Strocel.com | Gardening

Victoria Day Garden

Amber on May 24, 2010 15 Comments

If you are Canadian then you know that today is Victoria Day, the holiday that brings us the May long weekend. This is when water parks open and people bust out the white shoes. It’s traditionally a weekend of camping, and the weather usually does not co-operate, but no one cares because of the traditional beer they’re consuming. All drunk to the honour of the late Queen Victoria, after whom the holiday is named, of course.

For the more sedate among us, such as myself, this is also traditionally a weekend of gardening. All across Canada this weekend, people are packing into their local garden centres and buying seedlings and mulch. The risk of frost is over and it’s time to get your plants in the ground so that they’ll be ready for harvest in the fall.

Since the Victoria Day long weekend is associated with gardening, I thought that I’d seize this chance to show you what my garden’s been up to. My garden is sort of haphazard, but I’ve crammed a lot into it. Like parsley, basil, sage and lots and lots of mint. Word to the wise: mint grows like a weed.

I also have two each of two different kinds of tomato plants. Also pictured: super-glam slippers, because my feet like to be cozy, yo.

There’s also broccoli and chard.

And my new raised bed boasts peas, carrots, dill, baby blue hubbard squash, sunflowers and corn.

The big challenge with the raised bed is keeping Jacob out of it. Apparently, garden beds are like magnets for toddlers.

My strawberries and raspberries are coming along nicely.

The bees are hard at work turning blueberry blossoms into tiny, green blueberries.

I have celery and tiny cucumber sprouts.

Here are my oregano, chives and thyme.

And finally, I have some large and healthy garlic, and some itty-bitty onions.

What are you growing? Please share! And, of course, Happy Victoria Day!

Tagged With: Gardening, Seasons

Why I Save Seeds

Amber on April 10, 2010 25 Comments

Seed-saving is as ancient as human agriculture. Basically, it is the practice of setting aside a portion of a crop, or the seeds from its produce, for later use. For example, some potatoes are set aside as seed potatoes, or the best corn kernels are put in reserve, or the seeds from inside a cucumber are saved. These seeds are sown at the beginning of the next growing season, yielding the next crop. Seed saving preserves variety and allows growers to choose traits they want to propagate. If you want early-ripening tomatoes, you choose seeds from the earliest ripening plants. Over many seasons of growing, you cultivate your own variety with its own characteristics.

There are a lot of advantages to saving seeds. The most obvious, to me, is self-sufficiency. Seeds aren’t expensive, but the ones from my garden are free. Using them not only saves me money, but it means that I’m not depending on someone else. But that’s on the small scale. On the large scale, the real reason to save seeds is to preserve genetic diversity in food plants.

Tomato plants grown from saved seeds

Books like The 100 Mile Diet and The Omnivore’s Dilemma discuss how we rely on far fewer species for our food than we used to. My own experience bears this out. If I visit the grocery store, there are only 2 or 3 kinds of tomatoes to choose from. If I visit a farmer’s market, where growers practice seed-saving and grow heirloom varieties, I see more than a dozen types of tomatoes.

So what? Do we really need so many different kinds of tomatoes? Yes, we do. Not because we crave variety, although variety is fun. We need all of these different tomato varieties to protect our crops. Genetic diversity protects species. When we depend on very few specific food plants for our entire global diet, we are putting our food supply at risk.

Pumpkin leaf from saved seed

To compensate for this increased risk, we use technology. One example of this is genetically-engineered crops, such as corn, soybean and canola. Multi-national conglomerate Monsanto manufactures the pesticide Roundup, and also produces genetically modified ‘Roundup Ready’ seeds that can resist it. This means farmers can spray Roundup on their crops to kill any other plants that might decide to grow there. But this comes at a price – Monsanto owns a patent on their seeds. They expressly forbid farmers from saving their seeds, and require anyone using these seeds to pay a fee. More seed is purchased, more pesticides are used, and more chemicals end up in our environment.

Here in Canada canola farmer Percy Schmeiser was sued by Monsanto for patent infringement. Schmeiser never purchased seed from Monsanto, he saved his own seed for decades. However, some Roundup Ready seed made its way into his crop, from a neighbour’s farm or by other means. And in the US Midwest Monsanto has sued soybean farmers for the same reason. Farmers are being forced to buy their seed from Monsanto, or face crippling lawsuits.

Heirloom squash plants

I am not a large-scale grower, but even in my own backyard garden I can see the effects of the way we now breed plants. This is my first year growing saved seeds. I saved seeds from the tomato plants I bought from the farmer’s market, seeds from pumpkins I bought at the farmer’s market, seeds from some cucumbers I bought at the farmer’s market and some from my own garden, and seeds from some ground cherry plants my friend started from an ordinary seed packet. I also planted some squash seeds that a local organic grower saved and passed along.

I just planted the cucumbers, so it’s too early to say how they will do. The pumpkin, squash and tomatoes, which were all sourced from local, organic growers, are doing well. The ground cherries are not. They sprouted, but then the plants just keeled over. It turns out that most commercial seeds are hybrids. Hybrids are bred to produce well in the first year, but do not do well in the second generation. My ground cherries were probably a hybrid, hence their ill health.

Sickly ground cherries

The trend towards standardized, hybrid varieties at all levels is disturbing. It emphasizes to me how thoroughly we have washed our hands of our own food. A lot of the stuff that we buy at the grocery store wouldn’t even be recognizable as food to our great-grandparents. I wonder if the current state of affairs is sustainable. If wonder if we can continue to rely on chemicals and technology and a few plants to feed a hungry planet. The prospect scares me more than a little bit, so I save seeds. It’s a small action, but it makes me feel like a revolutionary in my own garden.

Have you ever saved seed? Would you? Or do you think my concerns about limited genetic diversity are alarmist? Please share!

I wrote this post for the Green Moms Carnival, which is being hosted over on Green Talk in mid-April. Head over there then to read some other thoughts on spring and new life.

Tagged With: Enviro-Mama, Gardening, Politics

Encouraging a Love of Dirt

Guest on March 29, 2010 21 Comments

Today I would like to welcome Dionna, who has written a guest post on gardening with children. She is a lawyer turned work at home mama, and she’s one of those crunchy liberals her parents warned her about. You can normally find Dionna on her fabulous blog, Code Name: Mama, where she shares information, resources, and her thoughts on natural parenting and life with a toddler. Today, I have a guest post there. So, once you’re done reading Dionna’s thoughts on gardening with children head on over to see what I have to say on the same subject.

Gardening for me is more than just a way to save money by growing vegetables. It is humbling. Miraculous. Exhausting. It is an exercise in delayed gratification. It physically connects me to the Earth. Gardening tests my patience while strengthening my spirit.

My husband shakes his head at me year after year, wondering why I am so anxious to break ground when Iâ€™ve never had (what some would call) a â€œsuccessfulâ€ garden. He doesnâ€™t get it: I like the challenge. And I love working the dirt.

I want our 27 month old son, Kieran, to experience gardening. I want to introduce him to the beauty, surprise, and magic that can be found when you put a handful of seeds in the ground. He may never love to garden, but I want to expose him enough that he has the option.

With that in mind, I have compiled ten fun gardening activities appropriate for all ages of children, but particularly suitable for toddlers and preschoolers. Enjoy!

10 Unique Gardening Activities for Kids

1. Grow a Playhouse: Imagine being three years old and surrounded by gigantic sunflowers towering above you, or crawling into a teepee made of sticks and overgrown with pea pods, or engulfed in a square of moonflowers that open up when the crickets start to sing. Flowering playhouses are easily built (by a parent) out of wooden poles and string. Plant the seeds around the poles, then gently train the flowers to wind around and through them. (1)

2. Grow Something to Wear: Let your children play dress-up with their flowers. Turn colorful blossoms into necklaces, leis, or bracelets. Clip flowers into your daughter’s barrettes or thread one through your son’s shirt button. Save pretty petals to make jewelry.

3. Plant a Rainbow: Find flower seeds in the colors of the rainbow, then help your child plant them in a rainbow shape. Try to find flowers that are roughly the same size and make sure they are all appropriate for the same season.

4. Plant Something Weird: Appeal to your child’s love for the unexpected. Plant purple and red carrots, blue potatoes, or purple beans. Grow miniature or “midget” versions of the vegetables we usually see like peas, corn, or lettuce.

5. Attract Butterflies and Hummingbirds: Create beauty on and above the ground by planting flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. (2)

6. Grow Plants that are Nice to Touch or Fun to Hear: Your toddler will love “tickle me” plants; the leaves curl up when touched. Lamb’s Ears have a fuzzy silvery fur that kids like to touch. If you garden indoors, aloe vera plants are a good tactile choice for small children. You can also try bunny tails and cotton to satisfy a child’s sense of touch. (3)

On windy days, your toddler will love to listen to the sounds made by ornamental grass, the Chinese lantern plant, or the Money plant. (4)

7. Grow a Craft Project: Grow gourds that you can turn into birdhouses or musical instruments. Grow flowers and berries that you can use for their natural dyes, which your child can use for artwork and other crafts. There are even certain plants with beads that can be used in jewelry.

8. Garden in Unusual Containers: Who says you have to plant seeds in the ground? Give your child a fun container (also a great way to garden inside). You can use an old shoe, a discarded toy, or a plain pot with a face drawn on. Or trap a cucumber in a glass jar.

9. Create a Scratch & Sniff Garden: Please your child’s nose with an assortment of smells: plant mint that smells (and tastes!) like chocolate peppermint, ginger, lemon, orange, and apple, and geraniums that smell like roses, lemon, mint, chocolate, pine, nutmeg, and more.

10. Eat Your Vegetables and Your Flowers: Ground cherries are hidden in pods that look like little lanterns. Grow a pizza patch garden full of tomatoes, peppers, basil, garlic, and other veggies and herbs that can be baked into homemade pizza. Apartment dwellers: did you know you can grow peanuts inside?

For a completely new level of edible fun, try growing flowers you can eat: nasturtium, clover, and lavender are just a few tasty varieties.

A Few Guidelines to Gardening with Children

Here are some simple tips to help keep gardening with kids fun and easy:

1. Give your child her own space and tools.
2. Let your child have some control over what he grows. Choose a few ideas/varieties that are doable, then let your child pick his favorite to try.
3. Relax! Let her do her own thing. Don’t worry if she spends more time playing with the dirt or worms than she does pulling weeds.
4. Consider planting a mixture of seeds, seedlings, and full-grown plants. It can be hard for little ones to wait for those first sprouts to pop out of the ground. (5)

Do you have any fun ideas for gardening with children? _____________________________________________

Notes:

(1) Detailed instructions for a sunflower (or moonflower) playhouse. Instructions for building your own teepee and ideas for seeds to plant around it. Nature Moms Blog has more ideas for flowering playhouses. There are also two books dedicated to growing sunflower houses.
(2) Butterfly Gardens; Hummingbird Gardens
(3) Check out this article for more plants that react to touch.
(4) Always research flowers/plants before growing them. Some – like the Chinese lantern plant – have parts that are poisonous if eaten.
(5) More general tips for gardening with kids -
*Gardening with Kids has a wealth of information and ideas, including The Basics and For the Youngest Beginner;
*Ten Tips on Gardening with Kids; and
*Toddler Garden

Tagged With: Gardening, Guest Posts, Kid Activities, Kids

To Life!

Amber on March 20, 2010 13 Comments

Today is the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This is a day that fills me with hope. The day that begins the 6 month period when there is more light than dark, when things are growing and abundant and warm. Spring is my favourite season, and its first day is cause for celebration.

In my kitchen, I am watching the miracle of spring play out in the seeds that have sprouted. Tomato, pumpkin and squash seeds that were saved from last year have grown, creating new life out of old. My first onion seeds are shooting up sprouts that smell surprisingly onion-y. The tomato shoots smell surprisingly tomato-y, too. It’s like the way that newborn baby feet smell like feet, even though you don’t think they should because they’ve never even touched the ground. And yet, they are feet already. These sprouts are already the plants they will become, too.

As amazing as it is to witness the transformation of a seed into a plant, the real spring miracle is that any sprouts have survived the tender loving care of our family. I am at best a novice gardener. I am haphazard and arbitrary. Like in crafting, I fly by the seat of my pants and hope for the best. And then there’s my 5-year-old Hannah, who wants desperately to help but sometimes misses the mark. But most dangerous of all (if you’re a plant, anyways) has to be 19-month-old Jacob. He just can’t see why we wouldn’t dig in the dirt pots, or pull up the little green shoots to see what happens.

And yet, the plants persist. When Jacob pulls up seedlings I re-plant them. Some of them make it, some don’t. It’s sort of like my sanity, on any given day it’s hard to say how it will end up. Except not, because now it is springtime and it is sunny and there are warmer days ahead. I feel hopeful. I feel happy. I am optimistic, generally, even when I have to consign a wilted and withered tomato sprout to the compost bin because my toddler loved on it a little too much. Thankfully, enough shoots survive, and I am dreaming of eating my very own pumpkins and onions and squash and tomatoes.

Jacob cannot resist the little pots filled with dirt

A squash sprout pushing through the dirt

Wee tomato plants

Pumpkins stretching towards the light

All of the seed starts growing in my sunroom

The surprisingly onion-y onion shoots

The same squash sprout, bigger and greener

Happy spring!

Tagged With: Gardening, Seasons

Old Lace

Amber on January 20, 2010 17 Comments

It is the middle of winter, but my garden doesn’t seem to know that. It’s been very spring-like here in Vancouver, even in the midst of the grey and the rain. It feels like early March, not mid-January. And while I’m sure the Vancouver 2010 organizers are less-than-thrilled about the slushy state of the local ski slopes, I’m rather enjoying it.

With the warm weather I’ve been outside and poking around my garden. I’m not really doing any work, yet, but I am making plans. And while I do that I can’t help but notice that my plants are also feeling the warmth.

I also found the most amazing lacy carcasses. I grew ground cherries this year, which are like small, sweet yellow tomatoes with little paper husks. The ground cherries themselves have long since disappeared, but they’ve left behind the shell of their husks and their seeds. They’re like the most beautiful and intricate seed pods ever, nestled in the dirt.

And in amongst these lovely, lacy shells there was some found treasure. My daughter Hannah ate it (after I washed it), and she proclaimed it delicious.

It’s far too early to proclaim the arrival of spring. The weather could easily turn on us and I could be out shoveling my walkway. But right now I’m feeling hopeful all the same. Winter will not last forever.

Tagged With: Gardening, Seasons

Attack of the Cucumbers

Amber on August 29, 2009 8 Comments

Today I am bringing you a new installment in ‘as the garden turns’. You may remember that back in May I was plagued by something eating my plants. To compensate I planted more and more and more. Eventually the plants won the battle against the pests and I had too much lettuce.

It’s August now, and the lettuce is winding down. But it turns out the overabundance of leafy greens are not going to hold a candle to the overenthusiastic cucumbers.

Back in June I had a dozen or so timid and small cucumber plants. I still have a dozen or so plants, but no one would think of calling them ‘small’ or ‘timid’. They have taken over the whole garden, and they just keep going and going and going. To date I have harvested 18 cucumbers, and there is no end in sight. Luckily my 4-year-old adores cucumber, and the baby’s a fan, too. I’m also pressing friends with at least a few whenever I see them. So far we’re staying on top of the cukes, and I have plans to do some pickling. Although the last time I made sweet pickles I went into labour, so I do find the idea a little intimidating.

You know, gardening is something you just kind of learn as you go. And I’ve learned not to underestimate the ability of a plant to overcome a rough start. Really. Life is tenacious, and will overcome all obstacles. And you want to be able to walk through your yard without becoming entangled in creeping cucumber vines.

Tagged With: Food, Gardening

Tomatoes Really are Fruit

Amber on August 26, 2009 12 Comments

The first tomatoes are ripening in our garden. As anyone who’s ever picked and eaten a fresh, ripe tomato knows, they are something else. They’re a totally different kind of tomato altogether than the the crate-ripened ones shipped from halfway across the continent that you find in the grocery store. They’re sweet and juicy and they actually taste like the fruit they are.

My four-year-old Hannah has never been a fan of tomatoes. I’ve fed her all different kinds, including sweet fresh ones, and she’s turned her nose up. But one-year-old Jacob adores tomatoes. He flaps his arms and yells and lunges when he sees me pick one. And then he demolishes it.

You know, if he’s going to cover himself in something, you could do much worse than a tomato from our garden. That’s some good stuff right there!

Tagged With: Gardening, Kids

Too Much Lettuce!

Amber on July 14, 2009 9 Comments

I had a discouraging beginning to my gardening season this year. I planted my seeds with high hopes. The first little seedlings poked up. Then they slowly disappeared. I shared my woe that something was eating my plants here with you and on Twitter. I got some great suggestions, some worked and some didn’t.

In the end I decided that the answer to my dilemma was to buy some lettuce plants from the garden centre. My thought was that bigger, hardier plants would be better able to withstand garden pests. It seemed like a good theory, anyway. Because I really just felt that I had a point to make by this time I decided that planting lots of lettuce would also increase the odds.

My lettuce patch

This is how I came to have 24 wee lettuce plants stuffed into an area that I estimate to be a couple of square feet. After the first night I counted and I still had 21 plants going strong. After the second night there were 19. At first I was discouraged – would this just be another long, slow attrition until no lettuce was left? But then the disappearances slowed and stopped. Some plants that had been almost completely eaten even perked up and regained health.

Looks healthy to me

This is how I came to have 18 very healthy lettuce plants in my garden. In spite of the fact that in complete honesty I just don’t eat that much lettuce. You see, I was growing it out of spite more than a desire to actually eat it. Which is sort of a problem, because lettuce doesn’t really keep.

More of my leafy greens

I did get some recipes for lettuce sauerkraut, and I have offered it to family and friends. I’ve also picked up my lettuce consumption, but one person can only do so much. I considered donating the surplus, but I don’t think I have quite enough to justify that. So I have taken to stuffing grocery bags full of lettuce leaves a couple of times a week and accosting people.

Raindrops on buttercrunch

This is actually a really good problem to have, I know that. An overabundance of food is a total luxury. It also underscores the miracle of life for me, how plants can just produce and produce and produce. I don’t mean to whine about my tragic lettuce surplus.

But you might not want to leave your car door unlocked around me all the same, lest you find yourself with a bag of greenery you don’t remember asking for.

Tagged With: Gardening

Raspberries

Amber on June 27, 2009 12 Comments

When we first bought this house, and I had a real garden, I knew I wanted to grow raspberries. One of my favourite childhood memories is visiting my grandparents’ raspberry patch. Although I know that raspberry season lasts only a short time, in my memory there were always raspberries at my grandma and grandpa’s house. Clearly, these little bites of summer loom large in my memory.

The first of the ripe raspberries

As soon as I had a garden of my own, and a spot cleared out, I hied myself to the garden store in search of raspberries. I picked up the last two spindly canes they had and planted them. It was a long wait for spring that year, let me tell you.

I pick the berries

In the past six years we have gone from two scrawny canes to many massive, bushy raspberry plants. I love them because they are very hardy. They survive my neglect, year after year after year. Even more than that, they thrive and produce amazing yields of delicious berries.

Hannah lines them all up in a row

My daughter Hannah loves raspberries, they are her very most favourite berries. If I want any for myself I have to eat them behind her back. She claims them as her own, and only shares if she is made to. Heading into the garden to search for ripe raspberries is a highlight of her summer days.

Eating the berries

I imagine that Hannah will remember raspberry season fondly. That it will loom large in her memory as it does in mine. And that, should Hannah ever buy a house, she will make a pilgrimage to the garden store for raspberries of her own. Because they’re her favourite thing in the garden.

Tagged With: Food, Gardening, Seasons

Squirrels

Amber on June 25, 2009 8 Comments

As a child I loved squirrels. There weren’t any in my immediate neighbourhood, so I was always very excited to spot them on trips Stanley Park in Vancouver. I loved their fluffy tails and their twitchy little noses. I would totally have had one as a pet if my mother weren’t so dead set against it. She was always ruining my fun, let me tell you.

My love of squirrels ended abruptly in 1997. I moved into a third-floor apartment surrounded by trees and a lot of squirrels, who took up residence on our balcony. There was no sliding screen door, so in the heat of summer we had to keep the patio door shut tight. It was a minor annoyance, but I could live with them. That is, until they crossed the proverbial line.

A squirrel we came across on a recent walk

I bought a window box and planted bulbs, my first foray into a garden of my own. I carefully chose crocuses and tulips and an expensive bearded iris. I planted the cheap bulbs first, to see what the squirrels would do. And…nothing. But no sooner did I decide it would be safe to plant the iris than there were four squirrels digging that bulb up. That flower represented all my hopes and dreams and $10 I didn’t want to see wasted.

Your charms will not work on me, Mr. Squirrel

I tried to discourage the squirrels. I yelled and hollered and banged on the glass, but they were unmoved. I stepped outside and waved brooms in their general direction. I tried tricks involving plants squirrels dislike and spices. The squirrels were completely unconcerned about my various efforts. I’m pretty sure some of them even laughed at me.

These days I have a kid of my own and she’s very excited when she sees a squirrel in the yard. Now she wants one as a pet and I am ruining her fun. But after my experience squirrels are no longer cute and furry creatures in my book, they are pests and rodents and they had just better stay out of my garden. Nobody wants me to be forced to break out my completely ineffective squirrel deterrents, let me tell you.

PS – You may have noticed that blog ads went up on this site last night. I will be talking about that tomorrow, so check back if you’re curious. I don’t want you think that I’m trying to sneak something past you, like I’m some sort of cheeky squirrel or something.