Greetings, gardennerds!

We have all quite neglected this blog, haven't we? It is such a common complaint of bloggers, that I won't dwell on it. Has anyone noticed? Most certainly not. However, I doubt we have forgotten our gardens. It's just not what gardennerds do.

First, some inspiration. The gardening conversation has not been entirely silent, behind the scenes. D sent out a link to this site earlier this year and it has been a wonderful place to visit. Also, reading about what this guy manages in Edmonton makes me realize that "a short northern season" is relative, and also not worth complaining about. Oh, also the site is beautiful.

On to the garden. My gardening life this year finds me the southeast of Ontario, tilling a sunny little south-west facing triangle beside our rented half-house. We were here last year too. Last year's garden primarily produced an amazing quantity of tomatoes, and a pretty constant supply of lettuce. I was away for most of the summer, and so the garden was tended by a quite unlikely gardener indeed, Mr. A. He certainly has gardening in his blood (if not in his past), but his body doesn't seem to know that: he's allergic to all things flowering and gets hives from sticking his arms among tomato plants. But he braved the pollens courageously and watered stuff faithfully and it grew like the dickens. However, as he usually found himself watering at dusk, he also donated a lot of blood to the local mosquitoes. And so this year, he decided, we should try an irrigation system. I was hesitant at first, but have since learned that it was a brilliant idea. We, like many, can get busy. The soaker hoses make it easy to deliver water right to the roots after the sun is down. Keeping the plants well watered keeps them lush and makes them more resistant to pests and disease. One day it would be great to have it hooked up to rainwater rather than a hose, but, well, it's what we can do for now. So yes, it's a few 1/4" soaker hoses, a mechanical timer that can be set to up for 2 hours, a filter and pressure-control at the head. It also splits off to a nozzle head for taking care of potted things.

With our new ability to bring adequate moisture to plants, we have focused this year on densifying and using more vertical space. It's definitely my densest garden to date.

Entering the garden from the street side (west)

A great wall o' toms: 4 roma and 2 black krim. The trellis is 8' 2x2's pounded about a foot and a half into the ground. I've always wanted to try doing tomatoes this way, and it's great!

Marigolds, red onions, and carrots are fighting for space in the sandy tomato understory. The maris are winning more than I'd like, but I don't have the heart to cut them back.

I'm loving these tall zinnias. the flowers last forever. Beside them is an overgrown fennel. No idea what it's for, I think it's beyond the stage where you'd eat the bulb.

This is a pot containing a lime salad tom and sunberries. The sunberries are blueberry-sized, and taste sort of like a tomatillo. They have been totally mauled by flea beetles, that I haven't been able to control. I'm ready to give up on them but am a bit afraid of pull them out though, at least they are acting as a kind of trap crop right now!

What our neighbour sees.

In the main central garden, there's a bunch sunflowers along the back edge. I'm especially fond of these red ones!

Here is the dense foliage of the central garden, from behind. Peas and sunflower in the foreground, toms beyond that, then there are flowers, zukes, and herbs at the front.

The cukes climb up cages about 3 or 4 feet high. First time I've tried this too... and it works super well!

supercute "applegreen" eggplant

and its adorable stripey friend

oh zucchini, why so sad? One day it just rolled over and wilted.

Someone else I gave a plant to has had the same problem, with the stem looking all twisted and dried.

More lacey sunberries. Poor things.

The last little garden: greens, beans and mint.

The remains of the soybeans in the back, with a few little kales and chards in the front, replacing the earlier lettuce and arugula.

"Speckled trout" lettuce - a heritage variety that is generally heat-tolerant but still shot up in the recent crazy heat. Really enjoyed it through the spring. Hoping to get some seeds to save!

The soybean harvest: a small handful, but made for some delicious edamame to go along with sushi last night.

The first big tomato harvest: stripey tigerella, pinkish black krim, Joan (probably a brandywine), and romas.

I am hoping to make more second plantings, and maybe a very late-season garden.. so hopefully more later this year!

Spring at Spring 114

Well, May is finally here and although there wasn't really much in terms of April Showers, I am looking forward to some good ole May growing here at my new place in Toronto. One of the big attractions I had immediately to this house was the gigantic back yard which the landlady has given me open-season to plant however I like. Hoping that this generosity on her part was sincere, as soon as April came around I started digging, and I then proceeded to spend a good portion of that month in preparation for a solid gardening season, setting up the various plots, deciding where plants would go, getting the composter started up, etc.

The photographs that follow are from last week, and actually there have been huge changes since then (!). I thought people might be interested in seeing how things are coming along so far this spring, however, so I haven't taken any new photos yet.

The yard from the fire escape

Given that our new place doesn't have any good spots for sprouting seedlings indoors, the first step, at the beginning of March, was to build myself a cold-frame, a small greenhouse-type structure that uses the heat of the sun to keep a controlled climate warm enough for plants.The Coldframe!

I thought about several designs, but after finding this shower door at the re-store for 20 bucks I settled on the one that you can see here. The basic frame is built out of spf 2x2s from Home Depot and it is clad in 2" pink EPS insulation which, as you can see I have more or less spray painted black.

CF, upclose

Inside, I placed a couple of concrete blocks and some bottles of water which I also painted black in order to retain heat during the night. As you can see it has actually worked quite well.

And even closer

Generally my routine has been to pre-soak the seeds indoors until they start to develop a bit of a tap-root, then transfer them to small peat pucks out in the coldframe which I then transfer into larger peat-pots when the little fellas get big enough. Come last frost I will transfer the mother load of the seedlings outdoors, ripping the bottom off of the pot and planting the whole thing in the ground.

Transferring from sprouter to pucks and from pucks to pots

Before placing pucks in pots, vermiculite

... and then some potting soil . . .

Seedlings in the CF

The stars of the show so far are the tomatos and the zuccini and the corn, but the broccoli and brussel sprouts are putting in a fair showing as well. Eggplant and peppers however are really having a hard time although I understand that they should both be treated almost exactly like the tomatoes. I suppose my rather cowboy-like approach isn't always the most effective - I hope my techniques get more nuanced with experience!

Peas!

In conclusion, cold-frames are awesome and so are pea-sprouts. I hope that everyone else's gardens are coming along well too and that you'll find some time to post about them at some point.

Peas out!

Who's down with OPPP? (Other People's Pumpkin Patches)

Not my garden. This photo is from an overpriced roadside pumpkin purveyor near Stratford. It was a grey day, but good enough for Cynthia Dale and her son to pick up their seasonal decorations. (Peter Mansbridge was sadly absent from the family outing). Actually the edible squash were an ok deal. Now I have a giant hubbard, turban squash, and buttercup to eat. I'm probably good for food for the winter.

My lettuce patch is still going like gangbusters, apparently loving the cool wet summer more than the rest of us. I don't know how I'm going to eat it all before frost (which could be any day now?). I should probably also pull in the beets and potatoes soon. I've got high hopes for these guys... I grabbed one lovely fist-sized beet in September.

In one lettuce harvest this week, I found this siamese romaine leaf. I've never seen a siamese lettuce leaf. Here is its photograph. Perhaps this is superstitious, but I didn't eat it, lest it irrevocably alter my DNA.

The Badass and the Beautiful

It's Monday afternoon. Well after noon. Let's get something straight - I'm not procrastinating. I spent the weekend at the cottage and need a little warmup before launching back into serious writing work... this is just the stretching before the marathon of the week. It's the vocal warmups before the concert. Je me dis. 

Besides, I am waiting for my sun tea to steep. Sun tea is an alchemical marvel: I don't understand why it works. It's somewhat related to gardening - because it sits in the sun, and it makes use of the copious mint patch gaily laying seige on the whole extents of your herb patch at this time of year. 

If you've never tried it, try it. Put some tea bags (any kind) in a clear glass vessel (plastic just won't cut it, I have been told). Muddle in some mint leaves or whatever. Put something lid-like on top to keep the flies out. Sit in sun - outside, or in a sunny window. After some time (maybe an hour?) when it looks like it has become tea, add honey and ice and maybe lemon and voila! Drink it, while cackling: nice try Nestea, you drool. 

Here are some hibiscus bags dropping delicious pink swirls into the water.

A brief foray into the cute: 

My first wee zucchini tackling the weeds, making its way into the world. How adorable. I can't wait to grill you. 

ON THE BADASS AND THE BEAUTIFUL

Duncan was recently commenting that his garden had maybe too much pretty and not enough badass, so I thought I'd write some more badass tips. 

I think badass is best thought of as a state of mind. Sometimes it's your mind, sometimes it's the plants' mind.  And like one's own mind, the badass parts are often simply hidden behind a harmless-looking, don't-ask-me-i'm-just-doin-my-job, vulnerable, crunchy visage. So I have listed a few important badass themes, or archetypes if you will, that I have found represented in my own postage stamp.

SABOTAGE

Take this lettuce for example. Lettuce is basically the milk-sopping pantywaist of the plant world, right? Not a chance - as the Whole Foods Companion* reveals, it was traditionally known as the Eunuch's Herb, because the resinous white goo in mature stems suppresses sexual desire. Not such a retreating plant after all. Lovers of the world beware, and don't overdo the salad. 

DEBAUCHERY AND THIEVERY

I think this broken gnome statuette is pretty badass. It looks like it's had a little too much dandelion wine, which is why it's hiding from the sun behind some virginia creeper. Oh, and it was stolen it from an old lady's lawn. . Well, this isn't strictly untrue . It's possible that an earlier tenant of my apartment *could* have stolen it. I mean, who actually buys those things?

WARFARE

I have an old tree-stump in my garden which supports many types of fungus and critters. Not that I really like critters, but I hear I'm supposed to. I do think it's kinda cool when critters take down other critters, as in the time when I saw an earwig try to make it across ant territory... man, did he get it. In any case, there was some mad ant action in the stump last week. Strangely, it has stopped as mysteriously and suddenly as it began. In the meantime, they made one hella pile of sawdust for having such wee mouths. 

These mullen plants emerged all on their own so I decided to let them do their thing. I think they're kinda pretty. Oh, I mean, badass. Watch the blog for tickets to the end-of season mullen swordfight.

DO-NOTHING POLITICAL REVOLUTION

Here, I am subverting the tyranny of the capitalist seed distribution system by making my own spinach seed. The trick is to be lazy, and let your spinach patch get completely overgrown.

Well, that's all the badass I've got for now. 

A brief, earnest remark: I recently went to the beautiful, woodsy wedding of some eco-conscious friends who don't like piles of stuff. Awesome. They asked for donations to Seeds for Survival - a project to "promote long-term food security for marginal farming communities in developing countries....  using time-tested farmer knowledge and practices" .. that is, to support biodiversity + local crops + sustainable farming practice. It made my inner gardener happy. And I didn't have to go the Bay at all. 

Sun tea time!

*Product endorsement - The Whole Foods Companion by Dianne Onstad. This book is amazing. If this wasn't a completely genuine endorsement, and I was at all profiting from endorsing it, I would probably be able to own a copy, instead of just coveting it. Did you know papaya seeds are edible and taste like really peppery capers? I didn't either. But it's seriously true. 

Mid July Melvegas Photographs

Some mid-July pics from Melvegas Garden. It's looking a bit pretty to be honest. Not badass at all. I really need to figure out how to infuse some badass into this thing.

Nasturtiums to the left, broccoli is the big leafy stuff in the foreground, you can see the peas and beans racing up the front trellis

the 'garden path' with zuchs on the left there. They are decidedly not of the 'vining' variety which I was hoping for (thus the trellis). Something that could be a cucumber is making use of the trellis though. Having spent some time perusing pictures of cucumber plants on line, I dont think that's what it is. Although I could have swarn that's what I was planting. . . a good link on zucchini flower here, which incidentally confirms my suspicions about female vs male flowers. The males are the ones with the skinny stems.

Nasturtiums and Broccoli, and CORN! Yeeeaaaaa - I'm very pleased about how that corn is doing.

Tomatos on the right there

Bottled Dandelion Wine and Some Garden Pics

So, a few weeks late, typical of me I suppose, I finally got around to bottling the dandelion wine that we started back in mid-may. For the last month or so it had been sitting in a lovely old earthenware jug into the top of which I had stuffed some bunched up cotton. This allowed for the appropriate gas-exchange to occur for the fermentation but also prevented bugs and stuff from getting in. It didnt prevent a raccoon from almost getting in however! When one got into our back room in June (I think hes friends with Gus) amongst other antics (including pooping in my seed trays) he pushed this makeshift stopper into the jug. Fortunately he didnt actually get into it though, or knock the jug over! Now basically we wait until winter to drink this stuff. I tasted some while bottling (pretty much inevitable with my syphoning skills) and it pretty much tasted like acetyl acohol mixed with water and ginger. . . hmmm. . . I dont know what this means, but I didnt keel over or go blind so it must not have toooooo high methyl content.

And here are some garden pics I took back at the end of May and just found on my camera.

Varmint Cong & The Unhappy Gardenerd

"License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote. " - Bill Murray, Caddyshack (1980)

SO... my first contribution. I am slightly embarrassed at the effort I have put forth, however, at the same time, my own blog was abandoned at nearly the same time as this one, dare I say it, sprouted. I just want to clarify that this blog wasn't ignored, my love of blogging was in general... and while life chores have eaten up all my blogging time. My "garden" has been eaten up by pests...

Of the 18 date palms I planted in November, 0.5 remain. The culprit - squirrels. Now, I would not have a problem with this if these squirrels were hungry, or demonstrated a shred of intelligent / adaptive behaviour (ie. all date palms look and taste the same, if you didnt like it the first time, dont eat 17 more). That being said, they have grazed on every potted plant I have, usually chewing off a limb / stem and just leaving it on the ground. This leads me to believe they are just bored with life (explains why so many jump infront of moving vehicles) and take pleasure ruining potted plants. Even with my degree in animal behaviour, there is no logical explanation for this maniacal, clearcutting-esque behaviour as of yet.

That being said, there has also been an explosion of earwigs with all this damp / cool weather in London, Ontario. Earwigs love chewing up foliage. So whatever stems/branches the squirrels are leaving, the earwigs are climbing up and chewing the crap out of. Earwigs are the worst insect ever, so nasty. I am a trained entymologist, so don't question my ranting.

Additionally, the plot I created in March to plant my indoor potatoes, is now completely shaded over. In fact, the entire back yard is shade. Where I used to be able to go out and do exercises in the AM in bright sunshine and gaze lovingly at my crop, is now a mosquito filled, creepy, sun-permanently-blocked, bog-like area. I am growing more and more restless with the amount of shade, mold, smell of rot and the amount of foilage in the tree's above. If only i could launch the earwigs up there... sadly no, so I will wait until my roommate / landlord is out of town, before I get to drinking one afternoon and fulfill one of my life goals of being a lumberjack. My fellow contributors are welcome to join, we can even blog / document while we get down to work. [Potential Title "Gravity and The Unbalanced Gardener"]

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