What is Food Insecurity?
The definition of food insecurity is the condition of not having access to sufficient food, or food of an adequate quality, to meet one’s basic needs.
You can either be food secure or fall into one of these 3 categories:
To put this into perspective…
-In 2023, 8.7 million people in the 10 provinces, including 2.1 million children, lived in a food insecure household (in 2022, it was 6.9 million and 1.7 mill children)
-In a year we’ve seen a jump from 4% to 6% for severely food insecure, and 8.9% to 10.9% for moderately severe food insecurity, while marginally stayed relatively the same
-this is a 50% increase in severe food insecurity, and we are approaching a ¼ of Canadians being food insecure
How does this affect us?
Ontario is home to 3.6 million people who are food insecure. Although there are provinces with higher rates of food insecurity Ontario is home to the largest number of food insecure people.
How can we help combat this?
Now, although growing your own food doesn’t fix the fact that there are way larger systemic issues that are contributing to these food insecure households, growing food can help offset costs while still providing fresh and nutritious food to households especially those with growing children.
How to plan a garden
Light Requirements:
How much sun you get will determine which plants you can grow successfully.
Full sun: 6+ hours of sun
Partial sun: 3-6 hours of sun
Image 1. Four different methods of gardening. In ground, raised beds, containers, a different type of raised beds.
Shade: 3 or less hours of sun
Different ways to grow a garden
→in ground
→raised bed
→ containers
→ raised containers
What type of soil to use
For most gardens, a loamy soil is the ideal mixture for growing vegetables. This usually means that the soil is a balanced mixture between sand, silt and clay.
Sandy, Clay, and Silt Soil:
→Sandy soils benefit from adding organic matter to enhance water and nutrient retention.
→
Clay soils benefit from adding coarse sand or gypsum that can improve its structure and drainage, while adding compost can improve nutrient content.
→Silt soils benefit from organic matter to enhance its structure and drainage.
Once you have decided where and how you plan to grow your garden, the next step is to determine what vegetables are you able to grow?
Full sun: Cucumber, Squash, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Peppers, Corn
Partial Sun: Beans, peas, beets, onions, leeks, tomatoes
Shade: the plants listed are not “shade” plants but can tolerate a shade environment. The trade off for growing in less sun is slower growth rates and less yield but it is still possible.
→ broccoli, cauliflower, rutabagas, cabbage, turnips will grow in shade but just take longer
→radishes, carrots, potatoes and beets can grow can grow in 3-4 hrs of sunlight
→leafy greens: spinach, arugula, lettuce, kale, bok choy and chard
Companion Planting
Companion planting is used to deter pests and increase yields. There are many benefits to companion planting with a few of the reasons listed below:
1.Natural support for plants
→ as plants grow they have the companion plants to lean on for structural support. They also act as a support against environmental factors such as wind
2.Plant health
→ Some companion plants work well with each other because they require different nutrients from the soil and therefore decreasing competition for nutrients.
- Soil Health
→ Plants with taproots or tubers pull nutrients up from deeper in the soil making them more readily available for shallow plants.
It is strongly encouraged to research the best companion plants for your selected garden plants. Below is a list of common companion plants:
-Dill
-Basil
-Marigolds
-Nasturtiums
-Sage
-Zinnias
Pest and Disease Maintenance
It is common when growing a garden to eventually run into pests and sometimes even disease. When treating these problems it is crucial to follow the golden rule of pest management and that is to start with the simplest solution and only increase the severity of your management plan if the easiest solution does not work. You should also try to keep clear of chemicals when dealing with anything that will be later ingested.
Nutrient Deficiencies
When growing plants in the garden, the nutrients found in the soils will deplete overtime as the plants pull them out to use themselves. If you notice problems in the garden and pests don’t seem to be the problem, it may be a good idea to check the last time you added nutrients to the soil. Common symptoms of nutrient deficiencies include:
-Yellow leaves
-Yellow or brown leaf edges
-Leaves look burnt or scorched
-Leaves have a purple or red tone
-Yellowing between leaf veins
-Small or stunted leaves
-Yellow or brown spots on leaves
-Twisted or misshapen leaves
-Stunted roots
There are micronutrients and macronutrients found in the soil that are used by our plants in the garden. Macronutrients are more commonly taught about and dealt with. The macronutrients that we commonly work with in the garden include: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Sulfur. Below is a quick overview of macronutrient deficiencies :
Nitrogen
→ Nitrogen is a water soluble nutrient so it washes away/ depletes easily
→ Yellowing lower leaves or pale new leaves
→ Some plants have purple stripes in the stem
→ This can be fixed with consistent fertilizing but consider a nitrogen only fertilizer if you’ve recently fertilize to not overdo the other nutrients
→ Compost and organic matter can leach nitrogen into soil (top dressing your beds with compost)
Phosphorus
→ Older leaves turned dark green with a tinge of purple/red/bronze
→ Stunted growth
→ Using a common garden fertilizer or bone meal
Potassium
→ Brown or burnt looking leaf edges coupled with chlorosis between the leaf veins
→ Purple spots on underside of leaves
→ You can make at home potassium fertilizer like this one here
Calcium
→ Will affect new growth
→ New growth will look withered, stunted or twisted
→ Tip burn is also common
→ In tomatoes this results in tomato bottom rot
→ Crushed egg shells on top of your soil will slowly release calcium
Magnesium
→ Older lower leaves will look chlorotic between the veins; leaf goes pale while veins stay green
→ If left untreated will lead to stunted growth and necrosis
→ Tomatoes, potatoes, apples and raspberries are more susceptible to it
→ Plants will willingly taken up potassium and calcium over magnesium
→ use a foliar spray to combat nutrient competition. The plant will take up the nutrients through the leaves instead of having to fight for it
→ Use Epsom salt (Magnesium Sulfate) to make a fertilizer – 3.785(1gal) per tablespoon of Epsom salts
Sulfur
→ New pale leaves that eventually turn yellow
→ Stunted growth
→ Looks similar to a nitrogen deficiency, key difference is where the yellowing begins (Sulfur begins in upper leaves, Nitrogen begins in older leaves)
→ Epsom salt spray can be used for sulfur deficiencies as well (magnesium sulfate)
Inspired to plant up some vegetables in your space? It’s still not too late! Most vegetables can provide a harvest if planted before the end of June. Plants such as gourds, broccoli, kales, cauliflower can be planted later in the season (past end of June) because they are considered cold hardy plants and will therefore can grow a few weeks longer than the typical growing season. Garlic needs to be planted in the fall to be able to harvest it the following season.
The list below provides you with the latest possible sow date for the following crops:
Last week of August
First week of Sept
Sept 16
Want to learn more about gardening and all topics related to gardening? Be sure to join our Urban Gardening Club to be up to date with all our upcoming events.
