It is amazing how a little seed of inspiration can grow into a bountiful garden of ideas!  In 1997 the Maritime Heritage Seed Garden was started at FBC with the creation of 6 double-dug raised beds. 

The cultivars chosen for this garden were researched by staff to find specific heritage varieties, special to the Atlantic region.  Many plants grew that year and seeds were saved for the next season.  Some cultivars include:  Jacob’s Cattle bean, Cranberry bean, Marrowfat peas, Cimmaron lettuce, Deer Tongue lettuce, Chantenay Red Cored carrots, Danish Ballhead cabbage, Brandywine tomatoes, and Burgess Buttercup winter squash.  There was a great amount of support from Canada’s national seed saving and heritage preservation organization Seeds of Diversity Canada.

The heritage seed garden is a great way to incorporate local knowledge and traditions into the FBC space.  Our annual Seed Swap held the first Saturday of each March was initiated, and brought forth many gardeners and seed savers from around the area to trade seeds and stories.  Now this event has grown to a new location - the Florencville Town Hall, and is organized in partnership with the Florenceville Garden Club, Canadian Organic Growers - NB Chapter, and Hope Seeds & Perennials.

“Heritage” is a term used to describe cultivars that have a longer tradition in agriculture.  These plants have a history connected to them, unlike the new breeds that come out of modern labs.  There are 3 characteristics that heritage cultivars generally adhere to (but these definitions are still quite subjective):

1. AGE – Heritage cultivars have been around for a while.  Depending on who you talk to it may be 10 years, a family generation, pre-settlement era, or anything else.  It is generally agreed that heritage cultivars are 50 years or older.
2. OPEN POLLINATED – Seed savers rely on open pollinated plants to perform predictably year after year because they “breed true”.  The seeds from each plant will generally have the same characteristics as the parent plant (save for acts of nature and unusual genetic twists).  They are not hybrids, which are crosses of 2 different parent plants and whose genetics are therefore unstable.
3. STORY – The most interesting and unique aspect of heritage cultivars is the story that each one carries.  It could be about how it came to the local area, the growers, describing the colours or shapes of the seeds, etc.  These stories are passed along with the sharing of the seed.

Herb Spiral

Permaculture is a growing approach to landscape and social design.  It is a method that takes a system approach to land use, and works with the natural relationships between air, water, earth, sun, plants and animals.  There are a couple of permaculture practices on site, of which our herb spiral garden is one.

The herb spiral is a garden design that allows a gardener to grow plants that prefer different growing conditions to grow in close proximity.  Different microclimates are created by the height of the spiral (picture a mini mountain) making a dry, hot top and south side, and a cool, moist bottom on the north side, and everything in between.  Plants that like more Mediterranean conditions such as rosemary, sage, thyme and oregano like to be planted at the top.  Dill and chamomile enjoy the wetter bottom.  You don’t just have to use herbs, but the spiral works well for flowers and some vegetables too!

The first spiral was designed and built by Caroline Rochon, CIDA intern in 2003.  The second one was built by WWOOFers in 2004, and the two together create a “yin yang” pattern.

Shiitake Mushroom garden

When CIDA intern 1999 Rachel Larivee returned to FBC from her overseas placement in Mexico, she brought back a great idea from the organization she worked with.  We can grow our own mushrooms!  

FBC has a vast area of forest cover which and moist, warm summers providing perfect conditions for mushrooms to grow.  This is where the Forestry program crosses with the Agriculture program, as mushrooms can be considered a non-timber forest product (NTFP) as well as food product.  A small area in a mixed forest close to the “downtown” area of the centre was modified to accommodate our Shiitake Mushroom garden.

Each year, FBC sources hardwood logs from local woodsmen.  The logs are the growing medium and food source for the mushrooms.  Logs are inoculated with shiitake spawn (grown on sterilized sawdust, supplied by David Boyle of Maritime Microbiologicals).  Once sealed with wax, logs are left to rest while the mushroom mycelium digests the nutrient in the wood. After a 8-12 month period and mycelium presence is evident at the ends of the logs, logs are placed in a cold-water bath for 10-24 hours.  This bath "shocks" the mycelium into fruiting, and 7-14 days later shiitake mushrooms pop out of the log!   After a few days of growth, mushrooms are ready for harvest.

Every Spring, Falls Brook Centre and David Boyle of Maritime Microbiologicals host a “Grow-Your-Own Mushrooms” workshop, where participants learn in a hands-on way how to inoculate their own mushroom log and grow them at home.  For more information about growing mushrooms, please look at our Forest Stewardship webpage.

CSA garden

This 1 acre garden is where the majority of food for the FBC-CSA is produced.  Interns, staff and WWOOFers all have the opportunity to dig around here and learn about how different plants grow.  Over 40 different plant species grow here, each with many different varieties.  Some of our main crops are potatoes, tomatoes, salad greens, peas and beans.  We have a fairly short, cool growing season, no irrigation (lots of straw mulch!), and rocky soil – which all provide great challenges and opportunities.

This garden, and all others at FBC (including our Acadian Forest Restoration Nursery) is certified organic by the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA).  This means we follow OCIA's standards or "rules" to guide us through organic growing.  These standards refer to a wide range of aspects in farm production, including seed sources, manure and compost management, soil stewardship, biodiversity, water quality, and more.  Every year, FBC completes our organic farm plan for OCIA, which is reviewed and confirmed by an on-site inspection.  FBC has been certified organic since 1999.

Compost site
Much like seed saving, composting is part of a full-cycle garden system.  Kitchen and garden “waste” is collected and put into cedar-log bins along with manure from the horse farm down the road (we get a delivery each Spring).  The logs are notched at each end, allowing them to rest on each other without rolling.  As the bin fills up, the logs can easily be removed and restacked to make a new empty bin.  This makes turning the pile much easier, but then leaving the pile alone works too!

Gravity-fed rain barrels
Okay – it’s not a garden.  But it’s really important to our gardens!  FBC has no irrigation system other than collecting rain water from our rooftops in barrels.  By elevating these barrels that collect water from the barn roof, we have created a gravity-fed system.  Water naturally wants to flow to the lowest elevation, so when we open the nozzle, the pressure on the water pushes it through the hose to the tree nursery or greenhouse without using a pump.  Cool!