Flowering Fruit

The fruit of the garden has burst into bloom.

Among the first to break bud are the nanking cherry and the haskap.


Haskap - an edible honeysuckle with very early fruit.

Plums were frilly with blossoms though there are starting to fade now. Same with the serviceberry. Not sure where to find these treasures in the wilds? This is a good time of year to spot them sticking out in their white finery often while the tree leaves are just unfurling.


Serviceberry blossoms are falling.

Ribes has burst into its pale green blossoms such as the flat faced flowers of currants cascading. (say that five times fast)


Prolific red currant.

Pears break out before apples have left the pink stage.


Pink bud stage in apple tree

Strawberries are blooming and grape is nearly there.


Drought (of 2012) tolerant grape

Also in bloom are strawberries both wild and cultivated. Tonight we have frost. As buds swell and open in spring they become less frost tolerant so we'll see how they all do.

Red leafed apple baby

Geneva Crab Apple 2010

Gardening is an exercise in optimism: that things will be better, that visions of the delights of a gentle earth can become manifest, that tomorrow will happen. Like many a person has said, you plant a tree not only for yourself but for the a future you may never see: for the creatures, for shade, for fruit, for children to dare to climb up to a strong limb and dangle their feet into the thrilling air below.


Seedling tree roots

Nearly three years ago, my daughters and I were walking in the Arboretum at the Experimental Farm when we found a tree with unblemished apples. Picking one from the ground, we opened it to find red flesh. I brought another home and extracted the seeds. Some of these sprouted and now I have one with bright red leaves.


Digging it into its permanent home, I discovered what look to be the remains of an old compost pile with egg shells and squash seeds.

I don't know whether or not it will have the tasty red fleshed cider fruit of its parent Geneva or be what is unfortunately called a spitter but I hope to find out one day. Now it is a small seedling planted at the back of the old greenhouse demo garden. As I was placing its roots into the soil, I imagined it growing gnarled and craggy like crabapples do. I saw it covered in pinkish blossoms in the spring, red leaves in the summer and fruit in the fall. I saw its bare limbs covered in snow. I imagined a future of plenty.


The leaves remained red all summer last year.

***
Some other things that are going on:

If you follow me on Facebook, then you'll know we like to hold Tree Thursday. Ephemeral walk coming up soon.

I've been helping out at the Canadian Organic Growers Demonstration Garden at the Experimental Farm. If you are interested, let me know.

Also, Aster Lane Edible's first workshop 'The roots go down (mostly): A veggie garden workshop for the complete beginner' will be held May 16.

Paper Pots for Winter Sowing

Wouldn't you know it, I tried something new and it worked great!

In my wintersown box this year, I used origami paper pots * to separate varieties in large plastic containers.


Red russian kale so the package says. I grow different types including red ursa (my fav) and more but this is the first that I've noticed that has slightly hairy leaves at least as seedlings.

I prefer the larger, reusable plastic container rather than many smaller 'milk bottle' type because of the ease that I can move it around.


An adventurous root.

Despite my very tentative removal, the paper pot that had been sitting outside since Jan/Feb did not fall immediately apart as I feared. And though roots could go through, they were mostly contained so there was no tangling between boxes. The seedlings were still small though.


Eek, my roots are showing!

Sides were easily torn down. It probably helped that the container was moist.

These were planted out today having been well hardened off as they were never inside to begin with and the lid has been off these days with the warmer weather.


Here they are residing with some leek offsets. This is the third year going for these leeks.

The toilet rolls cut in half are cutworm collars - i.e. cutworm exclusion devices. I used to use bottomless cups but they were messy to clean up and last year, earwigs thought they made excellent nurseries.



I love winter sowing and all its variations:

sowing seeds that either require or withstand some amount of cold or oscillating temperature in the fall in the ground

sowing into a nursery bed in fall or very early spring

sowing under a season extension device as simple as a pop bottle cloche to something as fancy as a greenhouse.

sowing seeds in pots but leaving pots outside in a place sheltered from flooding, wild winds and other pot demolishing forces. Snow would anchor them down of course.

* I used a slightly different technique to make the larger pots but this is instructive

Invasivore

For my biz website,* I'm writing up a list of plants I won't sell but are useful edibles if you happen to have the mixed luck of already growing them. And chances are one of these will be on the list. Here is a selection:

Alliaria petiolata - Garlic Mustard

A native across the pond, this potherb's prolific seeding can overwhelm shady areas quickly. They are allelopathic to mycorrhizal fungi partners of certain native trees so can harm their growth and are poisonous to certain butterflies.

Uses: Turn the pest into pesto says it all really. Like many other flavourful greens, it can be used as a spinach substitute in quiche, pies, salads, pastas and more.

Aegopodium podograria - Goutweed, Bishop's weed 

The variegated variety is often seen peeping out along the foundation or under plants. This very tough ground cover does exactly what it promises and covers ground.

Uses: A carrot relative, it is often compared to celery. You will also be amused/amazed to know that this is one of the forgotten vegetables. Yes people planted it to eat on purpose. Oh wait, people still plant this on purpose. They just forgot to eat it. Eat the Weeds tells all.

Campanula rampunculoides -  Creeping Bellflower

Once upon a time, in a garden long ago, I was about to pull a weed when someone stayed my hand saying, "Don't pull that, it's a pretty wildflower." They must not have liked me. Another transplant from across the water, once established, it is difficult to eradicate. It has a clever trick to make you think you have pulled it all out. See, shoots with weak root systems form away from the main, bulky taproot. You pull these and think, ha ha, got it. It laughs back.

Uses: Perfectly passable as an edible, the taproots and greens can be eaten. I experiment with them here. Just remember to get those juicy taproots.

Fallopia japonica - Japanese Knotweed

I have this conversation a lot. "Wouldn't it be great if there was a hardy bamboo that grew in Ottawa." "Oh I have one/ have seen one." "Really?" "Yes, but you have to be careful because they're invasive you know." "Perchance would it have plumes of white flowers in the summer?" "Why do you ask?"

Because it's Japanese Knotweed! However, if you do have an interesting, hardy bamboo, I'm all ears. The jointed stems or knots are what make it look like bamboo. Another common name is fleece flower, also a good description. I often see it growing in damp conditions such as ditches. You may still encounter a variegated variety sold as a decorative perennial.

Uses: The spring shoots are a rhubarb like plant. More from well known forager Steve Brill.

Ranunculus ficaria - Lesser Celandine

The Marsh Menace hails from Europe and is outcompeting natives in wet areas and moist woodlands

Uses: This plant is not edible raw as it contains a toxin that is destroyed by cooking. Funnily enough, I was really surprised to see that it was considered edible at all given that it is in the buttercup family. I have no experience with this plant so I'll refer to someone who does.

Enjoy.

***

* No time for photos. Spring clean, bed making, website designing, plant growing. However, I do post to my Facebook account if you are really starved for monotonous seedling pics. Look for Ottawa Gardener.

If you google invasivore, you may be surprised that many animals are on the list. Okay, not necessarily surprised that there are invasive animals, but foraging culture often leaves out the meaty side. Get it, leaves... out... I'll stop.

Playing Garden Design

I was pleased to get the opportunity to try out a new format to visualize and play with garden design at the Permaculture Convergence. Simply, I laminated some grids and used packing tape and recycled seed catalogues along with some printed pictures from my garden to make faux laminated pieces that you could move around.


Plant pieces plus two forms: from above and front on. 

You can put information on the back.


Okay, so you are welcome to disagree with my spacing - I kind of do. It was a bit random as so much depends on context.

It was a useful exercise and we all thought of some neat ways to improve it. My favourite suggestion was to use transparencies of some sort to separate by season. Excellent idea Phil! There was also a desire to do the pieces by scale. I wanted to do this as well but then I couldn't properly fit the info on the back. That's still a work in progress.


Not atypical pre-design yard.

Another useful amendment that occurred to me today was to make forms for north, shadow, sun and wet zone: black, yellow and purple respectively below. You can also use so-called plastic erasable markers to mark out topography and those other details. Another excellent suggestion was to give people particular projects. I think I'm going to make some pre-drawn situations.


You may not be able to see but the trees and path are faux laminated with packing tape.

But it is fun to just go crazy!


Well now that's a change.

You can use them to show specific design features such as contrasting foliage:



Lay on the plant pieces as well, or use them alone, to think about colour


I would have preferred to include california poppy here as a sporadic self seeder but I used coreopsis which also self seeds but I'm afraid would overwhelm the lavender. Just included it for the yellow splash of colour. My california poppy 'piece' was multicoloured instead of standard yellow-orange. Included in this design are seakale, lavender, sage and coreopsis which all do well in dry, sunny conditions. Three of the four are edibles.

This year I'm going to take photos of plants in my gardens and cut out their forms. I know there are various plan your garden programs out there but I quite liked this as a hands on demo.


Very simple veggie patch I just tossed together. A useful tip when planning with rangy plants - like many annual veg - attractive is to lay them out in them with strong geometrical beds. Hence why raised beds can look quite good.

Here's something I wrote earlier: Eat my Yard

All of spring's promise...

... and none of summer's reality. It's that crazy wonderful time of year before the snow reveals all that you didn't get done in the fall, before you discovered that you need three times as many carrots and half the pumpkins and before various little tragedies befall your plants.


Some not quite related pictures to pretty up the post: Pepper babies are up and growing

Ah yes, you may have been in a dream state during the depths of winter while combing through seed catalogues but now it's starting to feel real. The red winged blackbird calls, the maple sap is running and the snow is turning into that slushy, dirty cover called early spring. Soon bulbs and overwintered weeds* will appear in the mud.


Albino tomatillo seedlings: not long for this world I suspect.

Or maybe you are like me and underneath the excitement is the recollection of last year's problems. Top of the list is Drought 2012 meaning I am keen to hasten the installation of ponds, trenches and other water direction/collection. Second is The Earwig Plague 2012. I hope that the various poultry I purchased last year have cleaned up most of them but just in case I'm going to let them scratch through the mud for a week or so this warm spring before tidying up the paths that the chickens put asunder. There is also the Ecological Chaos of March Summer 2012 when the mercury shot to plus 20 during sugaring. The snow vanished, the sap threatened to go green and the flea beetles emerged early to decimate all the brassicas babies. This was followed by Late Frost 2012 when plums, cherries and friends were wiped clean of fruit over much of the fruit growing regions of Ontario. Apple and pear growers even suffered losses. Heck, this year has the most notable plant death events that I have experienced yet. Much worse than Leek Moth Invasion 2008 or the Cucumber Curse (ongoing).


Quite obvious IRL, these are my Red Rock Mammoth x San Michel seedlings. On the left are the RRM pod parent seedlings and on the right are the much bigger SM pod parent seedlings. The SM pod seedling show intermediate traits but the RRM show much stronger RRM traits so may not be crossed. Hence the SM babies may be showing hybrid vigour.

Yes, it was a year to remember.

So it is not without some trepidation that I look forward to the growing season. Will the trees on the rocky ledge be alive despite burning up to green crisps in August? Will I be able to eat mustard and kale this year? P.S. I'm building some brassica boxes which are pretty much like you imagine them:  boxes with insect netting to put over flea beetle susceptible plants. Will earwig armies come in the night to eat all the parsnips (etc)? Trapping will commence early this year. I used tuna can traps last year but in order to avoid attracting the darlings (which walk the line between beneficial and pest** by the way), I'll be going with rolled up cardboard.


Prairie smoke and asters share a tray: natives for infilling the old orchard garden and adding a bit of their natural beauty to the demo gardens.

At the same time, I'm excited to begin a new growing year. I am starting a garden related business (anyone have a drawing program I can borrow for my logo that's better than paint?). My demo gardens are filling in with beautiful, useful plants and I have a huge pile of wood mulch, a hoard of fall leaves, bags of green manure seed and a stack of straw - hurray!

Besides this year is going to be awesome right? I will get soccer ball sized cauliflower, enough tomato sauce to feed the extended family and just enough rain.


Two varieties of Taraxacum - red leafed and pink flowered - for the dandelion garden and some Mexican Shell flower.


*Ah weeds. Though you could argue that exotic invasives are troublesome enough to spit the curse weed at them, I try to feel wonder for prolific ground covers instead (before smothering, burning, cutting or yanking them out of course. I'm all for good stewardship).

**Pest is unfair too. Sure some bugs annoy me what with their inability to share but mostly I like earwigs. I think the hungry hoards removed every other insect pest from the garden temporarily (the flea beetles preceded them).

***

In other news, the Edible Ottawa Garden Group's next meeting Gardening small in the Urban Sprawl will be April 10 at 6:30 at the Hazeldean Public Library.

We'll also be holding a pre-meeting meeting at 5:30pm about trying to get the concept of a Seed Library off the ground or any other projects people want to put forward.

Seed Library!!

As mentioned in a previous post, I'm super psyched about the idea of a seed lending library in Ottawa. Not just me either but various folk are interested in this. No doubt all sorts of people I've never heard of are interested in this so I propose we get together and make this thing work.

My understanding is that there are various models including ones that link directly with the library and others that use nearby facilities. A seed bank may also work as a lending library too and there are possible proposals for this as well in the works in Ottawa.

So let me know so we can all grow.