While it was a dry start to the growing season in Edmonton and across much of Alberta, recent rain mixed with a lot of sun has many gardeners celebrating.
“We’re eating a lot of stuff already. I still can’t get over my corn with three cobs on them. I’ve never seen it, never heard of it. Corn is always two cobs per stalk. Same seed I’ve always used – peaches and cream,” avid gardener Shawn Martin said from his backyard Monday afternoon.
“Never ever seen it and I come from corn country.”
Standing in the sun, surrounded by luscious green plants, Martin said the growing conditions have been perfect this year, particularly for his corn, tomatoes and potatoes.
“There’s so many tomatoes on here you can’t even see them unless you bend down and look up,” he said. “We’re eating potatoes already. Peas were up very early, we’ve been eating them… the beans, everything’s growing.”
The manager of the Classic Landscapes Centre in south Edmonton said any time you get a daily cycle of sunshine, warm temperatures and moisture, everything in the garden is going to benefit.
“The sunshine and moisture is great for everything, but especially vegetables in our gardens will see that,” Perry Stothart said. “Sometimes we have to do the work by watering our gardens, but in this case we’re getting lots of natural moisture. Rain is even better in terms of feeding our plants because there is some nitrogen in rainwater as well, so it adds a little extra nutrition to the plants.”
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It’s not just vegetables that will benefit. Stothart said flowers – perennials and annuals – will also flourish in the current weather conditions.
“You’re seeing healthier trees, you’re seeing it in the turf,” he added.
“Even a month and a half ago, our turf wasn’t looking like it is now. When you add some rain with the sunshine, it really changes things around a lot.”
Stothart said it’s not too late to plant a garden. There’s still time to grow established vegetables and harvest them before the end of the season.
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