Companion Planting & June Garden Update

Something I need to learn more about is companion planting. I find in the rush of spring planting , the thought of suitable companion plants is often overlooked. However, I did manage to plant lettuce and radish together (see photo below), which I now discover in hindsight are good companion plants. Reader's Digest has a good companion planting list which confirms this.

I planted some spearmint among the raspberries and rhubarb, though these are not listed together in the above list. In hindsight, I should have planted the mint in a container to keep it from spreading. But does not appear to be germinating, which may be due to use of seed several years old.


I gambled and planted the potatoes early (above photo), first week in May, as well as several other veggies. This year we were fortunate to have the last heavy frost on April 30, well before the average last frost date of May 20. Now to see if we have a below or above average hail year...

Future posts will include a scan of the garden layout for this year. Overall the plantings are more of the same that was planted in previous years. I did not plant peas this year as they did not do so well in the last two years. Most plants are doing well except the beans, which are struggling with poor germination and insect (or bird?) nibbling.

Rhubarb is up!

The rhubarb is up, beginning the push upward around May 5 for 2011. For comparison, previous years as follows:

2010: April 16
2009: April 25
2008: April 15

Definitely a late start this year.

Last fall I pulled out the low producing strawberries (originally transplanted from neighbour). The berries were very small (a few mm at most) and sparse. Today I transplanted some larger/higher producing strawberries from another neighbour. Nice rains this evening to help them establish. Now to figure out what all to plant this year...!

Local Calgary Area Farms

For the most part, the garden produce from the backyard is a supplement to regular purchases from the local Co-op grocery store. However, I have been seeking alternative local sources for certain bulk purchases, mainly grain and meat.


The following is intended as a mostly personal reference summarizing local Calgary area farms that sell produce through non-retail outlets such as direct to consumers and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's). I will include links to Farmer's Markets in Calgary, but not include individual links to the farms at the markets as they are likely already listed online.

Community Supported Agriculture

A comprehensive list can be found at the following link:

Community Supported Agriculture in Alberta

Some of the farms include:

Oxyoke Farms (near Linden, AB)

Thompson Small Farm (near Sundre, AB as of MAR 2011, formerly near Carbon, AB)


Organic Grain Suppliers

Local Organic Spelt Growers - Page with additional links specifically related to Spelt Growers

Organic Agriculture Websites - links from the Alberta Government


Calgary Farmer's Markets

A list of local farmers markets can be found at (needs updating):

Calgary Farmers Markets

Another list of Calgary and area farmers markets, may be outdated plus has annoying pop-up ads:

Calgary & Area Farmers' Markets

Below: Some Calgary Farmers Markets near north Calgary with websites:

Blackfoot Farmers Market

Calgary Farmers' Market

Kingsland Farmers' Market

Thorncliffe/Greenview Community Association - Outdoor Farmers Market

Usually has some local Hutterites selling veggies in the parking lot in July and August.

This page is intended mainly for my own reference and will not be comprehensive. My interest is primarily ordering cuts of meat and organic grains directly from farmers, so that is the focus of the list. I will update it from time to time. Let me know if you see any errors or have discovered a farm that should be added.