An edible garden tour will strike off from the community garden for a tour of three very distinct edible gardens in Rossland on July 30 from 9 a.m. until noon.
The Rossland REAL Food event organized by Hanne Smith has become an annual tradition for local foodies. Participants will have a chance to return to the same gardens on Sept. 17 for a follow-up edible garden tour, using the experience to learn "how gardens fared, what yields are like, and evaluate what worked and why," Smith explained.
Only three gardens are visited so there's enough time "to make it a really good learning experience," Smith said, "so it's not just a cruise through."
Two gardens are new on the tour this year — Audrey Gerein and Larry Doell's well-tended plot in the old Chinese gardens, and Rachael Roussin's market garden in Happy Valley — in addition to the small but highly efficient urban plot tended by Sara Golling and Les Carter which featured last year.
Golling and Carter built an underground cistern to collect rainwater, and they use hoop houses and careful plant spacing to get great yields. "They're using the space they have intelligently," Smith commented.
Gerein and Doell have used their expansive southern exposure and full sun to grow a garden that's "beautiful to look at" as well as productive, Smith said.
They grow grapes against their house, and their veggie garden has done well too," Smith said, "They have a lot of interesting plantings."
Roussin supplies her Happy Valley Greens stall at the weekly market with her lush lettuce, "an excellent example of what reemay can do for you," Smith said, referring to the light row covers Roussin uses to warm up her soil earlier in the season.
For more information, contact Smith at 362-7767.