tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71577961206401524792024-03-13T09:38:36.495-07:00The Veggie Patch Re-imaginedOttawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.comBlogger316125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-32672791397766653602015-01-19T10:03:00.002-08:002015-01-19T10:03:55.437-08:00New WebsiteI haven't decided if I need to move all my efforts over to my new website or keep chatting here too especially for chatty stuff. At any rate, lots of pages of info on particular plants, plant adventures and more:<br />
<br />
http://asterlanedibles.ca<br />
<br />
It's in development somewhat so typos may abound. Feel free to point them out to me.<br />
<br />
<br />Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-89739178703813176202014-11-20T08:19:00.000-08:002014-11-21T04:27:02.830-08:00Oca in Ottawa?<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_2208.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_2208.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_2208.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i>Labelled and bagged oca (aren't I organized for once)</i><br />
<br />
My <a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/2012/11/description-of-my-disappointing-oca.html">first attempt to grow oca didn't work out so well</a> but this time worked quite a bit better and was rather encouraging from a crop improvement perspective (not from a holy cow that's an awesome plant that could feed me perspective).<br />
<br />
I received some tubers of a common variety called Sunset and another (though the critters scurried off with it) and some seeds. The seedlings look like a shiny sorrel:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_8306.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8306.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_8306.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i>Oxalis tuberosa seedlings</i><br />
<br />
They are a popular novelty crop in maritime climates like England, west coast of America etc..* where they thrive in cool, misty weather over a long frost free season. The tubers, reported to taste like lemony potatoes, don't even begin to form until days shorten in fall but they are killed by frost. Reading that, I thought, "why heck yeah, I want to try that in Ottawa, Canada!"<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20140620_144243.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20140620_144243.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20140620_144243.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i>Unhappily putting up with heat and sun.</i><br />
<br />
Some common (though technically unseasonable) cold weather hastened my intended mid-November harvest to November 6. I had been covering them with plastic totes during the first frosts: Simple for a short row. So I pulled them and put them in bags and stored them - on the plants with soil - in the garage hoping to redirect some of the fleshy stem goodness to the tubers.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_2169.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_2169.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_2169.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i>Storing in bags - the whole lot was also covered with a frost blanket.</i><br />
<br />
For dry plants, this worked well enough and one actually showed quite a bit of growth from first harvest:<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_2178.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_2178.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_2178.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i>Pink and White seed grown oca.</i><br />
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Checking on them today, some of the wetter harvested plant stems were getting a bit mushy, so I decided to pull and compare.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_2193.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_2193.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_2193.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i>The whole harvest.</i><br />
<br />
As the commercial variety Sunset survived the critter attack, I'm using it as a convenient control. It is a fast-to-bulk variety.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_2172-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_2172-1.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_2172-1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i>Sunset on plant</i><br />
<br />
Seedling yields were variable of course. Growing out from seed allows for selection from novel varieties. I choose the right hand side:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_2179.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_2179.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_2179.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i>The yield from two seedlings that had grown side by side.</i><br />
<br />
Best yield was this pink and white one at 85 grams. P.S. This is a crappy yield but I was encouraged:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_2181.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_2181.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_2181.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i>Dreaming of this weigh scale being filled one day.</i><br />
<br />
Here are some larger tubers with Canadian change for scale. Sunset (standard variety) on bottom:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_2197.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_2197.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_2197.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i>One of the fun things about oca is the variation in tuber colour.</i><br />
<br />
Next year, I have some ideas to grow better, bigger plants with hopefully bigger, better yields. As it is, I found oca fun to grow. Selection from tubers is appealing as if you get something interesting, it is easy to clonally propagate.<br />
<br />
P.S. I've heard of several successful non BC Canadian oca growers. Two live in close-to-maritime conditions favouring oca growth and one just developed this mania this year, growing them in Manitoba! With help from his heated oca-hut, he had quite a respectable harvest. There are also a handful (that I know of) of other crazy folk, like me, in less favourable locations in Ontario or should I say partners in plant exploration.<br />
<br />
Other ocaphiles:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://radix4roots.blogspot.ca/">Radix rhizowen</a><br />
<a href="http://oca-testbed.blogspot.ca/">Oca-testbed</a><br />
<a href="http://wettingthebeds.cultivariable.com/2013/10/oca-piling-up-pods.html">Wetting the Beds</a><br />
<br />
* New Zealand and South America are known to grow a few too.Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-63732230456441661802014-09-22T13:59:00.001-07:002014-09-22T14:00:48.045-07:00How to grow great cabbageThe very slow, roundabout story of how to grow great cabbage.<br />
<div>
<br />
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Total time for project: approx. 15 years in 16 easy steps.</div>
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1624.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1624.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1624.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A row of lovely blush cross cabbage after frost.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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Step 1: Decide that you like cooking and that growing herbs is cheaper than buying them. </div>
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Time - Several trips to the grocery store</div>
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Step 2: <a href="http://ottawahortiphilia.blogspot.ca/2007/07/edible-perennial-in-bed.html">Become suddenly and acutely obsessed with growing anything edible</a>*. </div>
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Time - 5 min.</div>
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Step 3: Scroll/flip through seed catalogues with an almost guilty relish, picking reliable staples like </div>
<div>
Red Rock Mammoth cabbage and interesting plants like San Michele blush savoy. </div>
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Time - Endlessly blissful hours</div>
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Step 4: Have mixed success but vow that next year will be better.</div>
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Time - However long is required to realize that gardening is easy and hard, simple and complicated, beautiful and defeating; That it is worth every minute.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1705.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1705.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1705.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's bigger than her head! It's so big that it was blowing up!</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Step 5: <a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/2010/02/bring-on-broccoli-brussel-sprouts.html">Finally crack this cabbage growing thing</a>, at least most of the time.</div>
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Time: one wonderful season + many great meals</div>
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Step 6: Start hanging out with seed savers and amateur plant breeders. </div>
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Time: Varies, may not happen. I recommend it though.</div>
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Step 7: <a href="http://alanbishop.proboards.com/thread/4169/san-michele-passes-winter-unscathed">Have a row of Red Rocks and one lonely San Michele overwinter. </a></div>
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Time: Several snow blind months</div>
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Step 8: Remember hearing something about cabbages being outbreeders and mostly self infertile. <a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/2011/10/easy-cabbage-breeding-harvest-monday.html">Have a sudden idea</a>. </div>
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Time: A flash!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1718.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1718.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1718.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Red rock mammoth quartered.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Step 9: Almost lose precious San Michele pods because someone ripped off a seeding stem. For no Reason! Consider stationing guards around the remainder.<a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/2010/07/saving-cabbage-family-seed.html"> Get seeds by careful winnowing and threshing.</a> </div>
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Time: One feverish summer of plant joy.</div>
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Step 10: Share seeds, grow out cabbage again and again. Get wonderful reviews because this is <a href="http://theextremegardener.goodideacreative.com/?p=246">one excellent cabbage</a>. </div>
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Time: Several years.</div>
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Step 11: Attempt to overwinter f1s. Fail. </div>
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Time: Several snow blind months + the mud season x 2</div>
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Step 12: Take cabbage cuttings and discover they root really easily. Overwinter inside. Be surprised when they flower without vernalization. Baby. Hand pollinate. Save seeds.**</div>
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Time: More than half a year plus many delicate minutes with anthers and stigmas.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_8768.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8768.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_8768.jpg" height="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is kale, but I've had cabbage survive and resprout. Not only that but I've found that if I bring in the freshly dug roots of cabbage in the spring, they will sprout along the root rather like seakale thongs. </span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Step 13: Grow the last of the RRMxSMf1s </div>
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Time: Feb-April plant out</div>
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Step 14: Let the sun shine, the rain pour and the frost come. Harvest those that are starting to become slimy, split from the rain or just look a bit sad from the constant attack of earwigs, caterpillars, slugs, pill bugs and more. </div>
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Time: May to Sept</div>
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Step 15: Eat </div>
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Time: Whenever possible in a multitude of ways</div>
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Step 16: Stare at the little jar of f2s seeds with excitement. </div>
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Time: Ongoing.</div>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
* I wasn't writing a garden blog back then. In fact, I only started writing a garden blog several years later after my husband (aka non-gardening partner) diplomatically suggested that perhaps I'd like to share my enthusiasm for growing things with OTHER PEOPLE (rather than with him). This post was from my original blog several years after the affliction became acute.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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** I don't have a post on this because I abandoned this blog for my gardening friends on Facebook, started a new business, family and other excuses. I did share photos on some edible plant geek sites like <a href="http://alanbishop.proboards.com/thread/7715/f2-cabbage-cuttings">Homegrown Goodness</a> (an amazing resource) it seems. </div>
</div>
Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-73769891310193660072014-09-19T09:05:00.000-07:002014-09-19T09:05:15.766-07:00Early frost in Ottawa<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1621.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1621.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1621.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Cabbage</i></span><br />
<br />
And the garden<br />
Drunk from a summer's revelry<br />
Wakes uncertain to frost<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1630.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1630.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1630.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cosmos</span></i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1638.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1638.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1638.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Prince's plume</span></i><br />
<br />
I had a wonderful morning watching the frost add its glistening touch to the garden. Before the tender plants blackened and wilted, they were caught frozen but perfect. As the sun swept across the gardens, there was a sound like the faintest bells and the drip, drip as the ice melted.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1640.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1640.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1640.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sunflowers as if in mourning</span></i><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1652.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1652.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1652.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Variegated alpine strawberry</span></i><br />
<br />
Though most of at the frost tender crop had been harvested, I covered some rare root crops that I am trying. The ground was still moist and warm so they were fine. I was intrigued by the dahlias however as frost seem to dance among them: hitting some but not others.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1671.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1671.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1671.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Some of my oca from seed as part of a selection project - both selection for earliness and cultivation tech. Covered by one of my favourite garden tools: the under-the-bed tupperware container.</span></i><br />
<br />
Litchi tomatoes proved once again that they were tough.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1613.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1613.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1613.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Litchi tomato - not a tomato (though related), not a litchi is mild-frost tolerant.</span></i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1698.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1698.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1698.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A few hours after frost flowering and fruiting.</span></i><br />
<br />
These pumpkins look to me like revellers awaking to face the next day.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/IMG_1689.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_1689.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/IMG_1689.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Until next year pumpkins.</span></i><br />
<br />Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-31423099649538711402014-08-15T07:49:00.003-07:002014-08-15T07:50:38.076-07:00Stephen Barstow coming to OttawaI'm very excited (so much so that I actually wrote a blog post) that my dear friend Stephen Barstow is coming to Ottawa for a visit. I've been corresponding and seed trading with him for many, many years. It is a delight to finally meet him in person. Even better is that he is offering to give a talk on his upcoming book Around the World in 80 Plants on Edimentals (edible ornamentals). When I was just a little seedling asking questions or sharing my wide eyed plant joy, Stephen (also known as Stevil on the forums) would be sure to answer with his own joy and generous advice. If ever there was someone who I wanted to write a plant book, it was he.<br />
<br />
Email me if you'd like to find out more about the details of this talk:<br />
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 8.4pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<em><span lang="NO-BOK" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Around the world in 80
permaveggies!</span></em><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
<br />
</span><span lang="NO-BOK" style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Workshop with Stephen Barstow, the man who cultivates 2,000
vegetables in his own garden outside Trondheim in Norway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 8.4pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
</span><span lang="NO-BOK" style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">This workshop will be in the form of a powerpoint talk about 80
of Stephen’s favourite perennial vegetables, including several historic
Norwegian vegetables. A number of familiar ornamental perennials that can be
used in cooking (edimentals), for example Hosta and daylily. Stephen takes us
on a trip around the world from Norway, through Europe and the Mediterranean
countries, through Asia, the Himalayas, Siberia, East Asia, South and North
America. </span><span style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Many of the plants were and still are
local wild foraged vegetables that became domesticated locally. </span><span lang="NO-BOK" style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">We
will hear the stories behind the plants and how they were used in their country
of origin as well as experience from growing them in Norway ....many are ideal
for the forest garden. There will be plenty of time to ask questions as we
follow the plants around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 8.4pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 8.4pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The journey around the world will take
roughly 3-4 hours....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 8.4pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 8.4pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The talk is based on Stephen’s first
book which is due to be published September 2014 – see</span><span lang="NO-BOK" style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://permanentpublications.co.uk/port/around-the-world-in-80-plants-an-edible-perennial-vegetable-adventure-for-temperate-climates-by-stephen-barstow"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">http://permanentpublications.co.uk/port/around-the-world-in-80-plants-an-edible-perennial-vegetable-adventure-for-temperate-climates-by-stephen-barstow</span></a></span><span style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and </span><span lang="NO-BOK" style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://permanentpublications.co.uk/meet-the-authors-stephen-barstow"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">http://permanentpublications.co.uk/meet-the-authors-stephen-barstow</span></a></span><span style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 8.4pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 8.4pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #16110c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stephen main job is with the sea (ocean
wave climatologist) but has in recent years also worked on projects for the
Norwegian Genetic Resource Centre, mainly collecting old Norwegian perennial
vegetables and herbs! Stephen has led the Norwegian Seed Savers since its start
in 2006. <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
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Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-8692876250866873842014-05-27T08:26:00.001-07:002014-05-27T12:14:21.072-07:00Forest Garden UpdateThis year, I can see, that the forest garden is turning a corner. We inherited a homestead orchard containing apples, pears, serviceberry, chokecherry, currants, grapes and plums. It had been tilled and planted up with squash. There was also a tilled veggie patch beside. I have been converting the orchard into a forest garden and the veggie patch into a sunny demonstration garden.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_9021.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_9021.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_9021.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grape planted with golden garlic (Allium moly), and oregano. Some bread seed poppy (Papaver somniferum) is also making itself at home in the area. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>
September 2010, I fall seeded a bunch a lot of plants including good king henry (Chenopodium bonus-henricus), nepeta, kale, perennial sunflowers (Helianthus maximiliani), bloody dock (rumen sanguineus), alliums, mustards, chicory, parsnips, lupins and much, much more.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_9027.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_9027.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_9027.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yellow: Zizia aurea and golden alyssum (Aurinia saxatilis) in the distance and goji berry.</span></i><br />
<br />
Season 2011: Wonderful growing season though I did have quite a few brassica flea beetles mid-summer. Little would I know that was my initiation into what was to be the zoo of flea beetles. Garden was expanded. Paths and beds put in.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_9018.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_9018.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_9018.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Perennial leek 'Oeprei' with little violets (Viola cornuta) as part of the sunny demo bed.</span></i><br />
<br />
Season 2012: Season started early followed by late frost, once in 100 year drought and hungry pests. Then we added another baby to the family and it finally rained. Garden was messy at best though I did get some produce.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_9010.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_9010.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_9010.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Viola odorata 'bicolor' with English daisy (Bellis perennis) and rhubarb.</span></i><br />
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Season 2013: Still ansy from 2012 and with a new baby in tow, I try covering the ground with limited success.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_9029.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_9029.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_9029.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A hairless version of Sweet Cicely (Myhrris odorata) beneath an apple tree. On the other side is my tallest Hablitzia and wild ginger (Asarum canadense) too.</span></i><br />
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Season 2014: Perennials like Blue chives (Allium nutans), buckler leaf sorrel (Rumex scutatus), hablitzia, walking onion, rhubarb, strawberry spinach (Chenopodium capitatum), patience dock and more are really starting to shine. The ground is growing more edibles, beneficials and beauty than it is weeds (which have their edible, beneficial and beautiful side of course). I feel we have turned a corner.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_9028.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_9028.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_9028.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I rather like how Seakale 'Lilywhite' (Crambe maritima) and Blue Alkanet look together. I imagine they'll be even more spectacular in bloom.</span></i><br />
<br />
I was happy to see good survival of soldier mallow, poppy mallow, monkey flower, and overwintering of roots like turnip, fennel and parsley for seed. Lots of new plants to the garden too like udo (Aralia cordata), Beetroot bellflower (Campanula punctata) and variegated daylily (Hemerocallis sp.). Any plants that don't go in nursery sales this year, will be planted either in propagation beds or in the forest garden proper. The forest is really filling in now!Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-71479952063339979262014-05-22T15:38:00.001-07:002014-05-22T15:39:10.463-07:00M.I.A.Dear followers,<br />
<br />
I feel like one of those bloggers that's falling into the trap of constantly apologizing for why they haven't written in a while. I wish instead that I could put together pretty pictures into the posts I plan in my head while getting plants ready to go to market, edging and weeding the garden, harvesting and making stuff and taking care of the food. Sleep? Don't be silly. No time for that.<br />
<br />
Anyhow, if you would like to talk gardening with me, join me on at one of the dates below. Theoretically I'll be less busy in July…<br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Ottawa Gardener<br />
<br />
In other news:<br />
<br />
May 24: I bring a tray of purple plants (perilla, orach, basil, kale and amaranth) to the market along with other stuff (perennial leek, sweet cicely, lovage, salad burnet, poppy mallow, red bunching onion, anise hyssop, mint, oregano etc..)<br />
May 25: Kids in the Pumpkin Patch Begins!<br />
May 25: Join the COG-OSO demo garden team<br />
May 27: Aster Lane Edibles on farm sales<br />
May 28: Join me at the Demo Garden On Weds am<br />
May 31: Market Day!<br />
June 1st: Join us for a morning of fun in Kinburn. Morning we plant sweet potatoes. Afternoon we talk figs with Thyme to Cover.<br />
<br />
And more throughout the summer!<br />
<br />Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-32871557162826679452014-04-23T10:44:00.000-07:002014-04-23T10:45:31.769-07:00Sugar's end, Spring's beginningI've decided that the end of sugaring - maple syrup making - is the official start of spring. The sap has run up to the branches and plans on staying there causing the flowers to bloom and the leaves to unfurl. With so many posts on making maple syrup featuring knee deep snow and taps intact, I thought it would be fun to show you what our forest looks like at the end of the season.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8509.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8509.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8509.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Small wasps sipping from the tap.</i></span><br />
<br />
Warm weather wakes up the insects which head to the taps to refuel. It's a fascinating way to do a bug survey. This is the big reason I removed the taps in some trees that were still not 'green' because they were swimming with bugs! Don't worry, I rescued them.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8500.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8500.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8500.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Literally swimming in bees and wasps: all set free.</span></i><br />
<br />
A closeup of a couple native bees:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8502.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8502.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8502.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Small native bees: two types. Let's see (PS though I like bugs, I haven't had much opportunity to learn their names. There was also a plethora of flies: some shiny blue, some striped, some dull black etc...) um, I'm going with sweat bee and the cutest bee ever (no, not an official name). All educated guesses welcome.</span></i><br />
<br />
Look at this cool one! Believe it or not, I actually loved bugs before I loved plants. In fact, I liked rocks before I liked bugs. Thankfully all these interests are intertwined and growing plants as a hobby is a much better conversation starter than check out the folding in this gneiss or wow a cow patty fly.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8499.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8499.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8499.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ophion wasp which are short tailed Ichneumon wasps is my guess</span></i><br />
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The variously named beer or picnic beetle. I guess it depends on what your outdoor tipple looks like:<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8484.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8484.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8484.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Glischrochilus quadrisignatus</i></span></span><br />
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The first bugs to the buckets are the owl-faced moths (P.S. This common name which captures their faces well, does not appear to correspond with pictures I found on google so it might be a local name). This one is passed on but you can see why people round here call it owl-faced.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8464.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8464.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8464.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Celeste; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic;">Recently deceased after I'm going to assume a short but hedonistic life.</span><br />
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Flower break - Hepetica:<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8430.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8430.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8430.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">These are sharp leafed hepatica and they were quite colourful this year ranging from pink, to blue-purple to white.</span></i><br />
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Hoverfly 'crying wasp':<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8448.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8448.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8448.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
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Another tap shot:<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8439.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8439.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8439.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Um, Andrena (yellow-orange haired one) and some sort of little parasitoid wasp?</span></i><br />
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There were also mourning cloaks and comma-type butterflies along with assorted flies, fireflies, green stinkbug, a two spotted black and yellow ladybug, and tiny tawny metallic beetles along with moths.<br />
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Now we clean the buckets and spiles and put them away until next year's thaw. In the meantime, hard work and mother nature have filled our larder with many jars of delicious maple syrup!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8488.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8488.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8488.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">It really appears like the kids were helping in this photo doesn't it? Don't believe everything you see… They did have fun however.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>
<b>Links</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.pollinator.org/NativeBees.htm">Pollinator Partnership Illustration of Native Bees</a><br />
Bug question? <a href="http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740">Bug net</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3088023/">Maple syrup insect survey PEI</a><br />
<a href="http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/PDF/Sugar_Shack_Bugs.pdf">Sugar Shack Bugs</a><br />
<a href="http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/downloads/Pollinator_Guide_5pg.pdf">David Suzuki pollinator guide</a><br />
<a href="http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/ejournal/pgs_03/pgs_03_main.html">The Bee Genera of Eastern Canada</a><br />
<a href="http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/IPM/english/apples/beneficials/braconid-wasps.html">Parasitoid wasps from omafra</a><br />
<a href="http://microgastrinae.myspecies.info/">Microgastrinae Wasps of the World</a> (those are parasitoid wasps - this person is really into them and hails from Ottawa! it seems. I should probably just send him my pictures.)Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-76244933037996205792014-03-23T13:02:00.002-07:002014-03-23T13:02:59.771-07:00New Permaculture E-ZinePermaculture Ottawa's Christopher Bisson has started a new online permaculture magazine for Canada. Here's my contribution: http://therhizome.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/homestead-orchard-to-forest-garden/Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-38751128873868602732014-03-20T06:55:00.004-07:002014-03-20T11:31:41.834-07:00Last Frost: An exposé <br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8004.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8004.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8004.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">2012 tomato seedlings hanging out in a small greenhouse. That was a warm year.</span></i><br />
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Now that you are diligently starting seeds, you may have googled last frost date and found that it is in the first week of May! Before you start counting back six weeks, remember this is the AVERAGE last frost date. This means that when all the last frost dates for last fifty years including those that occurred in April and those that occurred in June were averaged out, it gave May 6th as the middle point. This does not mean that we can rely on it as the day after which we can plant out tomatoes. To do that, we have to do a little speculating.<br />
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<br /></div>
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At the beginning of May, the risk for frost is still relatively high but as May fades into June, it drops off quickly to very little chance. Therefore every week waited, is less risky. This might be balanced off of other needs such as growing season, absences from the garden, ability to protect plants under plastic or a winter blanket or a particular microclimate.<br />
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<br /></div>
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<b>Last frost is not 0C</b></div>
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<br />
But wait, water freezes at 0C like we were taught at school right? Well, yes, the freezing point of water is 0C however there are a couple complicating factors. Firstly, water is actually at its most dense at 4C. The molecules are then closest together and cannot easily move past each other. They start to arrange themselves into what will be their solid crystalline structure: ice. Unlike most solids, water expands as it freezes. One of the interesting consequences of this is that ice forms and floats on the surface of a pond. Imagine if it didn't!<br />
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Secondly, just because the thermometer said 4C on your house, does not mean that little hollow in the yard was not at or below 0C since cold air sinks. Air circulation, humidity and cloud cover all play a part. For example, wind can keep air moving around and prevent it from settling and open skies mean that ground heat may be lost. Also some materials, like metal, cool more quickly meaning you might have frost on your car but not on the ground.</div>
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<b>I plant before last frost</b><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_7910.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_7910.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_7910.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bellis perennis - English Daisy - growing under lights for spring flowers and greens.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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But not tomatoes. I plant all sorts of greens, roots and peas even though there is the possibility of last frost. Plants' frost tolerance vary (sometimes even within a particular plant's life cycle) so that though peas can be planted even though there may be dusting of snow in the future - assuming the soil is workable - beans will rot in the ground or die if they sprout. Peas and parsnips are amoung the most frost hardy seedlings I know. Others will take a little cold such as lettuce and carrots though not a heavy frost. And still others are fair weather plants and must only be planted out after chance of frost such as tomatoes and cucumbers.<br />
<br />
What this means is that when a seed package says start 4-6 weeks before planting out, they may not be referring to after last frost. Violas, for example, can be planted out when the temperature are still cool. As they need quite a big headstart, you'll be starting those in early winter and planting out in mid-spring!<br />
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Knowing what to plant when will keep it from being a one-stop weekend of planting fury in late May as well as extending your season. Another planting of frost hardy greens, for example, can be sowed to mature after first frost in autumn. <br />
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Of course, there is frost and there is frost. A light frost above -2C is different from a heavy frost below -4 where the ground freezes and different again if it is a one night thing or continuing for weeks. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Frost as a helper</b></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/1531554_667734593291229_2117727198_n-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1531554_667734593291229_2117727198_n-1.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/1531554_667734593291229_2117727198_n-1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
'<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grow-boxes' are my little mini-greenhouses with frost hardy seedlings.</span></i><br />
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Many seeds have built in dormancy mechanisms that keep them from germinating until conditions are right for maximum success. This is quite common with wildflowers and trees that have evolved in temperate areas such as around Ottawa. Needing a period of cold before popping roots means they'll germinate in the spring. Some even require oscillating temperatures. If you have some wildflower seeds that you haven't stratified (in the fridge or seeded in the garden in the fall or by <a href="http://www.wintersown.org/">wintersowing</a>), then you can try putting them out very early in the spring. The soil will be moist and cold temperatures are probably still in the forecast. You may also have time to moist stratify in the fridge using the <a href="http://www.robsplants.com/seed/baggy.php">baggie method</a>.<br />
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Sometimes, plants are started very, very early in order to get them out when it is cold so that you trick them into thinking they have already gone through one complete growing season including winter. This is done to get certain plants to flower the first year when they would normally wait until the second such as globe artichoke or sweet william.</div>
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<br />
Even a few frost tender plants can be planted out a few weeks early (if you want to risk it), including potatoes. As these are under heavy piles of insulating mulch/dirt, their foliage usually takes a while before it is exposed to the air above so you can put out a few weeks before you are absolutely sure there will be no more frost. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Thwarting last frost: plasticulture</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/1004850_667734439957911_1463239326_n-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1004850_667734439957911_1463239326_n-1.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/1004850_667734439957911_1463239326_n-1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Inside the grow-boxes above are some seeds and seedlings. Here are some crowded swiss chard in need of a little thinning. Look at the temperature inside. Outside it was about -2C but sunny.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></div>
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Some people plan on putting out their vegetables under season extension devices such as walls-o-water, cold frames, polytunnels, cloches or beneath floating row covers. These can all help moderate the temperature though they are not fail-safe. I like to use these for plants that are frost tolerant. They won't be killed if temperatures do drop but they may grow faster and experience less stress with their blankies overtop.<br />
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If you did plant your tomatoes and think that a frost blanket will not be enough AND you don't have a pile of plants, you can dig them up and replant again later. It's not the best solution but it will save your plants.<br />
<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>When is last frost REALLY?</b></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/spring2014/IMG_8051.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_8051.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/spring2014/IMG_8051.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Litchi tomato or vila-vila, a nightshade with yummy fruit and ouchy spines. It will withstand light frosts when mature (not tried with seedlings)</span></i><br />
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It varies from year to year. That is the joy of gardening. We are working with nature who is not always so predictable. Generally it is safe to put out tender starts somewhere around the end of May though occasionally I've had to wait until the first week of June. So when calculating when to start seeds, count six weeks back from mid-late May rather than early May. However, if you've given your tomatoes a couple extra weeks head start, it's not a problem. As long as they are in big enough pots, they can wait until the weather warms. If you have really big tomato babies, plant a portion of the stem under ground as they will root along the stem. This is a trick for a sturdy plant. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I wait to plant out tomatoes around the third week of May and then look at the longterm forecast. The risk of frost drops precipitously as we approach June. If it looks fair, then I'll plant but with the proviso that I might have to cover if the weather takes a sudden turn. Also weather trends can help you determine if it will be a late or early year. Looking at the long-longterm forecast for spring 2014 suggests lower than average temperatures. Stormy, cold weather has been the norm since last fall and it doesn't seem to be letting up. I would probably not even contemplate planting out until near the end of May unless we get a sudden reversal of fortune. </div>
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<b>What kind of planter are you?</b></div>
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1. May is spring:</div>
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* Lives in a sheltered place</div>
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* Has lots of seeds or plants of frost tender varieties</div>
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* Doesn't really care if everything needs replanting</div>
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* Gardens in pots that can be moved inside</div>
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Will plant at the beginning of May.<br />
Risk Taker</div>
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2. Middle May:</div>
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* Plants when it's getting warm </div>
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* Lives in the city or a sheltered location, not a frost pocket</div>
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* Has to go away on a trip at the end of May (my usual reason)</div>
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* Will happily cover if there is frost</div>
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Plants when the weather is fine<br />
Optimist</div>
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3. Late May:</div>
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* May 2-4 weekend is when you plant tomatoes!</div>
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* I have to plant. My seedlings are crawling out of their pots!</div>
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It's worked for generations!<br />
Traditionalist</div>
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4. Beginning of June:</div>
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* There is always a late frost (not so)</div>
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* These are my precious babies and I'm not risking them.</div>
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* Too much work to cover</div>
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* I just bought these seedlings. That's okay right?</div>
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Plants when danger of frost is a distant memory<br />
Nervous Nelly or Nettle if you prefer</div>
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Mid June:</div>
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* Oops, I have to plant a garden?<br />
Procrastinator</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Right, okay, so just tell me when to plant them!</b></div>
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As I said, gardening, like nature, is a wonder of patterns and variation. If I were to advise someone, I'd say around the long May weekend but that every year is different. Many, many times I've planted out in mid-May with excellent results especially in the city. In the country, I try to wait until around the end of the month as I have a lot more plants than I want to bother to cover. I have seen last frost as early as the end of April and as late as the first week of June. If I had to pin a number on it, I'd say around May 20 but if I had to guess for this year, I'm going with May 31st.<br />
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Lastly, the proper wording on seed packets for planting out should be 'after all danger of frost' rather than after last frost.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Happy gardening!<br />
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***<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.shorstmeyer.com/wxfaqs/frost/frost.html">Helpful explanation on frost by meterologist</a><br />
<a href="http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/mitgc/article/2000151.pdf">Great document on frost formation and factors</a></div>
</div>
Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-56871538272143370112014-03-04T10:12:00.006-08:002014-03-04T11:17:16.363-08:00Nursery NewsWould you like to know more about plant sales, events or other fun stuff from Aster Lane Edibles? Excellent! We're tweeting @ Aster Lane. In the meantime, here is an eggplant picture:<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/winter2014/IMG_7946.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_7946.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/winter2014/IMG_7946.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Summer BBQ'ed eggplant here we come!</span></i><br />
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P.S. Join me at <a href="http://asterlanedibles.ca/events.html#moretalks">various speaking events, workshops</a> or at the <a href="http://cog.ca/ottawa/organic-demonstration-garden/">Canadian Organic Growers demo garden</a> this spring. If you are in the Ottawa area, you might want to join the conversation at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/438437196236308/">Edible Ottawa Gardens Group on Facebook</a> too. We're currently discussing what plants we are starting, when will spring end (if ever) and indoor light setups.<br />
<br />
<br />Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-32795814683481077832014-02-28T10:32:00.000-08:002014-02-28T11:02:03.191-08:00Business Card Saga: Aster Lane EdiblesWhy it took me so long to get a business card: a conversation with myself (and a few others).<br />
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Me: You need a business card.</div>
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Myself: Why?</div>
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Me: People expect it.</div>
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Myself: But they just bury those things at the bottom of their bags to be thrown out when they get around to cleaning them. They pick them up and say "Who the heck was that and where was I?"</div>
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Me: No that's just you.</div>
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Myself: I'm pretty sure it's not just me.</div>
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<br /></div>
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… 6 months later…</div>
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Me: You should really get around to that card.</div>
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Myself: Let's talk honestly here. Cards are boring.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Me: Then make an interesting card.</div>
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<br /></div>
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… months later…</div>
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Me: Why not a planting schedule? That would be useful. A little reference pocket thingie.</div>
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Myself: On a card? </div>
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<br /></div>
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Me: Yeah.</div>
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Myself: Good luck.</div>
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<br /></div>
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… a month later …</div>
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<br /></div>
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Me: You're right, that was tricky. Now to the printer. But what if they screw it up?</div>
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Myself: Have some faith.</div>
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<br /></div>
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… Months and months later …</div>
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<br /></div>
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Me: Do you think your graphic design husband would help me create an exact document of something? </div>
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Friend: I'm sure he will.</div>
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<br /></div>
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… visit to a common copy place that shall remain nameless …</div>
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<br /></div>
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Them: What? Folded? Like a gift card? But you want a business card right? I think we're going to have to send this to our specialty print shop. And what are these other lines for on the file? We can only print what we can see.</div>
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Me: They are formatting lines. I figured that you could remove them with your fancy programs. Will you have them ready like within a week. I want to have them for an event I'm going to.</div>
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Them: -incredulous look-</div>
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… several phone calls later, an independent print shop …</div>
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<div>
Me: I have these files and I need them to transform into a business card through the magic of computers and large printing machines by tomorrow.</div>
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Them: Why certainly.</div>
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Applause!</div>
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<div>
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/asterlane/IMG_7919.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_7919.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/asterlane/IMG_7919.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the front, inside is a planting calendar and on the back is contact info.</span></i></div>
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Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-39374464540244045932014-02-20T07:47:00.000-08:002014-02-20T08:41:11.438-08:00Experiments with hot and coldI'm in the midst of two experiments dealing with two of my favourite vegetables that like different weather regimes.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Experiment I: Cool Cabbage</b><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/winter2014/IMG_7876.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_7876.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/winter2014/IMG_7876.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i>Flowerbuds on rooted cabbage cutting.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*If you have no idea what I just wrote below then go to the bottom*</span><br />
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The first is my San Michele x Red Rock Mammoth cross. If you haven't heard about me gone about it before, well then, welcome to an odyssey. I haven't managed to yet get f2s so I figured I'd try rooting cuttings and overwintering. All was going well but then I realized that I will have to vernalize in order to get flower. Generally I plant out cabbage early without inducing flowering and those heads that have overwintered, so far, have not produced seeds but more heads (part of why I don't have f2s, along with the bugs and freeze-thaw of spring). So I thought they would need a rather long exposure to cold. I started off with sitting them in my shoe room near a window. It gets cold in there but not horribly. They were there for a week. Then I put them in the garage window where I had planned on leaving them until the end of winter but only managed they were only there for a few days before it dipped into minus double digits so I moved them back inside planning on doing the shoe room treatment again. Mistake. They immediately started elongating and producing flower buds. Dang it!! Now, I have a few that are further behind and some that I did not attempt to vernalize so all hope is not lost. Not only that but in the spring, I will take cuttings from the plants emerging from the snow before they get all freeze-thaw-mushed on me.
However, now the experiment has taken a turn. I plan on potting on again and hand pollinating with the hope of getting viable seed. Lesson learned I guess. Hold off on the vernalization until March.<br />
<br />
I *could* potentially remove flower heads until spring. Maybe I'll do half and half.<br />
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<a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/2011/10/easy-cabbage-breeding-harvest-monday.html">Origins of this Cabbage</a><br />
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<b>Experiment II: Hot (Sweet) Potato</b><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/winter2014/IMG_7879.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_7879.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/winter2014/IMG_7879.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i>These are freshly slipped sweet potato plantlets, doing some branching which I hope to cut off and root.</i><br />
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This is not a very serious experiment, I have to say. I am just starting my shoots really early so that I can cut them into sections producing more plants than usual for spring with fewer tubers. So far, roaring success. Sweets root easily from cuttings. Nothing further to report yet. The danger, I suppose would be if I get an indoor bug infestation. Not to fear, I have more roots that I can force later which is good as I am predicting a late spring (sorry folks). Don't cry though, I'm using my 'intuition' rather than probabilistic forecasting. That and the amount of accumulated snow and cold weather patterns.<br />
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Extra Experiment: Craggy 2 year old, broken sweet potato tubers will sprout. Go figure.<br />
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<br />
*** For those that didn't know what the heck I was going on about because your plant obsession hasn't quite reached critical levels, here is a translation. P.S. There is plenty of room in the rabbit hole for you.<br />
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I let the bees frolic in the flowers of two types of cabbage. One was called San Michele. The other was named Red Rock Mammoth. They made seed babies. As this is the first generation of the cross, they were called f1s. I loved the variety and wanted to see if I could get it to be stable. This is because when I let these babies flower and set seeds, the characteristics will all jumble up again making for lots of variation. I would have to select plants that I liked and save seed for generations until the babies produced were more or less the type I wanted. But to start, I need the second generation or f2s. Cabbage usually flowers in the second year after winter. I have been trying to overwinter my first generation of the cross but had problems. These were 1) eaten by bugs, 2) turned to mush because of oscillating temperatures in spring and 3) didn't both to flower and made another cabbage head instead. Now, I plan on trying a frost blanket, also called a floating row cover this year, (duh) but foliage emerging from snow is very tender so I'm not convinced it will work. Cabbage heads always mush out for me in winter but I do get a lot of leaves growing out of the stems in spring and sometimes flowers which is why I was able to make the cross in the first place.<br />
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As an insurance policy, I decided to take advantage of a trick that many members of the cabbage family have which is that they can grow roots from sprouts off the stem. I plucked those and put them in moist soil. Some, I cut a bit of the stem off too with the sprout. They rooted and grew very well but they were inside not exposed to any cold. The aim was to get them to flower not make more cabbage heads. So I tried to give them some gentle cold in order to get them to spring where I could plant them out and they could flower for me. Fail. They flowered early.<br />
<br />
This means that to rescue the experiment, I am going to have to move pollen from the male parts of the flowers to another plant's female flowers in hopes of getting some mature seed that will grow. Wish me luck!Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-3836045300420772602014-02-09T07:09:00.002-08:002014-02-09T08:42:06.027-08:00Things are sprouting in my fridge...…on purpose. I'm stratifying which means giving seeds a period of moist cold to overcome germination inhibition so they will sprout.<br />
<br />
I place seeds on paper towels or coffee filters then put in a plastic baggie. This takes up very little space in my fridge or other location that I am giving seeds special treatment. You can also use your baggie to give seeds oscillating temperatures or warm treatment. I use the latter to get peppers to germinate faster.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/winter2014/1902914_648999505164738_1312526561_n.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1902914_648999505164738_1312526561_n.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/winter2014/1902914_648999505164738_1312526561_n.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Baby with breakfast on his face helping.</span></i><br />
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For very large seed that won't be in good contact with the paper towel, I've heard of people using cotton balls but I use vermiculite. I also use vermiculite with very, very small seed so that I can sprinkle the whole mix in the seeding tray when ready. Sand would probably be a good substitute.<br />
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They would stay in the fridge for a certain period of time say six weeks or whatever is recommended (yes sometimes there are no specific recommendations). During this time, you are telling the seed that it is winter and when you take them out of the fridge, they are experiencing spring so it's a good time to sprout. Only, many seeds will not wait their allotted time. Whether this be because those particular seeds or that variety does not really need the cold stratification AND also does not need high temperatures to sprout or because they prefer to germinate in the fridge-like temperatures of early spring, is something to speculate upon. Therefore, I check my baggies frequently.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/winter2014/970589_647518218646200_1935684992_n.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 970589_647518218646200_1935684992_n.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/winter2014/970589_647518218646200_1935684992_n.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wild plums from a local source</span></i><br />
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Here, some wild plums - perhaps Prunus nigra - started to germinate after six months in the crisper whereas their cousin nanking cherry - Prunus tormentosa - jumped into growth after only a few weeks messing my plan of holding off until spring to plant. Instead I put the sprouting seedlings in the ground in fall.<br />
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Hablitzia tamnoides is reputed to prefer cooler temps to germinate though it seems somewhat adaptable. Here is my own seed crop throwing roots.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/winter2014/1653613_648999165164772_1020540494_n.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1653613_648999165164772_1020540494_n.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/winter2014/1653613_648999165164772_1020540494_n.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hablitzia tamnoides, our seed for <a href="http://asterlanedibles.ca/">Aster Lane Edibles</a></span></i><br />
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I'm using the baggie method because I want to grow some of these plants big enough to sell in the spring otherwise I'd probably just <a href="http://www.wintersown.org/">wintersow</a>. This is using a recycled (or not) plastic container with drainage and air holes partially filled with soil and seed that acts like a mini greenhouse. It is great for cold hardy greens, plants that volunteer, wild flowers and other plants that need a period of cold to germinate or at least don't mind it.<br />
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You can even snow sow. Yes, that's tossing seed on top of snow. This is a version of stratification and seems to me that it would be most effective if done in the fall or early spring just before a snowfall that would insulate the seeds and help work them to the ground.<br />
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<br />Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-81127516554776195402014-01-19T07:03:00.003-08:002014-02-09T08:30:40.983-08:00Growing Greens Indoors in WinterIn the polar vortex regions, gardeners are often looking for the magic formula to have healthy greens during the winter. There's always extending the season under cold frames, polytunnels and by bringing vegetables into a cellar or processing them to eat later by canning, freezing and drying but what about growing? Growing is so much fun. Some people have had enough of a break by January that they want to get their hands dirty again. Well, let me enable you with these four techniques:<br />
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<b>1. Sprouting roots</b><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/winter2014/453dddef.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 453dddef.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/winter2014/453dddef.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo from a <a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/2012/01/dandelion-to-rescue-harvest-monday.html">previous post</a> where I also explore fridge sprouting and a great book on Salad Greens.</i></span><br />
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In my experience, this is by far the easiest. It can be done with roots you grew yourself and stored in a cellar* OR you can do it with the roots from your C.S.A. delivery OR the Organic Farmer's Market OR really any root you get from the grocery store.<br />
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Simply, get a vegetable that produces both edible greens and roots such as a beet and plant it so that it starts sending that stored rooty energy into making delicious fresh greeny goodness for you. Try it with:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Onions: after all they are always sprouting in your drawer right?</li>
<li>Garlic: this can even be done with crowded cloves in a dish of water</li>
<li>Leek, Green Onions: Even after you cut off the greens to eat, just leave a portion with the roots</li>
<li>Beets: Beet greens are yummy (you can do this with Swiss Chard too if you have taken in your own roots or happen to find some with roots at you veg. supplier)</li>
<li>Carrots: I don't find these thrilling greens but it can be done.</li>
<li>Dandelions: For milder greens, grow without light</li>
<li>Chicory, all sorts: Particular types are used to produce Belgium Endive by forcing the roots in the dark</li>
<li>Celery, celeriac</li>
<li>Parsley</li>
<li>Sweet Potatoes: Yes, these have edible greens too. </li>
<li>Turnips</li>
<li>And more, just make sure the greens are edible (as not all tubers produce edible greens)</li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20140119_093946.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20140119_093946.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20140119_093946.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Celery and walking onion growing on my window sill.</span></i><br />
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<b>2. Sprouting seeds</b><br />
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Second up comes seed sprouting. There is no lack of internet-searchability on this subject but it's essentially germinating the seed and eating them at the baby plant stage. Make sure that you use seeds and seedlings that are safe to eat. Good candidates from your own garden are mustards, broccoli, dill and other plants that produce an abundance of seed. You can go quite sophisticated with specialized tailor made equipment or as simple as a glass jar. All sorts of grains, herb seeds and vegetable seeds are used though it is suggested that some of them are eaten cooked. For ideas, you could go to one of the commercial sites to gander at their extensive lists.<br />
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<b>3. Microgreens and cut and come again salads</b><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/peashoots.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo peashoots.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/peashoots.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/2010/02/harvest-monday-pea-shoots.html">Growing pea shoots</a> in winter.</i></span><br />
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The older siblings of sprouts, microgreens are allowed to grow a touch bigger. I'm a fan of pea shoots that are easy to grow on a windowsill in winter. They can be grown in a shallow dish of water or in soil. If allowed to get big enough to cut down in bunches, you get the holy grail of indoor salads, the cut and come again.** Succession sow a new tray every few weeks as they may peter out quickly in crowded, less than ideal growing conditions.<br />
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<b>4. Aquaponics!</b><br />
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Okay, so the reason I was inspired to write this post was because fellow blogger at <a href="http://nogoodend.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/aquaponics-garden-part-10-im-gonna-eat-some-worms/">Whistling Girls and Crowing Hens</a> has ventured into the fascinating world of clay balls, fish tubs, and worms to grow her winter salads. For those of you with an empty basement corner looking for a fun project, this might be your solution. Instead of stumbling through my own description, I'll let her take you on an aquaponic adventure.<br />
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* There are lots of cellar designs, including ones build into a corner of your basement, but roots will also store a long time in the fridge (and eventually sprout there).<br />
** The holy grail is probably the indoor tomato but that would deserve its own post.Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-81242031244744932692014-01-16T06:48:00.003-08:002014-02-09T08:30:52.155-08:00Aster Lane Edibles Update!This is a slacker post. It is a slacker post because I am not doing the usual researched narrative about my garden (or <a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/search/label/interview">interviews with great gardeners</a>) but instead putting all my energy into getting my business <a href="http://asterlanedibles.ca/">Aster Lane Edibles</a> in shape to start plant sales and more this year! As happens when you have a lot going on, something suffers, and in this case, it is this blog (which I love very much. It's not you blog. It's me).<br />
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At any rate, here is what I've been up to:<br />
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1. Event planning. This year, instead of setting an arbitrary date that works for me, I'm trying to using doodle so that everyone, who is interested, can have a say on what works best for them. I have several workshops planned at <a href="http://asterlanedibles.ca/events.html">A.L. Edibles</a> (get it all edibles - accidental clever there) such as Vegetable Garden How to, Seed to Seed, Beautiful Edible Gardens, Drawing as an Observational Aid, How to Grow Sweet Potatoes in the North and Kids in the Pumpkin Patch. AND events through <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/438437196236308/">Edible Ottawa Gardens Group</a> such as a spring mushroom drilling playshop. There will no doubt be somethings going at The <a href="http://cog.ca/ottawa/organic-demonstration-garden/">COG demo garden</a> too as well as other locations.<br />
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2. <a href="http://asterlanedibles.ca/plants.html">Plant sales</a>: Woohoo! Finally! Provisional list is being updated all the time. Plants will be for sale in spring at Aster Lane and perhaps another location. Currently assessing options.<br />
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Also, visit us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AsterLaneEdibles">Facebook</a> - I'm collecting likes.<br />
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Slacker signing off.Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-60962130365804128722013-12-01T08:35:00.000-08:002013-12-01T08:35:20.726-08:00A Passion for Edible Root ExplorationAn Interview with Rhizowen Radix<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/radix/AndeanRoots.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo AndeanRoots.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/radix/AndeanRoots.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo by Radix of a selection of Andean Root Crops</i></span><br />
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There are few plant people whom I admire more than Radix Rhizowen so I was giddy when he agreed to let me grill him about his hobby of growing and eating rare root crops. I'm pretty sure that the first time I encountered this intrepid unearther of all things tuberous was when I was googling something like oca. I was transported into the hilarious, well researched and fascinating world of his blog <a href="http://radix4roots.blogspot.ca/">radix4roots</a>.<br />
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For a floraphile like myself, it is highly enabling and I disappeared down the rabbit hole of his tales for as long as my children would permit. I was also compelled to try and source some of these fascinating roots for myself - no easy task. Crops like oca, yacon (which spell check keeps trying to change to bacon by the way) and the Apios are just not commonly grown and those examples are of more well known rare root crops. However, in 2013, there were posts on Nephrolepsis cordifolia - a fern with edible tubers, Aandegopin, and Soh-phlang. That's not to leave out Mashua - the marmite of roots - as he calls it owing to its mixed taste reviews.<br />
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<i>So where does this intrepid root explorer reside? Radix over to you.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">I garden on the outskirts of Liskeard, a small town close to the
edge of Bodmin Moor, which is in Cornwall, the most southerly county in the UK.
We're at about 50 N, but the weather is mild due to the presence of the Gulf
Stream. Mild is, of course, a relative term and it can be cool and wet on any
day of the year. The defining characteristic of our climate is its
unpredictability, although it usually rains a lot. Grass often grows year round
in Cornwall and there is even a little tea cultivated here.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><br /></span>
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/radix/DSCN0497.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCN0497.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/radix/DSCN0497.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://radix4roots.blogspot.ca/search/label/Sagittaria%20latifolia">Radix4roots - Whoopee for Wapato</a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">I've always enjoyed growing plants and eating has an enduring
fascination for me, so exploring the world of edible plants is just a
combination of these two powerful themes in my life. Root crops are among the
most satisfying crops to grow - something about excavating them is like
unearthing buried treasure - that denouement never loses its appeal for me.
Unearthing roots is probably an instinctive behavior; there's some evidence to
suggest that the harvesting (and cooking) of wild roots and played an important
role in human evolution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Reading your blog is
like taking a botanical world tour. Would you say that there was a region that
has given you more material and if so why?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">I would have to say South America. The range of edible roots
tubers cultivated there seems to me to be outstanding. Anyone who is familiar
with the book '<a href="http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=030904264X">Lost Crops of the Incas</a>' will be aware of this. Although my
interest in Andean root and tuber crops predates its publication, it certainly
did nothing to divert me from my chosen path. That said, there are many
fascinating species lurking in Asia, Africa and elsewhere that deserve further
investigation. I subscribe to the view that one should do the necessary
research and try and match the plant to one's growing conditions, but you don't
know until you've tried: prepare to be surprised on a regular basis. Plants and
their unknowable antics are the perfect antidote to smug self-congratulation. I
wouldn't have it any other way.</span><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/radix/DSCN4567.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCN4567.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/radix/DSCN4567.jpg" /></a><br />
Ulluco from radix4roots and a related article <a href="http://radix4roots.blogspot.ca/2009/01/crap-crops-of-incas-my-on-off-on-affair_22.html">Crap Crop of the Incas: My on-off-on affair with high altitude Andean crops</a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">In the A-Z of roots
that you have grown, what would you say is your most and least (can I guess)
favourite, as well as the rarest and strangest root you’ve grown? Any
surprising success or failures?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">My list of favourites fluctuates with what has currently caught
my interest. During oca season, I become ocasessive and as I hunt for the
seedling volunteers; I actually find I can see them before my eyes as I go to
sleep. Now that oca seed production has been cracked, it can only be a matter
of time before a day-neutral plant turns up. When it does, oca's future will be
assured and I'll probably move on to pastures new. . <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><br /></span>
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/radix/DSCN5695.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCN5695.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/radix/DSCN5695.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://radix4roots.blogspot.ca/2011/09/mauka-expansa-by-name-expansive-by.html">Radix4roots - Mauka: Expansa by name, Expansive by Nature</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">I like mauka for its sheer rarity, rather unusual plant
architecture and surprisingly hardy disposition. It doesn't taste too bad
either. Ulluco almost never fails to frustrate and disappoint. I’d love to have
another go with <a href="http://radix4roots.blogspot.ca/2012/12/anchote-out-of-africa.html">anchote (Coccinia abyssinica)</a> as it grew surprisingly well in
an appalling summer and seemed to tuberise at a sensible time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dream is to create a properly reliable,
hardy, cool weather tolerant sweetpotato. Correction: that's one of my dreams. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Why do you think
this sort of amateur plant experimenting and development is important?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Amateurs (read enthusiasts) can make progress by collaborating
to create new crops and sharing their successes and methods with like-minded
individuals, wherever they may be. Take oca - growing several thousand plants
from seed is well within the realms of possibility and will certainly increase
the likelihood of a day-neutral mutant turning up. A group of enthusiasts can
share this burden and participants can enjoy the fruits (or roots) of their
collective labours. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><br /></span>
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/radix/yaconroot.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo yaconroot.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/radix/yaconroot.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://radix4roots.blogspot.ca/2013/04/yacon-dont-try-this-at-home.html">Radix4roots - Yacon: Don't try this at home</a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">This must surely be a golden age for motivated amateurs to develop
new varieties and domesticate new crops. How their efforts are to be protected
from hostile expropriation remains to be seen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">What project is
capturing your imagination at present?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">I suppose oca is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other
interests are hybridizing squashes and developing reliable chillies for our
climate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/radix/DSCN4539.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCN4539.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/radix/DSCN4539.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://radix4roots.blogspot.ca/2011/01/ocabliteration.html">Radix4roots - Ocabliteration</a><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">My aim is to have a wonderfully rich, diverse and productive
suite of crops that will thrive here with minimum intervention. Nothing new or
original in that, but I suspect that in the future we'll need a wider range of
food plants as climatic fluctuations make old stalwarts less reliable. This may
involve developing new varieties of old crops (like oca) or domesticating new
ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There's no point waiting for
commercial concerns to do this, we need to act now. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from anything else, I find this work
feeds my intellect and my imagination in a way that few other activities do.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><br /></span>
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/radix/DSCN0462.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DSCN0462.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/radix/DSCN0462.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://radix4roots.blogspot.ca/search/label/Anchote">Radix4roots - Achote: Out of Africa</a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;">***</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;">Interested in getting to know roots and their enthusiasts better? Come on down to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/141198905918483/">Radix Root Crops </a>on Facebook.</span></div>
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Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-49245519241044655672013-11-15T06:23:00.001-08:002014-02-09T08:31:08.146-08:00Saving Allium Seeds at Home<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-22.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-22.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-22.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
I've written about saving leek - <a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/2012/12/finally-threshing-leek-seeds.html">Allium ampeloprasum</a>* - seeds before but can one really read too much about saving Alliums? Here are some differences between Allium nutans and Allium amepeloprasum too.<br />
<br />
I started with the Allium nutans - a very pretty edible, perennial onion with strap like leaves and semi nodding pink flowers that straight as they mature. They have typical spherical allium seed heads that open to reveal dark 'wedge' shaped seeds within. When nice and dry, the seed heads are easily shattered into a bowl.<br />
<br />
Seed sorting techniques, in my opinion, are all about making it less tedious ie, faster! They can be broken into three components: harvest, thresh and winnow.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-11.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-11.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-11.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Allium nutans seeds and chaff ready for processing. </i></span><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-20.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-20.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-20.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Allium ampeloprasum for comparison.</i></span><br />
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<b>Harvesting:</b><br />
<br />
Some seeds will ripen irregularly meaning that part of the seeds on a stem or group will be dry and ready while others won't. Lettuce does this producing a few fluffy flowerheads ready to pluck while the rest remain sticky and green. If you are desperate to collect as many seeds as possible, you can collect these early ones and then wait until the majority of the stem is dry and collect the rest of the stem OR you can just ignore the first ripe ones and wait until the majority of the stem is ripe OR you can tip stem into a paper bag (carefully so the stem doesn't break) and kind of shake vigorously every once in a while.<br />
<br />
Back to Allium nutans. There were a few precocious seedheads but for the most part, they all ripened at once. I pulled the ripe stems and put them in a clean bucket ready for the purpose then I brought them inside and ignored them until they were really really dry. The ignoring part is important or at least dryness is.<br />
<br />
Some were used in seed saving demonstrations and the others languished in the drying corner until yesterday.<br />
<br />
<b>Threshing:</b><br />
<br />
Also known as separating the chaff - stem, seedpod etc.. - from the seed. There are lots of ways of doing this. When I have tonnes of the stuff, I put in a large container and get a kid to shuffle on it. The kid is not necessary but they do seem to get a kick out of it.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-12.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-12.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-12.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Allium nutans getting the gentle smash treatment to help loosen seeds from chaff.</i></span><br />
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It helps to strip seeds from stems first if you can (bother). It will save you work later but it really depends on the amount of seeds that you are processing. You can also use various sieves such as screens, or in this case <a href="http://www.realseeds.co.uk/winnowing.html">a rubber matt</a>, to break open the seedpods and separate the big chaff. Sometimes I'll rub seed pods together in my hands over a bowl.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-14.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-14.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-14.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>After big chaff has been removed from the top.</i></span><br />
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With the Allium nutans, I just stripped the seedpods and rays from the stems then gently used a masher to encourage further separation. With the Allium ampeloprasum (leeks) that I harvested today, I placed them in a paper bag and rolled them with my rolling pin. The leek seedpods were wrapped more tightly in their pods so need a bit more processing.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-13.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-13.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-13.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Life action shot of The Swish to help sort seed settle to the bottom.</i></span><br />
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Pour remaining chaff and the seed into a bowl and do the <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>swish</i></span>. If you have a lot of seed in a bucket, then you can do the tap or the shake. The latter is when you jostle the bucket to get the heavy, smaller seed to settle at the bottom and the larger chaff to 'float' to the top. The swish is when you shake the bowl in a circular motion collecting the chaff in the middle. This is useful not only for the initial chaff removal but later in the process as well.<br />
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<b>Winnowing:</b><br />
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Either lots of fun or like getting a stick stuck in your eye - small chaff sized sticks. Anyhow, the easiest way is to get to bowls/buckets and a breeze. Pour the seed and chaff from one container to the other letting the breeze sort the seed. Adjust the height of the pour to the strength of the breeze and the relative heaviness of the seeds. If this just won't work, look into <a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.ca/2012/12/finally-threshing-leek-seeds.html">water sorting</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-15.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-15.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-15.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">When the breeze cooperates, winnowing is a beautiful thing to behold.</span></i><br />
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Worked just fine for Allium nutans species.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-17.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-17.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-17.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The remaining seed and chaff after I did the swish again to concentrate chaff in the centre for easier removal.</i></span><br />
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I've also blown on it especially at demonstrations when the wind was not cooperating or you can use other wind making devices such as a fan etc... You can even build a <a href="http://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedcleaner.html">seed cleaning machine</a> in your spare time. If you do, might as well make two and send me one. Thanks!<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-18.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-18.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-18.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The mostly cleaned seed of Allium nutans.</i></span><br />
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<br />Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-5763419931661435552013-10-09T21:35:00.000-07:002013-10-10T11:19:49.993-07:00The truth about Zumpkins<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-5.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-5.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Family reunion - a selection of pepos and crosses</span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>. </i></span><br />
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Here's a question you hear a lot:<br />
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"My zucchini looks funky. Did it cross with my melon?"<br />
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"Will my pumpkins and cucumbers cross if I grow them together?"<br />
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"Are my melons not sweet because I grew them with cucumbers?"<br />
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"Could my butternut have crossed with my pumpkin and that's why it is ripening/growing/looking weird?"<br />
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Okay, I admit that I am paraphrasing somewhat but these are all inspired by real life questions I have read or seen or answered on countless occasions. So to set the record straight, I give you the truth about the zumpkin.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-6.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-6.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Immature pumpkin scarred by design and by that I mean that we etched this face into it when it was green on the vine not that we intended on hurting it emotionally... </span></i><br />
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<b>Not all vines are created equal</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I'm not suggesting that they fall into a heirarchy; what I'm referring to is how closely related they are. Cucumbers, melons, squash, zucchinis, pumpkins and more might look similar in that they are all leafy vines that produce (mostly) yellow flowers of which the female flowers swell into fruits but this does not mean that they can all cross.<br />
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In fact, crossing is usually only restricted to members of the same species. Just like how a rabbit must mate with another rabbit not a monkey to produce fertile offspring even though both rabbits and monkeys are mammals. (No jumping ahead, we'll talk about interspecies crossing in a minute.)<br />
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Plant:<i> Genus species</i><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Cucumbers: <i>Cucumis sativa</i><br />
Melon: <i>Cucumis melo</i><br />
Armenian cucumber: <i>Cucumis melo</i> (see it's tricky sometimes)<br />
Watermelon: <i>Citrullus lantana</i><br />
Many (but not all) zucchini: <i>Cu</i><i>curbita pepo</i><br />
Most halloween pumpkins: <i>Cucurbita pepo</i> (hence zumpkins)<br />
Squash: <i>Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita moschata, Cucurbita maxima, </i>etc...*<br />
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That's not to mention gourds (some decorative gourds are actually pumpkins), other things called melons and some more unusual cucumber like things such as mouse melon, aka <i>Melothria scabra</i>.<br />
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The more closely related something is, the more likely it can cross assuming that the reproductive mechanisms are conducive to such a union and there no other barriers. Peas, for example, don't tend to cross because they self pollinate even before the flower opens giving the bees no chance to create mayhem**! The vining crops mentioned above, on the other hand, are busy with pollen dusted buzzers moving between plants so cross pollination most certainly can happen if it is possible.<br />
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If they have the same Genus and species such as a pattypan and spaghetti squash and zucchini, they can easily create cross cultivar hybrids***. Some people let same species cross on purpose or just because they don't care but if you want to keep your seed pure, you have to isolate your varieties.<br />
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Sometimes you even get an wide-cross which is a cross between two different species. This is more likely between closely related species such as two types of Cucurbits rather than between a cuke and a watermelon. To go back to our mammal examples, sometimes you see a zonky (zebra + donkey) but no elephantice (elephant + mice)****. This species hopping hanky-panky is actually quite infrequent and apparently highly cultivar dependent according to what I've read (see link below).<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-8.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-8.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-8.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Romanpan f1 = Romanesco x Patty Pan</span></i><br />
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<b>Naughty neighbours?</b><br />
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What this does NOT mean is that if you are growing an Armenian cucumber beside your pickling cucumber that the fruit that forms will be some crazy mix between the two. It won't. Instead you will get just what you expect EVEN though you are growing two varieties.<br />
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The first year you grow two potentially cross pollinating plants will give you no pumpkin surprise. Honest. Growing pumpkin beside your zucchini will give you pumpkins on your pumpkin plant and zucchinis on your zucchini plant. Yup. Boring.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-9.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-9.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Patty Pan x Halloween Pumpkin = warty dumpling and ribbed white or Hallopans collectively</span></i><br />
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<b>Hiding in the Seed</b><br />
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Actually not so boring. Those plants might be hiding a secret in the seed. You see, the next year when you grow out your pumpkin seeds, you may get fruit that doesn't look anything like you were expecting. It is year two that you get the Zumpkin.<br />
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<b>Busy Bees pepo cross:</b><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-10.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-10.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-10.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">All together now: Romanpan f1 -> Romanesco -> patty pan -> halloween pumpkin -> Hallopan f1</span></i><br />
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To illustrate, in 2012, I grew white pattypans, romanesco and halloween pumpkins: all Cucurbita pepo. Some of my white pattypans were tossed to the chickens. The next year 2013, I moved their chicken run and out of it grew a great mound of volunteer pumpkin vines. Off the vines sprouted mainly what looks like pattypan x romanesco but there were also a few pattypan x pumpkin. I love the white pattypans not as immature little roasters but because they store exceptionally well mature holding their texture. We keep them in the cellar, peel and use as winter zucchini. However, the shape is annoying as you have cut off a lot of the flesh. The chance cross of romapan-pattyesco gave me a better shape. We'll see if it stores and tastes as good.<br />
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From further a field, some pumpkin pollen made it to a pattypan flower creating a couple other variations which I'm less interested in but they look neat. Here's one below with a very thick hard rind but decent texture. Flavour is average zuke.<br />
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Now, I didn't isolate as I didn't realize what I had until later but I intend on saving seeds, growing out and doing some selection in years to come.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-7.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-7.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Inside one of the hallopans that we ate for supper. It's flesh was very pale but cooked up a bit darker. It held its texture well and tasted just fine.</span></i><br />
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A whole lot about <a href="http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CucurbitSeedProductionver1.4.pdf">Cucurbita seed production</a><br />
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* You are likely to grow these kinds but there are others as squash is a moniker given to a lot of fruit.<br />
** That's not to say that crossing never happens and I seem to remember a reference to nectar stealing insects in beans that can trip up self pollination at the source which might also happen in peas. If you really, really want pure varieties of peas, there are suggested isolation distances.<br />
*** Did you say hybrid?<br />
Yes I did.<br />
Aren't hybrids bad?<br />
Depends on what you mean. A hybrid is just the crossing of two varieties. Anytime you don't isolate two cultivars of the same species, you might get a hybrid.<br />
But?<br />
Yes, agricultural hybrids that don't breed true and force people to buy their seed again so they become dependent on the system have drawbacks. That's the hybrid that people rally against in favour of what they call OP - open pollinated. The kind of hybrid above is just kooky. You are welcome to save seeds from it but no guarantees about what offspring you'll get. That's true of most commercial hybrids by the way too. Which is not to say that you can't try to select and stabilize a new OP variety from your crazy mix. That's fun too.<br />
**** Yeah, yeah. I know. There are several reasons for that.<br />
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<br />Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-17662745314188960662013-09-27T08:53:00.000-07:002014-02-09T08:31:41.447-08:00Collecting Hablitzia Seed<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-2.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-2.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hablitzia plant on the north side of a shed</span></i>.<br />
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Have you heard? My Hablitzias have set seed and they look good! You haven't heard? That surprises me considering how loud I shouted when I discovered it but maybe you were listening to music or something or mistook me for an angry raven. Anyhow, on the off chance, you haven't heard:<br />
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"My Hablitzia tamnoides gave me seed!!"<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-1.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file-1.jpg" height="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Closeup of seedpods and seed.</span></i><br />
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You don't know what I'm talking about? Spinach from the Caucasus? Perennial, shade tolerant green? Our friend Habby. <a href="http://permaculturenursery.com/Stephen_Hablitzia_Article.pdf">Stephen Barstow</a> is always going on about it.<br />
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Stephen? Extreme salad man? Okay so now you're intrigued.<br />
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Let's go back to the Habby seeds.<br />
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Aren't they lovely?<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Fall2013/file.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Fall2013/file.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Before I winnow, I'm going to let it dry down a bit more but looks promising.</span></i><br />
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Next year, all going well, Habby plants will be exiting my greenhouse (still under construction and by under construction I mean shovel yet to hit the dirt but I have days marked off on my calendar so soon) in the spring for sale. Woohoo!<br />
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***<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/hablitzia/">Friends of Hablitzia</a><br />
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<br />Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-9336826111542196422013-09-09T09:04:00.000-07:002013-09-09T09:05:57.659-07:00Edible Landscaping Community - Condo Complex<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/file-3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-3.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/file-3.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A big rock that was dug out when putting in the path. Also visible left to right: temporary planting of peppers, gold leaf anise hyssop, lovage, kale. </span></i><br />
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The condo board agreed that their landscaping - which consisted of some rough lawn, a few shrubs teetering on piles of dirt and perennials crowded in front of their entrance sign - needed a bit of freshening up. Resident Patricia suggested they try edible landscaping.<br />
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Now, it is my suspicion that though everyone was more or less fine with the concept that they let Patricia go ahead with her unorthodox plan because she has an infectious enthusiasm. Sonia figured this meant some nasturtiums but was happy that it ended up being "more than I imagined."<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/file.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/file.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The core team: Krystal, Sonia and Patricia standing in a path designed with an inverted mirror image pattern.</span></i><br />
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I met with them for the first time on a cool morning just after the snow pack had melted to be confronted with a patch of barely lawn covered in gravel from snow clearing that I was assured would be vacuumed up shortly. It was perfect: full sun, lots of access and lots of space. We discussed some possibilities then I went to work.</div>
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It needed to be neat, attractive and contain edibles that were not too far off what people would recognize as edible. A mixture of common cooking herbs like oregano, thyme and sage, perennial edibles like monarda, anise hyssop, sorrel and lovage and some complementary temporary plantings like nasturtium (just as Sonia thought), kale and chard found their place on a flowing framework.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/file-9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-9.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/file-9.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Some perennials, such as Echinacea, that were rearranged in front of the sign spilling over to create bee habitat foraging on the other side too, and some low growing herbs. </span></i></div>
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I suggested that we use sheet composting as a method to build the garden bed as they didn't have any serious weeds. It requires less work, less materials and doesn't remove the existing fertility or overly stir the soil's weed-seed bank. I think they were okay with the 'less work' plan. Soil and mulch was ordered and plants were sourced. Some came from <a href="http://asterlanedibles.ca/">Aster Lane Edibles</a> - the biz - and some from local nurseries.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/file-4.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-4.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/file-4.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Krystal with a purple carrot from one of the resident's gardens.</span></i></div>
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Dig day was a beautiful day in late spring. The shape of the garden was cut a week or so beforehand. Though I provided drawings, I like to finalize the shape on the ground. Subtle (and not so) changes in elevation and other idiosyncracies can be better incorporated this way. I find it helps to remain flexible during the installation phase. For example, the perennials in front of the condo sign were very crowded, including a clump of iris that had been infested with borer. These had not been included in the original design but were easily incorporated in pleasing geometrical patterns, that enhanced the design, on the day. Also digging out the paths revealed a huge rock which became a focal ornament.</div>
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The core team of Crystal, Ashley, Patricia and Sonia worked tirelessly throughout the day removing half dead junipers with roots that seemed twisted to the centre of the earth, lugging endless wheelbarrow loads of soil and mulch and finally planting. I love it when clients work with me. This was truly a community effort!<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/file-2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-2.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/file-2.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Delicious empanadas made by Patricia from fresh kale and chard from the entrance garden.</span></i></div>
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Those little starts grew quickly in the plentiful rain and good soil. When I returned, even I was impressed by how wonderful the garden looked. There was a lot of love being dug into this garden. I asked them what the rest of the residents thought of their new garden. "Appreciation is high but participation is more of a challenge but people are slowly getting on board with lending tools and planting their own gardens," said Sonia.</div>
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"Communication is key. People don't know what to pick and when. I didn't know what everything was," said Crystal, who refers to the Anise Hyssop as Bee Palace - this must be my favourite nickname for the plant because the bees really do love it.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/file-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-1.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/file-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The kids know where the strawberries are.</span></i></div>
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"People are interested in food," said Patricia referring to the many new gardens that are popping up all over the complex. "They are putting in their own gardens." The remaining mulch and soil was offered to the rest of the residents. Many of whom were making good use of it.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/file-5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-5.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/file-5.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mint in another garden that has sprung up in the condo complex taking over a place that other plants found difficult.</span></i></div>
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Sonia took me around to show me some rain barrels that were being attached to the sides of the housing units at the end of redirected downspouts. They also showed me some more garden spaces that were filling in with flowers and food. We spoke about plans for expansion next year.<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/file-6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo file-6.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/file-6.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Patricia's raised bed garden in another part of the common ground growing some onions.</span></i></div>
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That first garden was a seed that was planted and grew into a community effort to make beautiful use of their common ground. I am honoured to be part of it.</div>
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Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-37221987379113150072013-09-07T06:40:00.000-07:002013-09-07T06:42:47.230-07:00Business Update!Once upon a time there was a blog. It was new and fun and the creator was updating regularly - like twice week. People would comment and she would comment on their blogs. It was great. The world was good and then something happened. The blogger did not post a single post in the whole month of August. What! Why? Didn't the blogger still love her blog? Wasn't the blog still fun? Still exciting? What did the blog do to deserve this kind of treatment?<br />
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"It's not you blog. It's me. You see, I've been busy volunteering at the <a href="http://cog.ca/ottawa/organic-demonstration-garden/">Canadian Organic Growers - OSO Chapter Demonstration Garden</a>, chatting with friends on my new group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/438437196236308/">Edible Ottawa Gardens Group</a> and then there is my business."<br />
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"What business?" Asks the blog. "Aren't I your business?"<br />
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"Not that kind of business. The professional kind."<br />
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"You'd like it. It's called<a href="http://asterlanedibles.ca/"> Aster Lane Edibles</a> and I'm going to link to you and everything. Oh and there's the greenhouse I need to put up once my formerly NGS (non gardening spouse)* moves his woodpile."<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/asterlanelogolong.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo asterlanelogolong.png" border="0" height="100" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/asterlanelogolong.png" /></a><br />
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"So you've just been busy?"<br />
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"Yes, with the business and the groups and the children; The baby just turned one. Just busy. It's not that I don't love you anymore. I figured our relationship was strong enough to withstand a momentary absence. Twitter on the other hand has something to complain about..."<br />
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* Non Garden Spouse has earned the title Will Garden Occasionally Spouse but that's a clumsier title so I'm just going to call him FNGS<br />
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<br />Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-4478714287272925602013-07-31T09:16:00.000-07:002013-07-31T09:18:15.934-07:00Garden to StomachA holistic approach with the Higgs<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_092230.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_092230.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_092230.jpg" width="400" /></a></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Plums plumping up in the holistic orchard.</i></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">It’s always great when people who you meet on the internet live close enough that you can pop by for a visit. This is the case for the Higgs that live a little over three hours South-west of me. I can’t remember our first conversation, whether it was about rare fruits, mycorrhizal associations, raised beds, reskilling or fruit tree propagation or perhaps it was some happy union of all those things. Mike is one of those rare </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">growers who stares tradition in the face and decides whether or not it’s being honest. He’s a researcher and an experimenter<span style="color: #222222;"> reading about past and present gardening trends, then trying them out in his garden to see if they accomplish the goals of feeding his family without unnecessary work. </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #222222;">They draw inspiration from a variety of sources including <a href="http://www.johnjeavons.info/">John Jeavons</a> (growing fertility and nutrition), <a href="http://www.thefrenchgardener.net/edu/synergistic.php">Emilia Hazelip</a> (low soil disturbance), <a href="http://www.onestrawrevolution.net/One_Straw_Revolution/Massanobu_Fukuoka.html">Massanobu Fukuoka</a> (work with nature and do as little as possible) and <a href="http://www.melbartholomew.com/">Mel Batholemew</a> (intensive planting in raised beds).</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>Tell us about your farm:</b></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_094201.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_094201.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_094201.jpg" width="400" /></a></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><i>There orchards and other tree plantings include many unusual fruits and nuts.</i></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">North of the Saint Lawrence, in South-Eastern Ontario’s rolling hills is the Higgs farm: a diverse planting of fruits, nuts, perennials and vegetables. Planted in mulched circles are an abundance of crops from perennial ground cherry to young heartnuts surrounded by tumbling </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;">squash<span style="color: #222222;">. Laid out in staggered rows is the formal orchard</span>, now <span style="color: #222222;">inspired by Michael Phillips’ <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/The-Holistic-Orchard-Berries-Biological/dp/1933392134">The Holistic Orchard</a>,</span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"> that includes rare fruits for these parts such as quince, </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">medlar, persimmon and beach plum.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> Just beyond is a row of willow and poplar, propagated by softwood cuttings, that is being </span><span style="color: #444444;">grown to produce <a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4z8GE1bbsDjUE9xQmtQZ0V2UFU&usp=sharing">ramial woodchips</a></span><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #444444;">for the orchard and</span><span style="color: #222222;"> craft material. It is banked by a mulched and </span><span style="color: #444444;">Dutch while clover covered</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><span style="color: #444444;">berm to capture the water and direct it to the willow roots instead of it</span><span style="color: #222222;"> draining away downhill. Just in front of the big bay window of their home are a series of raised beds with fruit crops like haskaps and raspberries and traditional vegetables like potatoes, </span><span style="color: #444444;">beets, carrots, and parsnips</span><span style="color: #222222;">. There are also more rare items such as perennial wheat </span><span style="color: #444444;">and rye</span><span style="color: #222222;"> from <a href="http://seedambassadors.org/Mainpages/timesquiettriumph.htm">Tim Peters</a>.</span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>In the beginning:</b></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">Cutting trails in their back forest shortly after they moved to their new country home in 2008, they found a beautiful, unblemished yellow apple. “It was a potentially superior apple from one of the wild trees.” Mike wanted to propagate it but knew that he would need rootstock. "Getting some was a problem because there's little available in Canada for the small grower. Learning how to graft and produce more rootstock wasn't as big a problem although few bother with these skills anymore." He begin to research and <a href="http://portageperennials.wordpress.com/">One Thing Lead to Another</a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">. This is the title of his blog where he details experiments on how to propagate plants by techniques such as trench layering and root cuttings among other things.</span></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_091135.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_091135.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_091135.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Raised beds with veggies, some small fruit and a propagation bed for root stock.</span></i></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;">Joyce’s early attempts at vegetable growing were also frustrating. Turning up the soil in what had been an old grazing field for llifestock awoke every thistle imaginable from slumber. It took hours to weed around a few strawberries. “This was not what I had signed up for,” said Joyce. Then they learned about <a href="http://www.squarefootgardening.org/">square foot gardening </a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"> and mulching. They consider mulching an extremely essential and often overlooked part of gardening “Look at this soil,” Mike says as he pulled back the weed excluding mulch to show moist workable soil. Joyce now shares what she has learned in a column in <a href="http://www.the-link.ca/events.html">The Link</a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;">, a magazine ‘celebrating a creative lifestyle’ in the area. She also sells some plants and preserves at the farmer’s market.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><b>The Orchard:</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_092027.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_092027.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_092027.jpg" /></a></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222;"><span lang="EN-CA"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Concentric mulch circles of pea gravel for drainage and to prevent critter nests and mulch to encourage beneficial fungal associations. </span></i></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;">Though they have planted trees throughout their ten acres including butternuts and red maples in the back bush and fruit and nut trees such as mulberry, sea buckthorn, University of Saskatchewan cherries, hazelnuts, heartnuts, hardy kiwi, Virburnums, rosehips along the embankment in front of their house, up the driveway and in the fields, their holistic orchard catches the eye right away. With the help of a <a href="http://www.wwoof.ca/">WWOOFer</a>, </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;">the conventional orchard of staggered rows of young trees was <a href="http://portageperennials.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/orchard-conversion/">modified this year </a>based on the holistic ideas of Michael Phillips.<span style="color: #222222;"> It was mulched with an inner ring </span>of pea<span style="color: #222222;"> gravel for </span>drainage and to give rodents no nesting material and<span style="color: #222222;"> an outer ring</span>of ramial woodchips<span style="color: #222222;"> to foster mutualistic fungal relationships important to tree health. The <a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4z8GE1bbsDjSXlSQ1BxRFlDNHc&usp=sharing">mycorrhizae</a> get food in the form of carbohydrates from the plant’s photosynthesis and the plant gets access to water and nutrients from an expanded root system. Plants may then be healthier and more resistant to drought.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_092504.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_092504.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_092504.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Willow cuttings beside white clover planted berm.</span></i></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">When I asked why he liked holistic orchardist Phillips’ approach, Mike said, “When I read the word balance, I said, ah-hah. That’s what it’s about. If I get rid of all the aphids, the ladybugs have no food and they disappear as well. If I want ladybugs to keep the aphids under control naturally, I need some aphids." Around the concentric circle plots of trees is a wildflower meadow to increase biodiversity in order to attract a permanent population of pollinators and predatory of pollinators and predatory insects. Along with Coreopsis and Echinacea, the so-called weeds such as mullein, oxeye daisy, bladder campion and Queen Anne's lace flourish in this unmown area. They have also included nutrient accumulators such as nettle and comfrey to act as a source for <a href="http://permaculturenews.org/2011/06/14/chop-n-drop-mulching-permaculture-style/">chop-and-drop mulch</a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">, <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/brewing-compost-tea.aspx">compost teas</a> </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">and soil drenches</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_091001.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_091001.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_091001.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><i>Squash growing near a heartnut in the open field. Note the mulch under plants.</i></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">Away from the orchard, in the uncut areas of the field, he</span> is even experimenting with planting unruly vegetables such as squash and <span style="color: #444444;">tomatoes in ways that minimally disturb the soil.</span><span style="color: green;"> </span><span style="color: #444444;">For example, squash is planted by laying down a thick layer of wetted and compressed grass clippings followed by a layer of partially finished compost and then a 3 inch layer of mature, plant-based compost for seeds to germinate in. As soon as the seeds are upping and growing, more mulch is added. The squash vines wander where they want beyond their mulched cradle.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;">This technique aligns well with the Organic Creed of feeding the soil. In order to avoid too much importing of </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;">materials, Mike is looking into plants that produce high biomass such as sterile <em>Miscanthus giganteus</em>, </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;">and<span style="color: #222222;"> fast growing woodies to coppice like poplar and willow.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>Plans to expand</b>: </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;">Lining the wrap around porch are pots of all shapes and sizes with plants and cuttings growing until they are big enough to join the lush gardens below.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">One detail that I was particularly interested in was the trenching bed where he produces more rootstock to graft on rare scion wood. In a raised bed (constructed of pressure treated wood lined on the inside with vapour barrier to keep the wood and soil from being in contact)* he lays the bare root stock tree on its side, coaxing the branches upwards. Hopefully these branches will root enough that they can be detached as whole trees. "The beds are filled with pure plant compost which is very rich. It's also very friable which allows trees to be dug up easily and without damage." </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_091333.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_091333.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_091333.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><i>Propagation bed for root stock and more.</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">You can tell he is developing a feel for when a plant part will sprout roots. He speaks of dormancy</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: green; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">and the energy burst that occurs when plants emerge.<span style="color: #222222;">. He points out suckers coming from the rootstock of various trees with obvious glee.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>Food Forests</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_091452.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_091452.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_091452.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nice thornless blackberry being prolific</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">I asked him what he thought about food forests. “I’m interested in getting what’s out there in here,” he said as he points to the garden then pats his stomach. “Food forests have some problems in cold climates. It is different from warm regions where food can be grown all year round, even parts of Europe. Here, we have to store nutrition to take us through the winter. Perennial vegetables are heavy on greens that don't store well, and those that do may be difficult to harvest. The vegetables that store well are mostly annuals - root vegetables, squash, beans and corn. These are the vegetables grown by <a href="http://www.caroldeppe.com/">Carol Deppe, author of The Resilent Gardener</a>."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;">He also talks about the importance of finding ways to incorporate staple annual vegetables into permaculture designs in our climate. </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;">Another <span style="color: #222222;">part of the Higgs equatio</span>n is that <span style="color: #222222;">they are really interested in using what they grow and growing what they need. </span>Using the square foot gardening techniques advanced by Mel Bartholomew, Joyce intensively plants exactly the quantities of carrots, beets, turnips, and parsnip that she thinks they will need through the winter.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">They own several canners, an oil press and </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;">a hand<span style="color: #222222;"> grain mill. The basement has a couple good-sized cellars for storing vegetables – Joyce showed me some nice looking daikon radishes in sand from last year – and canned goods.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_093557.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_093557.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_093557.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444;"><span lang="EN-CA"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A precocious seedling hazelnut producing very early.</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;">Though Mike’s fruit and nut tree collection continues to grow, he is scaling back the vegetable varieties he uses to those that he thinks are most useful for winter and store well.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;">I asked him about grains and he gave me an interesting answer. “I had discarded the idea as I didn’t want to till the soil and unleash the </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;">thistles as well as being dependent on fossil fuel or having to learn about horses but<span style="color: #222222;"> then I read about perennial grains. If they can produce a useful crop without soil disturbance, they could be useful for the home grower.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;">One thing leads to another really does sum up their gardening journey to date. To quote Mike, “It’s a process of discovery, of finding ways to do conventional things in unconventional ways that are regenerative, tread lightly on the land and are minimally disturbing to Nature”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130712_094244.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130712_094244.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130712_094244.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><i>Mike examining some of his sprouts.</i></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">More Links (and some I've repeated because they are so good):</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://www.groworganicapples.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" target="_blank">http://www.groworganicapples.com/</a></span><br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4z8GE1bbsDjUE9xQmtQZ0V2UFU&usp=sharing">Ramial Woodchips</a><br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4z8GE1bbsDjSXlSQ1BxRFlDNHc&usp=sharing">Mycorrhizal Fungi</a><br />
<a href="http://portageperennials.wordpress.com/">One Thing Leads to Another</a> (Mike Higgs blog)<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">* Here is a <a href="http://pinterest.com/marykake47/raised-bed-gardening/">pinterest</a> on raised beds but I'm sure you can find numerous designs. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">I’ve begun to make a propagation bed myself, lined with harvested softwood trunks infilled with leaf mould and other organic matter.</span>Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-57813488592341181722013-07-29T08:02:00.003-07:002013-07-29T08:09:54.944-07:00Starting summer carrotsIn descending order, here is when my sown carrot seeds work best:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
1. First thing in the spring when the soil is wet and moist</div>
<div>
2. In the fall (yeah some of mine wait until spring)</div>
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3. Second thing in the spring before the seedling eaters are out in force</div>
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4. Fall when the ground cools slightly and the rain falls. </div>
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5. Summer - sporadically.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
So yes, summer is not a no-fail time for me. Partly it is due to way I culture.* I don't irrigate because we are on a well and my gardens are not all at house distance anyhow. Soil in most of the garden plots is sandy too which is great for root crops generally but crummy for germination when it is dry like in the height of summer. As well, earwigs are in their prime right now patrolling the ground for any juicy seedling foolish enough to break dormancy. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I have considered pre-sprouting carrot (parsley and other umbillifer) seeds before but the oft' talked about germination board just sounds like an earwig B&B. As my spring sprinkling of carrots is showing weakly, I figured I'd try and grow more using some new techniques:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
They can be broken down into ways to a) speed germination and b) pre sprout.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Speed Germination</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
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a. <a href="http://www.harvesttotable.com/2012/10/how-to-pre-sprout-carrot-seeds/">Shock seeds into growth</a>: freeze or boil. One assumes that this breaks the seed coat to allow in water and therefore germination rather than apocalyptic temperature changes being enticing.</div>
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b. <a href="http://botanicalinterests.com/inthegarden/flowers/grow-seeds-faster-imbibition/">Imbibition</a> (or soaking in plain speech)<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/20130715_104438.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130715_104438.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/20130715_104438.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Hot water and regular water. The hot water is coloured like tea. Cool!</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Pre-spouting</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
a. <a href="http://www.robsplants.com/seed/baggy.php">Baggie Method</a> followed by <a href="http://blog.mountain-plover.com/2009/04/20/pre-germination/">The starch bowl</a>: pre sprout on paper towels then make seed pudding for planting. Yes, seriously. Go check it out.</div>
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b. <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/seed-starting-pre-germination-fluid-seeding-7490808.html?cat=32">Fluid seeding</a> (similar to starch bowl)</div>
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c. <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/improve-carrot-seed-germination">The cardboard tray</a> - 'stiff' baggie method.</div>
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d. <a href="http://txmg.org/taylor/2012/03/28/carrots-in-the-home-garden/">Carrot sprout or jar technique</a> - More imbibing.<br />
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<b>Easy Planting:</b><br />
<br />
a. <a href="http://www.empressofdirt.net/easy-growing-how-to-make-seed-tapes/">Seed Tape</a> - toilet roll sized: I've not had luck with this but I haven't tried it very much either and I'm a shallow planter.<br />
b. <a href="http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/877332/#b">Seed Tape - Newspaper sized</a>: This guy uses sheets of newspaper<br />
c. Plant Deeper: After I thought of this all on my little lonesome, I've read several references to it. Dig until the soil is damp. I'm planning on making a trench, watering and covering with vermiculite.<br />
d. Pelleting. This is done commercially to aid in machine sowing. The seed is also partially germinated so that it will sprout quickly. Perhaps something akin to a seed bomb would work.<br />
e. <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-device-to-plant-carrot-seeds/">The paper seeder</a>: An origami seeder just for fun</div>
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<br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/20130715_105923.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 20130715_105923.jpg" border="0" width="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/20130715_105923.jpg" /></a><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Two jars and two cardboard backed paper towel.</span></i><br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
<b>What I tried</b><br />
<br />
I split my seeds into two groups. The first was shocked with hot water. The second was placed in regular tap water. Next, these were split into two groups. As I decided to try the cardboard tray technique, I put two lots of seeds on them, one with seeds from the hot water shocked lot (HC) and one from regular tap water (RC). The other half were placed into two jars for sprouting (HJ and RJ).<br />
<br />
<b>Results?</b><br />
<br />
RC: First to show roots after three days.<br />
HC: Followed the day after<br />
<br />
I tried to lay them carefully in the garden. The promptly fell off their paper towel and cardboard so I sprinkled them carefully in rows. Seedling rate in garden: poor.<br />
<br />
Long pause<br />
<br />
HJ and RJ: After another week, they started to sprout at about the same time. I try to make pudding with them to gel seed. It turns out unevenly gloopy. Seedling rate in garden: unsure still.<br />
<br />
Additional row: I also put a long row of seedling tape down with deeper spacing. Just checked and outside of the area that the chicken scratched up, germination has commenced.... better than the other methods. I did plant a bit deeper then sprinkle with a bit of straw.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion?</b><br />
<br />
Questionable methodology aside, I'd say that I still haven't found the formula for summer carrots though most promising is deeper planting and a sprinkling of mulch overtop.<br />
<br />
<b>Further Investigations:</b><br />
<br />
Next I'm going to try deeper planting, sprinkling with a green mulch like cut grass to seep moisture and chicken exclusion.<br />
<br />
* And by culture, I don't mean my knowledge of fancy paintings or where my parents came from. Instead, I"m referring to how one gardens, often called variations of cultural methods, cultural techniques or cultural controls. I'm sure there's an interesting historical reason but I'm insufficiently cultured to know. Okay, I just don't have time to research. Feel free to do so and leave it in the comments. Thanks.<br />
<br /></div>
Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7157796120640152479.post-84149537376427377552013-07-14T17:29:00.000-07:002013-07-14T17:29:24.630-07:00Currant Hell<b>Journal of the currant pickers</b><br />
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<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/954713_540719999326023_408983921_n.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 954713_540719999326023_408983921_n.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/954713_540719999326023_408983921_n.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Currant bushes. Yes there is a lot of fungal disease this year with the wet weather but it didn't affect yield much! This picture was taken after at least one picking.</span></i><br />
<br />
<b>Day 1:</b><br />
<br />
OG (that's me): Oh look, the currants are almost ready.<br />
Younger Child: Yay, currant muffins, currant juice. I love currants.<br />
Older Child: Will you tell stories?<br />
OG: <sigh> Fine, stories, but you have to tell some too. </sigh><br />
Younger Child: I'm going to eat some right now.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/600222_538435586221131_2045152503_n-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 600222_538435586221131_2045152503_n-1.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/600222_538435586221131_2045152503_n-1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Day 2:</b><br />
<br />
OG: We should really go pick some currants (for hours and hours and hours and...)<br />
Older Child: Maybe the birds will eat them.<br />
OG: They didn't last year. Why don't you get a bowl.<br />
Older Child: But I'm reading.<br />
Younger Child: Mommy's going to tell harvest stories.<br />
OG: Do I have to?<br />
<br />
Half an hour later<br />
<br />
Older Child: I'm hot.<br />
Younger Child says nothing because she has run off to play<br />
Baby wants a nap.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/993615_538435849554438_104359347_n.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 993615_538435849554438_104359347_n.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/993615_538435849554438_104359347_n.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Bowl of currants slowly filling up.</span></i><br />
<br />
<b>Day 3:</b><br />
<br />
Older Child: Do you think the birds will get them?<br />
OG: Birds? Hungry? Hey you, waxwings. Get out of the serviceberries and delight in this feast of red deliciousness.<br />
Younger Child: You promised to tell stories!!<br />
OG: Fine.<br />
<br />
A stirring rendition of the Pied Piper complete with musical scores follows. Children half heartedly pick.<br />
<br />
Older Child: I'm hot and there are spider webs. Do I pick the spider webs?<br />
OG: They are fruitworm webs not spiders. How many times do I have to answer that?<br />
Older Child: Are these spider webs? Are these spider webs? Are these spider webs?<br />
Younger Child says nothing because she has ran off to bring the chicks to eat earwigs under the currants bushes.<br />
<br />
An hour later we bring in a large bowl.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/1002836_540717425992947_332612894_n.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1002836_540717425992947_332612894_n.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/1002836_540717425992947_332612894_n.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>Day 4:</b><br />
<br />
OG: Time to ... kids?<br />
<br />
An hour later, I freeze a bunch of white currants.<br />
<br />
<b>Day 5:</b><br />
<br />
Older Child: Do you think the birds will eat them.<br />
OG: We've been over this.<br />
Younger child darts in and out of bushes to bring back one or two currants at a time. Eats half.<br />
Baby crawls over and starts to pluck them off. We pause for photo moment.<br />
Younger child gets bored and gets the chicks and starts placing them on people's shoulders.<br />
Older Child: Is that a deer fly?<br />
OG: Sounds like it.<br />
Older child: Ah, the chick ate one off your head!<br />
<br />
We start wearing chicks.<br />
<br />
One hour later we are almost done.<br />
<br />
Older Child asks for the fifteenth time: What are you currently doing mommy?<br />
OG: Picking currants.<br />
Peels of laughter.<br />
Older Child: Pass me a chicken.<br />
<br />
One hour later, the bushes are almost empty.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s143.photobucket.com/user/telsingandrews/media/Summer2013/1017337_540718969326126_1382188875_n.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 1017337_540718969326126_1382188875_n.jpg" border="0" src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r131/telsingandrews/Summer2013/1017337_540718969326126_1382188875_n.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>Day 6:</b><br />
<br />
No one mentions currants<br />
<br />
<b>Day 7:</b><br />
<br />
Younger Child: Guess what I found in the woods?<br />
OG: What?<br />
Younger Child: More currants!!!<br />
OG: I didn't hear that.<br />
<br />
We now affectionately call this currant hell. P.S. There are more currants.<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
Currants, and other Ribes, are super easy to grow here in my experience. They are versatile too, the red replacing cranberries in many recipes at our place. You can pick them stems and all and squish then strain them to make a juice or a base for jelly. Or you can clean and freeze.<br />
<br />
They are forgiving of growing conditions, often found as an understory bush but will be heavier producers in the sun.<br />
<br />
Around here, several types are commonly grown:<br />
<br />
Red currant - Ribes rubrum. Heavy producing and often found wild though they may or may not be as tasty as some of the commercial cultivars.<br />
White currants - also Ribes rubrum just a white form. These are delectable.<br />
Black currants/cassis - Ribes nigrum. A special delicious flavour. Sometimes the leaves are used but as I have not tried this, I suggest you do your own research.<br />
Golden flowering currant - Ribes aureum. Grown as an ornamental for its early yellow flowers but also edible. I find them quite tasty<br />
Alpine Currant - Ribes alpinum is a common hedge plant with bland fruit<br />
<br />
Not to mention the gooseberries and jostaberry. In the woods, you might find a prickly gooseberry which is just begging to be part of a bet. Traditionally the spines were singed off.Ottawa Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486499450332482461noreply@blogger.com5