Comments on: Sooke Harbour House gardens: a real live edible landscape

By: Miss Corinne

Miss Corinne — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:25:40 +0000

So beautiful – and the photos are lovely! Yes, edible landscaping has muscled its way into the public eye…but I see nothing but good things coming from the publicity. I’m also glad the east coast as a whole is FINALLY catching up to you earthy west coasters! And another good book is Edible Estates by Fritz Haeg.

By: JIVA

JIVA — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:44:35 +0000

i worked at the harbour house for this past may and i will always feel so fortunate to have experienced it. i was in the kitchen, one of the most creative i’ve been in thanks to the extraordinary garden full of unusual plants that serve as fodder for culinary imaginations! you can taste the ocean on the beautiful bronze fennel. they let the plants bolt to harvest the buds and blossoms, divine. i ate a tulip! truly beautiful! p.s. some gardens are protected from the voracious appetites of the local and numerous deer families by walls of mesh and net.

By: Helen

Helen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:04:35 +0000

Sooke Harbour House really is a jewel. We live in Victoria and you’ve reminded me with these beautiful photos that it’s time to go and visit this wonderful place again soon. Thank you!

By: germi

germi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:09:30 +0000

GASP!!!

I WEEP!

I want these gardens so badly!!! I am SO jealous! Does Harbor House have no squirrels, rats, voles, possums, raccoons, or skunks? I have them all! I am feeding them all on carefully chosen organic vegetables nurtured with my homemade worm compost.

Sigh! Beautiful pics! I weep some more!

By: jackie connelly

jackie connelly — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:31:52 +0000

love this place. love.

By: cindy

cindy — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:33:15 +0000

so inspiring, so beautiful.

By: Chicago Garden

Chicago Garden — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:10:45 +0000

Nice article.

Edible landscaping is a huge buzzword right now and I wonder how many people getting into it actually eat most of what they plant. Here in Chicago I kind of got annoyed when the city planted greens to landscape, considering how many people right now in America are going without food.

Glad to see an edible landscape being put to use and not just there for show.

MrBrownThumb @ Chicago Garden

By: Lou

Lou — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 06:20:56 +0000

A visit to Sooke is in order! Our own garden is increasingly devoted to food plants and herbs…though I must admit a guilty pleasure to nurturing the purely ornamental.

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:50:40 +0000

Ah yes, I too have been hearing the phrase “edible landscaping” more often now, not just in the radical punk zines I used to read. Edible landscaping is actually the kind of landscaping I’d like to do professionally, and luckily my first landscape client is allowing me to use a lot of edibles (hearty herbs mostly) and medicinals (purple coneflower!) in her design. I should mention too, that this client lives in the low Sonoran desert, which proves you can do this anywhere!

I do think it’s an important concept though, and hope that more landscapers pick up this trend of encouraging landscapes that are both nutritionally functional and aesthetically pleasing. If you haven’t already, you should check into the “Food not Lawns” group. There is a book by the same name, but I suggest seeking out the actual Portland-based group that strives to teach people how to turn their water-hogging sod lawns into verdant and nourishing paradises. Very cool.

Thanks for all the great posts!

By: nancy

nancy — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:30:56 +0000

i’ve always imagined sooke harbor house as a romantic dinner retreat after driving through the enchanted winding roads of the coast.

the potholes used to be free to the public before they made it into a park. there used to be this half built mansion that stood on a cliff or the river and waterfall. it made for excellent photo ops. like something out of a fantastic novel. the potholes are gorgeous and if it’s warm enough you must go for a dip.

oh you are making me miss the island! now i really regret moving away. victoria and surrounding area has always been a step ahead as far as growing organic foodies. my friend had a city farm right in vic back in the late 80′s early 90′s (mason st. farm) equipped with working chickens, composting, and a huge edible garden. we once guerrilla gardened the mcdonalds that burned down the street, of course we let the chickens run loose through the plot..and into oncoming traffic…ooops!

we visited the island last month and the chickens are gone but the land has not been built up with condos! people were still growing veggies there. the earth is so rich on that land it would be a shame otherwise.

ahhh, sweetest memories, thank you for that andrea!!! :-)