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Organic Gardening for Market and Home
by Tammy Lipke
The sun is shining. It's warm outside, the air is sweet with the scent of blossoms, and the leaves are coming out in their many shades and shapes. The first week of June and time to get your garden in, right? Well the answer to that is... maybe.

For Tom Leach and Tracey Strong of Cranesbill Acres, the season starts much sooner than that. Tom and Tracey are organic farmers, in addition to their "day jobs" at Interior Stationery and Northwest Community College, respectively.

Tom and his cultivating tractor
(photos courtesy of Cranesbill Acres)
I had the opportunity recently to visit Cranesbill Acres and to talk to Tom and Tracey about what they do and the process of organic gardening as it applies to the market farmer and the home gardener - read on!
Their growing season begins in early March at their farm on Ridge Road, west of Smithers. They begin the year by sowing many flats of individual seeds in their basement, under grow lights.
Tracey adds mulched leaves to the rows
When sowing seed, they use special tools that allow them to plant seeds individually at a fairly efficient rate. As every gardener knows, fine seed is a problem. It's difficult to sow evenly.

Tracey mentioned that she and Tom have discovered pelleted seeds, which are sold with each seed covered in a small bead of clay, making the tiniest seeds easier to handle. This may work well for the home gardener. Larger seeds are still planted in the traditional way, as they are not as difficult to see, or to plant.

The ground in the gardens is prepared prior to planting with mulch, made up of compost, peat, ground limestone, and fishmeal.

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