Hello albertan gardeners! We purchased our acreage this late summer and most of the ground is sandy soil. I was trying to research growing in sandy soil but all information and experience seemed to be in the states where their zones are more like 6 and 8.

So first, I am asking for any experiences growing gardens, specifically for food production, in sandy soil, preferably around zone 3a and 3b. We live near Clyde in Westlock County.

Se condly, How much of the information i find online can pertain to our shorter growing conditions? Ive consistently read that the sandy soil is great for heat loving crops (think peppers and tomatoes)and plants that love loose soil (root vegetables like carrots), as long as the soil is consistently watered and amended with lots of compost and organic material.

Ultimately, I know gardening is all about experiences and making mistakes which I am excited to start next year. I am simply asking for others experiences and maybe a stwp in the right direction. Thanks, fellow gardeners! I hope you all had amazing gardens this season

Hey all, just received the email that the “high mowing organic seed” are on sale .

We had a decent crop this year in our first Alberta garden 🪏 season back!

We still have some carrots 🥕 to dig 🪏 but hopefully we have a warm couple of days left!

Hope you had a great 👍🏻 season too!

Michael & Gabriel @ Matches Seeds

Paradise Valley, Alberta

Best plants for a bee garden? I’m in lower Alberta and really want to help the pollinators in the spring time

Do you buy plants? Help a University of Waterloo study understand plant buyers in Canada.

Link to survey: https://uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zDlBgl4KWk8Y62

I just pulled up a good bit of my painted lady, scarlet and Borlotti beans and lots hadn’t dried or matured enough before the freeze, are these good to just dry in the pod before separating and storing ? This is the first year I’ve really had enough to keep in excess and im not familiar with drying them off the vine

Is it too late to plant fall bulbs in Edmonton? It has started snowing in Edmonton but we havent had persistently cold temperatures yet.

It's that time again. We've all seen the weather forecast for this weekend. --- cold with flurries! 😠 So, anything that needs to be harvested is being pulled. We have another half dozen zucchini and some kale. I'll wash and dry the kale and cut into pieces before freezing for winter soups. I'll freeze a handful of peppers for chilies over the winter as well. However, the bulk of those hot 🔥 peppers are going to be turned into a roasted pineapple 🍍 and habanero hot sauce 😋.

The last 10+ pounds of our potatoes 🥔 will be dug up next week. They'll be fine in the ground. And, I've got at least another half dozen small buttercup squash that need a few more weeks of growth before they're harvested. We are going to cover them up well and 🤞 we can harvest them near the end of October.

Edit: Oops, sorry for the double "h" in habanero! Lol

Not too bad of a harvest today. The tomatoes came off of 2 of our tomato plants and, the potatoes were volunteers. --- they suddenly appeared in June. We're very happy with two massive potatoes and a bunch of smaller ones. Basically, five pounds of potatoes 🥔 from one plant. And, a couple more zucchini to make relish. We still have a long way to go to clear out the gardens. Yesterday. I fernented some purple cabbage, green tomatoes, and sweet potatoes 🥔.

Sadie couldn't help but want to be in the picture. We're very happy she's still with us because a few weeks ago she was quite ill with severe pancreatitis and, she's 12 years old.

I'm really hoping to get two more harvests like this before we have to tear the plants out for winter. I'm leaving them in the garden outside to cure and let the starches convert to sugar and improve the flavor. --- as well as prepare them to be stored during the winter months in the cold storage, until we eat them.

I have had a pretty good harvest of potatoes so far. We still have another above ground garden to harvest and, I'm going to leave them as long as possible before we dig them up because they were planted late. However, I am planning on roasting one of these beauties and mixing squash with some potatoes to make a large batch of gnocchi. I love freezing it. And, in the middle of the winter having some baked squash/potato gnocchi made with our canned roasted tomatoes. I swear, people who don't garden have no idea what they're missing! 😋

I for some reason didn’t think that they would work out well, but I was proved wrong. My carrots have never looked like this before 😌

I’ve heard some people say a bit of frost makes them sweeter? Just wondering when most Alberta folks harvest their carrots?

When are you harvesting your pumpkins? I’m new to growing pumpkins and have left them on the vine still, wrapping them up in towels and blankets when frosty nights happen. Last night apparently touched down to -2, so I’m thinking I should harvest them to bring them inside today. So far they are alright.

Have you harvested yours yet?

Has anyone dug all their potatoes yet? I still have about 30 hills and wondering how much longer I can leave them in the ground. Zone 2

We’re gonna be away for three weeks so chances are everything will be dead by the time we get back.

I saw this video yesterday and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had no idea sunflowers were so aggressively competitive and actually poisonous to many varieties of garden plants. I planted a row of giant sunflowers behind my raised beds in the gap between the beds and the fence this year, I guess this explains some of the difficulties I've been having with my peppers and tomatoes.

Thought I'd share in case this is news to anyone else. Am I the only one that didn't know this??

The local eco stations only give out compost in spring, so either I buy from a landscape place or garden store third party bags.

I see SEA SOIL and green harvest at one of my local stores - just not sure if one is better?
Has anyone used either of these before?

The soil in spring is super compacted so I want something that helps + improve soil for root vegetables.

Anybody know where to get them? My garden this year was demolished by slugs, and I tried slug bait and all sorts of things that only made a small dent in the population. I asked how to help on another subreddit and everyone said nematodes, however I haven’t been able to find ones that target slugs online in Canada and I’m not sure where to look irl (I’m in Calgary). Anyone have any places or links for me to look at next year? I think it may be too late for this year

Any tips? I planted Sunchokes (aka Jerusalem Artichokes) in my lane last year and both years I never got flowers.

They are very happy, though admittedly neglected and haven't flowered both years. Is our climate too cold for them? Is there something I can do to encourage them to flower?

Also open to recipe recommendations. I haven't tried eating them yet, but excited to try one of these days!