May 16, 2007
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Events Press Spring

On TV This Week

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Gardening season is gearing up for THE BIG WEEKEND, the one in which I will NOT make the mistake of visiting a garden centre or even think about visiting a garden centre. The up-and-coming long weekend — officially known as “May Two-Four” here in Southern Ontario as a way to promote the fact that any Canadian worth their salt will be single-handedly downing a 24 pack of Molson Canadian as a nod to our colonial ties to England or some such whatever, also marks the begininning of our local gardening season. As a result I’ve been frantically running around the city buying plants and preparing for a bunch of up and coming projects and television appearances. Everyone wants to talk gardening this week! I have visited at least one garden centre every single day for the last 7-10 days. I went to three today. In the rain. It was cold and wet.

Anyways, I’ll be on the teevee both Thursday and Friday this week. I’ll also be selling stuff at The Urban Harvest sale this coming Saturday (see the sidebar for details). I promise you it will be fun, not at all painful like the line-ups from hell you will see at any other garden store this weekend. Plus I’ll have new button designs!

Thursday, May 17, 2007.
Gill Deacon Show
11am and 2pm
I’ll be talking about gardening in a changing climate.

Friday, May 18, 2007.
The National
Times are listed on their website.
I’ll be talking about container gardening and demonstrating how I plant and grow tomatoes.

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May 16, 2007
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Foraging Herbs Recipes Spring

Nettle Soup

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In the spirit of Be Nice to Nettles Week, we tried our hand at a batch of nettle soup using the site recipe as a basis. Let me tell you that a half pound of nettles is a whole lot more than you’d expect. I harvested enough young nettles (stems included) to fill a small plastic bag however once the stems and not so great parts were removed it came out to just slightly over 1/4 pound. Here’s what that looks like:

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Just a reminder to protect your hands with gloves at any point in the process that involves touching any part of the fresh nettles including leaves and stems. The plant will lose its sting once cooked, but can get you at anytime when fresh, even when soaking under water.

The recipe seemed a little too bland so I chopped and added half a small onion before adding the nettles. We did not have sour cream or yoghurt on hand so I garnished mine with bits of smoked trout bought at my local farmer’s market. The soup was really good, tasting very much like vichyssoise. In fact I ate the leftovers cold. The geek in me was very satisfied that a portion of this meal was collected/foraged from the out-of-doors. Over the last year I’ve come back full circle to an early interest in wild foods and edible weeds that I haven’t really indulged since I was a teenager foraging for plants with “Edible Weeds of Canada” tucked under my arm.

Next up: Garlic Mustard.

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May 16, 2007
2 Comments
Ecology Foraging Herbs Links

Be Nice to Nettles Week

I first discovered stinging nettle one day while book shopping on Harbord Street, a popular used book area of Toronto. One of the stores had a selection of herbs sitting out front. Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for herbs and am impulsive about touching them. You should see me at the end of our yearly Herb Fair meet-ups. All of those smells in one place! I am a maniac!

So there I am happily rubbing each plant and lifting my fingers to my face repeatedly soaking in a variety of delicious herbal scents. And then I rub the stinging nettle. Let’s just say the experience has taught me to be patient and observe with my eyes BEFORE making contact with my fingers or god forbid my nose! It has also taught me a new level of respect for plants. That initial shock prompted me to look into this unassuming yet powerful plant, and I have since come to appreciate it as a very valuable and fantastic herb.

May 16-27 is “Be Nice to Nettles Week.” The site has a lot of interesting facts and tid bits from a recipe for nettle soup to information about the wildlife the plant sustains. Learning about stinging nettle might not win you over completely but perhaps warm you up just a little to this painful herb.

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