Ottawa Hortiphilia

My New Garden Blog

2008-10-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

It's not that I haven't been blogging, it's just it's all over in the new blog.

http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.com/

So if for some unfortunate reason, you have been directed here by a naughty link, go there, go find out what I've been ranting on about. Go on, you know you're curious.

Right now, I'm evicting plants from the garden. Who will be next? Varigated Dogwood? Wild Choke Cherry? Chinese Lantern (as if I could evict it).

The Big Project

2008-09-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

I am writing a sub-blog which will chronicle my gardening transformation as I re-imagine what it is to have an urban veggie patch. This blog will take over Ottawa Hortiphilia for the next year or two:

http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.com/

Back from the wastelands with a project

2008-09-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Yes I'm back and instead of telling you all the far too exciting story of my journey, I have been thinking. About what? What else but gardening. I have a project planned and it is a big one. So big in fact that I am going to start a special 1-2 year long garden blog entirely devoted to it.

All will be revealed once I finally download all those holiday pics so I can have my illustrative device back.

Stay tuned.

(What will this special features blog be called? Why is she tormenting us with yet another blog? What's wrong with this one? Can't she just tell us now instead of making me come back. I'll never remember to check back. Doesn't she know how many blogs I have on my blog roll. Sigh. She could have at least uploaded some plant porn for us...)

Update on spiral garden

2008-06-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

I was just on Gardener's Anonymous' Blog and saw the update of her spiral garden which inspired me to update you on my spiral garden. It's exploded into life this year and as of yet has not heard of my plots to rearrange and expand it.

Welcome to the main path:

Street side:

House side:

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the centre of the spiral but I've changed it around, moving my delphiniums to the front and replacing them with an dark leafed, hardy abelia. Anyhow, it's in for more changing in the coming months and years. The spiral itself is most visible in the spring and fall when most of the herbaceous material has died down. My intention was to have ungulating layers of vegetation so that you play peek-a-boo as you are walking through it until you get to the centre where there is a stone bench for sitting.

Links:

Small spiral garden
Scroll down for a spiral rowed veggie patch

It's been awhile and garlic harvest

2008-06-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

While I was gone, several people had kindly volunteered to take care of my garden. Happily for the weeds, one of them was unable to fulfill his obligation. My veggie patch was a verdant field of green crabgrass, lamb's quarters (though I would have liked more of those tasty wild greens), and so on. I weeded until my hands were sore and then I weeded some more. Before I go on the second half of our summer journey, I will mulch heavily!

As we are about to head off again, I harvested the garlic.

This year I tried to plant enough to have extras for replanting in the fall. Tempting as it is to keep the biggest bulbs for eating, I must replant those best ones to help my crop improve year after year. Of course, some of the bulb size variability has to do with luck, like being planted on top of slightly richer earth or with slightly more space, but there was definitely some difference in the variety of garlic. Don't ask me which ones I planted, sometimes I am a bad record keeper but those more successful garlic will be replanted in the fall. Of course, I will also include some of the other varieties in case the weather next year is vastly different and by chance they will be more successful.

I also was surprised to see that I had missed harvesting some garlic last year. Here is what it looks like in its second year. You can see they grew into bunches of 'pearl' garlic without any cloves. I will replant these in the fall too and see what happens.

See you in August!

The Broken Tulip

2008-04-30T05:07:00.000-07:00

...Spring bulbs, No snow, and making a break for it.

The Broken Tulip

Front Spiral Garden in late April after a couple weeks of unusually warm weather

Many of you garden geeks out there will have read Tulipmania so what I am about to explain is like so 'old news' to you but let me bore you to enlighten others. A long time ago, in the era of Rembrant (1700th century), the artsy and otherwise susceptible communities in Europe were seized with Tulip fever. Bulbs began selling for incredible debt-defying prices. Some of the most prized bulbs sprouted striped flowers. The striping pattern was unpredictable and many, many years later it was discovered that this novel pattern was created by a mosaic virus specifically the Tulip Breaking Virus (TBV - actually according to one source five viruses can cause it).

Species Tulip opened yesterday!

I had filed this, wrongly, under my mind's history files figuring that they only sell clean tulip stock now. I was right that so called 'Rembrandt' tulips on the market nowadays are not affected by the virus(es).

Tulips planted by previous owners many years ago replanted and then covered with gravel which they dutifully grew threw. When I originally dug up this clump of tulips, I swear there were a hundred bulbs in a square foot so who knows how long they had been there. A couple years of replanting the tiny bulbs, they were flowering size, I guess. I think these are the classic red Darwin tulips but I'm not sure.

However, stock still exists of true 'broken tulips'. Old House Gardens Heirloom Flower Bulbs is willing to infest your spring planting design with these ailing beauties. However, they do suggest you plant them away from unbroken tulips and other members of the lily family for obvious reasons. However, maybe you are curious about what would happen if you committed biological warfare on your unsuspecting tulip stock. I'm not suggesting you do... just saying.

A squirrel planted this one. I wonder from which neighbour it came? Random yellow and red tulip near the varigated foliage of red robin greigi tulip.

Squirrel planted tulip. I wonder which neighbour it came from. It's sitting besides ome Greigi tulips with their varigated foliage.

Links to more on broken tulips:

Standard but entertaining article about broken tulips
Intereting article about the connection of broken tulips and 'stone fruit trees'
English broken tulips
An article expanding on the history of the borken tulip
There is a lot written on the economics of the tulip crash, here is but one example

Other Signs of Spring

No snow!

Youngest sniffing the Narcissus.

Spring in fast forward - we went from crocus to daffs to tulips in what seemed like time lapse photography after several weeks of unusually warm weather.

Giant Crocus planted with violas.

Grecian wind flowers. I love these little blooms.

Making a break for it:

I'll be signing off for awhile as we are heading on some really long trips. In the meantime, I wet my plants, has offered to come around occasionally and pull a lamb's ear about to set seed from my garden, so please feel free to read her adventures in Ottawa. I'll also have a friend from around the block who wants to play in my veggie patch so perhaps he'll make some updates. We'll see.

See you in August!

One more gratuitous flower shot

Local Bloggers

2008-04-15T07:15:00.001-07:00

It's not just me.

I thought it would be nice to explore a modern buzz word - local - by finding out who else blogs in the Ottawa Valley about gardens. But here's the thing, there used to be more of us! Now all I can find are the following two and I could pick both of them out in a crowd:

I Wet My Plants - you've heard of this intrepid blogger before. I suspect she's deep in spring seed fever like me right now. We met through plantcycle (much mentioned plant exchange site).

Common Ground - a CSA plot blog/adventure. Talk about a small world - Our kids used to play together.

Anyhow, check them out, leave some comments if you like, read a bit about gardening in Ottawa.

Snow 2008 - the remains

2008-04-15T06:04:00.001-07:00

So we are getting closer to NS day (no snow day).

Here is what my yard looks like:

View of the veggie garden with receding glacier.

The front spiral garden popping out of the snow.

With so much snow, plants were actually growing under there. Crocus were in full bud, and there was enough insulation to keep this chinese cabbage overwintered:

2nd year chinese cabbage still alive under snow.

Parsley reliably overwinters here and will self-seed if you let it:

Luminescent in the morning sunshine: a crown of parsley

Thriving in the polytunnel thingy is self-seeded corn salad / mache:

Yum! Mache / corn salad

And finally tulips growing through gravel mulch to join the mass of bulbs full of promise if the local rodentia - bunnies and squirrels - don't behead them all.

Tulips will not be deterred by gravel mulch!

Wanna see what I look like?

2008-04-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

'k

An unnamed blogger when categorizing blog types talked about how some bloggers are anon when it comes to anything but their garden and that is more or less me but for fun I thought I would send you over to my other blog to see what I did with my hair. Go on, you know you're curious.

http://leftschool.blogspot.com/2008/04/cutting-off-my-hair.html

And now back to your regular garden updates.

Melting Snow

2008-04-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's melting slooooooooooowly.

Check it out, near the house where it is warm, I found tulip shoots!!

Pepper Recovery - the overwintering tale

2008-03-28T06:03:00.000-07:00

My Fatali and Long Cayenne peppers have been attacked by aphids and I believe spider mites this winter. They have lost a fair number of leaves and all developing buds but then with the longer days, things are improving.

Much to my surprise the long cayenne appears to be bouncing back. I didn't take a picture of it at its worst out of respect for its dignity but suffice it to say that it had lost almost all of its leaves. The only reason I didn't ditch it was because I hesistate to end my experiments prematurely. When it started to re-leaf I thought that the leaves would come in even smaller than the decreased size they were before they all fell off so am pleasantly surprised by their increasing diametre. It even has some flowers on it.

I did repot it once with enriched (compost) soil to see if it was lacking nutrients so maybe that was the solution?

Anyhow, this year it will be planted in the garden as I will be gone for much of the gardening season (cries to herself) and won't be around to baby potted plants.

The Fatali has some leaf buds that haven't opened yet but I have hope. It hasn't lost all of its leaves but it isn't looking its best.

Links

Overwintering and pepper seedlings (really just an excuse to bring you a new gardening blog you might not have come across)

Yes there is still snow

2008-03-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

It is melting at a glacially slow pace -snicker, snicker-. However, at the edge of one drift of snow, I noticed some snow-in-summer peeping out and looking possitively perky so perhaps a change is coming to Narnia.

If, however, I see lions prowling the streets then it will confirm my suspicions that all of this has been some sort of nightmare.

On a plus side, my tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, celariac, perennial onions, and leeks are all sprouting, along with some ornamentals:

Red Mammoth Rock Cabbage, Savoy, Celariac, Leeks - 2 kinds, sperling toga bunching onion

I Wet My Plants - more

2008-03-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

Some of you were fascinated by fellow blogger's great blog name but surprised to find little on her site. Well she's updated it with archives:

http://iwetmyplants.com/

Check it out again. She's quite the shutterbug and has some interesting posts.

Going for the record accumlulated snowfall EVER

2008-03-08T11:42:00.001-08:00

We are close - second place for most snow ever recorded in Ottawa, and here is the mountain of snow to prove it. The porch is about 7-8 feet tall.

Seriously, by MOUNTAIN, I mean scaleable with ropes and spikes and other gear.

Snow in November 2007:

Snow now in March 2008:

I'm screaming of a white Easter

With every snowstorm that I sight.

Will your days be merry and bright.

And may all your Easters -not- be white.

Whole darn family stuck in a snow tunnel.

This is Ottawa Gardener signing out from The -sledding- Hill in Ottawa

Overwintering Peppers - a long winter of bugs

2008-03-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

This is the first year that I have had to deal with 'bugs' on my overwintered pepper plants and they have taken their toll but none have entirely succumbed yet. I have done the soapy water thing, the crushing insect thing and the hard water spray thing. Now, I mostly just pick off the aphids when I see them, and put a water bowl in the pots to increase the humidity and scare off any spider mites.

My Fatali is doing okay. It has lost a lot of leaves but it is bravely trying to bud up and leaf out again.

My long cayenne is struggling along. It self pruned off its top last year and lost almost all of its leaves this year. Now it is sporting new aphid ridden leaves so we will see. I have noticed that over the years, the leaf size has dropped. Does this mean that it is near the end of its lifecycle?

I h ave only kept two peppers over the winter this year due to a lack of south facing window space but next year I intend on keeping some small fruited sweet peppers indoors as an experiment too. I can just see my husband's face now. I also hope to make sure there are no, absolutely no, aphids on them before I take them indoors!

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Want to know more about overwintering peppers - please follow the pepper tag for lots more links and more about my saga.

Seedy Saturday 2008 - a whole family affair

2008-03-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

Seedy Saturday 2009

A friend called the morning of Seedy Saturday asking if I wanted to go some place with her and her toddler.

I tell her, "Just about to head off to Seedy Saturday. Good for kids? Oh yeah. Don't mind me while I package my seeds. When are we going? As soon as possible. Okay, maybe I'll see you there. There's seeds. Yup. A trading table, information about organic gardening and related brick a brack, you know, the usual hippy fair. Artisan bread, that sort of thing. No, really there is a room for kids to do crafts, usually with seeds. I think it's supervised. Anyhow, my kids won't mind being stuck- Okay, well, hope to see you there."

True to what I had promised, all that I mentioned above was there. Most importantly were the congregation of small heritage / organic seed traders. This is great if you spend hours pouring over the seed catalogues like I do, dreaming of buying just one of those from them, and two of those from them and... the shipping and handling can add up after awhile.

One of my favourite seed suppliers, and I have many, is The Cottage Gardener. Here I've got her cornered but she is still smiling.

Cottage Gardener

I didn't get a picture of Eternal Seeds this time but boy have they expanded. Good thing too as they were popular enough that you had elbow your way in to have a look at their selection.

I also didn't get a good picture of Yuko's Open Pollinated Seed (I did get an artsy one with a floating lenscaps in front). Her plant and perennial sale is May 12th and 13th this year. Don't miss her warmly written webpage or her speciality 'chicken treat' seed pack.

However, I did snap a great shot of La Vie En Rose's stand.

La Vie en Rose stand

This company is worth a feverish second look - the kind of look that develops on a gardener this time of year from lack of working in the soil - as they had an impressive selection of hardy flowers and iris.

By the way, the kids did have a lot of fun, with seeds:

Kids in 'Kid's corner' playing with seeds and glue

And if you are wondering if all I did was shop, shop, shop, then I'll have you know that I picked up a fair number of trades too. Happily, I bumped into fellow Ottawa Valley blogger 'I Wet My Plants' and discovered that those other packs of Cherokee Trail of Tears pole beans - besides my own - had come from the ones that I had given her the previous year. Which had, for those who are interested, originally come from the seed company the Cottage Gardener.

Now that we come full circle, remember to make a mental mark on your calender for sometime in the dead of winter 2009. If you see a women with outrageously long hair dragging two slightly bored kids and snapping pictures, it might be me. Say hi. Even if it isn't me, she'll likely smile back. It's a friendly event.

bloomingwriter: Where in the Gardening World are YOU?

2008-02-17T10:01:00.000-08:00

bloomingwriter: Where in the Gardening World are YOU?

Ottawa for visitors for Blooming Writer

2008-02-17T08:18:00.001-08:00

Blooming Writer proposed a geographical meme for garden bloggers. To read the true spirit of it, please visit.

Written as a bad poem (yes, that's the title)

I am supposed to entice you
With tales in a nice hue
But the snow's left me in a bind
Making me colourblind

Oh yes Ottawa is for growers
Who need a break from flowers
A six month looong break
from the slavery of the rake

However when finally there is a thaw
It is with rapid building awe
That life struggles to grow fast
Before winter's next white blast

---

The end

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On a more serious note, Ottawa is Canada's capital though the merit of that is debated hotly between the larger and more metropolitan cities of Vancouver (west coast), Toronto (centre of the world, I mean Canada) and la belle ville Montreal (french Canada).

As it is not as large as most cities that are also capitals, it is a bureaucrat town where, unlike in most of Canada, a huge amount of the population is somewhat bilingual. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say, almost all the francophones* are bilingual**, and the anglophones* who speak french like linguistic geniuses compared to much of Canada feel a lot of language guilt***.

There are lots of expensive restaurants and boutiques, as well as a fair number of museums here making it a fairly intersting tourist destination. It also has its share of festivals including Winterlude, the Tulip Festival and Fall Rhapsody (or is that actually Hull's festival... sorry I mean Gatineau****).

It is very sporty place what with all the skating, cross country skiing, cycling and running. There is also a lot of green space to walk your dog or self. However, I am not really the person to ask as I have only lived here for four years, all of that either pregnant or with small children so I don't get out much.

But please, come for a visit. People in Canada are mostly friendly!

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* Canadian word for french speakers who are also culturally french. Anglophone means english speaker who is probably of anglo-saxon descent or 'pathetically uniligual' P.S. I am an anglophone. Occasionally the -phone ending is used to refer to other languages such as spanophone but normally those people are stuffed awkwardly in the anglophone box.
** bilingual in Canada often refers to french / english speakers which are the two official languages in Canada.
*** The use of anglophone and francophone of course unfairly lumps all of Canada into two categories, ignoring all the others that speak many, many, many other languages, and could also be referred to as trilingual etc... and speak neither official language, one official language and others or both official languages and others!
****Hull (oo-l) is the original name of the francophone* town across the Ottawa River before it was amalgamated***** with various other nearby communities and called Gatineau (Gat-ee-no)
***** Amalgamated is a term referring to the often ludicrous grouping of towns for money saving political reasons that I don't entirely understand. It is usually protested but those protests are soundly ignored. When travelling to Ottawa by car, you reach the city limits side and look around saying 'hmmm, I didn't realize that the capital of Canada would be so rural'. In other words, you are still in the middle of the country without a smoke stack on the horizon.

Legumes: What's going in my garden.

2008-02-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

Peas, beautiful peas - Green Arrow

I love leguminous plants. The climbers take up so little space, and the bush ones are still quite compact compared to other veggies, and they fix their own nitrogen. I know that 'people' suggest innoculating soil with nitrogen fixers when planting to increase yield but I have never needed to do this. Here are the plants that I have grown, and whether or not I plan to grow them again:

Peas

Edible Podded: I grow snow peas every year and like them though they are not a major crop in my garden. I have no excuse for this. They are delicious, cold hardy and early, and delicious. This year, I would like to try golden podded snowpeas for nothing more than the novelty.
Status: Golden podded?

Shelling Peas: I try to grow as many of these as possible and never have very many to freeze because the adorable pests, aka my children, get them before I can. I am definitely going to continue to grow as many as possible for the above reasons and also because I love the look guests get when I tell them to try some fresh from the vine. At first, they can be hesitant, especially if we are hosting a party and there are chips on offer. Chips? Peas? And then they try some. Their expression transforms. I must have more, they say with their eyes. We never have enough. I like the bush kinds for kid access but the taller ones are better for us on our small urban veggie plot. A great variety is Tall Telephone.

I don't grow more than two crops a season and my spring crop has always been way better than my fall crop. I think my second crop will for hereonin be grown as Pea Shoots.
Status: Yum. Never enough.

Soup Peas: The only kind I've grown is purple podded capucijner pea and I haven't used them for soup yet as this is the first year that I am growing the seed out. I received mine from a seed trade with Bifucated Carrot. They are beautiful and are storing well. Next year, I plan on growing out half of what I saved so that I'll have enough to eat!
Status: Grow some more!

Beans

Runner Beans: I really want to try these. Why? They are darn pretty. They are also called seven year beans because of their alleged perennial nature. Let us just say they are grown as annuals here though some claim you can overwinter the roots.
Status: Yup, for decoration.

Pole Beans: I grow Cherokee Trail of Tears and they are so great that I 'almost' don't grow any other round podded types (you can use them dry or as snap beans, and prolific). Except, I also started to grow some speckled cranberry type that I found at the frust and veg shop. They were fresh locally grown pods that I dried out and planted the six or so beans the following year. Now I have more beans, what will happen? We'll see.

I also grew for the first time last year some flat podded beans 'Hunter' which are good in the young stage, and are also great at the lima bean (green mature stage) as well.
Status: Growing cranberry? beans, cherokee trail of tears and Hunter flat podded beans

Bush Beans: These are fine and I've grown them. Actually I grew two types and saved the seeds only to get them to cross so I had some mixed seed for a couple of years before I started growing pole beans and stopped growing these. It was fun to see the varitations on purple and green pods that I got from the mixing. By the way, I've heard that beans don't mix that easily. Go figure.
Status: Don't grow anymore

Soy Beans

I grow a variety given to my husband who had come back from a protest against the terminator gene. It was a soy bean grown on a family farm for generations in Canada. I don't know the family name or I'd give it that name as a variety. I don't use the soy beans but only grow out my small patch year after year in solidarity.
Status: Yes

Lentil

On a whim, I grew out some Bulk Barn ones and they did wonderfully well. However, when it came time to process them, I realized I needed to know how to tresh them because it would take an unreasonably long time to open all those little pods. When I know how to do that and have a little more space, I'll grow them again.
Status: Not right now

Chickpeas

Impulse buy. I got some brown 'Winnifred's Garbanzo' chickpeas and will try them this year. Where I'm going to put them, I don't know. That's what February is for... planning the garden layout. I've been fascinated by more obscure chickpea varities ever since I've read Breed Your Vegetable Varities (yes, I know, I mention this book a lot - it's fantastic for garden geeks).
Status: I'll find a place for them somewhere.

Other

I'm not growing:

Lima Beans - marginal season here and well I don't really like them
Peanuts (short season) - Valencia can grow here but I haven't yet tried
Fava Beans - I can't get Hannibal Lector out of my head though they sure look pretty.
Yard Long Beans - I'm not growing them though I am intrigued - the real string beans
Winged Beans - This delicious sounding plant is not well suited to Ottawa.
Asparagus Peas - They sound pretty but I'd bet they'd just go from flower to tough in my dry soil.
Hyacinth Bean - Not going to grow well here? (see comments)
Tepary Bean - I thought these american dessert plants wouldn't grow here but apparently, Prairie Seeds grows them?
Tuberous Legumes - I guess some are grown for their tubers, such as Jicama.
Siberian Pea Shrub - some fear that this will become invasive out of its native habitat but it produces a bland lentil like seed.

Links

And even more leguminous vegetables
Variation in seed colour in golden podded pea - seed saving
Prairie Seeds - interesting selection for northern climes

Blog-blindness

2008-01-30T11:27:00.000-08:00

Purple cabbage and bolting lettuce (random picture).*

Okay, I luv ya garden bloggers, really. I love the mega popular blogs with their 54 comments which are a blog post in themselves. I love the obscure subject garden blogs with their on-point discussion and well researched posts (not to say that the former can't be the latter too). I love the meandering blogs which dabble in a little knitting and stray to posts about dogs romping in the snow. I love you all from the funny to the serious, to the constantly updated to the infrequently written BUT

I can't read them all!

There are just so many that I think I am developing blog-blindness. I try to scale down my reading so that it is manageable but I just have to leave an encouraging comment on that neglected blog with no comments that has fantastically written posts. I have to read the latest on Empress of Dirt and her 'Snow Punnies.' I am deadly curious how much gardening Heavy Petal is going to get up to with the baby on the way - I hope lots -, or what Bifucated Carrot is going to uncover on his wonderfully political organic gardening seed saving blog. But there is more, what will Crafty Gardener create, what story will Kate Smudges in Earth, Paint and Life tell us and what will A Study in Contrast find in her garden?

Oh and, of course, there is Blooming Writer who is in the process of writing something, something about blooms? A book perhaps? What will it be about? I'll have to read and wait. And... and will My Grandpa's Garden's jellybeans sprout? Will Northern Exposure ever have snowdrops ;-)? Seeded has discovered winter sowing, will it work out? How can The Gardeners Anonymous blog make me jealous with her glorious garden today? Is Growing Thumbs really growing thumbs? How deep exactly do My Roots Run Deep go? Will May Dreams Garden find her microclimate crocus soon? Will Root Cause make me want to grow another obscure veggie?

There are more and if I didn't mention you, shame on me but please forgive me. It's the blog blindness setting in again.

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*Why did you stick a picture of lettuce and cabbage in this post that clearly has nothing to do with lettuce and cabbage? What if I was really interested in interplanting late season brassicas with fast maturing lettuce and wanted some information about it? Or what if I wanted to know what varities (mammoth red rock, four seasons lettuce, I think) you were growing that had such wonderful colours? Hey, did you ever think of that you trickster blogger? What were you trying to do, get me to come to your blog because of the picture?

Yes. Some searchable places (Blotanical), use pictures in their summaries and well, sometimes you are scanning really fast and ... Thanks for visiting?

Dreaming of the Garden

2008-01-28T05:48:00.000-08:00

Memories of sunny time.

So I woke up wondering if I had really gone to the nursery and bought all those seeds and then I realized that it was just a really vivid gardening dream. I have been reading incessantly about gardening again which surprises me as in October I had 'gardener's exhaustion' and was almost looking forward to the long white winter rest. Not so anymore, it pains me to see all these posts about snowdrops. Here are merely a few that I have stumbled across:

Bliss
The Green Fingered Photographer
Heavy Petal

Perhaps I should start a meme cataloguing when we all get our first snowdrops (if we even get them). Then we could map us out: BC (Heavy Petal) - Jan... and so on. In Ottawa, I think it's sometime close to April...

On a positive note, my hubby found a whole bunch of garden pics that I hadn't uploaded. Even 'he' - who cringes when people bring up the subject of plants in my company - said "Isn't it amazing how colourful it is?" Here are a couple to remind me that the world can be more than Black, White and Brown.

Veggie Garden in full glory

Newly installed garden with a Yellow Rose

Mums in Fall

Jalapenos

Helenium in the spiral garden

Basil Seed Bracts

Gifted Dahlia (plantcycle)

Bellflower - you've seen it before but I wanted to end on a cool note...

Isn't colour wonderful?

So if you read this send me your snowdrop pics, I'll make a file (sigh). I'm sure to be interested until the end of bulb season.

Greens - what to plant & what not to plant...

2008-01-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous collards, two varities though I am not sure which is which.

... that is the question on this series of posts. See:

Roots
Alliums

Greens

What a HUGE vegetable subject this is. Human Beings seem to be willing to sink their teeth into a whole botanical ecosystem of greenery. I will try and do my best to catalogue all I know about what grows in the north (here), what I am growing next year, and what I have resigned not to grow again. I am not including those that are only grown as 'herbs.' That is the subject of another post.

Perennial Greens:

French Sorrel - This year, I've decided to go for it after hearing all these tales of delicious lemony sorrel soup in spring. It will also tolerate some shade. YES (I will grow it)

Bloody Dock (red veined sorrel)- This sounds a bit tough for me but hey what do I know, I've never grown it. It appears in The Urban Farmer's garden of delights. MAYBE?

Lovage (borderline 'green', more of a herb) - I have grown this plant for several years and find its semi-shrub habit and deep green, cut leaves quite attractive. I also love the flavour in soups and stews. Some people eat this celery relative raw but I find the taste a bit too strong. Interestingly, it smells almost like chicken stock. Another plant that doesn't mind a bit of shade. YES

Chicory - The chicories (unlike endives) are perennial and I have lots of anecdotal evidence of friends and relatives (often italian) who grow it year upon year. I am still waiting for signs of life in those that I've been growing in my spaceship - recent pic here. I'll keep you posted. YES

Rocket / arugula - Apparently, perennial, but I'm not sure how hardy it is. YES

Salad Burnet - Ordered the seed for this from Salt Spring Seeds. I'll let you know. YES

Stingy Nettles - I don't grow these myself, nor have any volunteered for me, nor have I ever eaten stiny nettles but I hear good things!

Good King Henry - My seed arrived. It is a spinach relative, whose shoots are eaten in early spring. It is sometimes referred to as poor man's asparagus. Most of the time, people say it tastes great, but Carol Deppe in 'Breed your own vegetables' says her plant tastes awful. She suggests that there might be a lot of variation in this uncommon vegetable and that you should try more than one seed source before giving up on plants like this. YES

Asparagus - Actually a young shoot but I'm including it (even though I do intend on doing an 'all stems' post) I don't grow it because I don't have a convinient spot to grow enough for our family's needs. Apparently, someone has planted it nearby in Ottawa. Must go a-foraging.

SeaKale - Another plant mostly eaten for its spring shoots, I've gotten mixed messages on whether or not this is hardy in Ottawa, but I'm going to try it anyhow. An old time Ottawa Garden writer grows it so I figure, it's possible. YES

Chickweed - Well, it might taste good I suppose but it's on my 'haven't tried it yet' list. I am friendly to this week so I guess I grow it so ... YES

Scorzonera - I'm awaiting the seeds. This is something without a seed source (that I could find) in Canada but with some impressive mentions by the authors of 'Perennial Vegetables,' and 'Breed your own Vegetables Varities.' Though it is commonly thought of as a root crop, I guess the leaves in the spring taste almost like lettuce, and it's perennial (though once again, I've read very conflicting information on how hardy it is). Hope it works for me! YES

Grape Leaves - I love seasoned rice stuffed grape leaves! YES

Fiddle Head Ferns - Another delicacy that no one has cooked for me (including myself). If you have a shady spot, this plant is a great idea.

Mint - Is this a green, a herb, a tea plant, desert? I don't braise it, but I certainly use it in salads including cous cous.

--

Reseeders:

Good old purslane, the wild variety, ready for harvest, with some green orach leaves (large) in the background, also coriander, chokecherry, 'black lace' elderberry in the picture.

Cold Hardy

Mache / Corn Salad / Lamb's Lettuce - This is definitely cold hardy, it's still sloooooooowly growing in my spaceship, and it has reseeded nicely for me. So nice, I didn't have to thin it or anything. YES

Claytonia - My first crop failed so I'll have to order more seeds and try again. YES

Giant Red Mustard (motherearthnews) - I am excited about trying this piquant braising green, especially now that I know it reseeds. YES

Arugula / Rocket (motherearthnews) - The native is perennial so is of more interest to me and I hear it also reseeds. YES

Parsley - I include this as a green because I use it so heavily in sauces and pesto that it is nearly a vegetable. It reseeds prolifically for me every year. It is extremely cold hardy in a coldframe as well. YES

Warm Season

Amaranth - Related to the common garden pest pigweed has some lovely vegetable relatives including a tri-varigated variety. It can also be grown for its nutritious seeds. I have grown the weed before. It definitely reseeds so I have no cause to doubt the cultivated variety won't reseed as well. The problem would be with the varities crossing (if you didn't want that). I know that the ornamental reseeds as well. I'm growing a grain variety this year though some of those vegetable ones look lovely.

Orach - A reseeder related to spinach that doesn't mind warm weather but is sometimes described as a cool season crop. I grew lime green, green and red orach last year. This year, I plan on trying just the red and purple varities. It is quite ornamental in seed. YES

Beetberry - I have yet to have this seed work for me but there is always next year. Another relative of spinach which produces bland red berries as well. YES

Wild purslane - Well this certainly reseeds. Pull out the baby plants and pop them into your salad. They are full of essential fatty acids. Grow again? Um, I have no choice. YES

Magenta Spreen lamb's quarters - A relative of lamb's quarters. Oh yes, reseeds too. It has a pretty pink blush to the giant leaves. Grow again? I have enough regular lamb's quarters around that I don't need to grow this too.

--

Cold Hardy

Various lettuce, weeds (oops), radish flowers, and some onions for good measure.

Herb Stella / Minutina / Buckshorn Plantain - This was quite a tasty herb even when it was a bit aged. I will try it again next year. YES

Lettuce - I don't have great luck with the heading varities and this year I am only going to grow loose leaf types but next year, I'll try the headers again. Often it will reseed in my garden though I've not tried to baby these seedlings in the coldframe to see if they come back. My favourite loose leaf types are the ubiquitous 'salad bowl,' and 'oak leaf'. At any rate, worth growing for the seed because they are inbreeders, which means that they (most of the time) come true from seed, even when starting with a small population (small amount of plants) in close proximity to other varities. YES

Spinach - I am growing so many relatives of spinach that I'm not entirely sure why I'm gorwing htis but I love spinach and it is wonderful to see a field of it where I will grow warm season crops in the near future. YES

Endive - The annual version of Chicory. Yup, I'll try it again, mabye this year I'll get a crop. YES

Kale (see brassicas, coming soon to this blog) - I love love love Kale. My favourite variety is Semi Dwarf Westlandse. It seems hardier than the famous Red Russian that is still alive, but unhappy in my spaceship. YES

Chard - I am amazed at the variety of temps this will grow at. Again, it was flavourable in the height of summer and in the depths of winter inside the spaceship. I am going to try a slightly different variety called Bietina. YES

Beet Tops (also included in the roots section) - I grow this incidentally as thinnings of my beets. YES

Turnip Greens (also included in the roots section) - These too are used as thinnings. YES

Cress - I think I'll try Land Cress (or have I already?) this year. YES

Oriental Greens - tatsoi, bok choy (these are brassicas as well) - I love the variety of wonderful flavours of these brassica greens and will definitely grow these again. I'll try a mix of these one year and give you my results. YES

Chrysanthanum / shungiku - intriguing but never tried them. They sure do look pretty in flower!

Chevril - I like this herb but it goes to seed too quickly for me.

--

Warm Season

Cultivated Purslane ('golden', 'tall') - I'm a bit scared of this given my friend the wild purslane but I am willing to give it a try as I hear it has superior flavour and browth habit. YES

Mizuna - Cold and warm hardy in my experience. YES

New Zealand Spinach - Never tried it what with the amaranth and the orach and the chard, I have no need.

Malabar Spinach - never tried it.

Curly Mallow (reseeder?) - My curiousity is piked. I wonder how regular mallow tastes.

Collards - I'll address these again in Brassicas but they are highly productive, extremely tolerant of a wide range of temperatures and delicious. I recommend that other people grow them but I am giving them a miss this year because they are huge plants and I already have a lot of greens. YES

Basil - Yup, this one too. Like Parsley. I even use this in sandwiches. Yum. YES

--

But there is more, oh so much more. This subject never ends. I've not mentioned some mexican greens such as Huauzontle and Epazote, stems such as Alexanders and Celery, Flowers such as Calendula and Daylily, other wild foods such as dandelion. We could go on, and please do. I always love to learn about something new!

Links

Read a whole lot more about greens! http://www.answers.com/topic/leaf-vegetable

Garden Blogging and Photos

2008-01-20T19:05:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that certain blog categories have more gorgeous photographs than others and garden bloggers really love their photos if they can take them. The sumptuous pictures of flowers and veggies, I think speak to the love of the sensual that many gardeners share - the sight, sound, smell, taste and touch of living world. My photos are mediocre compared to some of the art pieces I've encountered. Baby sprouts are as carefully lit as newborns, first blooms are bridal beautiful, and harvests are bright and proud. They are big in detail and intimate even at a distance.

Thanks garden bloggers!

Urban Farming - cold style (part I)

2008-01-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, nearly everytime I look up 'urban farm' I am brought to lovely sites of west coast gardens where they dance happily in the eternal greenery of spring time. That's not to say there aren't brave urban farmers in more northern, central locations such as initiatives like foodshare in Toronto but they seem to be fewer and farther between.

Overwintered Fatali hot pepper (was in my window sill) with a Caribbean habanero.

Perhaps it is just natural that the embarrasing riches of urban edibles occured first and most frequently to those who lived in such lush climes. Or maybe it is the history of 'free spirits' that roam the coastal paradise. Whatever it is, I say let us in 'parka* land' not be outdone!
*A parka is a very well insulated coat used to prevent you from freezing your bums off - literally.

Large coldframe / polytunnel type thing.

We too can BAN THE LAWN.

Now I know this sounds like one of those things that is easy to dream about but more difficult to do. Not that it is hard, really it's quite easy. I can provide anyone who needs it with detailed instructions... but it is difficult to overcome the barriers of normalicy to allow yourself to start killing off the bowling field of green.

Overlit picture (sorry) of cosmos growing around a very productive though young Montreal Plum in the front yard mini-orchard.

I too have my limitations. Let me call them Neighbours, Family, and Time and Enjoyment.

Lavender hedge with a cabbage patch just behind it in what will be a raspberry patch. I got lots of puzzled looks about the cabbage, even some compliments such as 'What is that purple plant - some sort of floweirng kale?'

Neighbours: "What will they think?"

If you landscape your frontyard mini orchard or decorative veggie garden nicely and keep it weeded, they will be curious, maybe even impressed. If you give a huge grinny smile everytime they pass by, and start handing out tomatoes, they may start to think you're kooky but grow darn tasty produce. If you keep it up for years, skipping merrily down the street with armfuls of excess green beans and mint flowers, they might get thinking that they too could do something of the sort.

Centre of my mini-orchard spiral garden in the front. As the semi-dwarf /dwarf trees grow, perennials will be thinned, changed or given away.

If you garden in your backyard then it's your little secret isn't it? Unless of course, you're inclined to do the aforementioned skipping.

Rugosa rose produces lots of edible rosehips with diablo ninebark, a cultivar of a native.

Family: "Where will the kids play?"

Sigh. This is my life - balancing the supposed needs for my children to dash around on a green surface, my husband's need for something restful and decorative and my need to overthrow the lawn. If you have a big enough yard, this should not be a problem. Give them half and keep half for growing veggies. And remember, gardens are great places to play.

Not my garden but a heritage cottage garden nearby. That's my little seedling though.

If you have a very small garden, then you might need to get more persuasive. I suggest you start small, really small and quietly expand year upon year as you re-cut the edges of your garden bed. -hee hee hee- (Note to husband: No, this is a suggestion for other people. I never, ever do such a thing. Really.)

Chufa grass which produces edible tubers, backed with beebalm and lemon balm, flanked with germon chamomile (the last three make great teas), and on the other side by my husbands garden with some ornamentals. P.S I'm not convinced by this pink / red combo - plants shall be moved.

As for time, I understand not wanting to take on too much and that gas powered lawnmower or landscaping company makes short work of a large space. However, a well mulched garden can be less work than you think. Start with a garden patch filled with perennial edibles and herbs and see how you like it. You may find that pulling the occasionally weed out of your decorative rock garden filled with sense sensational herbs far more satisfying than running the lawnmower.

I love the fact that the garlic is bigger than my toddler!

Time and Enjoyment: "But I like flowers!"

So do I which is why I suggest that you allot a percentage of your yard to the decorative. There are lots of flowers that can attract pollinators, give a habitat to local wildlife, and ward off or trap pests, which also are great to look at. The more visible your garden, and the more you are worried about Neighbours, the higher your percentage can be. Make sure you choice decoratives adapted to your region and microclimates. If you plan on mostly relying on rainfall to irrigate your garden and you don't get a lot of it, then use drought resistant plants. Native plants often fit the bill but if you want to maintain planting spaces for your edibles, be sure to choice plants that won't take over your garden!

Rhubarb planted with columbine, lupin, horseradish, violets (edible flowers), daylily, garlic in the front this year, and there is a row of Jeruselum Artichokes hiding just nearby.

Also, many useful tea and medicinal plants are darn pretty to look at. Think 'cottage garden'.

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Part II - Perennial vegetables and season extension for the north - coming soon.

Backyard vegetable garden, with a young blueberry patch just beyond it.

Links

Sharing backyards in urban Vancouver
Wading Pool Gardens - for those without a dirt space.

Fresh produce from the garden in Jan!!

2008-01-13T11:16:00.001-08:00

Thanks to the builders in 1959 who put a cold room - cellar - under the front steps.

Parnip, celariac, golden rooted turnips and a sweet potato (georgia jet)

All of this produce came from my garden!! It was all kept downstairs in easy and cozy reach, and it made up the bulk of our dinner.

I have good intentions on storing my vegetables in sand or leaf mold but I didn't have either two immediably handy when I harvested the crops, so I packed them in shallow containers in dirt. Yup, ordinary garden dirt. This has been successful for me so far. I try to cover the vegebales parts that would normally be underground, completely, like the roots of the celariac and carrots, leaving the tops tilted up if I can. I do this to emulate normal overwintering conditions. To maintain humidity, I occasionally sprinkle water on the dirt, but I have also put bowls of water in the room.

Gardening 201:

Remember that different vegetables like different conditions but don't get carried away. If you only have one spot to store them, then store what would like it in that spot and don't fret too much if your other vegetables aren't perfect. Eat those that won't store well first. Those that are whizened etc... will probably taste great cooked. At least, they'll probably taste heaps better than what you could buy at the supermarket!

Links:

Basement root cellar
Vegetables to store in a cellar, conditions and a discussion cellar types

Root Crops - some new, some old

2007-12-31T11:51:00.000-08:00

Chicory flower in the background, beets and turnips in the foreground coldframe.

Root crops are great to grow. They take up very little room compare with sprawlers like winter squash and have a great yield. They grow well in the north and they store well in my cellar downstairs.

Here is a low down on what I grew this year, what I'll grow next year, and what I'd love to try in no particular order.

1. Beets

I don't have much luck getting big beets but I think that's because I space them too closely, and don't thin judiciously enough. I've tried:

a. Lutz Greenleaf
b. Detroit red
c. Burpee's Golden

Grow again? Yes. I am still hunting for my favourite variety but I'm betting on Lutz Greenleaf because of its large sized root, reputation for storing well and plentiful greens crop.

2. Parsnips

The first year I tried parsnips, they didn't germinate. Since then, I've learned that the seed needs to be very fresh as it doesn't last long. Now, I grow from fresh seed every year, and have had great crops every time. They seem less bothered by wireworm, store fantastically well in ground and in the root cellar, as well as being sweet and delicious regardless of the growing conditions so far in my garden. I've grown:

a. Hollow Crown

b. Harris Early Model (I think)

Grow Again? Absolutely! I really like the flavour of hollow crown but I'm not partial to either yet.

3. Turnips

My experience with turnips has been limited to Goldina turnip which is a re-selected golden fleshed variety. I have nothing but good things to say about this turnip. It is vigorous, good looking, tasty and stores well. I love its pleasantly bitter taste in summer but my hubby does not. At any rate, after a few good frosts, it is very mild and sweet. The colour is also a lovely addition to the rainbow of root crop colours. I've tried:

a. Goldina

Grow Again: Yes! I've also recieved some seeds of Orange Jelly turnip from Bifucated Carrot and hope that their summer taste pleases my hubby more!

4. Carrots

I've been growing carrots since I've been gardening. My best tips are to water well during germination, thin well if you are interested in a good sized carrot and above all to have loose friable soil unless you try some of the round or stubby nosed carrots. Remove all rocks and clay chunks, ammend with organic matter or sand if you need too to at least a depth of 6 inches. In my garden, it is hard to get a really sweet carrot which I am still working on but it may have something to do with soil acidity. I've tried:

a. Various nantes types
b. Dragon
c. Oxheart
d. Unnamed varieties

Grow again: Yes, but I must find out how to grow sweeter carrots.

5. Potatoes

I find that the skin on new potatoes has a distinct taste that strikes me as poisoness and have done so all my life. Most people don't know what I'm going on about. At any rate, it means that I am less ga-ga about new potatoes than most though I do enjoy them. I've grown a number of varities and have found them all satisfying including:

a. Banana
b. Russian Blue
c. Carleton
d. Cherry Red
e. Grocery store volunteers
f. Kennebec

Grow again: No. I've had pretty good luck growing potatoes, but I have limited garden space and do not plan on using it to grow maincrop pototoes which require not only a substaintial amount of space for yearly needs, but also care to prevent various pests and diseases. I would prefer to grow other root crops in place of them until I get more space.

6. Jeruselum Artichokes

Is it fair to say that one grows JAs? Or do they grow themselves. Certainly I spend some time harvesting them. I've only grown one variety purchased by someone else from an organic produce store so I don't know the variety but it is at least 10ft tall with insignificant flowers and spectacular yields.

Grow again: I have no choice! They are restrained by a walkway and a brick wall.

7. Salsify

I am in the process of discovering this. The salsify that I planted in the perennial bed grew fairly well and I'm hoping will produce flower this year and reseed itself. Next year, I'll harvest.

8. Scorzonera

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this PERENNIAL root crop. According to ..., the author of Perennial Vegetables, the young leaves are edible and taste something like spinach. It also has a nice yellow flower.

9. Skirret

This is another PERENNIAL root crop I'd love to try but ideally I could get ahold of a plant division so I could know the properties of this variable plant beforehand. It grows clusters of roots stored and cooked similarly to carrots though some claim it has an inedible core.

10. Burdock

Another root I have no experience with.

10. Earth Chestnut

I've ordered seeds!

11. Chufa (link for animal fodder use)

I will not be growing this crop again. It produced fantastically well, looked great but cleaning, processing and storing required more time than I had. If I had some equipment, it might be different. Also, it would make a great crop for foraging animals.

Grow again: no

12. Chinese Artichoke

The tubers that I orderd from this member of the mint family are growing well but I haven't harvested them yet. They are dimunitive plants so far.

13. Hardy Yam

Another intriguing plant listed in perennial vegetables that I know little about. It seems to have a mixed reputation. If you have an experience (or know if it grows here, have a supplier, all the rest...), let me know.

15. Dandelion

I grow this every year ;-) but I haven't tried any yet. This year!

16. Celariac

Though technically a swollen stem, I include it because it stores pretty well the same as a root. You have to start it early, it looks pathetic and you wonder how such tiny little seedlings will ever become the ugly giants you see in the stores. Then you plant and hope. It grows and grows and grows. I've only tried:

a. Prague Giant

Grow again: I've no complaints. It's versitle, tasty, and has stored very well so far. It also makes nice little celery like stems for you if it sprouts.

17. Chicory

I grow it but I've never tried it. I think I'll make roasted chicory and dandelion root...

18. Groundnut / Apios

The seeds I was given did not germinate last year, but I'm trying some different techniques next year. It looks quite pretty in my friends garden and supposively tastes good too.

19. Hamburg rooted parsley

Germination failure. Next year. Always next year.

20. Turnip rooted chevril

As far as I'm concerned, this is a mythical vegetable. Anyone out there grow it? It appears different from Earth Chestnut but they both are related to chevril. Anyone?

21. Horseradish

Another great and easy perennial that some might consider more of a condiment instead of a vegetable (including myself). I grow it every year as if I could stop growing it... it grows near the JAs.

22. Radish

Never met a radish that I liked but I grow it to ward off the critters.

23. Sweet Potatoes

Will I grow them again? Yes, oh yes oh yes. I had a great year with them harvest wise. They cured better than I expected given my unconventional technique, and taste fabulous! I've tried:

a. George Jet

b. ?? I was sent a red skinned, cream/pink floury fleshed one.

Grow again: Yes!

Next year's garden - success and failureThe alliums

2007-12-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

A series of posts discussing my feverish garden planning.

The alliums

Every year, I have grown onions: Onion sets, onion from seeds, started onions from flats. Every year, I have harvested onions: Big onions, small onions, onions riddled with wireworm.

You have to start the seeds early, space properly, weed judiciously, and hope they store well. Even though, I always start lots, I find we run out of onions too soon. In order to grow enough for our families needs, I think I'd have to devote a quarter of the garden to them, and there are other plants that I would prefer to grow. They also are insistent on having lots of light, water and food and little competition. Not only that but they are outbreeders, meaning I don't save the seed and their seed viability is low meaning that I have to buy new seed often.

All in all, I have decided that we would stop growing (and therefore cook less with) onions, but instead grow (and cook with) many other members of the allium family.

The Perennials

Chives: Super easy to grow, self seeding, with attractive, edible flowers, this plant is a must for any herb garden. Just clip few off a handful of slender leaves to add to your sauce or salad when needed. Garlic Chives is a vigorous cousin but is a bit too boistorous for some gardens - use liberally as a pot herb and deadhead to prevents numerous volenteers.

Topsetting onions. Also known as walking onions. These onions form bulbs at the top of stems that bend to the ground and root. Use these as you would pearl onions. You can also use them as green onions and best of all you can eat the bulb itself which is not huge but big enough.

Potato onions or multiplier and shallots: Last year, I stuck some shallot bulbs in the ground and only two came up. Apparently, they behave rather like garlic by splitting and then growing bigger. According to at least one source, multiplier onoins have a two year cycle - the first year forming bulblets and the second year these grow fatter. You could harvest some and replant the rest. They also keep well.

Bunching onions: I haven't grown these yet either but plan on dedicating part of my garden to them. They are perennial, productive, early and tasty. Oh and they are easy to grow! Hmm.. maybe I'll give part of my polytunnel garden to them. Next to the chicory perhaps.

Garlic: As I was writing this, I realized that garlic is a perennail too. I grow it successfully every year and add to my varities by purchasing locally grown heirloom garlic at markets. Using locally grown varities increases my chances of success. I need to grow lots of garlic too but I happily devote space to it. Most of my garlic is hardneck so instead of braiding the necks for storage, I tie them together and them hang them somewhere dry and room temperature. You have to love veggies that store at room temperature and low humidity. After harvesting, break apart the bulbs that you won't be using and replant the cloves to have a new crop of bulbs next year.

Others

Leeks - Isn't it great that leeks are the only allium that I haven't listed as a perennial? Many leek varities are very, very cold hardy. They will overwinter in most environments (to ensure this, mulch heavily with leaves in the late fall). They can be harvested as baby leeks, as big leeks at the end of the season and again in the spring.

Despite the fact that I have listed leeks as not a perennial (it's biennial), I intend on making a 'perennial bed' for it. Ammended with lots of goodies, I will let the leeks overwinter then drop seed. Then I'll transplant or thin the seedlings. We'll see how it goes.

Links

Root Cause on perennial onions - lots of varities discussed

Some perennial onions I have never heard of!

How to grow shallots by one of my favourite veggie info blogs: Vegetable Garden Tips

Merry Christmas fellow plant bloggers

2007-12-25T07:51:00.001-08:00

For those of you dreaming of a white christmas.

Enjoy!

Overwintering peppers - another blog!

2007-12-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

I love garden experimenters and here is one who grows peppers in a polytunnel year-round in France:

Mas du Diable

They have a beautiful blog, property and site! (Can I move there with you guys?)

My peppers

Currently, my peppers are fighting off a small infestation of aphids! I have been giving them weekly sprayings of mild soapy water and then washing them off but still the critters remain. They are concentrated on the weaker 'long cayenne' plant. Let us call that 'the fall guy'. The fatali is almost unaffected.

According to at least one site, I should let them drip dry with the soapy solution on them? I have been rinsing them off pretty quickly. I think I'll leave the soap on longer next time.

Hello in there little peppers. The white stuff at the foreground is you guessed it, the smoothering white of winter. I mean snow.

Links

More on Aphids on indoor Pepers at Urban Chiles

Where are you coldframe?

2007-12-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

This picture goes out to Gardinista (blog worth a visit - north of north gardening), who had the audacity to claim that Ottawa did not have serious winters!!

The path we dug out for the post man.

Here is the path to the coldframes... By the way, the snow is at about 3 ft!!!! - insert appropriate unhappy sound as you imagine yourself over knee deep in snow as you go to empty your compost.

To all you people that wanted a white christmas, enough already!

Note that you have to dig down to get to the snowframe... I mean coldframe.

I hate to see how high the snow cliffs will climb by the end of the season around this 2ft. coldframe.

I punctured the plastic peaked polytunnel thingy, normally known as the spaceship, around here. Reason to make sure that you didn't bring the metal tipped snow shovel with you! Taping was not an option as it is too cold for the glue to stick so I stuffed plastic bags in the rips which seems to have solved the problem for now.

You might be able to make out the white plastic bags from the snow.

But I know you are wondering is there really anything green and unfrozen in there?

Ummm... sort of?

Packed with 2inches of leaves (not enough)

The Kholrabi leaves weren't entirely frozen. In fact, they felt quite healthy and leathery yesterday so today I harvested it for you - A big old hunk of ice.

Would you like some Kholrabi cubes with that drink?

Leaves in pretty good condition, swollen stem, frozen. It did not taste too bad though. When I de-thawed it in hot water, it had the texture of frozen carrots. I would throw it in a soup or stew.

The frost seemed to come from the ground which is a problem I have been having with my season extension project and is why I have a new project: the ground insulated polytunnel.

Storage Veggies - celariac

2007-12-11T19:02:00.000-08:00

This odd vegetable is called celariac and is as the name suggests related to celery. It has a swollen stem which stores well into the winter, or so I'm told. This is the first year I try it and right now it is piled in the same box with the parsnips that survived the wrath of the cutworm. I had intended on brining in a box of turnips and carrots too but the ground froze quickly and I wasn't able to fully pack down my 'leaf frame' (think cold frame with leaves) in time. Anyhow, they should overwinter for food in the spring. The same lack of time this year meant I hastily stored my roots in plain old garden soil which you aren't supposed to do but it has worked for me every single time I've tried this technique.

My experiment so far:
In storage

Sweet Potatoes (cool, not cold after curing) - keeping well
Celariac (cold room, above freezing) - keeping well
Parnips (cold room, above freezing) - keeping well
Jeruselum Artichokes (experimental storage in soil in cold room) - keeping well
Squash (dry, room temperature) - keeping well
Tomatillos (dry, room temperature in husks) - keeping well
Tomatoes, winterkeeper (dry, room temperature) - a little whizened but still good
Potatoes - We ate most of them...
Onions - gone, must grow more
Garlic (dry, room temperature) - keeping well
Kale (outside getting chilly) - still tasty in soup
Dried beans and peas (dry, cool) - excellent
Turnips and carrots - in frozen ground but usually fine
Cabbage (fridge) - excellent
Beets - last I checked some were in good condition - the leaves were not frozen - in my spaceship (hoophouse thingy)

I'll keep you updated.

Hey what's with the long period between posts?

2007-12-06T19:11:00.001-08:00

I admit it. I've been cheating. I have another blog. But I still love gardening. Really. It's just not very inspiring now under two feet of snow. And well, the other blog is so new and exciting and why don't I just introduce you:

Left School

Yes, it's a homeschool blog but not just any. No, it's secular and lefty and new! So if you have no interest whatsoever in checking out this other subject matter, fear not. I will be plant crazy before long.

Ottawa Welcomes Winter.

2007-11-25T16:16:00.001-08:00

My mother has moved to Gabriola Island off the coast of Vancouver Island's sheltered gulf side. I'm sure when she sees this, she will still feel the shiver of Ontario winter down her back but then she'll look out her window to the dew sparkled evergreens and know that in February there will be daffodiles.

And she will tell me about them.

I know she will.

It's a tradition in our family. Retire. Live in BC. Call the children buried under snow to ask if their bulbs are up yet. No? Oh right, you live in winterland.

Welcome to winterland fellow bloggers.

Harvested my Jeruselum Artichokes

2007-11-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

We've had some hard frosts now so I've started digging out the root crops that I plan on using or storing in ernest now.

Up came the parsnips, some turnips to the chagrin of my hubby, carrots and beets. Most of these I leave in the ground under a coldframe and mulch. Carrots, at any rate, overwinter here without any significant protection, just a pile of leaves. The disadvantage is that you can't dig them up when there is three feet of frozen dirt.

I also yanked my celariac (a subject for another post) and my Jerusalum Artichokes:

Jerusalum Artichoke tubers with a shovel for scale

I had so many that I was guilty of leaving bags of them on some of my neighbour's door knobs. Now, I know that some of these people have tasted JAs before, but for some they were mighty puzzled until I gave them a phone call to explain.

For those of you that don't know, in the summer, this relative of the sunflower produces Jack-in-the-Beanstalk sized stems topped with tiny weeny yellow flowers at the very end of the season. Their energy expenditure (besides going into producing these massive stalks) goes into producing knobbly, crispy, white, and tasty tubers.

Jerusalum Artichoke blackened by frost.

The first time I tasted them, I 'liked' them but was a bit surprised as I had not had anything quite like them and I will not try to describe them to you either. They can be used in much the same way as potatoes, but unlike this starchy tuber, the crisp JA can aslo be used raw in salads or for dipping.

But the best thing about this plant is that it is hard to kill, easy to grow, relatively pest free, nutritious and perennial. Oh and it contains a starch called inulin is save for diabetics (though some say it causes wind). Why doesn't anyone grow it?

Did I mention that it was hard to kill? Any tuber left in the ground will sprout and it is hard to get all of them. Some people curse this plant if they discover it left to romp unattended by previous owners especially as it is a descent screen but not a particularly decorative plant:

Jerusalum Artichoke - aka the Jack in the Beanstalk plant (credit to my neighbour for the nickname. She says she stares at it while washing dishes)

It does not store as well as other tubers, but can be kept a while (a month, two, accounts vary) in a moist, cool environment. I usually roast and puree mine then freeze to add to stews etc... Besides, depending on the year, it is diggable from September to November and then again from March to May so those are just JA seasons.

A pest for every plant

Okay, so it really is a great plant. Only I was a bit dissapointed to note that I had some root maggots. I would have looked for them but I hadn't expected to see them in this noted pest free plant. At any rate, they are easy to remove. Let's hope they are not too much of a pest next year.

Plant it and they will come...

Links

JA growing page
Mapple Farms - Canadian Distributor

Garden gold, red, orange, brown...

2007-11-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

Leaf Mulch

I decided this year that I would make leaf mulch. Normally, I put all my leaves in a pile to make leaf mould which is a great soil conditioner, and a nice mulch. However, it takes at least one year, if not more to make leaf mould.

Front spiral garden

It is a very nice organic method, little energy use (mostly just yours as you rack them into the recepticle or pile), little waste. As most of us are plagued by the LAWN, we feel the need to remove most of the leaf litter to maintain the falsehood of a mowed meadow instead of a forest clearing. Psst - you can mulch leaves onto the lawn but I don't know to what quantity. I use this fact as an excuse for not removing every last leaf. Anyhoo -

There is another way of using your leaves as mulch - the impatient way.

Instructive Instructions

Step 1: Use lawn mower to bag up the last cutting of grass and leaves.
Step 2: Dump bagged or racked leaves onto your driveway
Step 3: Run over leaves with a lawnmower until they shredded into small pieces
Step 4: Apply a thin layer to perennial beds as mulch
Step 5: Use as insulation around tender plants
Step 6: Smile at the odd looks of neighbours.

A Conversation with Neighbours

I didn't have enough leaves for all my gardens so I got some off my neighbours. They were bemused? confused?

Me: Hey there. Saw you raking like fiends yesterday.

Innocent Neighbour: We thought of tossing them over the bushes into the neighbour's yards but figured it would be better to bag them.

Me: Funny you should say that because I could use some leaves.

Innocent Neighbour: Really?

Me: Yeah, I'm making leaf mulch. (very important that you explain that aren't just leaving whole leaves on the beds to blow back into their yards). I am grinding them very small so they won't blow around as much.

Innocent Neighbour: Well we have a lot of leaves.

Me: Great.

Innocent Neighbour: I think there are 15 bags.

Me: I'm sure I could use it.

Innocent Neighbour: 15 bags.

Me: Super. When can I get them.

Innocent Neighbour: I'll open the garage

--Meanwhile, Innocent Neighbour's wife, whom we will call Unbelieving Neighbour came out. --

Unbelieving Neighbour: No, she doesn't.

Innocent Neighbour: I'm not kidding.

Me: No, really I want the leavs.

Unbelieving Neighbour: There are 15 bags!

Me: That should just be enough.

And now my beds are mulched.

Links

Info on leaf mulch
Oak versus maple leaves and dandelion populations?
Making partly decomposed leaf mulch
More on leaf mulch - whole or shredded
Urban Leaf uses

A frosty endsolanums versus brassicas

2007-11-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

It looked like we might have had a November tomato, but 2 days before, frost hit.

Black cherry tomatoes, various other tomatoes, and in the distance, eggplant all frost bitten

Sad, yes, but not to despair, I still have my cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, chinese cabbage, tatsoi, broccoli, rabe, as well as root crops and other greens.

From foreground back: chinese cabbage, kale, and brussel sprouts

Caution Gardening 201

For the not quite novice, the forgetful, or the bored.

This is the tale of two vegetable families.

The solanums

tomatoes
peppers
eggplants
ground cherries
tomatillos
potatoes
etc...

These are warm weather lovers. They drink in the sun, and fear frost. With the exception of the potato, it is the fruit that we eat. They should be started between 6-8 weeks before the last frost date, eaten with gusto at the height of the season, and then bid farewell to at first frost in the fall.

For most neophyte table gardeners, tomatoes are at the top of the list of vegetables they grow. They are relatively easy and the taste fresh from a backyard garden is without comparison. I credit the growing requirements of the tomato as part of the reason that so few beginner gardeners are aware of the best practice for growing another group of veggies.

The brassicas:

Cabbage
Broccoli
Many chinese greens including bok choy, tatsoi etc..
Kale
Broccoli Rabe
Turnips
Kohlrabi
Collards
Brussel Sprouts
etc...

Ah, delicious and very healthy brassicas, all are quite cold tolerant. Some are extremely hardy and will survive vicious winters in a cold frame, such as kale, tatsoi, and mustard greens. Others, require a bit more pampering but like purple sprouting broccoli, will happily overwinter in mild winter areas. Most, in fact, prefer cooler weather. Or, should I say, that to get the most out of the vegetable and prevent bolting, you need cool temperatures. For gardeners with a short growing season or little strong sun (because of fog or rain or both) or where it is rarely warm enough to grow a good beefstake tomato, these crops fill in the garden.

Left to right, brassica, parnsips and parsley then dead solanums.

They can be put out when soil temperatures are still on the cool side. Under cloches, and coldframes, I started some fabulous savoy cabbage this year when we were still having light snowfalls. The quick growing brassicas, like short season cabbage, spring broccoli, and any of the leafy greens such as broccoli rabe and bok choy are great early season choices. If you don't have a coldframe, try pop bottle cloches.

Then mid-summer, start another crop of the quick growers to mature in the cool temperatures of fall. Many brassicas such as brussel sprouts and turnips, taste better after being bitten by a few frosts. Starches are converted to sugars to lower the freezing temperature of the vegetable so they are sweeter.

Even if you don't love these tasty treats (and how could you not LOVE BROCCOLI???), grow them just so that your garden doesn't look so sad after first frost.

Long season purple cabbage beautiful contrasted with fall leaves, don't you think?

Links

Coleman's Four Season HarvestFall Crops - tips on plantingFall Crops - an equationVirginia Tech - brassica growing tips

Saving annual seeds

2007-10-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

Note to fellow gardeners (and self):

It's that time of year to share your seeds. Think of those annuals that could easily be mistaken for perennials because of their consistent tendencey to reseed themselves. You always have a supply of cosmos, more or less in the same spot, without even trying.

Instead of just enjoying the bounty, why not share? You know that come next year, you'll be spending some of your weeding time removing the crowded volunteers of calendula and alyssum anyhow so collect some of those extras as seeds to give to your fellow gardeners.

Black lace elderberry intertwined with morning glory.

Note to self (and fellow gardeners):

Think of how much money seed companies are making on some of those seeds that your neighbour is ruthlessly weeding out and tossing on the compost pile. If it's touted as heritage, heirloom, open-pollinated, easy to grow, and re-seeding, heck someone you know may well grow it.

Here are some easy to collect favourites:

1. Cosmos
2. Morning Glory
3. Calendula - herb
4. False Sunflower - native
5. Poppies
6. Bachelor's Button
7. Nigella
8. German Chamomile - herb
9. Fennel - herb
10. Parsley - herb
11. Nicotinia
12. Cleome
13. Amaranth - herb
14. Orach - herb
15. Alyssum

There are lots more and your growing conditions may allow for more or less annuals to self seed. Let me know what works for you!

Links:

Seeds of Diversity - a network of seed savers, and information.

The October Tomato and frost watch 2007 - end game

2007-10-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

So it's October. Halloween, pumpkins, colourful leaves and frost... Right?

Well in the normally chilly north of Ottawa, strange things have been happening with the weather or should I say climate. At any rate, after a slow start to last winter where it didn't really snow until JANUARY!!!, they are predicting temps in the upper twenties (Celcius for you nonconformist Americans) this weekend.

I not only have one October tomato, but many, enough for sauce and salad. Not only that but the peppers are rebudding and the eggplants are still going strong. I would show you pictures but my camera is on the fritz.

According to some, the average first frost is October 5th which would make this an average year (the weather network is showing frost possible around the 9th of October), but it sure feels unusual as I throw on my sandals and summer dress. Perhaps it's not so much the lack of frost as the balmy weather that has me thinking, which means googling.

According to The Weather Network, a normal for this time of year is 16C. It was 25C yesterday. The record is 27C in 1950. Just be thankful it isn't 1975 when it was -1C.

Get out there and garden but remember the frost is on the pumpkin some time next week!

Reheading cabbage - proof

2007-09-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

Remember when I told you that if you cut off the head of your cabbage but left the plant in the ground that it will rehead? Remember?

And remember how you said to yourself, whatda know... but didn't really believe me? Or believed me but didn't bother to do it yourself?

Well check it out:

You should be able to see four or five mini-cabbages in this picture.

Here's a close up of one and my rather large, rather mannish hand.

Perfect little side dishes.

Links:

The before post

Overwintering hot peppers - sunny season closing

2007-09-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

The hot pepper plants will need to come in out of the cold soon so I've dug them up and repotted them in a pot that gave room for their rootballs to expand. Despite this insult, they haven't so much as shaken off a leaf.

Caribbean red and fatali, both habaneros, I believe.

The fatali (with yellow fruit) is doing fabulous this year (year 2) and according to my neighbour is hot HOT HOT. How hot? Let's relive the conversation.

Me: "Do you like hot food?"

Neighbour: "Oh yeah, I love hot food."

Me: "I had quite the harvest of jalapenos this year."

Neighbour: "I don't find them too hot. Just a bit spicey."

Me: "I have a couple of really hot ones. A caribean red one and fatali."

Neighbour: "I've heard of that one."

Me: "Yeah? Want to try one?"

Neighbour: "Sure."

I go and get a fatali, gingerly, wrapping my shirt around it.

Me: "Here you go."

Neighbour: "Thanks." He starts to take a bite.

My face tenses but before I can say maybe you want to cook with it or something - too late.

Neighbour:"Oh yeah, it's hot. Woah. Yeah hot. Wow. That's hot. Ah. I have to go to the backyard now..."

So I guess it's hot.

Here are my jalapenos (also hot).

Jalapenos with stretch marks

My long red cayennes are also in their second year but the top halves have died off. You can see the small one in the foreground.

Hot peppers potted up for overwintering indoors, including long red cayenne.

Unlike the fatali, they were kept in irregularly watered pots all summer so I wonder if drought caused them to die back. Also, unlike the fatali that produced one crop, the cayennes produced several all summer. I'll re-pot them and see how they do this winter.

Links

Info on the Scoville Heat Scale for hot peppers

Sweet, sweet potato success for northern growers!

2007-09-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

Unlike the unicorn, the bermuda triangle or the possiblity of sasqwatch in the woods, this is one tall tale, that I can verify to be true:

You can grow sweet potatoes in the north

Variety: Jeorgia Jet supplied by Mapple Farms.

Or, at least, you can grow 'em in Ottawa. Here's is my adventure, in pictures, complete with a sweet ending:

1. I received my much awaited for package of sweet potato slips in the mail from Mapple Farms. They were limp and sad, as expected, but I planted them with great hope in my pre-warmed bed with plastic mulch.

2. The cutworms got two of my plants. Bottomless plastic cups solved the problem.

3. They grew into nice little plants.

4. And grew.

5. Until they mulched their own garden bed. Good little sweeties.

6. Frost has been threatened on and off on the longterm forcast but nothing yet. I decide to harvest on September 14th.

7. Look at these beaties!

8. I was really surprised by the size and number of them. Notice the latex dripping out of this one.

9. This one wasn't so pretty but it was huge.

10. There was some pitch fork damage so I had to cook those up for dinner tonight (or at least that's the story I'm sticking too). Yum!

Now I just have to make sure that I cure them properly. My husband thinks it's unreasonable to keep the house at 80 degree celcius for 5 days. I've taken to wrapping a tray in a winter blanket (with a air vent), in a plastic laundry bag, with a frequently heated water bottle in a warm room. Let's hope that'll be enough. I'll let you know.

Spend Sweet Potato Vine:

Hortiphilia Fact

Sweet Potato Greens

According to Ken Allan's fabulous book on growing sweet potatoes, listed below, you can eat sweet potato greens though this will cut back on tuber production.

Heck, here's another one since it's been awhile.

Hortiphilia Fact

Make Sweet Potato Cuttings

Instead of composting your old vines, like me, take healthy cuttings from the tips of the vines and root them up in water (they may already have some roots on them if they were sprawling on the ground). Pot them up and plant them next year. This is a great idea for ornamental sweet potatoes too.

Links:

Sweet Potato book for northern growers
Mapple Farm: Supplier of Georgia Jet slips, and more.

Season Finale, an ongoing post

2007-09-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what's more attractive:

The fall flower fave's

or these gorgeous collards

Season closing part 1 - soil warming

2007-09-02T18:05:00.001-07:00

What worked and what didn't in the veggie patch:

Eggplants and peppers were out of this world this year. Seriously, the eggplants performed like zucchini. And like those most notorious of vegetables, I felt like standing at the edge of the drive with armfuls saying, "please take some." Unfortunately, they also share the fact that not everyone is crazy about them (like me.)

Previous years, I have had adequate success with hot peppers but very poor luck with eggplants or sweet peppers.

I have now learned to use a technique called soil warming. This involves covering the soil with clear plastic about 2 weeks or more before planting - I use vapour barrier - and cutting holes in to plant. Seriously, the contrast is between getting a couple mishapen fruit to huge, healthy plants loaded with fruit. This year was not more ideal than most either. It was all down to this fantastic techique. See my demonstration earlier in the year.

Thanks again Ken Allan

The 'other' edible relatives of the tomato

2007-08-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

So most of us veggie gardeners already know that potatoes, eggplants and peppers are related to the glorious tomato but these are just the frequently talked about relatives.

The tomato has other family members rarely mentioned in dinner table conversation.

Let me introduce you to some of them:

Tomatillo plant

This is the tomatillo. Best known as an ingredient in salsa verde. Used thus, it is wonderful but I also like to eat them out of hand when the husks turn yellow. They have a fleshy fruity taste with an edge of tartness that is difficult to describe. The green tomatillo, in my garden, doesn't need supplemental watering and grows in an open but sprawling habit.

Ground cherries are also grow in a papery packaging. They are delicious little berries used fresh, in perserves or even pies. I grew Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry this year and found that it was an extremely prostrate plant, one could even describe it as a ground cover. The yellow berries are eaten when completely ripe. This is when they turn bright yellow and fall off the plant. You can store them in their husks for a perid of time (the amount differs depending on what you read) but let's say a couple weeks.

Lastly, we have sunberries (not garden huckleberries). Perhaps the most contraversial family member. Why did I specify that they were not garden huckleberries? I suspect that would require an entire post to explain but in short:

Luther Burbank bred the sunberry in the early 1900s but critics charged him with re-introducing the garden huckleberry. I don't have experience with the latter but understand that it is only palatable after lots of sugar has been added. However, sunberries are very tasty eaten right off the plant. Here's my problem with them. Everyone warns you to only eat the ripe berries. The unripe ones and all other parts of the plant are poisonness (you shouldn't eat potato fruit or tomato leaves or... this family only gives certain parts up for consumption). Well, I have two small children who routinely eat green tomatoes and strawberries so shouting at them every time they are near the sunberry patch to only eat the purple ones is a bit exhausting. My youngest did eat a couple green ones and seemed completely unaffected by the way.

Also they are a bit time consuming to harvest because but no more so than blueberries. On the plus side, they are early and productive. Oh and they taste great in apple crumble.

Links

How to make ground cherry pie

Mapple Farms, my supplier of sunberry and tomatillo, as well as rare tubers including short season sweet potato.

Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

How to grow a cabbage as big as your head

2007-08-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

Or at least as big as my niece's head.

1. Start way too optimistically early - like March, under lights.

2. Transplant in a 18 inch square space, ammended by half frozen manure, when you are still getting snowstorms even though you know that you should wait until it is reliably 7C outside at night or warmer (but not too warm).

3. Cover with little cloches and fret alot.

4. Figure there's no way these guys are going to make it and start another batch in April. Pretend you planned this.

5. Forget to water a lot.

6. Pick off cabbage worms, or better yet, do a little science project by bringing them indoors to watch them turn into butteflies. Lots of fun though releasing them does add to the pest population.

7. Wonder, when you get around to weeding, if they will ever be ready

8. Harvest first and second crop (both survived) and wonder in amazement that it actually worked again!

9. Be grateful for the joys of gardening.

This cabbage has no lingering doubt when the spammers make comments about its size. Those holes on the outer leaves (the inner leaves were unblemished) are caused by an assortment of catepillars and slugs. But they left sooo much cabbage, I can't really complain.

Wait you really want to know how to grow great cabbages?

Veggie Gardening Tips is a blog full of great information about organic vegetable gardening and he's written a post to answer just this question!

Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

URBAN GROW: First Cherry Tomato Harvest

2007-08-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

Another first in the tomato front URBAN GROW: First Cherry Tomato Harvest

Overwintered Peppers - a sunny update

2007-08-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

Perhaps, followers (humour me) of my overwintering pepper saga are curious what has happened to the darlings now that they have come out the other side of darkness and cold.

Well, fourty leaf fatali has a little surprise for us:

Finally!

The Recap:

To save you from searching through links to find out all about the excitement of fourty leaf fatali, let me tell you a tale.

Once upon a time, there was a man who was married to a plant crazed lady. She made him watch the children while she attended some excruiatingly boring seed event with a whole bunch of long haired organic types. He would have been dozing in the corner if it wasn't for their baby and toddler. To try and entertain the man, she suggested he pick out a hot pepper variety to grow.

He picked out fatali. The name, at the very least, sounded promising.

However, the plant proved to be anything but. It produced a ground total of 4 leaves the first year. Yes, four. Admittedly, it was smushed into a pot with two other peppers but that was only because the crazy plant lady assumed that the 2 leafed seedling was going to keel over at any minute when potting time arrived.

Well, crazy plant lady decided to try one of her crazy plant projects and brought the overcrowded pepper pot indoors for the looooooooooooooong Ottawa winter. She managed through much subtle negotiation to secure the coveted south window light for her babies. Noticing they looked unhappy in January, she repotted them. By this time, four leaf fatali had suprised her by turning into fourteen leaf fatali. Maybe it liked cold wintertime windows and low angled sun? It also produced buds, would it grow fruit? No such luck! The beds fell. The leaves started to look sad.

Crazy plant lady sighed.

But come spring, she stuck it in the garden in the designated hot pepper spot with what she presumed were others of its kind. Unfortunately, a wind storm had knocked over all her potted pepper babies and she had repotted them hastily, forgetting to make sure they were all labelled properly so Fatali is surrounded by sweet peppers.

Then fourty leaf fatali made more buds, and low and behold fruit!

More overwintered peppers

And my cayenne plants are producing their second crop. I think I'll try and overwinter some of the sweet varities this year.

Even more links on The First Tomato - an ode

2007-07-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

How can us gardeners not but give praise to one of the highlights of the growing calender. The great and glorious moment when we realize that no it is not a red candy wrapper that was tossed under the tomato plant (like last time), but a ripe tomato.

The singing of the heart, the opening of the salivary glands, the writing of the blog entry.

Here is a quick review of my hastily collected but still wonderfully fun posts about the First Ripe Tomato:

I love the look of this variety on Dreams and Bones

A beautiful post with a beautiful tomato at My Grandpa's Garden

My Dutch Garden has written about some of the many challenges we tomato growers face but don't worry she still has a handful of tomatoes in her belly!

Garden Desk beats the crowd by picking this beauty on June 15th.

My Roots Run Deep showing that even vegetable wary children cannot resist the temptation!

Short and sweet (oh so sweet) on Fluffius Muppetus

May Dream Gardens gives her first beautiful tomato the royal treatment.

Another early bird with a harvest on July 6th at View from the Mountain

For a tomato of a different colour try Growing Thumbs Gardens who is actually growing tomatoes in this post. ;)

I love the light in the Inadvertant Gardener's photo, very spiritual.

More on tomato gold at Gotta Garden.

An interesting picture. I love the small plastic pig beside the perfect cherry tomato at the reluctant remodeler

Little bit about heirlooms, and a lot of tomato love at Geek Buffet

You Grow Girl harvested July 2nd... did they say Canada Day? Canadians. I'm jealous

The all important question of what to do with the first tomato is discussed by Eat Air - A Vegan Food Log.

I like the picture of this cherry by Richie Design.

More on my harvest schedule on Po Moyemu - In My Opinion.

No photo but I love How Mary's Garden Grows describes the other method of handling the first tomato - eat it immediately.

Down on the Allotment has ripe tomatoes too!

Bifucated Carrot has orange/red tomatoes to eat.

A subdued post on Skippy's Vegetable Garden.

I keep forgetting to add mine.

Do you have a ripe tomato? Share it by dropping me a link. I'm happy to edit (hee hee hee).

Bad Tomato Mommy take IIGreen Thumb Sunday

2007-07-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

You should always cage your tomatoes properly so that they have good air circulation which lowers the chance of disease, and keeps your fruit off the ground so that no critters take a bite, and frankily caged tomatoes take less space.

If you happen not to get around to doing this until later in the season, you may resort to less elegant solutions...

... for example, smushing them together in an impromptu fence made of plastic trellis and parts of a plant stand... you might do this... but you shouldn't.

P.S. The tomatoes did recover but next year, I vow not to bother with those puny so called tomato cages. My robust babies need better support.

Want to see more tomato abuse?

Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Maplelawn Gardens

2007-07-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

Maplelawn is a lovely walled cottage garden to visit in Ottawa.

A sunny border with liatrus, daylily, false sunflower, bellflower 'bluechips', poppy, and more

The colour scheme is exuberant to say the least but never does it jar the eye. The tireless volunteers in this old time garden have ensured a full season of gorgeous bloom.

Blanket flower

Veronica (speedwell)

None of the old time favourites are left out.

Garden phlox

And every knock and cranny is crammed with plants:

Hens and chicks

If you live in the area and love gardening, check it out!

Snowball hydrangea hedge

First Tomato of the season...

2007-07-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

The harvest crowds to get a closer look at:

The finger is my youngest. She wants to eat the tomato. I don't blaim her. Amassed harvest includes, eggplant, golden turnip, kholrabi, beans, chocolate and yellow mini pepper (bitten by children).

The first tomato. Unsurprisingly, it was from my monster tomato, seed saved from a volunteer last year.

Garlic Harvest and Types

2007-07-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

I am taking in the harvest a tad early because I need to make room for some other plantings. However, the garlic bulbs are still sizeable:

My eldest and a bunch of garlic.

These are a hardneck variety, perhaps Russian Red as they have red skins inside though I can't be sure. My plant labels disappeared what with the many feet of snow, the great thaw times 2, various critters and helpful children.

I believe I planted Russian Red, Music and um... some other kind?

Whatever they are, they all sent up scapes (those are the flower buds on the garlic, a delicacy in themselves). They are also all deliciously fresh and crisp unlike those dried out, wimpy store brought ones.

All the varities I planted were purchased at the Carp Garlic Festival so have adapted to local growing conditions. It's a great way to get a variety of garlics to try at a reasonable prize if you are in the Ottawa area. Best of all, you can spend all day tasting garlic treats without a thought to your breath. Everyone's wearing the same perfume there.

But I promised you a short tutorial:

Hardneck versus Softneck.

The first difference is obvious, hardnecks, like in the above picture, have a hard stem - don't try and braid this kind of garlic.

But there is more, hardneck tend to flower giving you an extra crop of delicious scapes before the bulbs are ready. They also are the preferred crop for many northern growers and store about 3-6 months.

Softnecks are apparently more adaptive and productive and given the proper conditions will store for up to a year. However, they are more commonly grown in southern climes. That's not to say that they will not grow up north. They will.

My experience with my own garden is that the hardnecks are much more productive and healthier looking in whereas the softnecks were smaller and more prone to yellowed leaves. However, I have not tried a huge sampling of different varities yet!

Links:

More about different types of garlics
Garlic growing link, lists varities
How to braid garlic
Garlic SHOW braid - crazy fun

Eggplant with Nose

2007-07-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, those hybridizers have just gone too far!

This is today's harvest of an asian type long eggplant (can't find the seed packet... grr). Anyhow, its a prolific thing. This was going to be the last year I grew eggplants but now I consider it the first successful of many, or so I hope.

I thank clear plastic mulch to warm the beds along with the variety that I picked because from my reseach it seems that long and smaller fruited eggplants are more adapted to cooler, shorter seasons than the bigger italian ones. However, I did this research in the depths of winter and will have to recreate it for you on another post. If anyone knows HARD FACTS about this or something that contradicts this, let me know.

Anyhow, today's harvest gave me pause. The little guy above not only had a nose but a perfectly parted hairdo. (I admit that I added the Mr. Potato Head eyes).

GTS - forgot to add

2007-07-15T18:24:00.001-07:00

This is A-D week on Green Thumb Sunday for me.

Kids in the Garden on Green Thumb Sunday

2007-07-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

Kids raiding the current bush

"Let's go for a car ride kids."

"Where? To the park?" Says my three year old.

"No to the nursery."

"Park, park," shouts my 18 month old.

"Nursery? Boooooring," says my three year old.

"Park, park."

"No park, nursery."

"Park, park."

"More plants?????!!!!!" Whines my three year old. "You have looooooooooooooooots of plants."

"I'll buy you guys a treat."

"Yeah! Treat."

"Treat, treat," shouts my 18 month old.

So my kids don't love weeding. And they don't enjoy slowly touring the long tables of plants at the nursery. But they do love the garden in their own way. They hide under the bushes, and crawl through the tall grasses. They wind their way along the spiral path at the front and stop for snacks from the 'berry places.' My oldest knows a little latin and they both like watching as the baby plants grow and bloom, the rain pours down and the wind blows their hair.

They do help a bit by digging holes, overplanting seeds, and adding their own eccentric touches:

Glow in the dark garden dino.

Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Reheading cabbage and short season sweet potato update

2007-07-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year where I spend all my time gardening, and less time looking up gardening questions unless, of course, there is some problem...

So far, so good.

We have pests: cabbage moth, cucumber beetle, colarado potato beeltle (which only seems to be interested in my physalias - the primary reason I grow the invasive darlings). We have see-saw weather, but so far my veggie crises are minimal.

Re-heading cabbage

Same savoy as in the above link.

Can you see them? Darling little heads growing at the leaf axils as promised! They should make nice tender additions to a soup, a stirfry, my sandwich...

Sweet Potato Mulch

Short season sweeet potatoes starting to vine.

I keep hearing about how these things live by the same 'take-over-the-world-or-at-least-the-garden' moto as pumpkins so I am glad to see they are starting to live up to the promise.

Tender Fruit

Long, oriental type eggplant.

Thanks to clear plastic mulch, this is the first year that I have had such an impressive crop of sweet peppers and eggplants. Okay, perhaps I should be more clear. I have grown eggplants for three years in a row. The previous two years I have gotten less than 4 egg-fruits. Really, I hesitate to call them eggplant fruit at all as they were pathetic examples. I do not blaim the plants themselves but their growing conditions.

Mini-bells, italian frying and some other kind of pepper. They got knocked over as seedlings. It'll be a nearly blind taste test.

Thanks to Ken Allan's amazing book on growing short season sweet potatoes in the north called Sweet Potatoes in the Home Garden, I now have a new way to 'extend my climate zone.' Plastic mulch increases soil temperature which many plants, such as the aforementioned, appreciate.

Ken, you are one of my gardening idols.

Surprising Combinations in the Perennial Garden

2007-07-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

My front spiral perennial bed hides, and sometimes highlights, more than one edible or useful plant. As I was walking around with my gardener's frown, - you know the kind that quickly turns to delight when you see 'that plant' finally in flower - I noticed some unintented but quite pleasing combinations.

The complementary ruffle of varigated 'Citronella' Geranium and annual 'Torch' Blanket Flower:

The contrasting colours of Delphinium 'Butterfly Blue' with edible Nasturtium 'Peach Melba':

The dark mystery resonating between the deep purple Clematis and the black seeds of anise tasting sugar substitute Sweet Cicely:

And finally, the feeling of a meadow created by wild fleabane (weed), flowering with yellow columbine and the tea substitute Monarda:

Sometimes your best effort is the accidental one.

Bloggers for Positive Global Change

2007-07-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Fluffius Muppetus for nominating me as a 'bloggers for positive global change.' This is a meme to help raise awareness about blogging for a purpose, to attain a more sustainable world.

Below are my nominees.

Root Cause - a joint effort which includes Patrick from Bifucated Carrot, my absolute favourite political gardening blog. However, I just know that he's probably been tagged for this any number of times already so I'm going to tag one of his other works.

Heavy Petal - as you would expect, this blogger doesn't just love gardens, but she loves to participate in what I call 'garden action' including guerrilla gardening.

OttawaPlantCycle - a new blog featuring the tireless efforts of one woman to recycle plants and all things garden related. She also does this on a much grander scale with all manner of things.

Seeded - the quote alone on the top left deserves a mention. '... in the seed lies the life and the future' Veggie gardener extreme.

Veggie Gardening Tips and Ideas - Always full of information on organic vegetable gardening.

Green Thumb Sunday Madness

2007-07-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

Alright, I give up. I had no idea there was so many fantastic and frequently updated gardening blogs out there! I want to read all the green thumb sunday posts but it aint't going to happen especially if I want to try and keep up with any number of other garden blogger collections.

So for now on, you are all on a schedule. A-D the first week, E-H the second, and so on. I hope I can manage to comment on you all!

Signed, sleepy in Ottawa.

Edible Perennial in the bed.

2007-07-08T18:38:00.001-07:00

My perennial garden in the front is undergoing an overhaul. (Yes, I know I just put it in last year but I am a gardener right and gardeners are infamous for reorganizing, aren't they?).

One of my decisions is to keep the front more of a perennial, self seeding garden, as opposed to the potager it is now. In other words, to have fewer annual vegetables. That doesn't mean it won't have veggies. Oh no. It will just have more biennual or perennial vegetables. I have salsify growing, which will have a lovely purple flower in its second year, and will be replanting parnip roots for their dramatic flower. I will also be transferring my 'radicchio' chicory with its arresting blue flower to the front.

These will join all sorts of nibble plants such as:

Seen grown here with overwintered hot peppers, nasturtiums, sage and thyme.

Also showing moonbeam coreopsis, a cultivar of a NA wildflower, gypsophilia repens - great for dry areas, basil, and lobelia.

Jeruselum artichokes, horseradish, rhubarb, daylilies and egpytian onions in my 'wild side bed'

The giant plant is Jeruselum Artichoke.

I adore the dramatic leaves of horseradish. Here seen with tansy that somehow snuck in.

Aples, plums, red current, gooseberry and rugosa rose as part of the foundation planting:

Seen her with native ninebark, hosta, iris and peony. Oh and a kid, nicknamed worse than the birds. This is where she was headed in the above picture.

I will, however, miss the strange looks of people passing by the cabbage planted with the lavender.

Cabbage temporarily planted where there are some so far well behaved raspberry vines...

I should probably include an

Optimistic Gardener Warning

I am planting the salsify beside a false sunflower. And the parsnip as a background plant. The chicory will probably grow in front of the parsnip, with the cosmos. As chicory is my favourite flower, I was happy to discover that radicchio has a flower nearly identical to the wild type, except the buds have a pleasing jewel tone before opening.

Photo updates next year.

Links:

A wild food site. How to identify and prepare chicory

Salsify flower - aren't they pretty!

Remembering winterGreen Thumb Sunday

2007-07-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

A little reminder of how joyous this time of year is:

Vegetable Garden July 7th

Vegetable Garden February 7th

Happy HAPPY Gardening to all.

Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Brassicas and bonus crops

2007-07-04T19:40:00.001-07:00

Second Chance Cabbage

Savoy Cabbage harvested

Where once there was a delicious young savoy head, now there is nothing but an empty middle. But don't worry, the cabbage plant has not given up yet. It may yet produce a second crop of smaller, more bite sized heads. Here's how. Cut the cabbage head off the leafy base. This next step is optional but some suggest then making a cross in the stem bit that's left. I discovered that this really does work accidentally one year when I was lazy about removing the old cabbages... Apparently, the cabbages will form loose mini-heads between the leaf axils.

This works best with shorter season cabbage, by the way, though mine were long season cabbage which sprouted in the 'spaceship' greenhouse.

Bountiful Broccoli

Broccoli is also well known for its ability to re-bud. Some broccoli varieties are called sprouting and form an initial head of varying size which when harvested is followed by a succession of smaller heads. However, most regular broccoli will also do this. If you want a steady crop of mini-broccolis forming at the leaf axils, then look for this quality when buying seed.

Tasty Kholrabi heads and tails

Half-grown kholrabi

When harvesting my kholrabi, I asked myself, can I eat the leaves? Maybe I was hungry, maybe I just hate wasting something edible. Anyhow, the answer is 'yes'. I cook them rather like collards. In fact this goes for all the members of the vegetable brassica family that I have looked up so far. Apparently the younger leaves are less tough and sweeter. Frost will also improve their flavour. So after you yank the plant, why not cook yourself up a plate of greens?

Links:

http://www.garden.org/foodguide/browse/veggie/broccoli_harvesting/599
http://www.bonnieplants.com/Default.aspx?tabid=325

Belated Happy Canada Day on OH

2007-07-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

Red and white in the garden.

German Chamomile (tea chamomile) with a backdrop of Japanese bloodgrass and dark red dianthus

Mini-rose, unknown variety (dumpster rescue), with pale stone mulch.

That's all folks

Community Garden, plant recyling, no money (but lots of work) required!

2007-07-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you about my friend Val.

She is the owner of plantcycle Ottawa - a place to adopt, talk, and give away plants or anything else garden related.

She is also on the board for the New Orleans Community Garden.

Now, she has a blog that features her tireless rehoming of plants - Ottawaplantcycle.blogspot

I know few other people so interested in making sure that our fat society wastes a little bit less.

This post is a thank you to a great gal!

Update on short season sweet potatoes

2007-06-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

They arrived, I took pictures, I planted in clear plastic mulch, and collared against cutworms. I took pictures but sadly my camera died on me.

You'll have to take my word for it that they are quite impressive compared to their meagre beginnings:

Sweet Potatoes, one month in the ground. Ignore the unstaked tomatoes in the background.

Now the discussion:

"Sweet potatoes in Ottawa? That's a little optimistic isn't it?"
"These are short season sweet potatoes."
"Uh-huh."
"No really, one of the suppliers lives just south of us."
"South."
"North of Toronto."
"And are these like regular sweet potatoes."
"If by that you mean do they taste the same then yes..."
"So you can grow sweet potatoes in Ottawa?"
"Apparently, local farmers supply them in their produce baskets."
"Huh."
"Yup."
"Let me know how it goes."
"Will do. Maybe I'll give you one if I'm succesful."

The post that explains it all

New potatoes - the intermission harvest

2007-06-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

And now we'll have a short break in the normal growing season to pick some new potatoes.

Potato plant in full flower beside my other assistant (she was complaining that her sister was hogging all the blogging limelight).

Potatoes plants normally start to form tubers, ie. potatoes, when they start to flower. You want to wait until they are well in flower before rooting around for the intermision crop. (Apparently, some varities will not flower or flower late so the above does not apply. The authorities that told me that said to wait about 65 days and then to check for new potatoes... I have no experience so good luck! I grew Carlton and they flowered just as expected, a lovely flush pink).

Another good tip, is that new potatoes are often ready at the same time as ripe peas. Many recipes call for using both. This will depend of course on your varities (use early varities for new potatoes), and climate and - insert usual gardening qualification*.

Hortiphilia Fact

New potatoes are immature potatoes that are harvested before the potato plant dies back, which is when you would harvest maincrop potatoes. They have a delicious flavour, delicate skin, and cannot be stored.

Harvesting New Potatoes

The best way is probably to plant your early season potatoes in mulch such as straw to make rooting around for the little guys as simple as lifting the straw. I like to do things the hard way so I just yank up several plants. This of course means that I sacrifice quantity later on.

Potato plant with some good sized new potatoes and several very small potatoes still developing.

* Usual Gardening Qualification: Climate, Zone, Variety, Weather Fluctuations including rain, heat or growing index, Soil type and Quality, Pest Prevelance, Weeding Vigilance, Pet Damage, Forgetting to plant on time, Spilling beer on crop (not sure how this would affect it, we should do a trial), Children's Feet or Soccer Balls, How you speak to your plants, and so on.

Links:

Agriculural Pictures of a maincrop potato harvest

Fun site on growing potatoes

All about veggie gardening!

2007-06-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

Are you always on the look out for blogs that detail your favourite passion: growing your own food? Wish it were easy to find a directory that would gather posts for you?

Here you go: Veggie Garden Info

Though my garden passions extend into the ornamental, at the heart of it lies a love of growing my own produce. Here are the tales and trials, the information, and the joy of edible gardening.

Enjoy.

Creeping Thymegreen thumb sunday

2007-06-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

A great ground cover for full sun. I forgot about the lovely purple colour of the bloom when I planted my deep red and green garden beside it... I am trying to live with the clash.

"Ah creeping thyme. Not at all creepy. Eek, beside blood red dianthus."

"Ah how strange that deep red can be so soothing, not at all like the in your face maltese cross red. Oooo, not good with the cool purple of creeping thyme."

I am not planning on moving either garden so I am living with the disparity.

Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Monster Tomato, saving seed

2007-06-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

It's green. It has many arms. It's taking over the garden!

What is it?

Last year, I had many volunteer tomatoes and in a moment of weakness I let many grow. Only one was an interesting plant. The rest produced large beefstake types that were spindly (probably because they were growing in a tangle with squash and beans) and only had a few tomatoes each. The star was the first to flower and produce in the garden, laughed at the chilly (not frosty) nights, had dependable flavour throughout the season and was still pumping them out on comparably disease free branches until last frost.

I would be bowing before this tomato plant if it had a more exciting flavour. As I said, it is dependable, always the same from the first tomato to the last. That is not terribly sweet but not bad tasting, a little tart, but definitely worthy of being in a salad.

I saved the seed last year and planted it again this year. Well it made a strong very fast very fast very fast (no typo) growing plant. It seems to be as wide as it is tall, dwarfing all other plants in its garden row. It also is loaded with mid-sized fruit already. I suppose I should have expected this as it had started itself from seed last year in the open garden and was still the first to produce.

Where did it come from?

It wasn't a variety that I had grown so I imagine that it was from a store brought tomato that was thrown into the compost - probably part of a hybrid. It has many desirable characteristics such as dependability of taste, quick maturity, disease and cold resistance.

What is it called?

At my house, we simple refer to it as monster tomato.

rooting tomato cutting

2007-06-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

There she was. Listless yet with the flush of good health still upon her. I wanted to cry but instead I ripped what was remaining of her from the ground. My tomato plant. The culprit was clear... a cutworm. It couldn't quite get around the bulky stem but did enough damage. I should have left the tomato there, mounded up soil around its base and let it do what it does best - root again but I was too devastated.

Rooted tomato cutting in sippy cup.
Poor Picture Quality brought to you by my broken digital camera!
Instead, I took a leaf from each of my poor babies - the mystery winter keeper and the black cherry tomato and I put them in a glass of water.

Like magic, they started to root at the base of the leaf. I just love plants like this. It only took 4 days. I'll be putting them in soil shortly and then in the ground. We'll see how they do.

Links:

Just a whole lot of info about tomatoes
More info on rooting tomato suckers
Forum discussion about rooted tomato suckers
Cloning tomatoes (aka rooting cuttings) - a discussion on extending the tomato season (very interesting!!)

Saving seed - the purple podded pea

2007-06-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

When saving seed, nothing is as easy as peas and beans. Here is an example of a trade from a Bifucated Carrot, a blogger that I read (and admire) regularly. He's the foremost in political gardening I've read yet.

All the way from Amsterdam, he sent me a package of yellowish pea seeds - the infamous purple podded capucijner pea. In great anticipation, I planted them around my grape trellis (the immature vine will be trained into a weeping grape). The bunny cut some of the young shoots off before they were much past ankle high. I guarded them with green plastic netting (best defence against pests - barriers). They soft green leaves with purple at the stem joints, climbed vigorously. They are now topping the trellis and the pods are indeed a deep purple.

Here are some of the flowers:

Purple / Blue Capujiner Pea

The pea is intended on being used for soups. This year, I'm simply saving seed but next year, watch out! There will be a good sized plot devoted to them beside my favourite dried bean - Cherokee Trail of Tears. Incidentally, this is the bean that went in the other direction, from Ottawa to Amhersterdam.

How to save pea seeds:

The great thing about peas (and beans - much of the following counts for them too), is that they are inbreeders. That means, that they do not suffer a loss of vigour after several generations of saving them from a small gene pool. It still is desirable to save from more than one plant but it is 'possible' to save from just one. They also are self pollinating, meaning that theoretically you should have very little mixing and mingling between plants. The variety that you save should come true.

Accorinding to seed saving guru Suzanne Ashworth in Seed to Seed:

'Pea flowers are perfect and self-pollinating. Most references indicate that the
flowers are pollinated before opening and that crossing is very minimal... Pea
varities should be separated by a minimum of 50'. Blossom bagging or caging* can be used to assure seed uprity when it is necessary to grow different varities
side by side.'

*Bagging and caging are both techniques used to isolate self-pollinating species. Bags of remay cloth or other light weight breathable material can be placed around the developing flower heads of plants like tomatoes or peas so that no insect can get in to do a little cross pollination mischief. Caging is bagging on a big scale - cover the whole plant in a constructed cage lined with something like remay.

If you decide to save seed, pick the plants with the most desirable charateritics. If earliness is important to you, then instead of picking those first peas, save that plant (assuming it also shows other characteristics that you want) for seed. Mark off any plants that you want to save for seed and give them lots of attention.

Then wait until the pea pods are fully mature, even dry on the stalk. However, be careful to watch the weather. Once the peas are mature, they may sprout inside the pod if soaked with a lot of rain. If rain is expected, you can pick any pods that are mature to dry inside. (I write the above from my experience with beans). Careful to discard any peas that are damaged, or appear diseased.

Once they are FULLY dry, remove from pods, and then let the DRY MORE. Forgive the emphasis, but slightly wet seed that is placed in a sealed jar may rot, and will just keep less time.

Spread them out in some dry, warm place until they are really hard. Then store them in an airtight container, in a cold or cool dry place.

If you select carefully, your crops will become more and more acclimatized to your garden!

Links:

Another link about the purple podded pea - seed savers

Saving Seed - general

GeBaPro - school children run pea diversity project

Veggie update - the cutworm garden

2007-06-13T17:05:00.000-07:00

It's an exciting time in the veggie garden. Seedlings are collared against cutworm attack, so far very effective.

Collared beans - Cherokee Trail of Tears - and cucumbers - long asian type and lemon

Greens are out of control and I love it!

Romaine and four seasons lettuce

Broccoli and cabbage are shaping up.

Savoy cabbage, seeded in March, set out in mid April under pop bottle cloche

Spring Broccoli, seeded in March, set out under coldframe in mid April.

Peas are podding.

I think these are Arrow peas.

And check out this seeded coldframe. I've already harvested, turnips and snow peas, carrots and beet thinnings.

Vegetables seeded under my spaceship coldframe sometime in February if I remember correctly.

I even have my first pepper forming (my first cherry tomato was attacked by cutworms... I don't want to talk about it... it still hurts).

Sorry about the sideways photo! Mini pepper.

Life on the ant hill - garden tour

2007-06-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

Center of my front spiral garden.

My front garden is a 30 by 20 foot spiral garden. It has this shape not because of some sort of mysterical reason, or because I was feeling artistic the day I planned it. Rather, it was the most efficient way of putting pathes around my dwarf fruit trees. However, now that it is set up, I do find something mystical about it. It is peaceful to slowly walk to the centre, pausing now and then to weed or watch the progress of a flower. And though the bench in the centre is the perfect height for a child (we will be raising it but the centre stone is 100lbs so I will not be doing so - again - by myself), it is still pleasant to pause for a moment, surrounded by growing things.

Spiral garden in mid-June

This is its first year completed though the design and some plants were laid in place last year. As the garden matures things will have to be moved around or replaced. Just like any living ecosystem, it will be in constant change. It is also a potager so some space is dedicated to temporary planting of vegetables though I may add more permanent eats next year such as a bed of chicory, and self seeded salsify.

Ground Cherries, Helenium, and fading daffodiles.

Right now, along with 2 dwarf apples, a semi-dwarf plum, rhubarb, a hedge of gooseberry, current, and rugosa, there is also ground cherry, a sad looking eggplant, tomatillo, pepper, basil, dill, shallots and garlic.

Ninebark behind a rosa rugosa which gives great rose hips.

These are mixed with the usual rioteous display of gifted,

Plant cycle gifted sebum - thanks Val!

First plant cycle event I attended, gifted bellflower

bought

Regular old cranesbill

and found plants.

Infamously beautiful lawn weed from my lawn

I look forward to watching its ever changing face throughout the glorious snowless season!

Fall Veggie Gardening

2007-06-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

(Warning, this is a gardening 201 post)

As it is heading into the heat of the summer, and your beans are reaching for the sky, the tomatoes are flowering, and the peas are plumping out, you may not be thinking of starting little seedlings but think you could!

There are a number of plants that perform much better when started mid-summer to mature in the fall. These plants are often the ones that are very tricky in spring. Cauliflower, for example, should be started on a hot bed, or inside to be planted when temperatures are above 7C but early enough so they won't bolt before forming good sized heads before the hot weather comes in.

Instead, (unless you live in a very mild summer zone), you'll have better results if you save cauliflower for your fall garden. Many of the cold hardy plants can be seeded this way to form bigger, juicier, sweeter results.

Here is a list:

1. Brassicas: short season cabbage, brussel sprouts, kholrabi, broccoli rabe, kale, turnip, chinese cabbage, bok choy, tatsoi etc...

2. Roots: turnip, beets, carrots, salsify (for spring harvest)

3. Greens: spinach, lettuce - heading especially, chicory, mache etc...

4. Other: Second crop of peas, florence fennel

5. Consider even starting a second crop of warm weather crops such as beans, summer squash or corn if your growing season is long enough.

When exactly should you start your fall garden?

Depends on the veggie, but you want to count backwards before your average hard frost date (light frosts will sweeten the flavour of most of these veggies) so that they will mature in cool but not frigid weather.

Okay, Ottawa Gardener, what are you starting?

Even in the same region, all gardens vary because of soil, sun, microclimate etc... but if it counts for anything this is what I have planted already:

Brussel Sprouts, and Kale.

Over the two weeks:

Second crop of carrots and beets
Second crop of peas
Salsify
Chicory

In mid-late July:

Florence Fennel
Turnips
Bok Choy
Fall Broccoli
Broccoli Rabe
Endive
Tatsoi
Kholrabi
Chinese Cabbage
Short Season Cabbage
Various greens
Cauliflower

Flowers:

Forget me not (June)
Flowering Kale (early July)
Delphinium (seed in August)

Nursery Bed

Another great reason for a nursery bed (I must make one) is that you can start your seedlings in it and then transplant them to the garden proper once a spot for them opens up such as after harvesting the first carrots, peas or lettuce.

Just 1 more tip:

I am NOT the most experienced veggie gardener in the blogosphere but if you are going to take my advice, then know that most of it comes from being burned in the past. This is my fall gardening tip. Despite what I just wrote above, I tend to split seeding in half, starting one half 2-4 weeks later than the other to allow for unpredictable weather patterns. (If only I remembered this when starting my tender veggies inside. This year, I swear! Half in March, half in April. Repeat after myself, half in...)

Links:

Useful graph of vegetable frost tolerances
Useful calculation on days to maturity with 2 weeks 'fall factor'
Master Gardener article on fall gardening

Garden Still Under ConstructionCamera Still BrokenBut it is Green Thumb Sunday

2007-06-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Columbine and Rhubarb in the 'Spiral Potager' or as I like to call it 'The Ant Hill'

(I am exhausted.)

Iris because it is the season for 'em

(The 4.6 MT of rock for the pathes is only 1/4 distributed. I am not a big person but I have to be mighty... Gardening is good exercise.)

Speaking of little people. Here's m littlest making her way through the garlic forest in 'The Ant Hill'.

Why do I call it the ant hill?

My spiral garden is lined with blasting stone from the new developments across the river (en la belle provence). Rock is warm, wet and cozy:

A great place for an ant abode.

BTW: My husband thinks we should give the garden a more elegant or at least a less frightening name.

I will post pictures soon and you can help me.

Antropolis?

The Anterium?

Formis plantas?

Hmmm...

Regular 'researched' blogging will resume once the giant pile of rocks has vacated my driveway!

Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Garden under construction

2007-06-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

I have been spending my days with a shovel and a large pile of rocks putting in pathes so for the next couple of days at any rate my garden is temporarily closed.

Talk to you soon (with pictures)

Ottawa Gardener.

Frost Watch 2007 - take II

2007-06-06T17:20:00.001-07:00

Pretty Plant Interlude: Lupin

Yup, they all survived. It only went down to 5C...

Tonight it's supposed to be a steamy 6 / 7C

Good diggin' weather.

We interupt this normally frost free season to bring you...

2007-06-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

... a risk of frost.

Eh?

Say again?

No, wait, lie to me.

Growing plastic in the garden:

Two rows of tarped tomatoes, covered short season sweet potatoes, and straw mulched potatoes.

Bleeping Cutworms!!

2007-06-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

** Warning: The following blog entry is full of aggravation and plant augish. Caution advised**

So I thought it was the bunny who has been nibbling this and that in the front but was puzzled why Ms. Fuzzytail didn't eat what she was tasting. Perhaps she realized that she didn't like onion afterall, or thought it would give Peter and the little ones indigestion? So I errected a fence.

Over the next couple weeks, one of my two onion* patches was decimated, most of my leeks were gone and there was nary a parsnip to be seen, nor a radish (I only plant these for show so I wasn't all that upset). I was puzzled.

Then I found a grayish fat grub chomping on an onion early in the morning. It dawned on me that I had heard of this menace before. The name crystalized in my head... cutworm.

Looking up the description confirmed it.

Hortiphilia Fact

Cutworms are the immature stage of several species of brown moth. They generally cut leaves or the entire plant off near the ground, leaving the victem lying beside the denuded stem. They are most commonly fat, dirty grey in colour and curl into a C shape when picked up.

I was overtaken with horror. What was the solution? I tried eggshells but the ants carted them off. Iwent to buy some Diamotaceous Earth but it read don't use on food. I thought of Bacillus Thuringiensis but didn't want to hurt any beneficials and other non targets. I stuck a stick in the ground beside the plant stem and they thanked me for the boost. Finally I wrapped the stems of my peppers (budding and fruiting!) in aluminium foil. So far, so good.

I also discovered that if you scratch the ground near by the latest casulty, the bleeping thing is very close by snoozing a way. It then goes to sleep with the fishes in my pond...

Normally, I am a live and let live kinda gardener but come on, I have only seven parsnip seedling left! Apparently you can also lay boards near where they are feeding. They will hide underneath and you can surprise them in the morning with your pail of soapy water (for tossing them in). I have heard people also have success with rings of cornmeal, eggshell or other scratchy stuff.

The best technique though is seclusion. Keep your plants away from them! They are often found in new garden beds where there was once sod but not exclusively. What do I mean?

Procedure for collaring plants:

1. Take something flexible that you can make a 3 inch collar out of like aluminum, toilet paper roll, plastic, whatever.
2. Place around stem while planting, 1 inch below the soil, 2 inches above.
3. For large areas, try garden edger.

You can also culivate shallowly in the spring and let the birds make a meal of them before planting.

Soon, I'll show you my seed starting setup to replant the devastated area.

* They arem't supposed to like onions... mine aren't so picky.
** Where are the pictures? My nifty camera is out for repairs so no closeups possible.

Links

Managing Cutworms
Controlling Cutworms

New Community Garden in Orleans

2007-06-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

The Grand Opening for the new community garden in Orleans will be June 8th in the evening.

Jardin Communautaire Orléans Community Gardens

They have a plot donated to the Orleans/Gloucester food bank , a plot for Ottawaplantcycle, a plot for Ottawafoodshare, and a plot to Ottawarecycle for offering plants/food/garden items, and they have a children's plot.

I know two of the board members, and if they are anything to go by, then this community garden is sure to be a success!

I'm looking forward to watching the progress of this garden.

Plant Exchange - Garden WebGreen Thumb Sunday

2007-06-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

Garden Web is one of the foremost forums for plant information. It has google tripping archives of most of the questions I've asked plus lots I had not even thought of. It also has a great community.

In a meeting of the often mentioned plantcycle and gardenweb members, a plant exchange was held today at the parking lot of the experimental farm.

I brought far too many gardening books that I have collected, along with some seedlings and seeds.

In return, I received, 6 tomato plants, a type of lily, some dwarf iris, zucchini and asian cucumber and some malva seedlings!

That's the great thing about gardeners, they love to share.

Here's them in action:

My favourite was tomato was Rouge d’Irak. Apparently, seed saving certain varities (or those with similar characteristics) in Iraq has become illegal.

Fight the power folks - ask me for seeds at the season's end.

More links about crop control in Iraq:

Agir Contra La Guerre Blog
Press Action

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Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Gardening sign: When oak trees leaf out& Rejecting my allotment - sigh

2007-05-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

When the leaves of the oak have fully uncurled, plant tender annuals such as tomatoes and dahlias.

I had a chance to be the proud tender of a 20 by 30 allotment (in addition to my gardens). With this, I probably could have grown almost all of our family's produce but what with my in-laws and family coming for the entire summer and two small children, I chickened out...

For next year, the allotment president put me at the top of the list!

What is an allotment?

Don't have 'allot' of garden at your place? Perhaps you are an apartment dweller or the backyard is a dream for shady swamp plants? What you need is a plot of land close by that you can tend instead.

Where can I find me one of those?

In Ottawa, look under Community Gardens to find one near you.

Season show stoppersGreen Thumb Sunday

2007-05-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Regular chives

If you want a glorious Ottawa garden in late May, these were the stars that stole the show in my neighbourhood gardens:

Nursery Regulars:

Ground Phlox
Lilac
Stonecrop
Tulip
Ajuga
Columbine (non native)
Giant Alliums
Dwarf Iris

Native (what a month for them!)

Bleeding Heart
Solomon's Seal
Foam Flower
Trillium
Columbine (native)
Tall Phlox
Bunch Berry
Violets
Ferns uncurling
Anenome

Vegetables (based on my garden)
-- the greens have it --

Rocket
Mache
Early Leaf Lettuce (the heading is just getting going for me)
Spinach
Broccoli Rabe
Chives
Turnip greens
Beet thinnings
Rhubarb

In the works:

Bearded Iris, who has been waiting impatiently in the wings, is just putting on her costume, so are oriental poppy, jacob's ladder, peony and dianthus (pinks). I even saw a flower on my rugosa.

Giant Alliums

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Psst - Native Plant Sale, this saturday

2007-05-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

So I don't really want to tell you that there is a native plant sale this Saturday, June 2nd, starting at 9.30 at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. It's just that I feel I have to.

Now you know - save me some plants!

Oh, and since I'm at it, there is also a community yard and plant sale right in Carlington. Here are the details (arm twisted):

Carlington Community Yard & Plant SaleSaturday, June 2, 20078 a.m. - 2
p.m.Rain date: Sunday June 3(Carling/Merivale/Kirkwood Avenue Area)Sponsored by Carlington Community Association (CCA)

Links:

Fletcher Wildlife Garden
Carlington Community Association

Frost Watch 2007 - Day 8Peppers are frost tolerant?

2007-05-22T19:09:00.001-07:00

Crabapple, Pretty plant interlude

It seems that the frost watch is nearing its end. We are heading into a mini heat wave, though there may be a few more dips in temperature, we should be leaving 4C and under behind.

All plants survived... (so far)

So to round it all up, a question... my big book of plants says peppers, even capsicum annum (the common garden pepper, including most hot kinds and all sweet kinds) are frost tolerant.

Heads turned on that one, didn't they?

So I endeavor to find out the truth. I figure they ain't that frost hardy! But exactly how hardy are they? Will they stand a light frost?

The Unintentional Experiment:

You may remember my frosted tomato post. That same night, I also left out my eggplants, peppers, ground cherries and sunberries. All frost tender but differently affected. The ground cherries seemed unphased. The peppers appeared wilted in the morning but recovered completely by midday - no obvious damage to the leaves at all. I can't remember what happened to the sunberries though they seem to have no leaf damage either. They may have been very immature at the time. The tomatoes initially seemed fine, but as the day progressed, brown marks appeared between the leaf viens, eventually these lower leaves fell off and new ones grew at the leaf axis.

Does this mean that peppers are marginally (like 1 or 2 degrees) more frost tolerant? Does this mean that ground cherries are husky northern cousins in comparison?

Googling peppers and frost tolerance

According to Plants of a Future database:

"Plants can tolerate a small amount of frost[171]"

My favourite source for plant info - Floridata - agrees, stating:

"Mature plants can tolerate a touch of frost."

That's all the evidence I need, for now. So it seems that a mature pepper plant could take a light or patchy frost occasionally but would be happier without one. I imagine it would drop its leaves but they would soon grow back, as happens when they are stressed for other reasons such as drought, change in light level, doesn't like the look of your shirt...

Ground cherry and frost tolerance?

I have been on this google romp before and found that there are solanum (tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, ground cherries, sunberries, garden huckleberries all belong to this group) brothers and sisters that live, even thrive, this far north. Amoung them are ground cherries. They are not necessarily the best tasting ones (though I have never sunk my teeth into them) but they exist.

Amoung the solanum relatives up north are:

1. Deadly Nightshade - not recommended eating

2. Chinese Lanterns. Anyone with them in their garden will vouch for their hardiness.

3. Clammy Ground Cherry

There are others, I'm sure, but let's focus on the 'ground cherries'. Of the many species listed, I saw a predominance of those that preferred to be in warmer climes but there are some that grow wild here. So was it a fluke that my Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry seemed unaffected by the mild frost that singed my tomatoes and scared my peppers?

I have yet to find a definitive answer, but as always I will notify you immediately when I do.

Black tomatoes more frost tolerant?

And finally, let us think on this quote from Ferme du Zephyr:

"Black tomato plants tend to be quite cold-hardy, with some degree of frost tolerance".

Really?

Anyone have any experiences?

No Comments?

2007-05-21T07:01:00.000-07:00

For some reason my blogger decided that it was tired of comments, that it needed some alone time. I however had a different opion and have changed the settinds back to allow comments!

TrilliumsGreen thumb sunday

2007-05-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

Finally in bloom. A marvel of Eastern Canada.

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Tulip Festival, OttawaGreen Thumb Sunday

2007-05-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

Tulips and crab apple blossoms

The tulip festival is held annually in our nation's capital, Ottawa. Following is a briskly written and researched journey into some things tulip (relatives visiting).

History of the Tulip Festival

100, 000 tulip bulbs were presented to Canada by Princess Juliana of the Netherlands in 1945 to thank them for providing their citizens with safe haven during WWII.

They were pretty. People came, people told others, soon a festival grew up around them.

Rainbow of tulips. The purple one is called Holland Cherry. Next time I will take notes, but I believe the orange stripey ones were Hermitage.

Tulip Festival Now

Planted in great swatches of colour, these tulips attract visitors, and their cameras, from all over the world. Here are some of their backsides.

Where are the tulips? There are tulips here right?

These pink and white tulips are called strawberry and cream - it's all in the name...

Now, it has more than just flowers, but the usual assemblage of vendors, buskers, and music. They even have a forest of wooden painted tulips.

Species Tulips

These are short, vigorous tulips that perennialize well. As the name suggests, they are genetically close to their mother plants (though may be minimally crossed) which have originated in the Middle East.

Check out this wikipedia entry for more details.

Tulip mouth

Hybrid Tulips

Most of the ones that we gardeners buy are hybridized tulips which some complain lose their vigour after a couple years. (I have some long, red stemmed tulips that were just crowded - we are talking 100s of bulbs in a 1 foot square space. When I moved them around, most grew and flowered. I presume these were hybrids but they were planted by the original owners who knows when).

How many of the original 100,000 are left I wonder? How long do tulips live?

Sadly, I can't answer these questions today, but fear not, there will be another festival, another time to write about tulips!

The white are called tres chic

A twinned tulip.

Tulips Propogation

Members of the lily family, they can reproduce by offsets (all kinds) as well as by seed (not all).

All alone in a sea of red.

Links:

Floridata on tulips
Growing tulips from seed.

Other blog with tulip festival posts:

http://www.pagehalffull.com/humanyms/?p=987

Garden Gremlin

http://www.dalehogan.ca/blogs/tellthestory/2007/05/tulip-festival-2007.html

http://www.scotthayward.com/index.php?showimage=145

http://www.loleeplanet.com/2007/05/20/tulip-festival-in-ottawa/

Frost Watch 2007 - Day 5

2007-05-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

Happy little plants this morning with a low of 3C.

Quick post today, but I won't leave without your promised frost fact.

How the weather forcasters use the following terms:

risk of frost 4C
patchy frost 2C
widespread frost 0C

http://www.mvfn.ca/content/climatechange/first%20frost%202005-6.pdf

Now you know.

Another freezing link

Frost Watch 2007 - Day 4

2007-05-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

Common purple violet - Pretty Plant Interlude

So far, so good with all plants present and accounted for. The lowest temperature last night was 2C at 4am according to The Weather Network. I just happened to be up at 5am... and can confirm that there was indeed patchy frost - kudos to Enviroment Canada.

Tonight's Forecast:

Environment Canada (last night's winner) 3C with risk of frost

The Weather Network 8C

Walls o' water for cheapskates (like me)

I do try and keep my addiction to gardening as painless as possible to my sig other, including talking about it sparingly and spending only a reasonable amount of money on it.

Walls of water, for the unitiated, are plastic contraptions with two walls which you fill in between with water and put around your tender plants.

You can recreate this by making a circle of 2L pop bottles, filled 3/4 with water, and attached together with duct tape (as per this person's suggestion).

Or if you have a lot of tomatoes to protect, try this fantastic idea:

"I always thought filling 1000+ soda bottles for 150 tomato plants would be time
consuming so I just stick the bottom of a clear 55gal garbage bag over an
inverted tomato cage, let it drape to ground level and then doubled over itself
back to the top. When you put water in it(between layers)with a hose only use
5-6 gal. even though it will seem like little. Its the amount of water that
matters, not the height on the cage. After your plants outgrow the cage,poke the
bags and reuse them for garbage (that won't leak). "
Found further down on DIY WOW post.

Links:

A discussion on the pros and cans of WOWs (Walls of Water).
A study about frost protection of hot caps and WOWs

Frost Watch 2007 - Day 3, problem

2007-05-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

Peppers inside polytunnel * more at bottom *

Conversation with friend over for supper:

Friend: I hear there is a possibility of frost.

Me: Really?
Looking outside at cloudy sky and remembering that it is only supposed to go down to 4C

Friend: Well I heard it on the radio, maybe it's changed.

Me: Huh, be right back.
Staring at pessimistic weather report by environment Canada:

" Cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers early this evening. Clearing near midnight. Low plus 1 with patchy frost. "

Me: Thanks, I think I have to go outside for a minute.

Hubby gives me that look.

Me: I'll be right back.
Quickly, I throw winter blanket back inside of polytunnel.

Problem is that it is already clear at 10pm but 6C!

According to optimistic forcaster, the Weather Network:

Humidity 100%, Conditions Clear, low 4C.

However, the dewpoint is 1 and the humidity, currently, is 70%.

Who is right, time will tell.

And since I'm writing this, time for another frost fact:

The reason why people use water to keep crops from freezing either by using a sprinkler, wall of water or other device is not so much because the water traps heat and releases it during the night but because cooling, especially freezing water releases heat.

Same thing?

Not exactly. When you freeze water, in other words, change its state of matter, the forming of bonds causes heat to be released. This is why ice forming will warm the area nearby.

Irrigation causes the formation of ice which helps prevent crop damage.

Counterintuitive but true according to my research.

To that end, I have placed pop bottles in my polytunnel. More on that tomorrow, if the plants survive.

---

*
The ground has been pre-warmed with clear plastic mulch.
Sticks are being used to support the winter blanket I am using as a 'row cover'
Pop bottles 3/4 filled with water and bricks are being used to store heat but see above about why water is used to prevent frost.
Peppers slightly squashed because I didn't use the sticks the first night with the winter blanket.

Frost Watch 2007 - Day 3

2007-05-17T03:18:00.000-07:00

Apple Blossoms - pretty plant interlude

I woke up early, gingerly looked out the window and noted no white glaze on the rooftops... good. But it was clear and sunny which I was not expecting. With my heart in my throat, I went outside.

It's alive! It's alive!

In fact, they all are!

The low last night according to The Weather Network was only 4 C (with a dewpoint of 0). Much higher than the forecasted 2C.

Tonight, they are predicting 4C again but I suspect that might be subject to change, hopefully upwards.

As promised, another frost fact:

Dewpoint and frost.

The dewpoint is the temperature on a given night when water will condense out of the air forming dew. At this point, relative humdity is 100%. If this dewpoint is below 0C then frost instead of dew will be formed.

A high dewpoint means that temperatures will drop more slowly, and a frost is less likely. However, a clear night with low humidity and a low dewpoint means that temperatures are able to drop much more quickly. Frost becomes more likely.

The dewpoint tonight will be 4C according to farmzone, much toastier than the -2C that it is right now.

Links:

A good explanation for grows about dewpoint and frost.

Frost Watch 2007 - Day 2

2007-05-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

They survived the night under the thin pathetic plastic I provided them but it was not cold. Today, I switched to the heavy vapour barrier plastic.

Today, a low of 2-3 C is expected with a windchill making that feel like a much more nippy -2C.

That's right my friends (and tomatoes), below 0.

A little lesson on frost:

Hortiphilia Fact

Four (degrees celcius) or less
(Frost tender) plants become a mess!

Few know (myself included until recently) that temperature is measured from about a height of 5 feet. As cold air sinks, the temperature at ground level can be much colder than that, like 0 degrees. Frost happens when the temperature is freezing - shock and surprise - so a measurement of 3 or 4 degrees, though above 0, may still mean frost for your plants.

Other factors that affect whether or not there will be a frost is how still the air is. A breeze, can keep the air circulating so that cold air doesn't have time to settle out.

4 degrees predicted? Will there be frost?

1. Cloudy weather: less chance.
2. Clear skies: more chance.
3. Rain: Less chance.
4. Snow: Draw your own conclusions.
5. Stiff breeze: Less chance.
6. Raised beds: Less chance.
7. Dry air: more chance
8. Cold air barrier: more chance
9. Moist packed soil: less chance
10. Loose (recently cultivated), dry soil: more chance

When in doubt, don't put it out.

or...

If it's in bed, cover its head.

How to protect plants

The sad truth, from my research, seems to be that most row covers / hot caps / polytunnels and the like only give about 2-4 degrees of frost protection. However, that can be quite significant if you are expecting a nightime temp of around 3 degrees. It could mean the difference between plant death and plant dismay.

You can use pretty much anything to cover plants in a pinch such as an overturned pot, cardboard box, old towel, blanket, an impromptu coldframe constructed out of hay barrels or other supports and some sort of light such as an old storm window or plastic sheeting.

You can also use more classic products such as a hot cap, or polytunnel, but apply these before dusk as much of the frost protection comes from the microclimate created inside. Heat is stored by pots, the ground etc... inside the polytunnel and then radiated back out at night.

Caution: Make sure your plants don't overheat which is easier than you may think in a polytunnel on a warm day. Raise the sides, open the ends, otherwise ventilate.

Floating row cover is also an option but again it only gives you a couple of degrees of frost protection. It will be more affective if it doesn't actually touch the plants. This can be accomplished by hoops such as the polytunnel or by jabbing sticks into the ground so that the floating cover tents out above the plant. Primarily, the advantage of row covers is to provide a protected environment to speed along the growth of young plants or to keep out pests.

Stay tuned for more on whether the plants will weather the weather.

Each day they live, I will find another exciting frost fact to post.

Links:

Great discussion on frost - aimed at strawberry growers but very useful to all.
Discussion on polytunnels - by a manufacturer

Frost Watch 2007 - Day 1

2007-05-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

Bleeding heart - pretty picture interlude.

I hastily covered my row with a winter blanket. It got soggy in the rain and squashed the plants.
They recovered.

Tonight, the optimistic forecaster - the Weather Network - is calling for a low of 12C. The less optimistic one - Environment Canada - thinks 6C. I think the difference is in who is predicting for a clear night and who thinks rain.

I've covered the bed with some foamy packaging material, and the polytunnel support with some light weight plastic, weighted down with soil. Tomorrow I have to get the real heavy duty stuff. I will also be adding a second layer of protection.

Stay tuned. I'll post pictures.

Frost Watch 2007, poor tomatoes

2007-05-14T13:20:00.000-07:00

The weather is cruel this year. The 'average' last frost in Ottawa is May 6th. But this year, the longterm forcast has been threatening frost on and off every other day for weeks. My babies are WAY overgrown again! Next year, I'm not starting anything until April.

Overgrown seedlings - mostly solanums such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants.

Even the traditional planting date of the may long weekend may err this year, with a possible frost called for on May 23rd.

However, as it often is with longterm forcasts, as we approach the appending doom day, things become more moderated though still not at the average minimums which normally would have allowed me to put out my tomatoes at this point.

I say, I have had enough! That's it! I am planting them darn it!

They may die.

But I am going to give them a fighting chance.

1. Warm the soil with a plastic mulch.

2. Add polytunnel frame with rebar and pvc piping.

Stab ground with rebar, thread pvc tubing overtop, or use other metal, other flexible plastic, fiberglass ribs or even tree branches to make the ribs.

3. Cut X's in plastic mulch, plant unsuspecting plants deep, cover holes with sand.

Scissors work well. (I did try just stabbing them with my pruning shears but it was more effort than what was required to go upstairs and fetch my scissors).

Poor little eggplant...

4. Water well. Line with bricks to trap warmth.

They look so healthy and alive here...

5. Cover polytunnel with more plastic, slits cut in top to let out some hot air and let in water. Clip on with binder clips.

--Picture is coming--

6. Wait and watch.

I will keep you updated as to whether they all fall prey to FROST.

Links:

Clear plastic mulch for soil solarization - steralizing the soil

Gotta check out this: Jack Frost Foam

Perennial of the yea(s)Green Thumb Sunday

2007-05-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

There could only be one winner in the perennial of the year(s). Showy, yellow double blossoms are held high above its deeply serrated green leaves. These long standing flowers are produced in a profusion which lasts from early spring to last frost, followed by a decorative seedhead. Perfect for the cottage garden, it happily self seeds. Catch those seedlings quick if you don't want more, (but why wouldn't you?) because this plant has a deep tap root that not only aerates the soil but also allows it to withstand drought. Easy to grow, it is not picky about soil, being equally happy in the traditional border or rock garden.

In our test gardens, we have also found it quite effective as a groundcover. Its broad leaves that will grow closely together excluding light from other less desirable species. It will withstand some foot traffic and may be mowed to keep low. If you prefer, it can also be naturalized in your lawn or added to the wildflower mix. Bees love it! Not only that, but it is edible! From dappled shade to full sun, this perennial is a winner. Why not add it to your gardening scheme?

Or have you already learned the delights of Taraxacum officinale:

Copied with permission from the Creative Commons archive. Credit to SierraDelta74

The dandelion

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Foliage - the new flower

2007-05-07T18:48:00.001-07:00

Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine. Permission for use through Creative Commons. Photo by Tiglio Art's

In a perrenial bed, you might try to have something flowering at all times and certainly at the height of summer, it is hard not to get a display. However, at other times, you may have a solid mass of green with only a bloom here or there to break it up.

There are various strategies for coping with this including incorporating plants with strong structural shapes.

You can also look for plants with interesting and contrasting foliage. So even when there is no flower, there is still colour. Leaves don't just come in green. They can be steel-blue, grey, lime, pink, purple, peach, white, yellow, red, tan, orange, almost black and mixtures of the above.

Thankfully many classic foliage plants are also shade lovers, a place not conducive to heavy flowering:

1. hosta
2. coleus
3. coral bells

Coleus. Shared through Creative Commons. Photo by jam343

Coleus = Colour

Don't just think of Coleus blumei, otherwise known as the painted or flame nettle, as a plant that you buy from the nursery every spring to pop into your planter box. It is extremely easy to root and overwinters happily indoors. If you know someone with a coleus you envy, ask for a cutting and stick it in a glass of water. You too will have that plant before you know it. As winter approaches, either dig up the plant or take cuttings for next year.

Oh and though traditionally it is known as a shade plant (colour fading in the sun), some are supposed to be tolerant of heat. I have never tried them so I don't know and there is no shortage of plants that look great in full sun.

Hortiphilia Fact:

Coleus is a 'tender perennial' BUT if it sets seeds, it soon expires.
How sweet is the Sweet Potato Vine

If the spot you need to jazz up is sunnier, you'll be happy to hear that the purple colour in plants is their version of a tan so it deepens in the sun. Many, many plants have darker versions, but the one I would like to focus on is the sweet potato vine, otherwise known as Impomoea batatas

It comes in a host of colours from chatruese to cerise to bruise purple. The local nursery has an agricultural sized table of varieties. And like the coleus, sweet potato vine can be 'easily' rooted from cutting and overwintered.

That's what I might try and do with this little surprise.

Sweet potato sprouts

I noticed some sprouts on my sweet potato so decided to let it grow, figuring that it would be some dull shade of the aforementioned standard 'cholorphyll' green when what before my wondering eyes did appear but variated purple and lime green. So perhaps it's just this colour because it's stressed and maybe it will revert to regular green later, but maybe not!

Links:

All about coleus by wikipedia
overwintering and propogating ornamental sweet potato vine by tuber
Annual or Perennial? That is the question
Grow a Coleus Standard - wild!

Spaceship update

2007-04-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

sugar snap peas and turnips

The spaceship (wooden framed peaked hoophouse thingy) is coming down some time in the next couple weeks so I thought I would give a final update on what's inside. Including what is obvious in the picture, there is also lettuce seedlings, turnip green, resprouting swiss chard, and beets. I've planted carrots and they may have come up but my carrot seedlings are dopplegangers for a weed seedling during the first week so more waiting is required.

Nursery season and impulse buyingFence plants

2007-04-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

It may be true that many a nurseryman or woman knows me, possibly even by name. They may also note my habit of wandering around, reading all the labels then not buying anything.

I can't help going but I do try really hard not to buy anything. Many women have the reputation of being compulsive book shoppers (you thought I was going to name some clothing item didn't you?) but I have a problem with plants. What stops me is that many of the best deals are for plants that I can't in good conscience fork over cash for. A neighbour or gardening friend is bound to have it in abundance. All I need to do is ask.

Either that or it is painfully easy and significantly cheaper to start it by seed. And I am not forgetting about growth medium (sterilize regular dirt or compost in the oven), pots (yoghurt containers), or light (I do have florescent bulbs but my solanums - tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, ground cherries etc... - get priority). Many plants can and prefer to be direct seeded.

Free over the fence

1. ground covers - these include periwinkle, bugleweed, creeping jenny (highly invasive), barren strawberry, mother of thyme etc...
2. hostas - I have been offered these numerous times when I've shown appreciation of their massive plants.
3. any member of the mint family - spearmint, chocolate mint, peppermint, pennyroyal, bergamont/monarda, oregano
4. yarrow (come to my house for some please)
5. iris
6. daylily
7. bell flower, especially the creeping kind
8. violets (plenty out back for all who are interested and I am sure that I can keep up with demand)
9. lilac - suckers will grow faster than you think
10. lamb's ear
11. rhubarb
12. raspberry / blackberry etc...
13. ox-eye daisy - the weed is just as pretty as the cultivated variety, really
14. chinese lantern / physalia
15. many ornamental grasses with spreading rhisomes like ribbon grass
16. lupin - at least in some yards, like mine, there's little stopping it

I could go on, but you get the idea. If it doesn't have some fancy varigation (like that gorgeous green-white-pink varigated jacob's ladder with the clear blue flowers, be still my heart) then it is probably owned in abundance by someone you know.

Not only that but many bushes easily air layer. In my yard this includes:

1. Euonymus
2. Currant - including the alpine currant hedge
3. forthysia
4. culinary thyme

That's not to mention the self-seeding annuals. Probably someone down the block is right now is cursing a flower that you covet because of its over-exhubarant reproduction. They are furiously pulling up hundreds of seedlings which could have been transplanted into your yard to continue the cycle of amazement at the germination rate of just one stray cosmos/black eyed susan/nigella/etc...

If you live a couple fences down from me, feel free to stop by and stare too long at a plant you are interested in. Chances are, I'll give you a piece so you can save your money for a good shovel (or that fantastic varigated jacob's ladder... sigh).

Impulse buying on site:

Sometimes, it is not the plant so much as the new garden bed that you have need to fill. This is one of the most common problems I have. There is a naked spot in the garden and there are rows upon rows of pretty plants giving me that orphaned puppy look. Therefore I have devised a native plant list to take with me. It is surprising what I have discovered that I grow in my garden which is native. Also there are a number of native plants species or cultivars available that the local wildlife would really appreciate.

You may be thinking 'She's not preaching about native plants again! They're soo dull.' But check out the list of plants I either already have that are native or would like to get:

Pearly everylasting
Jewelweed or touch-me-not (cultivar)
Sundrops
Bergamont, red and pink (cultivar)
Trillium
Bleeding heart
Coneflower
Mexican hat / prairie coneflower
Helen's tears (cultivar)
Geranium (cultivar?)
Common Bellflower
Foamflower (cultivar)
Aster
Anemome (cultivar)
False sunflower
Columbine (cultivar)
Sweet Cicely
Evening primrose
switchgrass / panic grass
spotted deadnettle
Pussytoes
Dogwood
Wild rose (cultivar)
Buttefly weed
Blue phlox
Obedient Plant
Black-eyed susan
Solomon's-seal
Dutchman's breeches
Bird Cherry
Violets
Trout Lily
Coreopsis (cultivar)

I have to thank an early plantcycle event for most of the above plants.. All he said at the time was that they did very well in his garden, were vigorous and very pretty. He was right!

Fletcher's Wildlife Garden has lots of information on native plants they use in their own landscaping. If I see that the plant is on my 'okay' list then I feel better about purchasing it but if not then I remind myself to wait until their annual native plant sale which this year is on June the 2nd.

(They also have lots of good information on how to propogate these plants. I feel it necessary to include that you should always check to make sure that a native plant is not endangered before collecting, that it is best to collect only a small percentage of the seed from a number of plants rather than all from one and if the plant must be propogated vegetatively be careful not to hurt the parent plant. Okay, done, now go turn your backyards into cultivated wilderness!)

Links:

Gardening with native plant links
basic plant division

Plant Re-cycling Event from plantcycle

2007-04-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

I've been to plenty plant recycling events, organized through plantcycle, but this was my very first time as host. The rules are simple. Bring gardening related things, take gardening related things. No trading is necessary. Of course, unlike all the other ones that I have been to, it was raining! But what gardener lets a little rain keep them away from plants?

Plants all lined up and ready to go.

Besides, don't plants like rain? Especially the nice misty rain we had that day, perfect for planting out perrenials.

They came. They brought plants, a very small sampling of which included:

1. spirea
2. iris
3. tomato
4. purple leafed bugleweed
5. oregeno
6. dahlia tubers
7. sweet cicely
8. daylily
9. hollyhock
10. coleus
11. And much, much more!

Coleus and spider plant

They came. They brought seeds which I could not even give you a cursory list of because it would be so extensive but suffice it to say that it included everything from annuals to vegetables. I picked up alaskan nasturtium, fernleaf fennel, bunching onion and cilantro.

Seeds ans snacks

They came. They brought pots, and plant markers made from cut up mini blinds.

I also learned that there were two other garden bloggers in attendance:

I wet my plants - great name.
--memory failure-- please email me if you read this so I can include you!

Best of all, none of us spent any money at a nursery.

If you live in the Ottawa Area and are interested, join us at plantcycle. We'll have another plant event before you know it.

My littlest with a pot of dark leafed ajuga.

Links:

Interesting plant markers