Northern Gardening - Part 1

Every spring I tell myself, Nanuk, you're going to plant some vegetable seeds this year. I actually did try planting directly into the ground in around 1998, but the soil (such as it is) is too cold to take the plants much beyond the seed leaf stage. Our soil, by the way, can support vegetation, but the species have to be adapted to growing in a very thin layer (less than an inch, usually) of arable soil, and in cold and windy conditions. For this reason most of our northern flora lies very low to the ground and is much smaller in terms of flower and fruit size.

This year, however, a pile of top soil was scraped from bedrock to allow the pouring of a concrete slab for a garage. The sight of this brown loamy matter sitting in a huge accessible pile spurred me on to planning a small, above ground garden.

My first step was to pick up three scrap bath tubs from our dump, along with a couple of washing machine drums. This, I hope, will allow the soil to heat up and spur growth above ground. I then picked up 1"-3" gravel from a local quarry and transported it back home in 10 gallon paint cans. This I have spread out in a 3" layer on the bottom of each tub for drainage.

I know that the rusted bathtubs look crappy, but I have a plan in mind. You'll just have to be patient.