We are currently in production for Season Two of Vitality Gardening.  This season I am learning to grow a giant tomato (they can reach up to five pounds each!), building a compost bin, gathering wild medicines, cooking up garden recipes and so much more!     My giant tomato plant is flourishing and I can’t wait to harvest everything in my garden.     Have a great day and we will be adding more gardening tips in the coming week.      Vitality Gardening Season Two will make it’s debut in later this year on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

Small seeds such as carrots and lettuce can be sprinkled in double rows or blocks, then thinned after sprouting to make enough room for full grown plants, depending on the size of the variety.
For large plants like cabbage or sunflowers, plant 3 or 4 seeds in each spot you want them to grow, then thin out all but the strongest seedling. Know the average size of the varieties you plant, then leave enough room between plants for adequate growing space and good air circulation.


A community garden is a place where a group of people may grow food as well as flowers, shrubs and trees in a shared space.

The gardeners may share one large garden and all the produce, have small plots of their own, or a combination of the two. Each community garden may chose to address or focus on a multitude of needs and benefits, from beautification or food security to social and safety issues, as well as education and promotion of healthy living. For more information about developing and maintaining a community garden, go to the Community Garden Website

Companion Planting: A Method of Traditional Agriculture
Traditionally, all three crop sisters are grown together for the benefit of all. The people need all three sisters because corn, beans and squash, eaten separately, each provide only some of the essential proteins required by the human body, but eaten together, they provide the complete spectrum.

While teosinte, a wild grass, is considered to be an ancient wild relative of corn, since corn has been domesticated by the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, it is not able to grow wild but needs human hands to perpetuate itself.
Corn provides a stalk for the beans to climb up where they like to keep warm and dry, while the bean roots provide nitrogen that fertilizes the soil to feed the corn and squash.

The lower, large leaves from the squash vines provide shade to suppress weeds and retain moisture in the soil.
While the three sisters are most often planted together, the planting techniques differ from region to region, nation to nation, and even between families.

Techniques often depend on regional climate and seed varieties. For example, in moist clay or woodland soils of the northern Great Lakes region, seeds are only planted 1-2 inches deep, whereas, in the dry, sandy soils of the southwest corn seeds may be planted 8-12 inches deep. The varieties of the corn seeds of the Navaho and Hopi are adapted to these conditions.

The Hidatsa people are known to plant corn, beans, squash and sunflower in separate hills in the same patch.
Sunflowers are planted first, in raised hills about 8 or 9 paces apart, about 4 inches high and 18 inches in diameter. Three seeds are planted per hill, in the same hole. Corn is planted next, in hills of the same size, spaced 3-4 feet apart. About 8 corn seeds are planted in each hill.

Beans are then planted in smaller hills between the corn hills, with 2 groups of three seeds planted on the south slope.
Squash hills are located around the perimeter of the corn and bean patch.
Two pairs of seeds are planted about 12 inches apart on the south slope.

In contrast, the Iroquois’ mounds were about 1 metre wide and one metre apart, with corn, beans and squash planted together in one mound, with the bean seeds planted on the slopes. Hills and mounds, like raised beds, warm the soil quickly in the spring and provide improved drainage for crop roots. In contrast, in the dry desert conditions of the southwest, the Zuni plant in waffle gardens, where the sides of rectangles of various sizes catch and conserve limited rainfall.

Other peoples of the desert southwest dig deep holes and hill up the corn as it grows.

Other Crops domesticated by Indigenous Peoples of the Americas include:

• Sunflower

• Tomato
• Peppers

• Potato

• Amaranth
• 
Jerusalem Artichoke
• Sweet Potato
• 
Avocado
• 
Peanut

• Chocolate
• Cotton

• Tobacco

Beet, Lettuce, 
Broccoli, Onions
, Brussel sprouts, Parsley, 
Cabbage, Peas
, Cauliflower, Radish
, Carrots, Rutabaga
, Dill, Swiss chard, 
Kale, Turnip

• Cool season, frost hardy crops may withstand freezing temperatures of between 0-2°C or more, depending on the variety, so these vegetables may be planted about 2-4 weeks before the average last frost date with little risk. Cover crops if a hard frost is expected.
• Most cool season crops require a soil temperature of at least 2°C or more to germinate.
• Some varieties may be more cold tolerant than others.
• To extend the season, seeds may be started indoors.
• Some varieties have shorter maturity dates. Check the envelope for days to maturity.
• Consider saving seeds of hardier, short season varieties that match your climate; the varieties successfully grown and saved will adapt to local conditions over time.
  **See the Heritage Seeds section

Beans, Peppers, Corn, Potatoes, Cucumber, Squash, Eggplant, Tomatoes 

• Warm season, frost tender plant plants are often killed by a light frost (O°C), although some varieties may be more hardy than others.
• While many warm weather vegetable varieties require a soil temperature of at least 10°C to germinate, temperatures closer to room temperature are ideal. For example, most bean varieties will not germinate until the soil reaches 15°C or more. Some varieties are more cold hardy than others.
 Consider saving and trading locally adapted seeds with local seed savers.

  See Heritage Seeds section for more info
• For less risk, wait until after the average last frost date to start seeds outdoors, or start seeds indoors, and transplant after all risk of frost, usually 1-2 weeks after the average last frost date.*
• If frost threatens after frost tender warm season plants have been planted, cover them overnight with row covers, blankets, plastic bottles, boxes, etc.

* Note that the average last frost date is an average and may be up to two or more weeks early or late!

Soil can be protected from erosion and compaction by avoiding tilling; instead, plant in raised beds. Add mulch such as leaves or straw between plants and in the paths between beds. Protect beneficial soil organisms by using organic methods and solutions instead of synthetic chemicals.

Organic and Sustainable Methods for Improving and Preparing Soil

Soil is…
Soil is the living flesh of Our Mother, the Earth.
Soil is ancient rock broken into sand, silt and clay.
Soil is the recycled and continuously transforming dead
plant and animal matter returned to Our Mother.
Soil is a continuously newborn living community
of micro-organisms, insects, and earthworms…
that feed on and return the dead plant and animal matter to the earth.


~By Caroline Chartrand

Soil is alive with beneficial micro-organisms, earthworms and insects that help the nonliving components of the soil-the minerals in sand, silt, and clay as well as the dead plant and animal matter, and animal waste-do its job of feeding the roots of the plant world.
We as gardeners need to honour and take care of the soil so that it can take care of us, our next seven generations, and the plant and animal world.

3 Ways to Sustainably Improve, Protect and Nourish your Garden Soil:

Raised beds

• Raised beds prevent the erosion of soil that happens with tilled soil.
• Tilling is not necessary in raised beds because the soil is not compacted from foot traffic or machinery. Hand forks and trowels do the job with less cost and no emissions!
• Soil structure is improved by earthworm activity. No rototilling results in increased earthworm populations. Earthworms improve soil structure with their own fertilizer, called ‘castings’, and with their tunnels that aerate the topsoil and improve drainage.
• Space is used more efficiently because space between rows for paths is unnecessary. More space can be used for plants. Space plants so that they almost touch or slightly overlap when fully grown. This technique also suppresses weeds.
• When converting a flat garden to a raised bed
- Make beds 3-5 feet wide so the center is within arm’s reach.
• Make paths between beds by moving the soil from the path onto the bed; a frame is not necessary.

Add mulch such as leaves or straw between plants and in the paths between beds.
This feeds the worms that feed the soils microorganisms that feed the plants roots! It also suppresses weeds, retains moisture, prevents erosion and reduces plant stress by keeping roots at a more steady temperature.

Protect beneficial soil organisms by using organic methods and solutions instead of synthetic chemicals.

Click to read Backyard Magic: The Composting Handbook courtesy of  the New Brunswick Department of Environment.

When this happens to me I try the following and most of the time it works (no guarantees though)

1. Set the kitchen timer for 45 minutes and swear to yourself that you will not check email or answer the phone or do anything but FOCUS on the most important task that must get done.
It doesn’t matter that this task is unpleasant or difficult. Just try and get through it. If the 45 minutes goes by fast…reset for 45 minutes and then do the same thing tomorrow and the day after until it’s done.

2. Your most important task should be the thing that you have been putting off and you know
has to get done. Or it’s the thing that you know you should do to move forward on a current goal. Make that sales call, start writing that proposal, finish up loose ends on a project..which tasks are most overdue or urgent? You will know what you have been putting off!

3. Do a mini Feng Shui adjustment on your desk or office. Get rid of those dirty coffee cups,
water your plants and gently dust the leaves, untangle the phone cord, shred empty envelopes,
pile all papers in a neat file to go through later, wipe/dust your desk and computer, remove any unhappy, torn or broken items that may be around you. Take a deep breath, sit up straight and
get to it! Clutter blocks the good energy that could be coming to you and your work.

4. Remember what is important to you! If you know your work helps someone then how can you be effective if you are bogged down with paperwork or other unfinished things that prevent
you from doing your “real work”.

5. I just got back on a jogging program and I read a great quote to help me stay movtivated.
“One day I won’t be able to run…Today is not that day.”

6. When you have a few extra minutes, jot down your dreams/goals and a few things you should/could be doing to make them happen. Try and work on those things at least once a week.

I feel like i am always surrounded by too much clutter and i am going to tackle my office again
and my email in-box and try to delete old messages and organize my desktop on my computer.
Then I will read my motivational quote and go for a jog. But first i guess i should set my kitchen timer and tackle a paperwork task that i have been putting off for weeks.

i just laughed to myself because earlier i was going to put the kitchen timer on then i decided
to sign for this blogger thing and this is i wrote…that was an hour ago…funny how you find things to do when you are procrastinating!!

have a great day and if you need someone to nag you to finish something just email me i will
send you a kick in the butt. rajotte@mts.net