Why would I post a picture of the kidlings at the beach for my Summer Harvest, you ask? Well, it would seem that this is the last time I was able to use my camera before Master S. threw it into the sand. Therefore I have no pictures of our beautiful harvest, and very few of our new little Master E, born in the beginning of July. We now have two girls and two boys - it's almost like we planned it that way!
There is a general consensus in Tofino that it is next to impossible to grow food here. This past summer, a group of people got together to prove the mentality wrong by organizing a garden tour in Tofino, showcasing random gardens and how they are producing food. We were on the garden tour as "a true example of how to make the most of a small space". Our garden is small. The picture in the last post really is it. We had a steady stream of people come and walk through this little patch of land and comment on our first year's bounty. Gerry selected a random bunch of veg from the garden and arranged them nicely in a basket so that people could actually see all that was all nicely growing underground. He also made a beautiful Borage herb-lemonade for people to sample. I wish I had photos to boast.
Our small patch of land has produced a number of nice meals for us. I suppose that is the whole point of Bio-Intensive gardening practices - small space of land = rich boutiful harvest! I'm not sure that we accomplished the rich bountiful harvest part, but we are on a steep learning curve and will make some changes for next year. We have managed to save a bunch of money by not needing to buy tomatoes, greens, cucumbers, potatoes, beets, cabbages or parsnips. We are learning to savour the delicate, yet full flavours of each little vegetable that comes out of the garden, knowing how much work went into them. Our continuing harvest is best summed up by Miss E., 7 years old: "I never knew raw zucchini could taste sweet like this?!" She has been our garden connoisseur this season, eagerly testing and subsequently melting over everything from the garden. Emphatic remarks like "I don't like beets!" has been replaced with "I love our garden beets, zucchini, radishes, lettuce, beans...etc!"
