GTUF Seedy Sunday 2011

Gorge-Tillicum's Urban Farmers (GTUF) swapped and talked this afternoon, as we held our second annual Seedy Sunday.



It's a powerful time, when you think about it, this fairly casual affair (with all due respect for those who planned and arranged the tables, thought to bring bags and labels, and swept a small garden's worth off the floor afterwards).



The seeds we're sharing are the product of a year's worth of growing in our own neighbourhood, and at least a year's worth of precious know-how about particular plants in particular microclimates and local soils.



We were infiltrated by a few folk from nearby neighbourhoods, who brought some interesting seeds and stories of their own. Overall the variety of seeds brought was wonderful, particularly as no guidelines were given about what to bring. Must have been a dozen tomato varieties there, as well as lots of interesting greens and brassicas and legumes and root crops and herbs and flowers.



And as usual the snacks were a welcome treat, particularly on a blustery, rainy day in a period of same. A time for garden planning I suppose.



We had a useful chat afterwards, where people could ask questions about the seeds or other issues to do with growing. An interesting discussion about Fire Blight that had been diagnosed on a local pear tree: we learned that it can be caused by disruptions in air circulation in orchards; even a neighbour putting up a fence, as had been the case, can give airborne pathogens an easier route into plant tissues when they're not being blown about.