Garden Therapy

Gooseneck Barnacles at Botanical Beach

August 10 2010 | Growing Food and Photography and Vancouver | 5 Comments »

Pickin’ Blackberries and Makin’ Jam

Today, on the annual organic blueberry run to Richmond, I stopped to walk the pooch by the Fraser River and found some huge, ripe blackberries that practically leaped into a little beach pail that I picked up for the occasion. I always snicker a bit when I see blackberries on sale around here as they are pretty easy to get a hold of here in BC.  But I guess many folks are too busy to get out and pick blackberries if they want them. 

The Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus laciniatus)  is an invasive intruder that can be found by the side of the roads nearly everywhere there is still green space.  There are brambles of the arm-stabbing, leg-slicing, nasty ass blackberries all around my community garden, but I’m fairly cautious about what I get from there given the transient nature of the neighbourhood (I’m putting it lightly – there is quite a bit of prostitution and drug use at night).  I’d much prefer to get out in the woods somewhere as I did today and for my efforts I went home with a pail and a half.  Plus I had a great walk, very much enjoying the first rainy weekend we have had in about 5 weeks, even if I did have to pick around the local wildlife.

Once home, the blackberries were so ripe that really, the only way to keep a large amount is to preserve them.  I call this Stupendously Simple Wild Blackberry Jam because it only has 3 ingredients.  The whole experince was very entertaining so even though it took a whole day, it was a day well spent.

Stupendously Simple Wild Blackberry Jam

• 8 cups fresh wild blackberries
• 4 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Lightly rinse the berries and put into a large pot.  Mash them up a bit with a potato masher or fork.  Add sugar and lemon and bring to a boil.  Reduce to medium low and keep it bubbling lightly until the liquid cooks down to the thickness you desire.  I cooked mine for 3 hours, stirring occasionally, to get a really thick final product.  This jam will sit piled up on a cracker if I want it too. 

Ladle finished jam into 12 clean, sterilized 125ml canning jars or 6 x 250ml (I think these are called 1/2 pints across the border).  Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes for the small jars and 15 minutes for the large jars.  Store for up to a year in a cool, dark place.

August 08 2010 | Canning and Harvest and Vancouver | 16 Comments »

Botanical Beach in Port Renfew, British Columbia

August 04 2010 | Photography and Vancouver | 8 Comments »

Strathcona and Cottonwood Community Gardens: Open House and Epic Plant Sale

July 09 2010 | Gardening and Vancouver | 8 Comments »

You Gotta See This: Phoenix Perennials

Today I dropped by my very favourite nursery in the Greater Vancouver area and the blooms on display simply blew my mind.  So gorgeous it was worth a shout out.

Phoenix Perennials in Richmond features one of the largest selections of perennials in Canada with over 4,000 plants.  Not only are the plants beautiful, rare, and impecably tended to by great staff, but right now the whole place looks like a plant carnival with so many rich colours of blooms and leaves and bracts.

It’s really the best show in town and the good news gets better: this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is The Summer Sizzle – 30% off plants, pots, and iron work.  There are a series of free workshops this weekend as well - check out the e-newsletter  for more details. 

I’m hoping to steal a little of my time (which has been currently dedicated to the community garden) to get there myself and pick up a few show stoppers for my front yard garden.  Hmmm, now where can I find some room….

July 07 2010 | Gardening and Vancouver | 9 Comments »

Up Close with the European Chafer Beetle

Wondering what has been destroying lawns around Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster? It’s the European Chafer Turf Pest or Chafer Beetle.

This time of year these ugly suckers can be seen mating in the trees at dusk and each one can lay up to 50 eggs in the surrounding lawn.  Those eggs turn into grubs (ick) that feed on the roots of grass until they get ripped out and munched on by crows, raccoons, or skunks.

Since this introduced pest has limited natural predators (besides the aforementioned grub-snackers) we are seeing turf around the GVRD is being destroyed in a street-by-street wave all by a beetle no bigger than a penny.

What can you do to about it?  In my opinion, replacing and reseeding your lawn every year is futile and expensive – you are really just planting gourmet micro-greens for grubs.  Why not take the hint and get rid of that thirsty high-maintenance patch of grass and replace it with a vegetable garden or some ground covers?  Here are some lovely ideas of lawn-free landscaping that look better without grass – and never need mowing.

Landscaping with rocks, water features, and flowering ground covers is an attractive and environmentally-friendly grass lawn alternative.

Low growing flowering perennials also make great groundcover - try Heather, Snow In Summer, and Lamb's Ear for different texture and colour options.

So far my lawn hasn’t been too badly damaged but I leave the grass long and full of clover, speedwell, and moss.  I think it looks festive with various flowers in bloom and full of bees.  And if what lawn I do have can’t withstand the grubs in the future, it’s just an excuse for more garden.  It’s a hard thing to say goodbye to an old friend, but if change is forced upon us, perhaps it isn’t worth the fight but instead is opportunity for something new.  Like a water feature or a heirloom tomato garden or a herb wheel or a rockery or….

If you’d like to learn more about Chafer Beetles then check out the Vancouver Park Board’s brochure.  And stay tuned because over the next few months I’ll be posting more on Chafer Beetles (read: future studio shots of the grubs) as well as ideas on how to deal with our changing landscape.

June 30 2010 | Gardening and Photography and Vancouver | 12 Comments »

Backyard Patio Project: Before and After…and After

This month marks the 6-year anniversary of breaking ground on my back patio project.  I use the term “breaking ground” loosely as the year was basically a mud pit in the winter and a dust bowl in the summer. 

Over the course of a few months, my husband loaded up more than 30,000 lbs of  the backyard “soil” (another loose term) into a wheelbarrow and replaced it with a patio surrounded by beds and a small grassy area.

In the next 5 years the patio changed many times over. New house colours.  New patio furniture.  New deck.  And last year was the beginning of the potager phase where I packed this wee garden with hundreds of vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers.

This year it already looks quite a bit different.  I have replaced one of the tomato planters with a strawberry planter.  I’ve been growing only lettuces in the wine barrel planters as they get too much shade from the trees now.  I’m now growing mushrooms in my zen garden under the deck.  I’m only going to grow what was a success last year (sorry, no purple cauliflower) and I’m going to try to keep the clutter down (damn giant purple cauliflower).

May 24 2010 | Projects and Vancouver | 23 Comments »

Shiitake Mushroom Project Phase 1

I did find some wonderful goodies at the Van Dusen Plant Sale last weekend despite the fact that I attended the sale solely to get my paws on a mushroom growing kit.  The sale was an absolute zoo even with the rainy weather which made it a bit difficult to get to the Western Biologicals Ltd. table but once there it was worth it to see the great display of mushrooms and take home a block to grow my very own shiitake mushrooms. Here is what mine looked like when I got it home.

I’ve followed the instructions so far to the letter and a week later I already have mushrooms forming but I can’t say that I’ve actually DONE anything.  I opened the bag, watered the block and then set it under my deck.  So far so good.  I’m confident that they’ll look like the display mushrooms very soon:

My intention in growing anything is to learn about the biology through home experimentation and I’m not sure watering a prepared fungus block is the way to do that.  So I picked up a pamphlet on some upcoming classes that I’m considering signing up for.  They offer a farm tour as part of the classes and I’m always up for a farm tour.  We’ll see.  It’s been fun so far and I’m sure I’ll enjoy my mushrooms.  I do see this project evolving into something more though.  

Western Biologicals Mushroom Display

If you are in the market for a mushroom block at home, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to try it.  Western Biologicals has no website so call them at 604-856-3339 for more info.

May 01 2010 | Growing Food and Projects and Vancouver | 8 Comments »

Today is the Annual VanDusen Plant Sale

The VanDusen Plant Sale is an annual showstopper with  more than 40,000 beautiful, unique and interesting plants for sale, master gardeners available to answer your every question, AND admission to the gardens is free for the day.  The sale runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  For more information check out their press release.

April 25 2010 | Gardening and Vancouver | 6 Comments »

It’s Seedy Saturday in Vancouver

Hey everyone, if you’re in Vancouver and have some seeds or need some seeds, the Environmental Youth Alliance is hosting Seedy Saturday at the Strathcona Community Gardens today from 10am-1 pm.  Come on by!

April 17 2010 | Community Garden and Vancouver | 4 Comments »