raised cedar bed made from local Eastern White Cedar timber. Their services are all personalized. They will plant for you, with you, or leave you to your own devices once they have built your box.
This year we planted kale, tomatoes, carrots, arugula, peppers, garlic, beans, basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, radishes, bok choy and chard. Can you imagine how much fun we had using all of this in our kitchen? Many days the crops didn’t make it in the house as the kids were munching right from the garden; a fab way to get the good stuff in them. Along with the healthy addition to their diet, your kids will learn tons; where their food comes from, what each season brings and how to care for a small piece of the earth.
A great plant to start your foray into gardening is garlic. It is such an amazing hassle free crop that keeps giving and now is the time to plant it. It requires almost no maintenance and you get these gorgeous scapes at the end of June and then of course the bulbs in August.
We hope you find some time to have fun in your garden.
The Monarch Sisters
xo
