Growing Cape Island style

Maurice Ross lives in the community of Stoney Island, which is part of Cape Sable, the southernmost tip of Nova Scotia. He’s been tending his gardens for close to 50 years. “It’s been wet this year but when it’s damp it does it good. You don’t have to water it,” he said. “They say they drink a lot in through the leaves.”

Sky-high scarlet runner beans, armfuls of pastel gladioli and stacked tires full of tomatoes and potatoes can be found on his property.

Ross says he likes growing tomatoes in tires because he can put water inside the rim and it acts like a greenhouse to keep the tomatoes warm. He shares a tip on how to ripen green tomatoes at the end of the season. “Wrap the tomatoes one at a time individually in brown paper,” he said. “Put 20 - 30 in a box underneath the bed and they will ripen inside the paper. They’ll turn right red,” said Ross.

He stores squash in much the same way. Discovering how many he has after the grass dies in the fall, he dries them and keeps them separate from each other.

Ross also promotes tires for high production rates for potatoes, and can boast two buckets of tubers from three stacks of tires in the past. “I’ve grown in seaweed before but it was a wet year and the potatoes like it dry,” he said.

His six grandchildren and five great grandchildren enjoy his vegetables, and there are plenty to go around. He gave away close to 25 “messes” of beans last year.

Lately, he’s taken to putting excess scarlet runner beans out by the road for $2/bag. “This year everybody goes by. I don’t think they have any brakes on the car,” he laughed.

As for pests in the garden, he has few. He no longer has a problem with slugs after putting sand around the garden. “They don’t like to climb on it,” he said.

Ross is a fisherman with 40 years experience on the sea. He says he used to go out four days a week but since the change in quotas, doesn’t fish that much. It gives him more time for gardening. “I’m going to do it until I kick my heels up,” he said. “Until I kick the can.”