Last Frost: An exposé

2012 tomato seedlings hanging out in a small greenhouse. That was a warm year.

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.

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.

Last frost is not 0C

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!

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.

I plant before last frost


Bellis perennis - English Daisy - growing under lights for spring flowers and greens.

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.

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!

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.

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. 

Frost as a helper

'Grow-boxes' are my little mini-greenhouses with frost hardy seedlings.

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 wintersowing), 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 baggie method.

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.

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. 

Thwarting last frost: plasticulture


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.

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.

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.

When is last frost REALLY?

Litchi tomato or vila-vila, a nightshade with yummy fruit and ouchy spines. It will withstand light frosts when mature (not tried with seedlings)

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. 

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. 

What kind of planter are you?

1. May is spring:

* Lives in a sheltered place

* Has lots of seeds or plants of frost tender varieties

* Doesn't really care if everything needs replanting

* Gardens in pots that can be moved inside

Will plant at the beginning of May.
Risk Taker

2. Middle May:

* Plants when it's getting warm 

* Lives in the city or a sheltered location, not a frost pocket

* Has to go away on a trip at the end of May (my usual reason)

* Will happily cover if there is frost

Plants when the weather is fine
Optimist

3. Late May:

* May 2-4 weekend is when you plant tomatoes!

* I have to plant. My seedlings are crawling out of their pots!

It's worked for generations!
Traditionalist

4. Beginning of June:

* There is always a late frost (not so)

* These are my precious babies and I'm not risking them.

* Too much work to cover

* I just bought these seedlings. That's okay right?

Plants when danger of frost is a distant memory
Nervous Nelly or Nettle if you prefer

Mid June:

* Oops, I have to plant a garden?
Procrastinator

Right, okay, so just tell me when to plant them!

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.

Lastly, the proper wording on seed packets for planting out should be 'after all danger of frost' rather than after last frost.

Happy gardening!

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Helpful explanation on frost by meterologist
Great document on frost formation and factors

Weeding as art, science and meditation: a series

With less space and a more established garden, weeding was pretty straight forward in my old suburban location. A lot of the gardens were also started from scratch so no serious issues had festered.

Dandelion Demo Bed Before:

Here is a before shot of the dandelion demonstration garden*. Honest there are dandelions in there. No not the Taraxacum officinale that is so boldly blooming. Other ones too. P.S. I was unable to garden as much as I wanted to last summer due to paranoia about touching soil while pregnant.

All that's changed now!

I live on a large acreage with huge gardens, some of which I have started from scratch and others I inherited along with their problems. I am also trying to limit inputs to avoid importing pests, diseases, weeds and chemicals.

Loosening soil with shovel - quick and dirty:

Most of the weeds in here are annuals including a very prolific flanders poppy which I prefer in more moderation than it likes to grow. I removed the perennials with my trusty shovel then quickly went around loosening the dirt beneath the rest. It had recently rained so the soil was easy to work.

Weeding has become a whole new experience for me. I've learned to love both my little hoe and my large digging hand-plough like hoe. I've also been experimenting with growing mulch in situ and putting in gardens using a method I am calling 'rough beds' though it is more commonly known as the bastard bed. Speed is of the essence though when I can take the time to get down to ground level and hand weed, I remember the meditative and exploratory beauty of weeding. Yes really.

Raking away weeds - imperfect but pretty darn good:

Then I raked up the weeds. Okay so not all the weeds release their grip on the ground but most of them do at this stage. I then went in with my baby hoe and scratched up the rest leaving them there to dry up (poor things).

All this to say that I have been extremely busy putting in and maintaining gardens for our families needs and for my slowly developing business but instead of ignore this blog, this is the first in a series on weeding.

Dandelion Demo Bed After:

Then I re-mulched the paths as they had been in disarray from the chickens that attacked the earwig invasion last year (thank you chickens). Now you can see that there are two garden beds here. The front one is planted with some unusual dandelion varieties, some violas, rock cress and a few other things and the back garden has a small plum, zucchinis and more. P.S. Please don't look beyond because oh yes there is more to be done. Oh so, so, so, so much more. 

***

Stats

Size of garden beds: two beds 3x9 feet more or less with a 1foot wide utility path
Tools: shovel, rake, wheel barrow
Level of weediness: 3 out of 5, lots of annual weeds but still small**
Time: Approx. 1hour and most of that in hauling mulch.
Number of Gardens to go: Well, considering this is one half of one garden out of around 12, there is more though I have done some work no them already.

Next Time: Getting to Know You: a primer on weedy ways


*No I'm not being sarcastic. There are some cool plants in there!
** Though one thing I have noticed is that weeds have a way of thinning themselves out. If you ignore baby weeds for awhile, often I find that when you go back there are fewer big weeds rather than a whole mass of stunted ones. Lots of self weeding going on. Depending on the weed (some are obnoxious if left to get too big), I sometimes wait until there are less of them to deal with then I can pull out a whole swathe of green weediness in one yank.

Sourcing Plants and SeedPart 1 - Seedy dreams

Samples of all the types of beans I saved from my garden this year, painstakingly arranged for what purpose I am not sure... we'll say to go with the dream theme cause I certainly didn't have THAT much time to waste.

It's the time of year we start to dream. Just like when we are snuggled in our beds, our dreams can be strange, disjointed, wild, frightening or just impossible. We scour seed catalogues, websites, our own stock and lust whilst planning for next year's (im)perfect garden. It's one of my favourite gardening activities!

Where can I get my seed?

The Establishment

The first place you'll notice seeds is a rack at a grocery or hardware store. Unless you are lucky, these will likely be from one of the big seed houses like Mckenzie. The selection, at first, might seem exciting but as you go from store to store, you'll feel the deja-vu of global capitalism's so-called choice. This even plays out across small seed companies as well but to a much lesser extent. Plant nurseries (Richmond Nursery sells OSC seeds and Make it Green sells Seeds of Change), Seed and Feed stores, even health food stores (Rainbow Foods sells Eternal Seeds if I remember correctly) or other places where hipsters* and garden fanatics hang out often sell seeds too.

The Wild Wild Web

Much greater choice can be had by exploring the many small seed houses from those aimed at hybrid-friendly agri-complient customers to those in the heirloom/native or bust camp. There's something for everyone and lots in between. Try Seed of Diversity's diverse web listing of places to buy seeds. The problem is that you may want a dash of this and a dab of that from a bunch of different places which can add up to big shipping costs.

You don't have to stay in country, though locally produced seeds have a better chance of being adapted to local conditions, pests, weather and gardening practices. Though I've gone no further afield than Europe and the US, Canada is pretty lenient about admitting seeds into the country. Just remember to check the currency conversion so there are no surprises in price.

Seedy Celebration

Better yet, you can wait (if you can wait) for a Seedy Saturday/Sunday festival where lots of small seed houses will be gathered in one spot to sell their wares. This is great for most seeds but not for ones with exacting germination requirements such as those that are best sown fresh in the fall or that need to be planted indoors before February / March which are the most common dates for seedy days. They also mostly cater to the kitchen garden crowd.

Not all big business

Just like crocheted dollies and ideas, individuals sell seeds on the internet. I've gotten some really nice plants this way but it can be a gamble as I have also gotten duds. Dave's Garden has a feedback facility so you can rate your interaction with companies including one (wo)man operations as does ebay of course. For example, I've had good success with seeds and plants from Yuko's Open Pollinated Seed and Casey's Heirloom Tomatoes.

It's a mission

Some seed savers are in the business of preserving seed strains, such as heritage, or otherwise interesting species, cultivars and so on. They often belong to a seed saving organization through which you can get seeds. Seeds of Diversity is one of these as is the Seed Saver's Exchange in the U.S. Here in Canada, Salt Spring Seeds also has their own Seed Sanctuary.

Swap Meet and Round Robin

Of course in the seed world, there is more than one currency. You can trade seeds for seeds. Seedy Saturday usually has a swap table. Plant forums such as Garden Web often have trade sections. If you hang around plantophiles for long enough, you'll notice they are mostly a generous sort. So much so, that the mere mention of a plant can act like a magical incantation as those very seeds end up in my mailbox (thank you everyone!!). On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are scammers too looking to get free seeds for 'charities' only to resell them or that promise a trade but never deliver. Thankfully I've almost never encountered this.

Plantcycles, horticultural societies and the like often have swaps or round robins. I've never done the latter so I refer you to this definition.

Seed Trading Etiquette

There are often rules for different clubs or organizations but here's my take:

1. Packaging: Use something that is easy to open and close but that will not spill and write on it as much info as you can such as the common name, botanical latin name (I really must remember to do this), seed source, year seed was saved, any problems with seed such as low germination or special germination requirements.

2. For your own seed, make sure people know what they're getting: If it is an outbreeder, did you isolate it or could it have crossed with another plant, cultivar or weed? Was the parent population low? Remember that there are distance requirements between different cultivars of inbreeders too but these are less likely to be adhered to by backyard seed savers. Also, some inbreeders such as beans can be crossed by insects in certain areas.

3. Disease and pest issues: If you have an important seed born disease then it is probably best to keep it for your own use but at any rate, you should inform the recipient. There are some standard precautions taken for certain vegetables such as fermenting/bleach treating tomato seeds or freezing dry bean seeds to kill weevils if they are a problem for you. Also, be careful to remove all pests and weed seeds from your seeds. This is a good reason to remove chaff.

4. Storage requirements: Some seeds germinate MUCH better if they do NOT dry out after collection and so could be shipped moist packed. These are typically those that are best sown fresh. For examples, see Gardens North's catalogue. I can't think of any examples of this requirement for common vegetables though. Others may be easily crushed like sunflower or cabbage seeds so should be packed in bubble wrap.

5. Amount of seeds: This will vary on the type of plant, the rarity and how much you have. If you are planning to give far fewer seeds than normal, make sure the recipient knows. Also most people don't want to grow 50 tomato plants of the same variety so 10-20 seeds is plenty but they could easily sow 50 peas.

6. Postage: Normally if you are trading something more or less equivalent then no postage changes hands but otherwise, it is customary to offer. I never ask figuring all that paid postage can go into my karma bank.

That's not all

There are genetic databases, grocery stores and markets, gardens, the wilds and more but I'll tackle those subjects in different posts. P.S. As sourcing is my obsession this time of year, I thought I'd make it my winter posting theme.

Part II coming up next week: Not all seeds are created equal from hybrid, heirloom, landrace, GMO, species, GREXes and more.

* Not just for geeks, agrarians and grandparents anymore. Gardening is trending right now, especially edible gardening. Food is a big topic for good reason I'd argue. And I like the sudden influx of company. It was lonely way back when people's eyes used to glaze over when I started talking plants. Wait, they still do sometimes... At any rate, it's a garden party!

***

Previous Seedy Saturdays in Ottawa

Blogger's Seed Network hosted by Bifucated Carrot

Planting Out Considerations

Someone asked me, "When do you plant out tomatoes?" I answered then I expanded on that answer then I gave that answer some deep thought (or at least deeper than the shallow rut of habit). There are various considerations when deciding when to seed or transplant.


Hardy, woodland Hablitzia handles light frost as a seedling.

Temperature: Probably the best known is the air temperature or whether or not there will be frost. Most seed packets only give instructions in relationship to either first or last frost. This is important because frost tender plants keel over when touched by ice but following the instructions does not necessarily mean that they will thrive.

Soil temperature is also important for the growth of the plant. You may have noticed that some plants just seem to sit there until the temperatures rise and they they burst into growth. Not all soils warm at the same rate in the spring. Heavy clay soils take longer to warm then light sandy soils. Loamy soils hold moisture so I presume they would moderate the temperature. Besides, that crumbly beautiful loam is something to aspire too.

Topography will effect how your soil warms too. Sunny slopes will warm more quickly than those that slope north. The advantage is quicker thaws but the disadvantage is late frosts killing early blossoms so no fruit. Slight variations in landscape can be used to your advantage. Plant water loving, cool weather crops like most brassicas in the little dips and heat loving, dry tolerant plants like sweet potatoes (they'll grow better if not droughted) on the rises.

Buildings, trees and other barriers to wind, sun and rain will also affect whether or not soils are ready to work.

The point? It may be less stressful for certain plants to hold off a week until heavy soils are warmer. Got sandy soil? You could plant earlier but be wary of late frosts.

Give garlic the jumpstart and plant in the fall.

Weather Patterns: Seasonal drought, rainy periods or cylical flooding obviously will effect planting. One Ottawa application is that with the high water table of spring, planting out carrots a few weeks after hard frost but before last frost date gets good germination. In the height of summer, it can be harder to germinate a fall crop of carrots without help - either daily watering or a germination board.

Of course weather patterns on a large scale include seasons. For example, it is a good idea to plant anything that bolts easily in heat like florence fennel, chinese cabbage in mid-late summer so that it matures in the cool weather of fall.

On the small scale, seed just before rain and transplant under cloudy skies. I should make the weather forecast my homepage as it rules my gardening schedule. Seeding=Wet, Weeding=Sun, or S=W, is the formula I use to let nature help. Of course, weeding heavy clay after a few weeks of drought is pretty much hopeless without a pickax. But in moist spring soils or mulched beds, pulling young weeds in the sun and tossing them roots up will kill them quick (the occasional weed like purslane will just set seed anyhow - good thing it's edible).

The Point? Planting out or seeding when you can expect good soil moisture means less work. Also, don't fight the plant. Some like it hot and some do not.

Red cabbage with its cutworm collar. Started in March, set up in April.

Stage of Growth of Seedling: Have some determinate tomatoes that are in bud but stuck in a pot? I understand your desire to plant them out. At a certain stage, seedlings have to have more space or you run the risk of them flowering prematurely or otherwise having their growth checked or roots damaged. Potting them up may be a better alternative to planting out if the weather is not cooperating. I've been stuck on more than one occasion with bulky brassica or towering tomatoes and frost on the forecast. The former can go in the ground as long as the weather system doesn't fall into wintery patterns for too long but the former has to wait under cover.

Overly small plants often don't transplant well either possibly because of an under developed root system even if they would self seed.

The point? It doesn't always pay to seed early though if you do (and I always do for something), then you may need to plant before conditions are ideal. However, sometimes you win the weather jackpot by planting early. The point again? Why not seed twice a week or two apart.

Half winter sown tomato.

Insect and Disease Pressure: This will depend on what's pest-ering you but waiting a couple weeks after the first wave of carrot rust fly have flown through may lower damage. Some people have to get their tomatoes in the ground early to get a harvest before blight arrives. Hopefully your garden is free of anything serious. Other prevention techniques like providing a diverse habitat to beneficials, breaking up the blocks (or not providing an all you can eat buffet of one kind of plant in one area), rotation, and keeping your soil in good health will mean that even though you have the odd disease or pest, they are not a big problem. That said, some pests are a fact of life for some people and even the best management is not enough. You win some and some get eaten.

The point? Think of your pest like the weather and watch its patterns. Use with Exclusion, Intrusion, Removal and Rotation*

Harvest: If you are harvesting a plant all at once rather than hoping to eat it all summer, then you don't have the pressure to get it out as early as possible. Sauce tomatoes, pickles and canning beans could all fit into this category. Determinate or bush varieties work well for this too as they often fruit all at once. Alternatively, if you really, really, really want some greens early in the season, then try overwintering young plants of spinach or kale for early regrowth is the way to go.

So when do I plant out tomatoes?

Not earlier than May 14 and sometimes as late as the first week of June. Depends on the longterm forecast and the size of my plants. I have predominantly sandy soil in the working gardens on a slight western slope.


* Exclusion, Inclusion, Removal and Rotation: The way the bugs and I live with each other. Exclude them using barriers like row covers, cutworm colours and windbreaks. Include lots of plantings for beneficials like insects, birds and toads that predate or parasitize them. Also include plants that break up scent and sight signals of the pest. Remove - hand pick - pests when you see them. You may also want to remove any weeds that could harbour diseases like viruses or fungi or help overwinter pests. I generally don't because I like the diversity but it's an option if you are running out. Rotation is a more complex issue because it is done on a very microscale in most urban settings. More on this topic another day.

The Tyranny of the Tomatoa gardening paradigm exposed

Everyone around me is falling like melting icicles in the high February sun to the winter blues so I thought I'd write a Tomato Tuesday post.

When it comes to vegetable gardening, few plants are as seductive as the tomato. We've all heard the stories of converts who out of wimsy decided to pick up a six pack of slicer seedlings or grabbed a patio pot of cherries and exclaimed several harvests later that 'those were the best tomatoes I'd ever had! I'll never eat store brought again!" Once the novice gardener has tasted the sun ripened tomato, they begin to wonder what other flavour surprises are waiting in home grown vegetables. So it begins, a lifetime love affair with edible gardening. If you are near the start of your journey, let me tell you something you probably already knew.


Bowl of garden grown globes of goodness.

Not everything grows like a tomato. Here is an elaboration:

1. Seed Starting:

Tomatoes are started indoors, under lights, 6-8 weeks before last frost or around the beginning of April here.

Other plants need to be started anywhere from autumn for stratification (chilling period) to 10-12 weeks before last frost to the middle of summer. In fact, I am sowing seeds every month of the year. Seed packets should give you an idea of when to start them but be aware that occasionally it will say something like 4-6 weeks before setting out which may not correspond with the frost date. In other words, you might be setting out those plants before frost or a few weeks after. Violas, onions and strawberries are just a few plants that need a much earlier start.

Stores: Seeds are often not available until February. Some varieties are then sold out by mid summer. This is part of the reason I get most of my seed by trade or mail order so I can start it at the right time under the right conditions.

2. Growing Seedlings:

Tomato seeds should be surface sown or lightly buried and kept moist and warm until germination. The seedlings emerge quickly, around the same time. Keep them under strong light either in a southern window, or better yet, under plant lights.

The rule of thumb is that small seeds should not be buried much if at all. The larger the seed, the more you can poke it into the soil but the requirements for germination will vary. Some special germination requirements may include: Light, dark, cold, heat, oscillating temperatures, scarification (scratching the seed coat), fire, etc... Keeping the soil warm will prevent germination of some plants.

Seedlings of many herbs and most wild plants will emerge over several weeks not all at the same time. Parsley is notorious for taking ages to germinate. There are some plants that need to be kept in the nursery bed for years before they will finally show their green heads.

Also, it is unnecessary to start most vegetables inside. Legumes, greens and vining crops can all be started in the ground. I start only very early cropping brassicas, solanums (peppers, tomatoes etc...), celeriac and the odd veggie or new perennial that I am trying to establish.

Stores: Try and get a descent sized amount of soilless mix in January. I was told these aren't available until April in most places. Plan accordingly.

3. Growing Season

As tomatoes are a frost tender perennial, they must be planted after danger of last frost. If there is a surprise cold spell, they should be covered. The first frost in fall will usually finish them off. This gives you a growing season from frost to frost or in Ottawa about 120 days.

However, other plants, such as peas and parsnips, should be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring. Some will bolt in hot weather so are sown to mature in the cooler weather of spring and fall such as cauliflower, and many greens. This changes the growing season from snow to snow or from April to November, about 240 days. If you have a polytunnel or coldframe, you can add another two months to that.

Stores: The box stores usually provide all their veggie starts at the same time even if some should have been planted a few weeks ago and if other should not yet be planted for another few weeks.

4. Growing Location

Tomato plants need prime real estate in at least 6 hours of sun per day, in a warm, sheltered spot with medium moisture. Actually, tomatoes can be grown in more droughted situations if warm, moist ground is mulched and they are left to sprawl.

The truth is that there is not a corner of the garden that can't grow edibles with the possible exception of a concrete driveway though I've seen some pretty tenacious dandelions make their homes in the smallest crevices. Lots of vegetables will grow in part or dappled shade, a typical situation in an urban lot. Think greens and understory plants for the most success. You can even try mushrooms in deep shade. Equally, lots of herbs are adapted to dry, hot gardens. Even a wet spot or pond will supply food. If you are lucky enough to have a bunch of cattails growing in clean water, then you have easy access to an important wild edible.

Store: It's hard to find some of the coolest edibles, especially perennial ones.

5. Saving Seeds

Tomato fruits should be gathered when ripe. The seed needs to be cleaned by fermination or a weak bleach solution and then dried very well before storing and labelling. Though you can save from one plant, it is better to save from several of the same variety to preserve genetic diversity.

With the exception of labelling, not all seeds will require the same treatment. Many wild plants with short viability will do better if moist packed or sown immediately. Also, there are different techniques for excluding pests during storage. Weavils can be dealt with by freezing very dry seed for several days.

Also because plants have evolved strategies for dispersing seed such as exploding them out of their pods like Impatiens, we have to diligent about collecting before all the seed has escaped. I know my magenta spreen is ripe when I see the birds pecking at it.

Tomatoes are inbreeders and with the exception of a few oddballs such as currant tomatoes, double flowers and some heritage types, will not cross so your seed will be true.

Other plants can be inbreeders or outbreeders or self incompatible or only have one sex per plant so they require larger populations to produce good seed. Some might produce true seed in one area but not in another because of insect activity. Always err on the side of more plants when saving seed and embrace diversity if you don't want to actively exclude pollen from a different variety.

Also, some plants can only be propogated vegetatively as they don't produce seed or produce seedlings that are very different and perhaps less desirable than their parents. Egyptian onion is propagated by topsets rather than seeds. Many fruits trees are grafted. The top is a desired variety and the rootstock is chosen for its own special characteristics such as being dwarf, hardy or disease resistant. This doesn't mean that you can't grow fruit from seed just that each time will be a surprise. Depending on the fruit type or seed source, it might be quite like the parent or very different.

6. Garden Cleanup

To prevent disease, remove all tomato vines and dropped fruit in the fall. Ruthlessly cull all volunteers in the spring too.

I do know gardeners who let some of their tomato volunteers live (haven't we all just once?). I suppose it would depend on the level of disease you had. Rather than rip out all the plants in the fall, most healthy debris can be left to protect the ground and spread their seeds for next year. You can incorporate it into the soil next year if this is your inclination, plant into it, or topdress with a soil/compost to start beds for small seed that would not be able to struggle through the debris. Leaving some lettuce 'trees' to spread around their seeds gives you a head start on the green season.

7. Edible Gardening

Free from the tyranny of the tomato growing paradigm, you can grow sun phobic, bog friendly, perennial edibles. Start seed in November! Eat weeds! The edible gardening horizon is wide. But don't forget to grow lots of tomatoes too.


Remember this? For those that don't live around here, this is a photo from the Great Snow Year not this year.

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Ottawa Gardener admits that the first year she gardened, she started regular shelling peas indoors in February. How has the tomato paradigm affected your gardening life?

Are Vegetables Underused?

As I was enjoying some squash blossom tempura yesterday, I started to wonder what other parts of common vegetables do we ignore?




Eat and Grow your...
Squash blossoms & Watermelon seeds


Squash - winter and summer

All commonly grown species of Cucuribita including C. pepo, C. mixta and C. moschata have edible flowers, seeds and would you believe greens? The fruit of all varieties from zucchini to pumpkin can be eaten at both the mature and immature stage though breeding has made some more desireable for one or the other use.

Squash blossoms - The abundant male flowers (those with skinny stems and no immature fruit at the bottoms) are a great bonus harvest. Just don't harvest them all when there are female fruit around to make sure that you will have pollination. They are commonly eaten as tempura or stuffed.

A halloween treat around our house is roasted and salted pumpkin seeds. We eaten them unshelled though they are better without the white fibrous coat. Varieties like Lady Godiva have been selected for their hulless seed. You can also press the seed for oil. According to Plants for a Future, sprouted squash seed contain a toxin in the embryo though if you google, it seems lots of people eat them (or at least they eat pumpkin seed 'soaks')

Watermelon

Don't just spit all those watermelon seeds on the ground, you can eat them just like your mother said. If you don't crunch them raw while you enjoy the sweet watery flesh, you can roast them and use them as a flour adulterant. Oh and according to pfaf, the juice is high in pectin: the possibilities. Watermelon rinds, especially from citron, are used to make perserves.

Cucumber and Melon

Small cucumber seeds are also edible but would be a pain to deshell. Thankfully you can also press them for oil that is said to be reminiscent of olive oil. If this is true, then I will be searching for some very seedy cucumber varieties. Most links about the oil, however, take you to information about beauty products.

Melon seeds are on the menu too.

Eat and Grow Your...
Broccoli leaves & Kale Broccolini

If you have any issue growing Brassicas because of pest and disease problems, then you already know what a great food source they are. The bugs find them delectable too.

Most commonly grown Brassica can be eaten from leaf to seed, and sometimes root. I encourage double checking of all facts but here's what I've eaten. Cauliflower, kholrabi and broccoli leaves all have a tough texture but are perfectly acceptible. Mustard, rocket and kale flowers are mildly flavoured and plentiful. I suspect that most flowers from this family are edible but verify before you try. Broccolini flowerbuds from kale, choy and mustard are all tasty. Immature seedpods from mustards, kale and especially rattail radish - bred for this purpose. Of course, seeds of mustards, cabbage, and broccoli are commonly used in sprouting. I always have an over abundance of mustard seed to mix with vinegar for mustard sauce but I suspect you could use other edible brassica seed as a substitute.


Eat and Grow your...
Onions greens & Garlic Scapes

You have probably heard about eating the immature flowering stem of garlic known as its scapes, this is also true of other alliums if they flower. Making allium greens from garlic or onion is a great way of producing a winter crop or producing a quick cache crop with some late planted seed onions or garlic cloves. You can also grow greens, scapes and seed by replanting the bottoms of green onions or leeks.

If you have too many seeds on hand, sprout them.

Eat and Grow your...
Runner Bean flowers & Bean Leaves

I commonly grow extra pea seeds for their young shoots and tendrils that taste like a cross between spinach and peas. This is another easy indoor winter harvest but also makes a great quick crop for an empty place in the garden. Many common legume flowers are edible such as pea, fava bean and runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) flowers but I haven't found mention of regular old beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) so I'm not sure about those.

Eat and Grow your...
Corn Pollen & Silks & Stem

This was a fun surprise. I had no idea that you could put Zea mays pollen in soups, eat the silks and use the pith of the stem in a way similar to sugar cane. Well, now I have more incentive to try to grow the stuff! If you have had experiences using corn this way, I'd be interested in hearing more.

More uses of corn by Two-Lane Livin'

This is only the start of the alternative uses for common vegetables, there are also the well known beet greens, sweet potato greens and chicory flowers so do your research and just because your broccoli buttoned, your corn didn't form kernels and your squash aborted its fruit shouldn't mean that you didn't get anything to eat!


***


Stuffed squash blossoms

Pumpkin leaves in peanut sauce

Watermelon rind pickles

Roasted watermelon seeds

Rattail radish

Mustard recipes

Sprout people on Leek Sprouts (and much more)

Whole page on pea shoots with recipes (marketing page for Sainsbury but good info)

New blog with new idea, old blog with old idea

Just a quick post to introduce a new blog by Gen, a fellow Homegrown Goodness poster called the Green Igloo. She is in the midst of planning her Passive House on a rural oasis nearby Ottawa. It is full of interesting articles on living more sustainably.

Also, on this old (new) blog, I am going to introduce an new (old) topic and that's gardening 101. I have mostly stuck with my gardening 201 subjects because there are many sources for basic garden info but I get so many questions from local gardeners which would fall under the category of 'help, I'm new' that I thought it might be fun to make some posts about how to grow popular vegetables. However, as I'm me, I know that I will infuse it with the usual skeptical googling on alternative methods, forgetten skills and less popular but very worthy edible plants.

Rotation, rotation, rotationThe rules and breaking them

If there is one golden rule to organic vegetable gardening then it must be:

"Rotate your vegetables so that they do not occupy the same ground until at least 3-4 years latter in order to prevent the buildup of diseases and depletion of certain nutrients as well as to break the pest cycle."

Okay, you might be thinking that I am forgetting the other golden rule:

"Take care of the soil and the plant will take care of itself"

But I'm going to call that the cardinal rule so let's get back to:


Rotation - the basics

Rotation is considered one of the organic gardener's biggest allies in keeping healthy plants healthy but it can make planning the urban veggie patch a little bit trickier. When you add companion planting, microclimates for certain vegetables, interplanting, catch cropping and the like, then you might want to give it up before you even get started so let's break it down.

What are the main rotation groups?

This question is not as easy to answer as you imagine. There are (at least) three ways of looking at it but the most common answer is that crop families are rotated together or at least not planted on the same ground more than once every 3-4 at a minimum years. This is because they can be affected by the same pests and diseases, as well as requiring similar soil nutrients and levels of feeding. Typically these families will include:

1. Brassicas - cabbage, brocolli, kale, turnip, chinese cabbage and many other asian greens, mustards, cauliflower, kholrabi, brussel sprouts etc...
2. Solanacea: tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers etc...
3. Cucurbits: cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, squash etc...
4. Legumes: peas, beans etc...
5. Alliums: onions, garlic, leeks etc...
6. Asters: lettuce, chicory, endive, artichoke etc...
7. Goosefoot family: beets, swiss chard, spinach, amaranth etc...
8. Carrot family: carrots, dill, fennel, parsnip, parsley etc...
9. Grasses: corn, many cereals, etc...

I could go on (these people do) but you may have already realized that the 'typical' rotation plan for an urban garden has 4 beds so that some families will be planted together. Commonly the 4 plot rotation includes:

1. Roots: carrots, turnips, beets and parsnips
2. Solanums: tomatoes etc...
3. Brassicas: cabbage etc...
4. Other

Roots are grouped together because similar root eating pests like them. This brings us to the second way of classifying vegetables for rotation: by pests shared across plant families because of an botanical similarity, ie. an swollen underground part. Sometimes potatoes are planted in the roots section but the fact that they are related to tomatoes is acknowledged and it is suggested that the potatoes be kept away from a spot where tomatoes have been planted as well, meaning that you are down to a 3 year rotation in your 4 bed plot or that you have to add some more plots.

On occasion a gardener will micro-rotate so if you grew a row of early lettuce in your other bed, you would avoid replacing it with another crop in the aster family or another leafy green but go with something like a row of carrots or some peas.

The third reason has to do with maintaining soil fertlity and tilth (a fancy word meaning texture). Some crops are heavy feeders and others are lighter feeders so it is wise not to follow a heavy feeder like corn with another heavy feeder as it might grow poorly. Even better, some crops or plants will add fertility to the soil, break up a heavy textured soil or add organic matter, improving the soil. Some people suggest you follow deeply rooted crops with those of shallow roots assuming that they will mine nutrients at different levels.I'll give a rough list:

Feeders

1. Heavy feeders: grasses like corn, vining crops like squash, many brassicas, tomatoes, peppers and other solanums, celery, spinach
2. Light feeders: roots like beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, sweet potatoes, turnips, radishes and regular potatoes, legumes, and bulb crops like garlic, shallots and onions.
3. Legumes: Theoretically these increase available nitrogen in the soil. Examples are peas, beans, and clover.

Soil improvers

4. Crops with sturdy root systems will break up soil or mine the soil for deep nutrients like dandelions, alfalfa and peas: you can eat all them too.
5. Covercrops like rye and oats can be tilled under, smothered or left to winter kill to increase organic matter in soil. Much more on cover crops

Unless a crop is a big disease risk, like most brassicas, is doing poorly or is a host plant for a particularly annoying slow moving pest, don't always rip it out of the ground. Instead snip it off at the soil line and either let the plant material decompose in situ or compost to add to the garden later. The root system and other organic matter that you left in the ground will help to improve the quality of your soil.

Jeff cox's 100 Great Gardening Ideas has a chart separated by family and feeding needs.


Why rotate your annual vegetable crops?

Disease buildup:

If you grow the same crop in the same soil and your crop happens to get a disease like clubfoot in brassicas, blight in tomatoes or some other plague, then if you replant it, the disease will effect the plant again. This sounds great in principal but many diseases, like the ones mentioned require longer than the recommended 3-4 rotation cycle to die out. Think more along the lines of 5-15-20 years. Luckily many of us have never encountered these diseases and those who have will want to grow plants that are resistant, employ other strategies to combat along with using rotation.

Of course, you may have a minor ailment in your crop that you do not even notice which is cut off from its host if you rotate and quickly dies out.

Breaking the cycle of pests:

Another commonly given reason for rotation is to break the disease cycle of pests. This makes sense in an agricultural setting where farmers have large acreages and can widely separate crops or can even take a break from growing one vegetable in preference for another one in order to allow for the eggs / larvae to die out without their favourite snack available. It is also important that any alternative host of the pest is removed as well. Alternative host is often code for weeds so mustard is related to brassicas and if you leave it grow then your pest might just 'rest' there.

The problem is that in an urban postage stamp sized garden those Colorado Potato beetles won't mind a spring stroll of six feet to the new planting of eggplants. It will also only work on pests that overwinter near their food source, and then don't travel far to find it aftewards. It has little influence on migratory pests.

A better strategy for pest control is to increase the diversity of plants in your garden and to add lots of habitat for predatory and parasitic critters that will keep the pest population in check. Also don't worry about a pest you don't have or that isn't common in your area (some years you just get an infestation which isn't repeated the following year). If you have reason to worry then one of the most effective method of pest control is barriers such as floating row covers, mulches and plants acting as barriers. Plants exude all sorts of chemicals attract certain insects and others which repell them, as well as influencing the growth of plants around them. This is the basis of companion planting.

Nutrition depletion / loss of soil tilth.

By far the most convincing reason that I can find for crop rotation is soil depletion and explains why it can work to improve plant growth even when using rotation at a small scale. By rotating where you plant such things as corn (heavy feeder), carrots (light feeder) and peas (giver*), you can avoid exhausting the soil. However, any intensive use of soil will require equally intensive care by adding lots of organic matter in the form of compost, cover cropping, or animal manure, keeping in mind that any animal wastes can cause a damaging buildup of salts after awhile.

The practice of fallowing (fancy word for leaving a field alone for awhile) fields was used to allow for nature help rebuild the soil again as all sorts of plant life along with their critter companions, invaded lived, died and enriched the dirt substrate. This resting also allowed for heavily animal manured and irrigated fields to be leached of excess salts. The period of fallowing varied according to the space available and the fertility of the ground and systems. But I digress, you can mini-fallow by letting the weeds grow (I dare you) or by cover cropping with green manures. This does not have to be done in a large scale but just a bit of ground that is currently not growing anything because an early crop has been removed and a later crop is not planned. When I have bare ground - ack! - I throw some peas or other legume and leave them to grow thickly. Usually this happens late in the year after the mulch has broken down under another planting so the legumes are winter killed by hard frosts.

Rotation and companion planting

Companion planting adds another little complication to this whole rotation thing. Especially if you are avoiding planting certain crops besides other ones out of concern for alleopathic (fancy word for nasty) interactions between plants. The big one that I notice on these lists is that alliums (onions, garlic etc...) don't like legumes (peas, beans etc..). You'll notice that these are both light feeders.

There are also some combinations that are supposed to be beneficial such as planting legumes with heavy feeders such as pumpkin and planting carrots which don't appreciate the boiling sun with tomatoes whose foliage gives light shade. The combinations are endless but if you have only a small space then intesive polycropping might be your ticket. There also might be something to this mixed up planting which has its own effect on pest and disease control but I'll get to that in a minute.

Rotation and microclimates

Yup, I'm talking the north-south axis that says that you should plant your tall crops on the northern part of your garden and your short crops in front of them so that everyone gets their fair share of sun. Then there's those little variations in everyone's garden such as the corner with dappled shade part of the day and the hot section near the rock garden. It would make sense to plant the lettuce and brassicas in the slightly shady area and the sweet potatoes in the warm area but what about next year?

You can break up your planting beds so that you have at least three or four tall crop beds and another that has three or four short crop beds but you know that there are only so many arrangements that you can make and at least some of the time, the crops will just be beside the bed they previously occupied. Hardly much of a trick to a hungry pest or annoying fungus.

Some years, you could intentionally plant vegetables where they wouldn't be their most happy and just look forward to those better years but there must be another way.

Rotation - beyond basics, perennials and more

Perennials vegetables and more

If you ever read a veggie patch gardening plan, it will have a spot near the back for perennial vegetables - and by this they almost universally mean globe artichoke for those lucky enough to be in a mild climate or asparagus for the rest of us. (Don't get me started on the multiplicity of other perennial vegetables or at least not today.) In this guideline, it will state that 'As perennial vegetables occupy the ground for many years, they should be situated where they will not be disturbed by annual tilling...' and so on. Hey wait a minute, why do those vegetables get to occupy the same ground?

Let's think about this for a minute. Do you rotate your ornamental perennials? How about that self sown patch of comos? Don't tell me you let it grow in the same ground year after year. Wait, the best blooms wander around the garden you say? So the cosmos does its own version of rotation though not in such an orderly or well separated fashion?

Perhaps you are thinking it's true that we don't rotate our perennials but that they are different than annual vegetables. This is true and not true. Many common perennials are not only related to various edibles but can harbour the same pests and diseases. Golden alyssum is a brassica and there are various attractive asters related to lettuce, oyster root and so on, that we grow as ornamentals. Why don't we rotate them? Well if you have a poorly performing plant because of a disease or pest, I'm pretty sure that any nursery owner worth their salt would suggest planting a new specimen in a different spot. Not only that but it is common wisdom that a related fruit tree should not be planted in the same place that one had recently been grown. So we do rotate perennial plantings just at a different time scale and for more obvious reasons.

I'm fairly confident that we don't run into more problems in the perennial patch because the plants are stronger than your average annual which at the first hint of trouble will rush to seed and keel over, and they are normally surrounded by plants that are not in the same plant family, that have different root systems and have different levels of nutrient needs. The typical perennial flower border is a mish mash of difference rather than an all you can eat buffet of the same plant or plant type in an orderly block.

My whole garden is a veggie patch

Instead of thinking of your garden as made up of specific categories such as a perennial flower bed, potted plants, mixed shrubbery, and vegetable patch, start mixing them up. With especially problematic vegetables such as cabbage, I like to interplant them in a different corner of my yard each year. Sometimes they will be growing along our front walkway, sometimes by the pond and sometimes in the vegetable garden proper. Likewise, planting herbs and other perennials either into your vegetable garden or around the edges, will increase the immediate biodiversity perhaps disuading pests and attracting useful bugs like pollinators. Don't forget that large containers can be used to increase growing space.

Interplanting

Interplanting in all forms can be help including interplanting different vegetable kinds together. One year (okay last year), I had a nice row of purple and savoy cabbage but there were a couple extra seedlings that I had no space for so I tucked them into the flower beds. My lovely monocrop rows grew into beautiful full heads and then bam they were hit with head rot. It travelled along the row decimating my savoys but was slowed by the ever reliable Red Rock Mammoth cabbage. I destroyed all the diseased plant material and was lucky to have a descent harvest despite the disease but in other parts of my yard the savoy were totally unaffected. It was the crowding of all those cabbages right next to each other that allowed for the disease to be worse. So if you want to be really radical there might be something to mixing up your plantings. You can either grow two or three different vegetables together such as carrots and onions that are supposed to repell each other's nemesis pest, or you can go totally wild and plant a pepper beside a pumpkin next to a bean tepee surrounded by lettuce beside ... well you get the point.

Don't stop at with just a vegetable medley but make sure you add some flowers that will attract beneficials as well. Think of what a pretty jungle that would make. Of course, it may complicate feeding and growing regimes such as hilling potatoes but I'd love to see it!

Rotation considerations

Now that your head is rotating (or is that just me), what should you rotate? It depends on where you are and what you plant. If you have a particular pest or disease in your area then find out the best strategy for dealing with it which may well be rotation. Certainly, I would rotate heavy and light feeders with resting and green manuring to mantain the health of the soil. When it comes to rotation as a preventative measure then brassicas, solanums and root crops are at the top of my list but after that it depends on what you have the room for.

So Ottawa Gardener do you rotate your veggies?

Yes, of course I do. I'm too scared not to. Every single book I have ever read about organic gardening has told me I have to. I think I would start hyperventilating if I didn't but thankfully I grow lots of perennial vegetables which I expect will be living in there spots for some time. I also add as much biodiversity as possible into every square inch of garden space to help nature sort herself out AND if a crop is just too plagued by problems, "I don't grow it." Face it, most urban plots can't support a full year's food supply for a family of 4 so if I can't grow it, I can't grow it or maybe I'll find an alternative. There are lots of tasty green things in this world to share with the bugs.

(This gardening 201 post was made because someone asked me a question - blaim them ;)

Best Veggies for Small Spaces

I am delighted to discover that more and more urbanites are interested in growing their own produce, but you may be wondering while skimming through sumptuous seed catalogues (or seed trader lists) what are the worthiest candidates to grow, especially in a small space.

Space saving techniques:


Purple podded peas on a trellis, growing alongside a young grape.

You may not have much horizontal ground but I bet you have a fair amount of vertical space. Grow up! Often, it is suggested that you grow bush squash or hanging pot tomatoes and if you are confined to containers, then this might be your best bet as your 'root space' is limited but if you can use large pots or you have some ground then it makes more sense to trellis your squash upwards. This is also true of beans and peas, both of which come in 'pole' varieties.


Remaining red lettuce going to seed, interplanted with red cabbage.

Interplant your vegetables: Plant short rows of quick maturing crops such as loose leaf lettuce and baby greens in between vegetables that take longer to mature such as parsnip or eggplant. The classic combo is heading lettuce and cabbage though both of these are space heavy vegetables. You can actually plant cabbage very close together, down to 10 inches, and get small, family sized heads.

Think not just of space but space through time: Spring and fall are two times of year that gardens have a lot of bare spaces so let's fill those spots. Choose frost hardy, quick growing plants such as spinach or peas. I have had success growing a row of shelling peas in the middle of where I planned on putting my potatoes. If you always have some seedlings on the go, you can fill the empty spot left over from garlic with a fall maturing kale or a even a second crop of peas.

Plant on the slant: If you have a south facing wall, you can use the hypotenuse. Create a slight slope to increase your growing space. A southern slope will also warm more quickly in the spring. Or you could be really creative and create a sloped planting surface or wall filled with pots. You could, for example, get a hay barrel, hollow it out some, fill the space with compost or aged manure, then stick some pumpkin seeds on top, the pumpkin vines would sprawl down and around the 'planter' rather than along the ground. In the meantime, plant some greens to grow out from the sides of your planter. I've never tried to do this but the idea sounds fun.


Hot peppers like their hot pots.

Plant in a pot: Convert a gardenless part of your yard such as an unused parking spot or a balcony to a grower's paradise by using large containers like child's swimming pools, or large storage containers. Make sure these containers have adequate drainage holes. You could even put an inch or so of coarse gravel on the bottom. Mulch the top afterwards to help preserve water.


Rhubarb hanging out with columbine.

Decorate with vegetables: Don't be afraid to add those edibles to your perrenial beds. A lot of edible plants are attractive and besides, you'll be saying to your neighbours that you are proud to grow some of what you eat.

Space saver vegetables

Peas - climbing varieties such as tall telephone pole
Beans - pole beans, many varieties
Summer Squash - trombocino, also matures to a butternut variety
Winter Squash - most varieties. The small fruited ones are easy to trellis
Many greens - great cache crops and season extenders
Most root crops including turnips, carrots, beets
Garlic and onions are both harvested early allowing for a fall planting to follow

What's your favourite space saving vegetable?

What should I grow? A primer of classic vegetables

If you are a fellow urban 'farmer,' then this time of year is filled with intricate 4 dimensional planting charts, and painful decisions about what not to plant. Then again, perhaps you just embrace the seeds but then wonder when the time comes where you are going to cram all those plants? Or maybe you are new to vegetable gardening and are trying to decide what best to plant? Well, friends, I am here to try to help because it is my trial too so let us think of some criteria:


a. Will my family eat it?
b. Will it grow with minimum fuss here?
c. Is it a space hog or will it provide me with maximum food output with minimum space?
d. Does it taste better fresh fresh, not normally available or is very expensive?
e. Is the store bought / non organic version normally high in pesticides?



Don't feel like playing my Q&A game then let me give you some common, mostly annual veggies that meet many of the above criteria.


1. Beans: easy to grow, you can plant 2-4 inches apart. Fresh beans are available abundantly during the summer and pole beans can be trellised. Also, it's one of the easiest plants from which to save seed.


Sideways picture 'Hunter' bean with broad pods and a ladybug.

2. Peas: See above and add that freshly shelled peas are an exquisite taste that you have to experience to believe. I experience it seldomly as my kids eat most of them.


Glowing peas

3. Roots: carrots, turnips and beets. They don't take up much space and their growing requirements are meagre - a bit of sun, a bit (not too much) fertility and adequate watering. Carrot*, turnip and beet tops are also edible so eat your thinnings. You can often get two crops in a year too. Carrots are one of the dirty dozen food that has a high pesticide residue to boot.


Turnip 'orange jelly' I think it's called and a golden beet by the looks of it beside dandelion?

4.Greens: lettuce, kale, spinach and the like are easy to grow tucked in between plants as they appreciate a little coolness in the summer months. They are not high in calories but superstars when it comes to providing you green vitamen vitality! Also on the dirty dozen list.


Self sown sugarloaf chicory

5. Peppers, especially bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes are all sprayed within an inch of their life. Thankfully they'll all grow in containers. Just choose shorter varieties unless you have really big containers as indeterminate tomatoes are impressively large by the end of the season and bit tops usually mean big bottoms, ie the roots. If you have the space, potatoes are quite fun to grow. Kids enjoy helping plant the tubers and then dig up the treasures at harvest. Growing your own will also allow you to experience a diversity of varieties that is just not available at the grocery store.


Baby potatoes, the early crop.


Have a bit more space, then consider:


6. Strawberries and other soft fruit like grapes whose thin skins easily absorb pesticide residues.


Plums and cosmos happy together.

7. Cucumbers and squash whose rampant vines can be trellised for cleaner harvest, better air circulation that cuts down on diseases, and of course to save on room. Many kinds grow well in containers too.


Pontimarron squash I believe.



Even more space? Here are some high calorie crops to add to the mix:


8. Onions and leeks are both recommended by Jeavons, author of 'How to grow more vegetables,' the biointensive method.


Yummy onions... pictures of leeks lacking due to leek moth. I hope they enjoyed them.

9. Other roots like parsnip and sweet potato. Short season sweet potatoes will grow very well here with clear plastic mulched beds. Some have success in containers too.


Super delicious sweety 'Georgia Jet'

10. Grains and more pulses like lentils, chickpeas and dried beans. Combined with wheat, hulless barley, amaranth, and corn, you will get a very healthful meal.


Various dried legumes: peas, chickpeas, and beans

And my recommendation.

11. Cabbage fun to grow and surprisingly delicious fresh. It also keeps well in the winter in the back of my fridge. I've put it last as it is a space hog though I commonly space cabbage and broccoli only 12 inches apart and they grow smaller but sizeable heads in fertile soil.


Yes, I really love this picture. (It's been posted before...)

12. Lots of other veggies of course.

Enjoy and remember, Seedy Saturday with its seed trading table is coming up soon.

Vegetables for shade

How many times have I typed that title into google to see what I could find. As I have mentioned in my previous post on Northern Drought Tolerant Edibles, I have a very very small gardening biz that focuses on native and edible plantings. In order to better serve my clients, my garden and my curiosity, I make mock garden plans for areas that don't traditionally grow vegetables. In this series, I plan on writing about bog vegetables, pH variances of vegetables and the best kind to grow in clay soils. This time, it's all about shade.


Orach, lemon balm, elderberry and friends in a part shade garden.

What the heck do you mean by shade?

Good question. A shady area can vary from getting no direct sunlight at all to being flooded in sunlight in the spring until a tree canopy leaves out into dappled shade to a garden that recieves 6 hours of sun. All of these gardens might be described by someone as shady along with many other variations. To find plants well suited to your area, you have to know exactly what kind of light you are getting: it's intensity, time (am or pm), duration, along with seasonal changes. Here are some quick and dirty catagories which I'm sure will only satisfy some of the reading audience:


Self-seeded corn salad / mache in 'woodland shade.'

Mostly sun: 6 or more hours of sunlight a day.

In this setting, you can grow most vegetables especially those that like cooler weather. It is best to have morning sun but mostly afternoon sun will work too. Avoid those that are borderline for your area because they need heat or a long growing season. You might find that some plants take a longer to mature than it says on the seed pack.


Alpine strawberries, raspberries (now I grow blueberries here) and even cabbage and lettuce that year grow in part sun, about 4 hours.

Part sun: 4 - 6 hours a day

Fruiting plants will not preform as well which includes tomatoes, and squashes etc... but most greens and roots will do fairly well. Look for varieties that are bred for short seasons and / or are eaten at the immature stage, ie. summer squash instead of winter squash.. Bush peas and beans often have a shorter growing season than their pole cousins. I have had potatoes grow very well in 4 hours sun. Jeruselum artichoke grow in our yard with about 4 hours of western sun in dry soil, and it produces abundantly. Many alliums, herbs, brassicas (chinese cabbage, brussel sprouts etc...) will thrive.


Jeruselum artichokes, egyptian onion, horseradish, daylily and rhubarb grow in limited sun on the western side of the house between two walls.

Mostly shade: Less than 4 hours - solid shade

Each hour less of sun will lower the possibility of growing traditional vegetables but in the least sun it may be possible to grow some greens that are quick to bolt like chevril, some woodland plants such as fiddlehead ferns and mushrooms. Dry shade will present further challenges.

Woodland shade - deciduous trees

If you have a spot in your garden dominated by deciduous shrubs and trees, look for edibles adapted to a woodland setting such as Giant Solomon's Seal, Sweet Cicely, Ramps / Wild leeks and claytonia. These plants are normally up early in the spring to take advantage of available light before the canopy leaves out. This is another good spot for very early spring crops like pea shoots or fast growing brassicas and a fall garden especially under a coldframe. You can even try growing early spring crops of lettuce and other vegetables that don't like the heat to see if they last longer into the summer season. For more on this subject, look into 'Forest Gardening.'

On the southern / eastern edge of your woodland site, you can plant more traditional vegetables.


Coldframes located in full winter sun but dappled summer shade.

Techniques to increase sunlight

If you are stuck with a shady spot but would like to increase the amount of light you get, you can use several tricks. Firstly, if you can set up a reflective surface to direct some sun into the dark corner such as a light coloured wall, stone or water. If your shady spot is under a tree, you can limb it up (remove the lowest branches) or thin out the branches. Never prune more than 30% of your tree a year and really I'd do this very sparingly. Finally, always plant taller plants to the north of your patch so that they do not shade out the shorter ones.


Young turnip and broccoli plants in dappled shade.

I may post some gardening plans soon.
Happy gardening!

Links

Plants for a Future - north facing walls and deep shade

Overwintering Peppers - 3 year old Fatali and friends

Fatali Habanero Pepper

Every once in a while, you learn a gardening trick that sticks in your brain like stubborn pine resin and this was one of them: Pepper plants are perennial; you can bring them inside and produce a crop from the same plant next year. As I have a tendency toward adventure gardening, I thought, "cool" so I did just that. The first year, my pepper lost all of its leaves and looked so dead that I threw it out. Further reading suggested that leaf loss was not uncommon so I tried again. The second winter was a fantastic success yeilding a crop of long cayenne even indoors. The third year I was plagued by insects and this year will be the fourth year that I try it.


I particularly like this method for hot peppers because though I love spicy food, I don't need an overwhelming mass of hot peppers at any one time and I find that this method provides me with two crops of the shorter season Long Red Cayenne instead of one bumper crop. For the longer season Fatali habanero, I get one crop ripening near first frost in September. In fact, it was the pathetic growth of what was previously known as 'four leaf fatali' that promted me to try again. It hadn't fruited at the end of the season and as my husband had picked it out, I thought I would try growing it a second season.


Other then the jalapenos that were devasted this year by a mystery malady (I was away much of the summer), I had thought I had all the hot peppers I needed until I took a stroll in the Canadian Agricultural Museum, aka the Experimental Farm (more on this garden soon). What did I see but a demonstration patch of varigated Fish peppers and some Medusa Head? (or small pepper plants that stick straight up in multiple hues of orange and red - all identifications are welcome). Some animal had rampaged through the patch leaving several pods strewn across my path. What could I do but rescue them? So next year, I intend on adding Fish, Fatali, and maybe Medusa Head to the party wintering over.


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Gardening 201 - How to Overwinter Peppers


Pot to Pot


This is the easiest method, plant seedlings in a large pot and repot in something larger when needed. You might want to add compost tea every once in awhile as well. Bring out for the summer, bring in for the winter. The only problem with this method is that you have to remember to water well. I have had branches die back - even the whole top of the plant - from what I assume is drought. My solution this year was to mulch. The plants only received rain water so it seems to have worked. This year was however a bit of a soaker.


Pot to Garden Bed to Pot


I have done this as well and the plants grew much larger bearing heavier yields. Of course they were much more disturbed when about a month before first frost near the end of September, I dug them up. I have read that you should trim the roots and tops at this point but I have never done this.


Problems and Observations


Before bringing in your plant, observe very closely for whitefly, aphid, spider mites and the like. They are difficult to combat inside so do so outside while you can. If you do get an infestation in the middle of winter, you can try applying a light soap to water spray, rinsing off after 10 minutes or so. You can also just try jetting the plant with water to dislodge at least some of the interlopers. I would do this when I watered them about once a week. I also used the squish method of pest control by examining my leaves very regularly and manually smushing the pests. This kept them under control enough to keep them alive until natural predators cleaned them off in the spring outside.


Peppers are very frost tenders so you can start introducing them to real sunlight as opposed to that filtered window stuff as soon as daytime temperatures are warmish. For me, that's 10 degrees celcius. I usually have them in a covered coldframe. Increase the amount of time spent out each day in increments or if you are me, forget they are outside and start swearing when you see them in the evening looked bestraggled. Once danger of frost has passed, you can abandon them in pots in a warm, sunny place or plant them in the ground.


From my short time overwintering, I have noticed that my pepper plants will grow and crop well then show decreasing leaf size and then the leaf size will gradually increase and they will grow and crop well again. I haven't grown enough peppers to say that this is always the case but it has been for me in the two pepper varieties that I have inside.


So now you know, go ahead and try it. As for me, I'm going to try overwintering minature sweet bells next year too in order to see how they do. There is a rumour that the smaller fruited species overwinter more successfully.

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Links

Most of the links are to my older gardening blog - Ottawa Hortiphilia which talks on length of my overwintering peppers saga.