My Garden Decor
Even when your thumb is not particularly green, you can have an intriguing garden– certainly one with more personal, perhaps nostalgic, history behind it than the heirloom rose in the corner. Not to knock the roses though, because my robust and invasive Rugosa, covered with scented blooms, carries with it a story of the Alaska Highway. But back to those garden specimens that have sprouted without roots and need no pruning or fertilizing. Probably the first of these is an ancient cast iron Franklin fireplace. While directing its placement in a corner by the hedge of my present yard, my husky...
Read MoreSpring has sprung, the grass has riz , I wonder where the lettuce is…
For gardeners this is the most exciting and active time of year. Whether you are considering your cottage garden annual flowers or your vegetable garden greens, this is the time when things get started. If I could grow nothing else in my veggie garden, it would have to be lettuces and other salad greens: arugula, cress, giant red mustard, komatsuna… When debating lettuces, have a look seed catalogues and choose a variety of types. There are early, somewhat frost-hardy varieties like Marvel of Four Seasons, there are leaf lettuces in a multitude of colours: light green Simpson...
Read MoreWinter Food for birds
Our wildlife depends on Native plants for the food. Whether it is Native bees which depend on Native plants or birds that depend on fruit or seeds, we can lend a helping hand by supplying a food source. Many of you readers will put out bird seed in the winter to feed the hungry birds, but recently we have heard about a number of infectious diseases killing birds where feeders were not meticulously maintained. You can lend a hand by growing berries that help some of our birds survive the winter. Snowberries fall into that category. I am sure you are all familiar with snowberry or wax berry or...
Read MoreHelp your bees and butterflies!
We have all heard about the worrisome reduction in native bee and butterfly world-wide. But we can help a little on a local basis. BC is known to have about 400 different Native bees and many varieties of butterflies that depend on our Native plants. By planting Native plants in your garden you will provide a food source suitable to those bees and butterflies (especially their caterpillars) and can enjoy the beauty of our local flora and fauna. When the Saskatoon bush blooms in April-May they are covered in white flower, a great attraction to bees, then in July-August they have...
Read MoreAn hour in the life of a Horticultural Therapist
A regular HT program I run involves caring for our feathered friends in the garden. The goal is to provide age appropriate programming for older adults who live in a long term care residence, which will increase social interaction for the participants and stimulate lost memories. For many older adults watching bird life in the garden can be calming, joyful and uplifting, just to mention a few of the benefits. It can be done from the comfort of your home and for those with mobility challenges it’s a great way to maintain a connection to nature. To set the scene: I have cleaning materials...
Read MoreBack to Eden
For years I have been pondering the scenario of what would happen to seed supplies if the whole world suddenly became food insecure and people all around the globe started to grow food. I could not imagine what would cause such an unlikelihood, yet today here we are seeing an unprecedented reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a return to the land and expansion of food gardening not seen since the Victory Gardens of World War 2. This has caused sweeping demands in seed sales and food starts as folk who have never grown food plant food gardens, and others switch their gardens to grow...
Read MoreThe Fours Secrets of Successful Soil Building
This year many of us went back to our gardens to grow more food in the face of an uncertain future. Since plants constantly remove nutrients from the soil, if these nutrients are not replenished, plant health in your future crops will be jeopardized. Your garden will never be as good as it was the year before. So here are my four secrets of successful soil building. Secret Number One: Compost is the gardeners’ version of humus, but it is produced much more quickly. The quality of compost as an organic soil additive depends on the residues from which it is made, as well as the extent to...
Read MoreIt’s Never too Early
Yes, it snowed; today it’s raining; most every day is dark and sunless … but … the perfect day is close at hand to raise your spirits! If you’re gardener, whether novice or old hand, save the date for that magical day, SEEDY SATURDAY! Mark it on your calendar now, if it’s not already there … SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1. That’s the day to make sure you visit the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre at 747 Jones Ave. between 10 am and 3:30 pm. when all the space in and around the building will be waiting for you with ‘everything garden’ … experts, information, displays, books, and...
Read MoreDiscovering The Artist Within!
Many moons ago, I remember asking the person standing next to me at an artist’s studio party if he did anything that was artistic. He replied that he didn’tdo anything artistic, because he was only a gardener. I replied that I was also a gardener, but that I experienced gardening as painting in 3D. By considering design, shapes, colours and combinations I would create the garden of my dreams; but as a garden is continually growing and changing it becomes an ongoing living work of art. I have always been envious of artists. They take their talent for granted. It must be the way their...
Read More“IF WINTER COMES … “
Heads up! The snowdrops are a-bloom, the daffodils’ greenery is above ground, … so most obviously Spring can not be far behind! And Seedy Saturday 2019 in Qualicum Beach is less than a month away! For this day full of curiosity, wonder, learning, and ‘dreaming in green’ (picked up that sweet phrase in Switzerland!) here’s the day to mark on your 2019 calendar: Seedy Saturday February 2nd 10:00 am until 3:30 pm, at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre, 747 Jones Ave. in QB. Admission by donation. To quote from the Seedy website, “Seedy Saturday is an annual event that provides a...
Read MoreWhat is your favourite month?
I love September. I have always loved September, it brings me feeling of contentment, peace and satisfaction. As a farmer, and a farmer’s daughter, these feeling were very real, emotionally and physically. It was harvest time. The fruits of our labour were finally there for everyone to see. All the sweat and anxiety over the crops wellbeing, the weather, the pests and many other unknown and uncontrollable happenings that are the constant companions of farm life was over. For better or for worse the crops were finally harvested. There was such a sense of relief and of satisfaction. The...
Read MorePreserving Gardening History
In my life as a food grower I have always chosen heritage varieties of plants to grow. That’s because I want to be able to collect seeds from my plants for next year’s harvest. I believe that without seeds you are never really food secure, and by choosing open-pollinated varieties you can collect seeds from your garden whenever you need them. Over the years, as my enthusiasm for producing food increased, I have also saved a lot of money by saving my own seeds. There are many food plants that self-seed readily, so you only have to plant them once and they will reappear in your garden....
Read MorePerennial Food Plants
Have you ever stopped to consider the benefit of adding perennial food plants to your garden? Unlike most food plants that are annuals, which rotate around the garden, perennial food plants require a permanent location where they will increase in size and production over time. They are best planted at the edges or the corners of the garden, to keep them from interfering with annual crop rotations. Here are some of my favourites. Globe artichokes Cynara scolymus are native to the Mediterranean, but given the right situation, they can be long-lived in temperate climates too. Plants grow to...
Read MorePreserving the Harvest
There’s a resurgence in preserving foods right now and there are many ways of doing this. It ranges from basic storage for winter squash and root crops such as onions and potatoes, to freezing, canning, dehydrating, pickling and fermenting. I often take an ingredient and put it by using several techniques; for example I dehydrate plums for compotes and snacking, and make plum jam, as well as freezing them for winter desserts. The freezer presents the least time consuming method of food preservation. Food rotation is important, because the maximum storage time for quality frozen fruit...
Read MoreThere’s A Frog In My Fridge!
We used to offer farm stays to foreign travellers when we owned an acreage in Victoria; many people from around the world stayed with us over the years. I’ll never forget the day I opened the fridge to find a large taped brown box inside. Upon enquiring as to what this was, a young man from California sheepishly informed me that there was a frog in the box. At first I merely laughed him off, responding that he could “pull the other leg as it had bells on it”. “Ask your husband. He told me to do it!” he replied. Upon further enquiry my husband told me that Dustin had found an...
Read MoreA Garden of Memories
They say ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and it seems this can apply to gardens too. As I take stock of all the plants from friends’ gardens, I realize that what I have is a garden full of memories. They go back to my earliest days when I had a gardening business in Victoria called Forget Me Not Gardening, and I was taking care of 30 gardens. That meant I got to know my plants pretty fast, and some were more arresting than others. Margaret Gordon was a 95-year old spinster living in the same house she had grown up in, in Oak Bay. One day I walked into her backyard where the...
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