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Local Organic Gardener Shares Tips for Spring

Hannah Colton/KDLG

Dillingham resident Kyle Belleque opened up his organic garden Sunday to teach interested green thumbs more about how to have a successful garden in this area.

About twenty people slogged out to Kyle Belleque’s garden to hear his expert advice. For the past three years, Belleque has fed his family of five all winter long with his garden.

“If your idea is that you're going to grow it, and preserve it, and store it, and really live on it, and really save money on it, I am just telling you it takes a lot of space. And the more space, the more work, the more initial investment,” said Belleque.

He gave many helpful tips he has learned by gardening for the past three years. He says fish blood is one of the best fertilizers to help your plants grow.

“You get your fish and you've got a tote full of fish blood afterward, dilute it down so it looks like Kool-aid and just pour that directly onto your plants." said Belleque. "And immediately you'll see a  real growth spurt."

Belleque suggests experimenting with different types of vegetables. You never know if something will or won’t grow, so his advice is to just try it out. But he says that kale and Asians greens grow great in this area.

“That jungle looking thing over there is Asian greens. That grows so fast we can't even keep up with it. It makes yummy salads or you can use it with stir-fries,” said Belleque.

He says it’s best to wait until after the first week in June to plant your garden to avoid freeze up issues.