Archive for the 'Gardening' Category
I finally got back out into the garden today and revisited some completely neglected projects, like my hanging strawberry planter. To my surprise, the plants were not doing as well as I thought they would after a winter break. Many were dead and the ones that remained had weak root systems. I rooted around in the planter a bit and found some unwelcome visitors to be the cause: Strawberry Root Weevil grubs. Ick!
The beauty of keeping strawberries in a container is certainly the ease of replanting it all (although it did take me a few hours to empty out the planter, dig through the soil, and pick out the grubs). My planter is now weevil-free and here is what was left over…
…just enough for my backyard birds: a high-protein meal of gourmet grubs served up in a terra cotta plant saucer for easy pickin’s. Lucky birds!
March 27 2011 | Gardening | 4 Comments »
It’s finally here. The day we have all been waiting for: #SuperSowSunday! Last year a bunch of gardeners sowed our seeds on the same day as the Superbowl while tweeting about it. It was a day of tip-sharing and silliness which marked the beginning of gardening season in an entertaining way.
This year the event has been expanded by Bren at BG Garden to be full of giveaways and experts to answer seed starting questions. To follow join, just follow the instructions at Super Sow Sunday.
Each year I start seeds indoors in heated seed trays with grow lights. I set up a big shelving unit, attach my lights and heating mats and plant label plant label plant label.
Since the last day of frost here is May 24th, it’s too early for many of the seeds I want to grow indoors (like tomatoes, peppers, and ground cherries). Planting those now mean the seedlings will be leggy and overgrown by the time they are ready to plant. Most I will start in April but I’ll do have early tomatoes and alpine strawberries to start in March. Stay tuned on those.
It is, however, the perfect time to start some cold-weather crops and get a jump start on spring veggies like salad greens and peas. I plan to approach this the same way as last year given my outstanding success with it – planting in large outdoor containers under greenhouse umbrellas.
Project: Seed Starting with Mini Greenhouses
Find your Container
My climate conditions are chilly and wet in late winter, with a chance of snow/frost. With this in mind, I chose large wooden containers like raised beds or wine barrel planters for my early seeds. The moisture can move through the wood (meaning the soil can draw from the moisture in the air or release excess) and the large size of the container means the soil will stay warmer for the seedlings.
Prep the Soil
If you have a container with last year’s soil, turn it with a shovel or garden claw to fluff it up and mix from bottom to top. Then dig in a layer of compost six inches below the surface of the soil to prepare some future nutrition for the seedlings as they grow up. Finally cover the top layer of soil with a light, moisture-retaining material like seeding mix, peat moss, or coconut coir. The little seeds will have the moisture they need to germinate and the soil will not develop a crust too hard for the seedlings to emerge from.
Plant Your Seeds
At this time of year germination rates tend to be lower so I plant densely. Typically I will use a whole packet of lettuce seeds per wine barrel. Growing time is much slower at this time of year and thinning is fun – baby salad greens are the first vegetables I get to eat from my garden so I plant many and eat many. It ends up being very economical as well. From one packet of lettuce seeds I will thin and transplant lettuce all over the garden (and give lots away to friends) giving me a steady supply of salad from March through July.
Cover
I was lucky to find some great greenhouse covers at my local garden centres for pretty reasonable prices. They have lasted me many years and I use them throughout each season from early frost protection of tomatoes to warming peppers and eggplants to covering my rosemary each time it snows.
Here are a few tips on what to look for when buying mini-greenhouses:
- It doesn’t matter if it has a vent or not, generally you won’t use it.
- Buy one with plastic or rust resistant parts – the ones that look the most like umbrellas have the same metal latching mechanism that an umbrella does and it undoubtedly will rust and become unusable in no time.
- Greenhouses with a center stake are best (over the ones with pegs to hold down the edges). You will lift the umbrella regularly to water, check the plants, and give them some air. This will be frustrating if you have to find and reinsert the pegs each time.
- The best greenhouses fold up for storage when not in use.
- Update: because so many of you have asked where to buy one, here are similar versons that I found on Amazon.com: GreenThumb Pop-Up Greenhouse
or FOLDING GREENHOUSE (P3IQ1094)
Venting and Watering
Managing the health of plants under mini greenhouses will be very much up to you as a gardener to decide what is needed. Rain will not water your plants for you so this is now up to you to decide when to water. If it is getting too moist or hot inside, you can lift the greenhouse slightly from the ground or know that it’s time to remove the greenhouse for good.
Hardening Off
When the seedlings have their first true leaves and the weather is starting to warm up, I tend to start hardening off my seedlings by removing the cover for a few hours each day, increasing the time slowly until they have a full day in the outside air uncovered. I still cover the containers at night until my magical gardener’s sense tells me that they will be safe in the moonlight by themselves.
Thinning & Harvest
Om nom nom. This is the most rewarding part: start cutting and eating the plants by snipping seedlings at the base with sharp scissors to make room for the other plants to grow bigger. Baby lettuce, radishlings, and pea shoots are delightful in the spring. Munch on snow peas in the garden while you plant other things and use them to get your dog to do tricks (my dog LOVES fresh peas). And if you are like me you’ll have some many that you’ll schedule in a 10:30 salad each day just to keep up with it.
February 06 2011 | Gardening and Growing Food and Projects | 10 Comments »
What seeds should I grow this year? Hmmmm. In true garden hoarder style I’ve collected way more seeds than I can every possibly plant in my tiny gardens. Who can blame me!? Seed companies send me catalogs all winter long. And West Coast Seedshas the most delightful (and addictive) storefront in Ladner. This outward brainwashing / mind-control has sucked up my free will sending me into zombie-like spending sprees. I now have seed packets jumbled all over the place.
I better get organized.
Me: Little paper envelopes. So pretty and so full of possibilities. What will you become if I plant you little seeds…
Reason: Stop that!! Get a yourself a CD organizer, create dividers out of cardboard, and file seeds by the month they should be planted. Group them by type of seed (i.e.: all tomatoes together) and by like growing conditions (i.e.: tomatoes with peppers and basil).
Me: little paper dolls…
Reason: Snap out of it! Get those packets organized and thinned out.
Me: <gasp!>
I don’t like thinning seedlings (Sophie’s Choice flashbacks) much less culling the planting options. But it must be done. I have a tiny urban garden not a farm <lost in dreaming of life someday on a farm>. Ahem, yes, I can only plant so many seeds. Let’s choose them.
In the last few years I grew about 100 different varieties of fruit, vegetables and herbs in my tiny urban gardens and my community garden plot. This year I am paring that wayyyyy down. I’ve given up the community garden plot <sniff> and will be growing only the following (read: serious and strong tone):
Herbs:
sweet basil, Thai basil, rosemary, sage, chives, parsley, cilantro.
Vegetables:
snap peas and snow peas, heirloom tomatoes, French filet pole beans, giant garlic, hot peppers, rhubarb, salad greens.
Fruit:
blueberries, raspberries (red and gold), alpine strawberries, ground cherries, apples, plums.
Me: But I want fennel and beets and carrots and squash!
Reason: Sorry, no room. Buy them at the farmers market.
Me: Ugh.
So there we have it. I have my plan for the year. I’m just so absolutely certain that I won’t add another thing. Well, maybe artichokes and kale in my flower beds if …clearly I have a problem.
Join us on Sunday February 6 for #SuperSowSunday where a bunch of crazy gardeners will be starting their annual seeds and tweeting about it thanks to Bren who’s organizing the shin-dig this year.
February 03 2011 | Gardening and Growing Food and Projects | 7 Comments »
If you liked my wreath but don’t have the time or desire to make your own, please consider buying one this year from Emerging Hope. This wonderful organization works with people living with addiction by providing them with gainful employment in landscaping, nursery work, and holiday wreath-making . Below is the call out to Vancouverites for this year’s wreaths.
Wreaths of Hope 2010
People living in poverty and addiction are awaiting the opportunity to use their unique talents once again to create your holiday wreaths. By purchasing one you are giving one of the greatest gifts possible: dignity and hope to someone struggling to improve his or her life. Just as the wreath was an early Roman and Greek symbol of victory, with every purchase you help someone experience a small victory in his or her life.
Each year the need is even greater than before, as many people face the winter without even their basic needs met. While we are not able to solve the big picture for the poorest people in our city, together we can make a difference in the lives of some. In this, our tenth year of wreath making, we aim to create many more hours of meaningful employment.
Pricing remains unchanged this year at $45.00 (Small) $60.00 (Med) and $90.00 (Large).
Please call Emerging Hope Projects to order: Ph:604.716.4284
THANK YOU for giving someone a hand up not a hand out this holiday.
December 14 2010 | Community Garden and Gardening and Projects and Vancouver | 3 Comments »
This week we thawed out from that crazy November snowfall and I jumped at the window of opportunity to dig up the rest of the root veggies from the community garden plot. It was a very beautiful day at the garden. Even though the plots are a mess I found it quite romantic with the setting sun beaming through the skeletons of our summer gardens and sky-high pampas grass.
It felt great to get out and dig in the soil, and harvesting is always fun. While I was disappointed to only have a few pounds of potatoes, I did get a bunch more Gladiator parsnips and a ton of various beets that I didn’t expect. I roasted up this bunch of roots for a family dinner tonight.
Now that the community plot is officially put to bed for the winter I wonder weather I want to keep up the space again next year. I have enough room to grow a small variety of veggies at home and while I love gardening with the community members, it has lately been feeling more like a chore. Much of the food at the gardens gets stolen, many say because of the part of town we are in (notorious for homelessness and drugs) but sadly, the folks that I’ve seen steal are (gasp) other gardeners or visitors in suits who drive Hondas and show off their knowledge of growing food by cutting off all my garlic scapes or plucking a pumpkin. Mostly the thieves are foodies with a sense of entitlement and little concern for community. So that sucks.
Then there’s the growing conditions. The soil is poor and disease is rampant. Without daily weeding the plots are soon overrun with buttercup, horsetail, bindweed and in some cases the dangerous giant hogweed. This year I just wanted to grow squash. I ended up planting 10 types of squash and got about 12-15 orange spaghetti squash and downy mildrew killed the rest. I did also plant strawberries, potatoes, artichokes, tomatoes, beans, celeriac, beets, parsnips, peas, fennel, carrots, garlic, leeks, and kale, so I strayed from my focus and got a little of everything (except the celeriac which was a big failure). It’s fun to bring home fresh veggies and I haven’t really shopped for any in the grocery for the last 5-6 months. The number and variety of what is left after theft and disease is just a taste. Despite a valiant effort–I added manure to the soil, a bacterial / fungal mix that we bought at the farmers market and compost compost compost–the soil still lacked nutrition. This combined with the fact that disease is so quickly spread in a community garden space that I fought rust, mildew and blight daily. I certainly appreciate the fresh food I brought home, yet this alone is not worth the effort when I can buy the like at the farmers market each week.
Even if I never brought home a veggie I would still be a member because I joined the garden in the first place for the community. I wanted to learn from others, connect and share. In my mind perhaps I had the idea of a communal gardening group of people laughing and sharing huge baskets of fresh produce, while tending their lush green plots and beautifying the neighbourhood. The reality is that you see most of the members only at the monthly work parties. For most of the year I went to the work parties religiously. A few of the other members have the same commitment, a few. It’s great to see some of them, sometimes, but I wouldn’t call it a community. There is rallying around the condom/needle clean up and stopping the crazy dude from pouring rat poison on our plants, but it’s not quite what I had imagined. I’ve made a few friends at the garden though, so that’s something.
Now, as another year comes to a close I’ll reflect on whether or not it’s worth the effort or if perhaps there is another group or space that would be a better fit for me. For all the reasons above I almost gave up my membership last year, but something kept me there. The promise of something new, perhaps. Maybe this year some new people with join and keep me company at the work parties. Or perhaps I’ll get to run a seed starting project with the new greenhouse or learn something new. Who knows? But if I’ve learned just one thing about being a member of a community garden, it’s that it is about a whole lot more than just growing food.
December 06 2010 | Gardening and Growing Food and Harvest and Vancouver | 13 Comments »
I missed bloom day this November and last month I didn’t post at all. What a shame.
When we got a spot of sun yesterday, I headed out to the garden to do some veggie garden prep. The temperature was so warm and the day so lovely, that I quickly lost track of time puttering around. When I ventured out to my front flower garden I was delighted to find some hardworking plants bearing flowers in the cold, rainy November weather. Good for them. Yet no one has been out to appreciate their hard work. A shame.
I like listing off what’s blooming in the garden each month so I have a record (a blog is a journal after all) and it does get me out there appreciating the flowers that I have been neglecting. I have recently been treating it as a chore. Then to look back on my previous posts-stunning colour and shapes that change month to month so dramatically-I’m glad that I at least I have a year to review. Less of a shame.
I’m back on track now, loving both the blooms and bloom day. Setting aside the canning jars and root vegetables and homemade soap and all the projects for a moment to appreciate the beauty that lives on. Better late than never, right?
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Sedum Autumn Joy
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Rudbeckia ‘Cherry Brandy’
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Red Cabbage
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Hydrangea ‘Blue Ball’
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Heuchera ‘Blackberry’
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Hawthorn Berries
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Echinacea ‘Twilight’
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Beauty Berry
November 18 2010 | Flowers and Gardening | 4 Comments »
I recently read this post by Kat about why she embraced failure as a gardener (trying + failing = learning + growth) and I was struck once again my the gravitational pull of guilt that lingers in my gardens. I fight it. I deny it. I give myself great pep talks about how the garden is there for me not me for it. That when I want to garden I will always have LOTS to do and when I want to do other things, well that’s life. I’m busy. I don’t always feel like dragging my tired ass out to the garden to weed yet another day. I keep strong and fight the guilt. If the plants die then they aren’t the right plants for me, I reason.
As Kat eloquently put it, “failure isn’t my favorite part of gardening, it’s PART of gardening. There is no escaping it. If one wants to grow in anything they do, one has to take risks.”
I believe all of this and love that she said it. We ALL fail sometimes and other times we just let things slide (die, shrivel, wilt). No one can do EVERYTHING with out going bonkers. Busy lives, busy days, family, friends, jobs, classes, etc, etc, etc. It’s a part of the process and a valuable one. So in celebration of all the half-ass projects that I have collecting in my house, that we all have collecting in our houses, I’m posting photos. Yes, graphic photos, of the less-than perfect moments in my garden:
Sometimes I forget about the bird feeders on a tree, in the garage, or in bird feed box. Then I get a creepy surprise like this crazy black fungus.
Or mold, sprouts AND crazy black fungus. Yikes, sorry birds.
Late blight can get away from me as much as I try to remove every branch, leaf, grain of soil that is contaminated. This Micro Tom tomato plant hid from me and my snippers on De-Blight Day and now I think those little tomatoes are rotting in my fridge.
This weedy overgrown mess is my back garden. I really need to divide the perennials, clean up the soil, and give it a good mulch for the winter. But hey, I’m just happy that I planted up the barrel with Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli).
A kind neighbour gave me some dahlia tubers which I promptly left in newspaper on my deck for 4 months until they sprouted. I still have no idea where to plant them.
And since the kicthen table is the holding ground for garden / food related projects, it is the wasteland for my collections like these eggshells I planned to use against the slugs that have been mowing down my lettuce seedlings…
…or basil clippings that have been there for months.
There is more out there: dead seedlings, seeds sprouting in packets, trees in need of pruning, and weeds, weeds, weeds. Ugh, and that box of fall bulbs I was due to plant last month is staring at me every day (plant me plant me plant me). But I say, “Damn you bulbs and weeds and guilt!” I have a beautiful garden that feeds me well and is completely and utterly imperfect. I shun the guilt, hold my head high, knowing I have a garden to work on whenever I want to enjoy a beautiful day outside, or get in a little garden therapy.
November 12 2010 | Gardening and Photography and Projects | 12 Comments »
August is the season for figs in Vancouver. I know this because on a bi-daily basis, my neighbour comes over with a huge bowl of figs for me to turn into something delicious. He has 5 trees that bare 2 kinds of figs of which I don’t know the name, but each one has green skin, one variety is large with sweet, mild white flesh that turns golden as it gets really ripe, and a smaller variety that has red flesh and is a bit tangier.
Two years ago I used the white-fleshed figs when they were really ripe to make fig ginger jam. I skinned every fig and just used the flesh for this jam with lots of texture from the seeds and chunks of candied ginger. It turned out so well that I saved and savoured the jars knowing they would have to last. One sad, sad day my last two jars hit the tile floor on the laundry room and smashed in a glassy figgy mess. As I was contemplating licking it off the floor (and picking the glass off my tongue from the splatter that hit my leg), I decided I better make some more to avoid this sort of desperate craziness.
In 2009, I used both kinds of figs together to make jam, again making Fig Ginger Jam , but this time I left on the skins. This changed the colour and texture of the jam as I needed to pulse the jam with an immersion blender to chop up the skins this time making it thicker. And because I had added the candied ginger in the jam before blending, there were no yummy candied ginger chunks. The colour was not nearly as nice as the 2008 jam (which was a rich, shiny, golden colour) but it tasted just as good.
I made a second Jam in 2009 as well, Fig, Brandy and Honey Mandarine. This had a lot more citrus and some richness from the brandy both of which went very well with the figs.
Then came August 2010:
I don’t know if it is a love for figs, the daily harvest delivery from my neighbour, or the squirrel in me but I made 7 recipes from the figs this year:
Oh, and I froze some halved figs too. Whew. I actually went out yesterday to see if the trees had any more ripe figs (um, crazy) and thankfully, that’s it for the year. I can put this figgy month to bed enjoying a pantry full of riches, of the fig persuasion.
August 31 2010 | Baking and Canning and Gardening and Growing Food and Harvest and Projects | 25 Comments »
The following is an excerpt from my article in the Spring / Summer 2010 issue of Delish magazine. Delish is a free-to-the-reader online publication for women with an cutting edge format. It is not just a website or blog, it is an online magazine that allows you to flip page by page just as you would a hard copy. The writers and editors live all over the world and in many cases were brought together by the internet. While I’ve never met any of the lovely ladies, I so much enjoyed working with them for this first issue that I wrote two more for the upcoming fall issue. To look through Delish, click on the thumbnail:
Finding Your Inner Farmer: A Guide To Getting Your Own Green Thumb
I adore beautiful plants. My garden is chock-full of them, looking like little gems, all gleaming aubergine and cherry and tangerine at different times of the year. So when I happened by a photo of a beautiful backyard potager boasting ornamental vegetables, fruit trees and herbs all intermixed with gorgeous dahlia blooms, coneflowers and wisteria vines, it was love at first sight. My image of an ordered country vegetable plot tended to by an overall-clad farmer was immediately replaced by one of a chic urbanite showing off her bounty of freshly-picked produce.
With a little research (browsing through local garden centres and seed catalogs), I quickly realized that rainbow chard and beetroot don’t only look good together on the dinner plate. I dug up the perennial beds surrounding my back patio and replaced half of the showy blooms with gorgeous veggie plants like Dragon Tongue beans and Pizza My Heart peppers. That summer, the patio looked just as beautiful as the previous year, required no extra tending to, and as a bonus, gave me a gourmet produce section right in my backyard.
It’s been a few years now since edibles have joined my small urban garden. The whole things is incredibly addicting. While the garden is still filled with flowers and ornamental trees, I’ve found it’s more rewarding to plant a trellis with Purple Peacock pole beans than a flowing vine. Hanging baskets overflow with Tumbling Tom tomatoes and yellow alpine strawberry plants can be seen in many a nook and cranny. I take great pleasure when a neighbour asks, “Is that a cabbage?” with both awe and delight at the interesting, leafy, red globe nestled in the front border of a garden that still looks unabashedly ornamental.
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August 21 2010 | Gardening and Growing Food | 8 Comments »
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