April 6, 2005
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Reviews

Gardening by the Book: My Crash, Burn, and Regeneration

Guest post by Teresa Youngblood

Gardening was making me a little crazy, and this before I had planted a single seed.

I always wanted to grow up to be one of those peaceful, well-adjusted, earthy women who live with gusto and who tend wild, luscious gardens. I think this was because, as a child, I was bookish, possessed of few friends, and likely to blurt out odd things in the middle of other people’s conversations. The skillful, nurturing, and wise gardener was the antithesis of my extended geeky phase. It was more of a mental picture than a plan, though, and I clipped through college and then graduate school with nary a spider plant to call my own, much less a laid-back, carefree approach to living.

But one day, a few years ago, I found myself graduated, in a new city, and living on a second-floor apartment. I had no clear goals for my future, but I did have a balcony. So in lieu of taking up panic attacks, I decided to start a garden.

I immediately began planning a brave and inspiring balcony garden. Never mind that I didn’t know a thing about gardening. I wanted the kind that wantonly spilled vivacity and cheer over the side of an otherwise sterile building. And since I knew not a soul who had a knack with plants, I set off for the city library.

It was September, and because I did not know yet that winter gardening existed, I made a plan to research gardening until the spring. The first two books I checked out were Rodale’s All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening and John Jeavons’s How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. They were just what I needed—pages and pages of facts, how-tos, tricks of the trade, and important ecological philosophy.

I found plenty more information to keep me busy until March. I made charts and copied graphs. I spent hours surfing gardening websites and creating a list of my favorites. I perused back issues of the Organic Gardener and Mother Earth News. By January I had moved on from reading about gardening and was reading about heirloom varieties and seed saving, the World Bank and global food issues, the waning of the back-to-the-land movement of the ’70s, and the history of the Dole family and the hijacking of Hawaii.

And so, by February I was convinced that the only way I could call myself a real gardener was if I moved out to the Canadian countryside, grew all my own organic food, and checked out of the cash economy.

This was not turning out to be the harmonious hobby I thought it was. I needed space. Gardening was making me a little crazy, and this before I had planted a single seed.

So on my next trip to the library I picked up Michael Pollan’s Second Nature and Jamaica Kincaid’s My Garden (Book). I thought perhaps that other bibliophiles would have advice on what to do after the crash.

And I was right. Aside from incredible writing, I found in these two books some perspective. As the authors told the stories of their first gardens, I recognized the impulsiveness, the eagerness to always know more, and the difficulty in finding a balance between being obsessive and negligent. I saw them looking for themselves in their gardens—either the selves they were or the selves they wanted to be—and I recognized that, too.

When March came, I bought a bag of organic dirt, a bag of mushroom compost, and a trowel.

I chose one, just one, variety of heirloom tomato to grow on my balcony. I planted eight seeds; six came up; I gave three away (along with a few tidbits about crop diversity) and kept the other three. Feeling the need to be encouraged, I also planted things that I found suggested for a child’s garden because they were sunny and easy to cultivate: morning glories, nasturtiums, and marigolds. They all came up and bloomed gloriously.

As the summer began, my reading tapered off. My plants grew. Neighbors would call up to me from the street and ask what was what. By August, the morning glories even started to cascade a little bit.

That September (and every September since then), I got an itch to catch up on my gardening reading. I have some favorites that I dip into, and others that I read cover to cover. But I let the information sit a while in my head and mix with other things I know—about myself, about the world, and about gardening. I am still waiting to turn into the quintessential gardener (I have even bought a floppy hat to speed up the process), but in the mean time I think I am more peaceful, better adjusted, and the most connected to the earth when I garden with a few books, a few facts, and a little of my very own wisdom.

Teresa Youngblood hails from the deep, deep South of the U.S. of A. She tried her hand at gardening in the ground for the first time this winter in the community garden of a local women’s center, and now understands why collards became the staple of Southern diets. (They are made of iron, and are daunted by nothing.) She is currently studying to be a teacher of middle school English.

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April 6, 2005
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Gardening 101 Projects

From the Ground Up: Adventures in Making My Own Plot

Guest post by Kelly Gilliam

So you’ve just moved into a new place. You look around, and find yourself in a jam. Maybe your new yard doesn’t come with a garden plot, or perhaps the plot there is so overgrown with weeds that it looks like it hasn’t been touched in ten years. Whatever your situation, there’s no reason you can’t forge ahead and create your own sustainable and personal garden. All you need are some good tools, a little bit of research, and a plan for what you want to grow.

Last year I was presented with the problem of starting over, completely from scratch. After much prodding, my upstairs landlords had given me the okay to use a small, five-foot-square plot of land. They had left it unused and uncared for, apparently for the entire time they had owned the house. It baffled me that the clay-logged soil, infested with weeds, could ever have housed a working garden. Regardless, I was hell-bent on making my own little garden to grow not only hardy plants, but vegetables and more sensitive species as well.

I started by deciding exactly what it was that I wanted to grow. Being in love with the idea of one day growing all my own fruits and vegetables (to the point where I wouldn’t have to buy any save for the off-season), I decided the bulk of my plants would be vegetables and herbs. Luckily, my new plot received almost full sun and would be ideal for growing tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs.

The next step was to break up the clay soil and add organic material to support the plants. Thankfully, I had recently bought Andy Sturgeon’s “Planted” and it proved to be an indispensable resource on soil types. At the time, I was working at a greenhouse so I was also able to learn from my co-workers. For my five by five foot area I settled on 30 L of mushroom manure, 60 L of topsoil and 20 Kg of washed sand. I dedicated a full day to re-conditioning my soil.

My first act in the plot was to rip out all of the larger weeds—anything over 15 cm in height or spread. I decided that I couldn’t rip out all of the smaller weeds, so I took my good, heavy-duty metal shovel and worked from one end to the other, turning over all the soil to break it up.

If there’s one nugget of wisdom I’d like to impart, it’s the value of getting yourself a good metal shovel. Plastic shovels, while cheaper, cannot take the strain of tough soil or tons of use (that goes for the handle as well the blade). It’s definitely worth the money to go all out on a good shovel; if you do you can get a life’s worth of use out of it.

For the next round of digging, I took the sand—all 20L of it—and threw it over the garden in segments, turning over each area with my shovel and a large metal-toothed rake as I went. I had decided that it was best to break up the clay with sand first, and then try to work in the organic material.

I worked in the mushroom manure using the same method I had with the sand. I chose mushroom manure not only to break up the soil, but also to add lots of nutrients. I did not want to be fertilizing every few weeks all summer, preferring to create something much more sustainable and low maintenance.

After I had finished with the manure I added the topsoil, to give the soil lots of bulk and more drainage. I had removed particularly large clumps of clay along the way and needed some filler for those areas.

When I was done, after nearly three hours, I was left with rich, dark soil that drained well but could also hold water on those long hot days when the plot would be in full sun. I was tired, but I was really excited that I had personalized my garden, and without even planting anything. I started to better understand that gardening all begins with the soil—that seems like such common knowledge, but it is easily overlooked in the haste and excitement of planning the look of a garden.

The next day I went to the greenhouse where I worked and picked up my vegetables, herbs and ornamentals. Because of the direct sun my garden would receive almost all-day, I made sure to pick lots of sun-loving plants. Tomatoes took up most of the room in my garden in the long run; my four baby plants eventually grew to over three feet tall and produced fruit constantly up until November, with no fertilizing. I planted several varieties of rudbeckia, as well as four types of basil, rosemary, dill, borage (a great herb with a cool cucumber flavour and beautiful little, blue, star-shaped flowers), fennel, cucumber, a lime plant, passionflower, and many other flowers. I also planted bee balm right beside my herbs and tomatoes to attract bees for pollination.

With a little research and a lot of persistence I had started from the ground up and made my own little garden according to my own tastes and needs. It took remarkably little of me save a few hours in the sun (with lots of sunscreen and water by my side), and I gained much from it. Not only did I have a garden, but I had created the area all myself and I really felt like it was my own. I had a bond with my garden that I’d never quite experienced before.

I’ve since moved from that basement suite into another urban basement suite, and that little plot is now somebody else’s. My current place doesn’t have any land of its own, but there is a perfect spot in the yard, calling my name, waiting to be transformed. I find myself really excited at the prospect of once again creating my own personal space.

Kelly is a city-dweller from Vancouver, B.C. Originally from the prairies, she was amazed to find that in Vancouver you can garden three-fourths of the year. She’s currently attending film school, and whenever she’s not in the stages of production she can be found digging around in her garden. She is also a photographer and her work can be viewed at Devileye.net.

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April 6, 2005
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Garden

Lawn Order

Guest post by Sarah B. Hood

When we moved into our narrow city house with its postage-stamp backyard, my partner Jonathan outed himself as a lawnie: a leaning more frequently found among men than women, I’ve found. My dad was never happier than when spraying an arc of water over his little plot of grass; similarly, Jonathan likes to sit on the picnic table with a paperback in one hand and a hose in the other.

Jonathan grew up in a semi-developed suburb, where residential yards blended seamlessly with woodsy areas. For him, a lawn is where kids play hide-and-seek, and where grownups chill in a lawn chair with an iced tea, a radio and a book. He was surprised to learn that the North American lawn is the subject of controversy.

Of course, some see lawns as artificial environments that are inhospitable to many creatures and too often maintained with an arsenal of chemical agents. Nonetheless, Jonathan and I have found, a little bit of grass is nice to walk on, pretty to look at and easy to maintain in a more natural way. Here’s how:

Water infrequently but deeply

  • Instead of watering on a schedule, wait for the soil to dry out. When the grass seems to curl a little, water a lot (but not at midday, when it’ll just evaporate).
  • If you have time, water for a while, then wait, then do it again. (This helps water penetrate deeper into the soil.) If it rains a little, water a bit more afterwards.
  • During heat and drought, grass goes dormant. It needs less water then; just enough to keep it from turning completely yellow.

Mow high

  • Taller grass has more chance to fight off weeds, so don’t cut it shorter than three inches.
  • Try not to cut more than a third of the height off at once.
  • Keep your mower blade sharp, so it will damage the grass less.
  • Don’t rake up your clippings, unless you’ve cut back a lot. (Yes, it looks neater if you rake, but your lawn will be greener if you give it back that good nitrogen.)
  • Luckily, grass grows most in spring when you’re eager to be in the garden. It’ll slow down by July.

Feed regularly

  • Top-dress your lawn by sprinkling it with organic fertilizer, extra topsoil, compost and/or manure. The worms will do the work of getting it into the soil. (But fallen leaves smother grass, so rake them off, especially in early spring.)
  • Cool-climate grasses need to be fertilized in early spring and fall, when they have growth spurts.
  • Warm-climate grasses want two spring doses and none in fall.
  • White clover naturally fixes nitrogen in the soil. If you have a big lawn and you don’t mind some nice hardy ground cover in with the grass, consider seeding it with clover.

Weed by hand if possible

  • If you have a small space, you can get rid of most weeds by hand. Dandelion forks are cheap, and help you get most of the roots out.
  • If you have a very big yard, consider just mowing down the weeds instead of removing them. After all, they’re extremely drought-resistant.
  • The best way to fight weeds and destructive insects is by nurturing healthy grass so it’ll compete on its own.

Aerate

  • Your grass wants to grow in light, airy soil. (Worms like this too.) In spring, jab a pitchfork into the ground and wiggle it, making as many holes as you like. (For big lawns, there are specialized tools for this that are more efficient.)
  • Avoid walking on the lawn when the ground is squishy and muddy in early spring.

Bring in reinforcements

  • You can sprinkle extra grass seed when you fertilize; it’s cheap and easy. Water it often and don’t worry if the birds eat some. It’s exciting to see the new sprouts!
  • There are many types of grass, with great names like fescue. Some are good for shade, some for heat, and so on; you can buy mixtures. Consult with your local garden store to see what works in your zone.
  • If you have a bald patch, you can lay down a roll of sod. It’s much more expensive than seed, but it looks good right away. It should be laid on a bed of nicely turned, rich topsoil. Stamp it down well to seat the roots, and water it often until it starts to grow.

And also…

Don’t even try to grow grass right under a tree or in a heavy-traffic area. These situations call for a few well-placed paving stones, a wood-chip path or some shade-tolerant ground cover.
If your lawn looks sad, get your PH tested (that’s the acid/alkaline balance of your soil). The quick-and-dirty method: dandelions thrive in alkaline soil, which you can correct with gardener’s sulphur. Moss loves acid, which can be balanced with pelletized lime. (We’ve never done this, but we thought you’d like to know.)

Don’t make yourself crazy when you mow. Instead of chopping off the ends of your hostas, make a mulch border or dig a trench between the flowerbeds and the grass. Fill in hard-to-mow corners with something forgiving like a clump of ornamental grass.
If you get snow in your area, make sure you and your neighbours aren’t throwing salt on your grass. (Where does sidewalk runoff go?)

Finally, don’t spend more time fussing with the lawn than you do enjoying it. Make your first lawn investment a cheap and comfy lawn chair, a paperback and some iced tea. They’re bound to make your grass look great.

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April 6, 2005
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Links

In the Bag

Guest post by Sampath Jagannathan

One man’s cheap and organic alternative to fancy store-bought grow bags.

Take a plastic bag.
Fill it with soil.

Scatter some seeds.
Water.

Seedlings sprout.
Let them grow.
They become bigger.

Cover the soil with:
Fruit peels.
Uncooked vegetable waste.
Tea and coffee grounds.

Water when the plant asks for water.
It won’t ask often.

Will it grow into a plant?
Will it flower?
Will it fruit?

It did for me.

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April 6, 2005
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Containers Herbs Recipes

Basil: Variety is the Spice of Life

Guest post by Kelly Gilliam

What do you think of when you imagine basil? The scent of a summer herb garden filling your nostrils? The taste of a nice pesto on a cool evening? Bees rushing around feverishly from tiny flower to tiny flower? Or maybe it’s just the different textures, sizes, shapes and tastes that spring to your mind when you ponder the dozens of available varieties of basil-and there are dozens to say the least. The ever-popular sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) is the most commonly seen in kitchen gardens and windowsills alike. However, it is limiting to restrict yourself to only this kind of basil. Each variety can uniquely enrich not only the flavour of your cooking, but also the look of your garden.

Despite their variations in flavour and appearance, the different types of basil are similarly easy to care for. Being a plant of tropical Asian descent, basil likes well-drained soil and plenty of light, ideally bright direct afternoon sun. One thing that my years of raising basil have taught me is that the plant must not be waterlogged; allowing the soil to dry out between waterings helps greatly. I have also found it easier to grow basil in a container than in the ground. Moisture levels can be more easily monitored in a container, and if the initial location is not immediately beneficial, the plant can easily be moved to another spot. For containers, I always pick something shallow, like a pot made for bulbs or succulents. Basil has shallow roots and placing it in a more shallow pot allows the roots to reach out in a more natural manner and also to stay warm, something which is essential for basil to grow strong and healthy.

Thousands of years ago, basil was the subject of much debate in the realm of herbal medicine. While some embraced the herb as not only a wonderful source of flavour but also of relief for digestive ailments, other ancient herbalists claimed that basil damaged internal organs and caused insanity, coma, and the spontaneous generation of assorted detrimental parasites and arachnids, such as lice and scorpions! However, the Roman naturalist Pliny himself was a proponent of the good that basil exacted upon the human body and was the first to suggest that it alleviates flatulence, something which modern pharmacology supports. Basil has also been shown to relieve nausea and stomach upset when administered as a tea, much like its mint cousins.

Following are eight common varieties of basil that are relatively easy to find and should be in stock in your local nursery in the spring. Of course this is only a small sampling of the dozens of varieties available. My best suggestion would be to get as many varieties as you can and experiment with the different flavours by adding the fresh leaves to your cooking. After all, when you cook with herbs you’ve raised yourself, it always gives you a new appreciation of your food. Remember to go herb shopping early to get the best selection.

Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum)
Sweet basil is easily the variety most frequently seen in herb (or any) gardens. It has a strong, almost tart flavour when fresh, but when dried, its flavour sweetens. This particular variety has a mild initial taste which lasts on the tip of the tongue. The aftertaste is strong and lingers in the back of the throat, almost leaving a sensation in your nose.

African Blue Basil (Ocimum kilimanscharium x Ocimum basilicum purpurescens)
This is a personal favourite of mine. The fresh leaves have a strong initial flavour, which is much sweeter than sweet basil. Not only is the flavour more enjoyable, but it also has gorgeous green foliage streaked with purple veins, and deep purple flower heads. Its texture is also a surprise to most people who are used to sweet basil. While most basils have a very smooth leaf, African blue basil is fuzzy and almost rough, something you can also taste when it is added to a dish. It does not have an overpowering aftertaste, and does not linger in the back of the mouth as sweet basil does. As if these factors were not enough to ensure a permanent spot in my favourite basil list, African blue basil is also very easy to grow, and sends out new shoots incredibly quickly.

Lemon Basil (Ocimum americanum)
This basil is true to its name-one sniff and one would swear one was in a lemon orchard. Initially, it tastes almost the same as most basils, but its slight aftertaste resembles that of lemon balm. It has a very mild flavour, and while it smells beautiful, the ‘lemon’ in the name does trick one into expecting something that tastes a little more lemony. That aside, it is a nice addition to the garden, and a nice addition to a recipe that may call for citrus highlights. I have had more trouble growing this basil than any other. I had two plants, one which received sun for about seven hours a day, and another which received sun for about three hours. Both were leggy despite being pinched back, and were very slow growing despite optimum soil and water.

Thai Basil (Ocimum basilicum ‘Thai’)
As the name might suggest, this variety had a very spicy flavour with a slight hint of licorice, but with a nice mild aftertaste. Along with the African blue basil I found this one very fast and easy to grow, and also quite pleasing to the eye. It produced flower heads that were deep burgundy, which contrasted nicely against this variety’s pale green leaves. This is also a favourite of mine, and goes well in any dish with heavy spices. This is the herb for all your authentic Thai curries!

Cinnamon Basil (Ocimum basilicum ‘Cinnamon’)
This variety is very true to its name, and had a distinct cinnamon aftertaste. Although initially it very much resembles the tartness of sweet basil, it has a cool flavour that would probably be excellent for a cold dish that called for the addition of basil.

Spicy Globe Basil (Ocimum basilicum ‘Minimum’)
This basil is actually milder than the variety name would have you believe. While it is excellent for a container or smaller spaces because of its tiny leaves (measuring 1-1½ cm long) and compact growth habit, its flavour very closely resembles that of sweet basil. It does have a slight sage flavour, and would probably be excellent in complimenting sage in a dish.

Rubin Basil (Ocimum basilicum ‘Purpurascens’)
Also known as Dark Opal Basil. It has dark purple/reddish foliage which adds a sharp contrast to any herb garden. It has a strong dry bite with a taste that lingers on the tongue and leaves your mouth feeling parched. While it is a good strong basil, which I’m sure some must love, I found myself valuing it more for its dark purple leaves instead of its rather acerbic taste.

Green Bush Basil (unknown, might be another variety of O. basilicum ‘Minimum’)
This is another variety of basil excellent for growing in containers. It is small, and has much the same growth habit as spicy globe basil. However, instead of dark purple its flower heads are straight green like the rest of the plant. Also unlike spicy globe basil, it has more of an actual spiced flavour. It has a delicious aftertaste, which stays strong but does not overwhelm the senses like some basils have a tendency to do.

Baked Lemon Basil Chicken
Ingredients:
2 pieces of boneless & skinless chicken breast
1 good handful of lemon basil
3 sprigs of African blue basil
½ cup of water
¼ cup of olive oil
1 sprig of rosemary
1 sprig of tri-colour sage
1 tsp lemon juice
dash of pepper
1. Combine all herbs, oil, water, pepper & lemon juice in blender and liquefy.

2. Place defrosted chicken breast in marinade in a sealable container and place in the fridge over night.

3. When you are ready to prepare dinner, take out the chicken breast and place it in a baking pan that is lightly coated with olive oil.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

5. Take the rest of the marinade and paint it onto the breasts. Place chicken in the oven with the cover on for 30-45 minutes or untilgolden brown. For extra flavour, add a thin slice or two of lemon to the top of the chicken while baking.

Serves 2

Herb & Veggie Fried Rice
Ingredients:
1 cup of rice
½ yellow pepper
2 tbsp of onion
1 tbsp of sunflower oil
3 large mushrooms
One sprig of fresh rosemary
One sprig of fresh thai basil
6-7 leaves of fresh sage
1. Pick your favourite kind of rice and prepare.

2. Once the rice is cooked, take out a fry pan and coat with the sunflower oil. Place rice in the pan and start to cook over low-medium heat.

3. Chop onions, pepper, mushrooms, rosemary, sage and basil and add to rice. Cook until rice is slightly browned and flavours have infused. Peppers, onions and mushrooms should be tender.

4. This can be used as a meal or as a side dish.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Bibliography
Claire Kowalchik and William H. Hylton, ed. Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs. Pennsylvania: Rodal Press, 1998.

Inge N. Dobelis ed. Magic and Medicine of Plants. New York: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., 1989.

Kelly Gilliam is a full-time greenhouse employee from the Greater Vancouver, B.C. area gardening out of primarily containers due to her urban enclosure. Because of her discount at work she is utterly hopeless about bringing home plants, doing it on a weekly basis. Her favourites are any kinds of cacti and succulents, which she also obsessively cultivates from seed. When she’s not at work or puttering around the local second-hand shops for interesting junk she runs Devileye.net.

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