Gardening Guides
Edible Gardens
Experiments Aplenty Fill Vancouver Edible Garden
Lush and brimming with test landscape plantings, a Canadian garden appeals to the eye and the palate
Everything from cinnamon basil to California lilac grows in Caitlin and Owen Black's backyard in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighborhood. The co-owners of Aloe Designs use this space as a test garden for their company, and they love to experiment with exotic flowers and every type of edible imaginable before using the plants with a client.
When the couple bought their home, the backyard was a dilapidated concrete pad with overgrown weeds, and it quickly became the Blacks' priority to fix up the space. "I think we had vegetable beds and a new patio built before we had any art up or a couch in our living room," Caitlin says. Six years and a major renovation later, the pair feels like their space is finally complete.
When the couple bought their home, the backyard was a dilapidated concrete pad with overgrown weeds, and it quickly became the Blacks' priority to fix up the space. "I think we had vegetable beds and a new patio built before we had any art up or a couch in our living room," Caitlin says. Six years and a major renovation later, the pair feels like their space is finally complete.
The edible beds are Caitlin and Owen's favorite part of the garden. Here, they can reap the benefits of their hard work year-round and enjoy a constant supply of fresh produce. Right now, the raised beds are full of eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, corn, beans, zucchini, beets, edible flowers and more. Caitlin devotes one 5-by-5 bed to greens. "My favorite to grow is arugula," she says. "I could eat that every day!"
Most of the 15-by-40 space is dedicated to test planting for their company, Aloe Designs. The pair particularly likes to test different organic growing methods for edibles and try out exotic and sun-loving plants to see if they can make it through a season in rainy Vancouver.
Owen uses this space to try out woodworking and concrete projects before taking them to a client's home. The garden shed was entirely his creation. They needed some space to store gardening supplies and their mower, and wanted somewhere to have rain barrels too. This space in the back of their garden was a weird shape and too damp to grow anything in, so Owen used it as a place to experiment with building techniques.
Owen built the shed with a small raised deck. The entire shed is made of reclaimed materials — mostly salvaged from client projects. An old sink ties to the rain barrels, and a barbecue pit embedded in the gravel helps make the most of summer nights.
Medicinal and edible herbs grow in a raised bed and pots along the back fence. "We grow literally every main type of herb you could name and then some wacky ones," says Caitlin. Mint and oregano are accompanied by pineapple sage, stevia and spicy oregano.
The couple built an outdoor dining table with a planter box for a trade show several years back. It was the first piece of furniture they ever designed or built, and they love it. The planter box can be removed easily and refilled with other plants or dinner necessities. "We pot it up with basil to use for dinner parties on your pasta, or we can fill it with ice to throw a bottle of wine in it," says Caitlin. "We call it our harvest table."
A variety of low-maintenance and drought-tolerant plants grow near the back fence. The garden includes four trees — olive, magnolia grandiflora, Himalayan birch and a stewartia. Caitlin and Owen have fleshed out any empty space with perennials like ferns, California lilac, peony and phorium.
More:
Guides to edible gardening
More:
Guides to edible gardening
