Grove Gardening

Grove Gardening I turn bare patches of land into Emerald Groves.
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I want to help you do the same at www.grovegardening.ca

I'll help you transform your new or struggling garden into a thriving food production system that's a good match for your land and your life.

08/10/2026

Update from the new farm:

The cover crop has been knocked down and pooped back out by Forest's herd of cows.

I spent hours yesterday in a state of delirium dragging silage tarps over what will be 50 x 50' beds next spring.

This step worked amazingly well in 2022 when I started my first garden of the same size.

This time I took the extra step off growing a cover crop and letting cows eat it. The amount of creeping perennial grasses is already low.

By next spring when I remove the tarp the rhizomes should be mostly dead, and I will have an excellent w**d free slate to build a garden from.

This was a brutal day in the smoke. My body is paying right now.

I'm low on creative energy from burnout and wildfire smoke exposure.

Sending prayers out to everyone who has experienced loss in the wildfires around the world.

When we design our homes and gardens in wildfire zones we need to have it as #1 priority for survival focus especially in June - September.

08/06/2026

POV it's 5AM and you are about to harvest a giant pile of carrots for the farmers market.

08/05/2026

This week in the greenhouse we did sh*t hard.

The regular prune was not enough - had to go for the hard prune.

It's time to give your greenhouse some TLC.

Overgrown. Getting buggy. Disease creeping.

The solution = The Hard Pruning Method.

Remove all yellow spotty foliage and pretty much everything from your knee down.

Remove all leaves beneath the next set of fruit to harvest.

This creates airflow and light pe*******on which are the enemies of disease.

This is how I keep the tomatoes and cucumbers producing all season long.

08/04/2026

Can I grow the biggest pumpkin in the Kootenays?

That's my goal and I'm going to donate it to Linden Lane Farms Pumpkin Fest in October!

How big will it be? You might get to guess at Pumpkin fest?

08/02/2026

This is how to keep the same kale plants going all season long.

When your kale gets covered in aphids on dry crusty leaves.

Don't rip them out, or spray them.

Try to RESET your kale by stripping all the old leaves and leaving them as mulch.

This stimulates new growth and vigor that grows new lush leaves that resist aphids for a bit.

If you keep picking the new leaves and get the cycle going you can keep the same plants thriving all season long.

So if you have aphids on your kale right now. Go outside and RESET those plants right now.

08/02/2026

Feeling like things are getting a little more serious today with the fires.

First thick thick blanket of smoke hit us.

Just barely survived a tough week with a sinus cold probably from smoke exposure and stress.

No sick days possible when you are running a farm in extreme heat. Got to keep these plants alive.

There's always something important to do. It takes determination and perseverance to make it through this time of year.

So to all the growers facing tough summer conditions out there - keep strong and carry on.

If you're on the west coast like me. Be prepared we aren't in the clear yet. Another 1-2 months of fire danger is likely.

Gratitude to all the firefighters protecting communities and facing extreme conditions.

07/31/2026

It's crazy to think that 7 years ago I was wandering aimlessly in New Zealand having fun.

I listened to a podcast that changed the course of everything.

I knew immediately when I heard about this "permaculture" that this was exactly what I was looking for in life.

A way to get connected to what I felt disconnected from. Feet on the soil. Hands growing something.

I never knew how it would work out, but I had a dream. I went for it.

Now it's already been 5 years of pouring my soul into this patch of soil. Only to watch it go to waste.

But that's life. Next year I got a 10-year lease at a bigger and better spot.

It's getting closer. Only 60 days until I start to pack up the farm and move it all.

Do you think I can do this again? Follow to find out and see. Maybe you will learn a thing about garden design along the way.

07/31/2026

The lawn zucchini experiment was never an experiment.

I knew it would work all along.

Behold the lawn zucchini in all of their glory.

Next chapter is making this space on the lawn into zucchini relish I can enjoy in the winter.

07/31/2026

Allen is 30 days since fruit set. I estimate he is already over 100lb. Still need to get a string and make a proper estimate but Allen is on the backburner rn.

The end of July means I'm pushing it to the limits trying to harvest and sell large quantities of produce, while continuing to plant for the rest of the season harvest.

The push is almost there. Next week I will direct seed and transplant some of the last successions of the season.

Even crazier is it's the last things I'll ever seed on this land.

As it gets closer to my final days here at the OG Emerald Grove. I'm going to throw seeds everywhere and let the w**ds go crazy.

All I care about is the final harvests. What's the point of maintaining the w**ds in a future septic field?

Leave a comment with your final weight guess for Alllen in the fall.

Will I get past 200lb or will he explode?

07/30/2026

Beautiful flowers bring magic to the garden around every corner I want to see colour.

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