One of the best things about gardening is that gardeners are so willing to share their knowledge. We recently visited Tom Leach who, with Tracey Strong, operates Cranesbill Acres, a certified organic market garden located west of Smithers.

Tom and Tracey are at the leading edge of the move to grow market produce organically, without the use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. They are also innovators in growing high quality produce in our northern climate.

Here are some tips from Tom that every northern gardener can use.

Early crops

How early can you start vegetable plants in the Spring? Tom grows his own bedding plants and moves them to his heated greenhouse by March 1. That is early but similar to what a lot of local gardeners do. His exciting innovation is planting seed directly into the ground in an unheated greenhouse as early as the first of April. He has lettuce ready for market by the 21st of May. That's early!! Here's how...

In the Fall, he tills the soil inside the greenhouse and adds compost.. After the sun drives the frost out of the ground in the unheated greenhouse by April 1, he tills a second time and plants even though the weather is cold enough to freeze the top layer of soil at night. The seed doesn't mind the frost and the young seedlings take the frost without a problem. Of course, Tom seeds varieties of lettuce, spinach and carrots that can take cool temperatures. This way, Tom avoids the high cost of heating to grow an early market crop.