2007 January | You Grow Girl

January 15, 2007

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Hamilton

On Sunday I travelled to Hamilton, Ontario to attend a number of events. The first was a book signing at a fantastic independant art supply store called “Mixed Media.” I was really impressed with the store which offered so much more than art supplies including zines, crafty works by local artists, and a wide breadth of book titles some of which were not at all related to art making. They’ve also been growing food in the backyard — the You Grow Girl book really does fit in with everything they’ve got going on there and I was very proud and flattered to have been welcomed into their community.

I had the opportunity at the event to talk with a lot of people who are really enthusiastic about growing food and adding greenery to Hamilton. We exchanged thoughts about how class and gardening intersects, how gardening communally can transcend age and cultural barriers to form community, urban agriculture, and how cool it would be if more schools were offering gardening space to their students on campus. Everyone was really smart, enthusiastic, and motivated to make these changes happen in their community. Hamilton has really got it going on! I want to thank Mixed Media and Sapphire Singh of Green Venture for inviting me to their city and showing me such a great time.

Here I am with the owner of the Most Used Book, Ever. I am not exaggerating when I say that seeing this book was my proudest moment thusfar. That book has been around the block!

Next up was a trip across town to The Royal Botanical Gardens were I was the keynote speaker at their annual Health and Wellness Show. I gave two short presentations on growing food organically. Twenty minutes is not a lot of time to get into the real meat and potatoes kind of information but I hope attendees left feeling inspired to get out there and give it a go.

It’s funny that I have never visited the Royal Botanical Gardens given that I grew up in the Niagara Region and live so close. I’ve meant to go several times but something always comes up. Winter isn’t the best time to attend but I did get a chance to spend a few minutes soaking up the fresh jasmine scented air in the greenhouse. Oh how I long to live closer to a greenhouse. I always forget how great they are until I’m standing inside surrounded by huge plants and tropical trees breathing in that oxygen-loaded air.

Here I am standing next to the largest flowering jade I have ever seen! In case you’re wondering, the flowers do not have a smell.

See here for more photos from the RBG greenhouse and the trip.

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January 12, 2007

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Secret Gardens

I’ll be traveling to Hamilton, Ontario this Sunday to do a book signing and give two presentations at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Giving gardening presentations and workshops has become a regular part of my spring schedule yet it is something I rarely seem to talk about here. What’s worse is that I have been noticing a growing disconnect between the things I add to the site and the things I talk about at these events. Looking back I think it’s got to be the fact that I am so exhausted by the end of spring that I just kind of move on and lose the excitment to share. Last spring I wrote, designed (with photos) and gave eight completely lectures within a months time! My New Year’s resolution is to start integrating all of these different aspects into this site.

One of my favourite things about speaking to groups is showing photos of the gardens I find in the craziest places. My attitude is that if these people can pull it off, anyone can! I have taken to starting off many presentations with the following photo since I think it’s about the most successful worst garden I have ever encountered.

I first found this little tomato patch a few summers back while wandering through the alleys of Toronto. Toronto has an exceptionally great alley system that is an interesting (but sometimes indirect) system for walking or biking from point A to B if you’d rather stay off the beaten path. People are less concerned about the back of their house so there is a lot of hidden gems and bits of history that has been left in place.

But I digress. Every summer a group of artists borrow the garages of a local system of alleys to put on an art show called “Alley Jaunt.” I found this little cobbled-together raised bed sitting behind a garage while out exploring these temporary garage galleries. A year later I came across the same garden while on another Alley Jaunt. This time the gardener responsible was there tending to and harvesting an impressive patch of pole beans — his own version of crop rotation! Unfortunately the elderly gent spoke Portueguese and I do not so communication was impossible. I tried to let him know how impressed and inspired I was by his garden as best I could and then went on my way.

Full Disclosure

I think it’s important to go against the grain of traditional gardening magazines that focus on hyper-perfect fantasy garden porn and show you that there is no shame in a less-than-perfect garden.

Here is a photo of the street garden taken just last week. Keeping up with the garbage and the human pest damage is an impossible mission but the rest is completely my responsibility.

Enough said.

Don’t Plant, Do Plant

I came across this “Don’t Plant a Pest” brochure put out by the California Invasive Plant Council that could be handy for those of you in the Bay Area. I like that instead of listing invasives with a stern warning against planting, they offer reasonable alternatives and solutions.

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January 5, 2007

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Amateur Phenology

So. Ummmm. Who’s a little freaked out by this crazy weather? They say Canada is totally backwards especially for an El Nino year with the west coast all wet and wild and the east unseasonably warm and snow-less. I’ve heard that things are also a bit nutty in parts of the U.S and my Northern California friends are talking about super early magnolia blooms.

Just today I received a frantic phone call from my friend Sarah announcing that she had just spotted two yellow, blooming dandelions on her street. That’s exactly how she said it, “Mark this down: two blooming dandelions, January 4, 2007, Toronto, Ontario.”

Sarah also mentioned that dandelions are known as an indicator of weather patterns. Apparently there are people who record when the dandelions bloom in certain areas. While I do know that this kind of pattern study is called Phenology (as gardeners we are all amateur phenologists in some way), I have been unable to find information relating phenology specifically to dandelions. However, this article states that blooming dandelions indicate when the soil temperature is “… between 50 – 55 degrees. That is the same temperature that soil microbes become active, so dandelion flowers are a nice indicator for when the soil is waking up.”

I truly hope my soil is not waking up.

Actually I’m pretty sure it is. Here’s some photographic evidence:

crocus

The pansies didn’t actually stop. Pansies are quite resilient and will often keep blooming until the hard chill really kicks in. The container plants give up much earlier since they are much more exposed to the cold.

I have also noticed that a lot of other early spring risers are coming up in full force. These include perennials and self-seeding annuals such as: artemisia, globe thistle, anise-hyssop, grasses, and giant red mustard. I am not particularly concerned about the long-term welfare of these hardy plants but am worried about how this will fare for the more delicate of the bunch.

Anyone with further interest on how warming has affected gardening may want to check out this cool map of the U.S (Sadly I could not find a Canadian equivalent) that shows how the hardiness zones have been changed to reflect overall climate change.

{via the You Grow Girl Forums}

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