Pender Organic Community Garden Society

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Pender Organic Community Garden Society The Pender Organic Community Garden has 24 garden plots located on a farm on beautiful Pender Island BC.

Today was the perfect day to be working in the Pender Organic Community Garden, not too cold, around 12 degrees C and n...
10/27/2026

Today was the perfect day to be working in the Pender Organic Community Garden, not too cold, around 12 degrees C and no glaring sun to shine in your eyes. Several gardeners took advantage of the day to continue working on their plots, getting them ready for winter. Fall is the best time to prepare for the next year’s garden. Removing w**ds ensures that the first task of spring is not battling w**ds to get the soil ready for planting. Adding a good layer of mulch protects the soil from heavy rains and prevents annual w**d seeds from germinating. Gardening is much more rewarding when the gardener faces a clean slate when it is time for planting. Fall is also a good time to add partially composted manures and even raw manure which will age if left for several months. Just be sure to check what kind of manure you are using. The pH of the manure can affect the soil and some crops can be sensitive to excessive alkalinity in the soil. (Comments on photos on Rhondda Porter-Plumb's page.)

The weekend was sunny and not too warm, making it a perfect couple of days for working in the Pender Organic Community G...
10/19/2026

The weekend was sunny and not too warm, making it a perfect couple of days for working in the Pender Organic Community Garden. On Saturday several people turned up to start putting their plots to bed, taking out dead or dying vegetables, removing hard structures for storage off site and putting down mulch. Cardboard is now running a close second to straw as the favoured mulch. Our garlic has been planted and the last of the tomato plants have been uprooted and put on the compost pile. Not much of the garden waste gets to compost, as the sheep recognize that regular visits to the compost heap will reward them with lots of interesting greens to eat. People growing squash, such as Butter nut or pumpkins still have them ripening on their vines, but they are now about the only vegetables left to harvest, except for hot peppers. Peppers like this kind of weather and are using the sunshine and relatively warm temperatures to turn a deep, vibrant red. Of course, the Brussel sprouts which didn’t get used for Thanksgiving will still be around ready to harvest for the Christmas meal.

The cool foggy mornings are a sure sign that the Fall is well and truly here. The Pender Organic Community Garden is no...
10/07/2026

The cool foggy mornings are a sure sign that the Fall is well and truly here. The Pender Organic Community Garden is not looking as lush as it had previously. As crops come out and plants die down, bare patches emerge, and the mulch arrives. Once again straw seems to be heading the list. Weeding thoroughly before putting the mulch down will definitely make next spring’s planting easier. The mulch will also reduce the soil compaction which will occur after a series of heavy rains, which we need to replenish our water supply. The Roma tomatoes are still ripening and unlike the juicier varieties, aren’t splitting, which means more pasta sauce for the freezer. The zucchini is still flowering but soon there won’t be very many pollinators around to fertilize the flowers, so very soon, no more zucchinis. October is when new gardeners get welcomed to the Society. Some years there are no plots available but this year we have welcomed three new members to the Society. There is still a half plot available. If you are interested in joining us, send an email to [email protected].

Today in the Community Garden.
09/23/2026

Today in the Community Garden.

The Pender Organic Community Garden is changing quite quickly as the year settles into autumn. The cooler nights and sh...
09/23/2026

The Pender Organic Community Garden is changing quite quickly as the year settles into autumn. The cooler nights and shorter days are telling plants its time to retire and fade away. Many plants have leaves spotted with mildew, especially plants like squash with large fleshy leaves. Most of the bean plants are turning brown and the leaves of the tomato plants are developing brown edges even as the last tomatoes struggle to turn from green to red. The zucchini seeds I planted in July are producing a lot of zucchinis. I went away for a few days and left the under-gardener in charge. I warned him to watch the zucchini plants and to harvest the zucchinis before they became too big. His excuse for not harvesting them was that they became so big that they would no longer fit in his bicycle paniers. I suppose he does have a point. Two of them were 15 inches long and weighed four pounds each. If growing awesome vegetables sounds like something you might like to do and you would like to be on the waiting list for a plot, contact [email protected] . Our society year ends September 30th and current members have to indicate if they want to return for another year. We will know then how many vacant plots will be available for the 2027 gardening year (which starts October 1st).

Last night’s thunder and lightning was a bit of surprise, but the storm brought only a spattering of rain. The wheel ba...
09/08/2026

Last night’s thunder and lightning was a bit of surprise, but the storm brought only a spattering of rain. The wheel barrows at the Pender Organic Community Garden were barely wet. Although Fall seems well and truly with us, there are still crops to be harvested and tended. The tomatoes are finally ripening, but most gardeners are finding that their plants are not as prolific as they were last year. So far, no plants are showing signs of blight, but the cooler moister nights are conditions under which blight seems to thrive. One reason to prune the lower stems of tomatoes is to avoid having water splashing up from the soil onto the lower leaves. The surprise crop of the season has been the eggplants. Several people have grown them and all the different varieties are producing a lot of fruit. The under gardener has harvested his potatoes. Kennebecks and Russets. The potatoes were left in the ground for an additional two weeks after all the foliage had died down. This time allows the skins to harden and prepares the potatoes for a longer period of storage, although the temptation to have fries a couple of times a week is hard to resist.

The tomatoes in the Pender Organic Community Garden are finally beginning to ripen. For some reason they seem to be slo...
08/28/2026

The tomatoes in the Pender Organic Community Garden are finally beginning to ripen. For some reason they seem to be slow this year and some of us are predicting lower than usual tomato yields. One crop that seems to be especially prolific this year are the beans, everyone who is growing them seems to have bumper crops with the weight of the beans in some cases pulling down their supports. Crops such as cucumbers and summer squash are beginning to die back as the gradually shortening days take their toll. Not as many people are growing corn this year and in one plot the cobs have only just begun to form. The harvest is by no means over with winter squash including pumpkins still to come. Brussel sprouts won’t be ready to harvest for another month or two and of course there is always kale!

The cooler temperatures in the mornings made working in the Pender Organic Community Garden this weekend quite pleasant....
08/17/2026

The cooler temperatures in the mornings made working in the Pender Organic Community Garden this weekend quite pleasant. The combination of clouds and haze from wildfire smoke helped keep the garden cooler longer. The garden is in reaching the tipping point in the season, the point when certain crops have been harvested and patches of bare ground begin to appear. The garlic is all out; most people’s onions have been dug and the potatoes, depending on the variety, are ready to dig. There is still lots of time for other crops to produce. Beans are now reaching their peak of production, but it is not too late to plant more. Just look for ones which will mature fast, bush beans are probably the best bet. Cucumbers are into their most productive phase, but some of the more exuberant and productive varieties are beginning to yellow at the centre of the plant. If anyone wants to grow a Triffid-like cucumber next year, try Armenian cucumbers. They produce vines which will easily stretch to 10 feet and giant fruit up to 18 inches long, mild and delicate with no need to peel. If you make cucumber relish, you will only need one of these for each batch.

Yesterday was a perfect gardening day, cool and without the glare of full sun, and several members of the Pender Organic...
07/26/2026

Yesterday was a perfect gardening day, cool and without the glare of full sun, and several members of the Pender Organic Community Garden were hard at work. There are always w**ds to remove, plants to water, but now we are getting to the time when major harvesting starts. The first of our onions have been dug and there will soon be enough cucumbers to start making the first batch of relish. As usual, some plots have an abundance of zucchini. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, chard, various types of lettuce, and early potatoes are being taken home to eat or preserve. Soon it will be time for all the green tomatoes to rapidly ripen. The first of our tomatoes have ripened and been turned into toasted tomato sandwiches, a special summer delight. Lots of beans are appearing on the various bean towers. A walk through the garden usually uncovers at least one surprise. One gardener has managed to get his eggplant to produce reasonably sized eggplants. Most of us struggle to get to them to produce anything but very pretty violet-coloured flowers.

Over the past week, the crops in the Pender Organic Community Garden have really taken off. If you stand still, you can ...
07/15/2026

Over the past week, the crops in the Pender Organic Community Garden have really taken off. If you stand still, you can almost see things growing. Now that the last of our garlic has been harvested, it is time to add compost to the bed and get another crop growing. The first in was two rows of beans, one row of Slendette and the other of Tenderette, both are the French filet type and form mounds rather than needing a structure to climb on. It is not too late to plant zucchini for a harvest later in late September, which will go in later this week. Beets and carrots will both have time to mature if they go in now. Of course, planting seeds in the current heat, means careful attention to watering. For us the crop of the week was our first cucumber, about 8 inches long and absolutely delicious! It came from a plant that is only about 14 inches in diameter. It is either Salad Bush or Patio Snacker, probably the later. The under-gardener, who germinated them under lights, admitted that he may have accidentally switched the labels.

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