Grow

October 24, 2005

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Ladyfest Guelph

I’ve been busy over the last few months with a number of workshops and projects but thought I would take a moment to document some of that here before the experiences escape me.

I did a workshop called “Grocery Store Gardening” at Ladyfest Guelph back in Sept. Here’s the promo:

“Turn the waste from tonight’s meal into totally free, yet extraordinary houseplants. In this workshop you will learn how to grow unusual fruit trees, groovy houseplants, and edible herbs from the stuff that is normally thrown into the compost bin. Participants will take plants home with them at the end of the workshop. Please bring along any of the following items, if youÃ¯Â¿Â½ve got them: empty margarine containers or old plant pots, left-over fruit seeds: mango pits, pineapple tops, avocado pits.”

The prep work for the workshop was a bit more intense than usual as I had to make a few shopping trips for supplies and prepare some of the plant matter ahead of time but the overall experience was a lot of fun. It was just fun watching reactions to some of the unusual fruits I brought along.

I had to carry my materials on the Greyhound to Guelph which was an experience in itself. I took large cuttings of several pungent herbs including African blue basil minutes before I left and the smell emminating from my person was quite intense.

There was a Bonsai show taking place in the University Centre at the same time as Ladyfest and I must confess that I couldn’t resist and bought a Boweia aka False Sea Onion. It was too crazy to pass up and I’m too much of a succulent addict. Can’t stop the plant mania! Thankfully (or sadly) the Cactus and Succulent Society show & sale was not on. I’ve heard they tag-team it with the Orchid Society show & sale. Temptation like that would have meant sudden death to my bank account.

Unfortunately, I did not take any photos (kind of hard to do in the middle of giving a workshop). However, if you’d like to try your hand at growing your own grocery store plants, I have posted a few articles on this site over the years that delve into the subject. See:

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October 4, 2005

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Fall seed saving

Guest post by Ariane Khachatourians

Melon season has brought to me a new hobby: seed saving. I know it may surprising, but this has never been a priority for me… This year, however, was different, because over the course of the past month, I have eaten some of the best melons of my life–all organic varieties you never see at the supermarket. So, under the superb guidance of Gayla’s fabulous book, I decided to try my hand at saving some of the seeds from these melons for next year.

I saved the seeds from three melons: a small round orange fleshed watermelon,

a medium long pink watermelon, and a medium galia melon (two packets) which is a honeydew canteloupe hybrid (both of which I neglected to photograph…oops).

Rinsed off the seeds:

Let them dry on some tea towels, cause I didn’t have mesh or newspaper on hand:

Then packed them into cute little packets made from the patterns in Gayla’s book!

And voila! Cute seed packets to admire all winter long, and seeds for yummy melons to plant in the summer. What else could a gal ask for?

Abundant Basil

Guest post by Eleanor Athens

There are the tomatoes, of course; perfectly ripe, full and heavy with juice. Ivory cloves of garlic (I love garlic) and smooth, nutty gold-green olive oil. But it isn’t until I tear the leaves that it all comes together. The perfume of summer, notes of anise and clove… mouth-watering basil. I’m supposed to be making bruschetta topping, but eat half of it straight from the bowl before the bread is grilled.

A promise of love and the rumored birthplace of scorpions, basil has been adored and reviled since the beginning of Western civilization. One legend has it that basil plants were found growing around Christ’s tomb after the resurrection. Giving one’s lover a sprig of basil is said to be a promise of fidelity, and traditionally in Romania for a man to accept the token means engagement.

But basil’s reputation hasn’t always been so amorous. In ancient Rome the plant was associated with the basilisk, a serpent whose gaze could turn you to stone. Supposedly a favorite nesting place for scorpions is under a basil bush; Culpepper in his famous herbal recommends basil for treatment of venom, citing, “every like draws its like.” Centuries ago some physicians averred that the plant itself was poisonous.

Still, threats of scorpion stings and marriage aside the fragrance of basil is summer savor; fresh and rustic dishes of roasted peppers, corn, and melons given a cool, spicy edge. Basil loves the heat, preferring temperatures of 80-100 degrees, full sun, and well-drained soil. Sow some in containers midsummer to have basil through the winter, it needs only a sunny window. Or you can follow the custom of Tudor era farmwives and give your guests a little pot of basil as a parting gift.

Basil Serving Suggestions and Recipes

Sprinkle honeydew melon with Thai basil leaves and lime juice for a pretty, cool first course.
Add leaves to a simple summer salad of fresh tomatoes and new onions. Make a tisane of lemon or lime basil by pouring boiling water over a handful of lightly crushed sprigs. Serve hot or cold, sweetened if you like.

Basil, Fig, and Walnut Panzanella
Toss bread cubes with a generous amount of olive oil and toast until golden. Chop an equal proportion of fresh or dried figs and walnuts and mix with the bread cubes. tear fresh basil leaves over all, and dress with more olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste.

Egg Salad with Basil and Honey-Mustard Dressing
Make a dressing of 2 spoons olive oil to 1 spoon each of honey, coarse-grain mustard, and cider vinegar; salt and pepper to taste. Chop 4 hard boiled eggs and mix with 1/3 cup chopped, toasted pecans. Dress salad and sprinkle with 10 large torn basil leaves, mix gently and garnish with a basil sprig.

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August 23, 2005

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Everything’s Gone Massive

The more I garden the more clearly I understand that gardening is a continuous learning process. The last few years have been excellent reminders of that. Last year’s weather was unseasonably grey, cool, and wet and I had to adjust and strategize to work within those limitations (and positives). This year has been incredibly hot, bright, and dry and so again I have had to make a complete 180 and adjust everything I did last year to cope. It’s been quite an education.

It’s fair to say that this year has been a lot of work. Maintenance on the rooftop has been the greatest challenge and has been where the bulk of my energy went. As a result something had to give and as usual it was the side garden. It’s currently incredibly overgrown and in desperate need of attention. I sorta-almost-kinda get why people with money hire in gardening help!

On the flip side my rooftop deck has been thriving as a result of the hot weather — it’s a jungle out there. The tomatillo plants are twice their usual size! I have to push leafy stalks to the side to gain access to plants on the fire escape. The tomatoes are producing in vast quantities. It’s almost time to do a rundown of this year’s harvest. I know it’s early but to be honest most of my rooftop plants are close to done for the season. If I get it together I can have most of my deck cleaned up well before it gets cold. That would definitely a first!

And now — because I am lazy and tired of writing — the pictures.

I’ll be roasting these babies (Black Plum) in the oven tonight for delicious roasted tomato sauce.

Most of this is from the rooftop container plants but some of this (namely the monster zucchini and yellow ‘Taxi’ tomatoes) is from my community plot. I don’t like to over-grow my veggies but recent rains freed me up from frequent trips to the community garden and that massive zucchini blew up in size in the meantime. There were lemon cucumbers but we ate them with last night’s dinner.

I get a few of these every year. I don’t think they liked the intense heat because they waited until the temperature cooled some to show themselves. They never do enough damage to bother.

mantis
I’ll let this guy take care of business.

The anise-hyssop loves the heat. Some days this plant is area is teaming with pollinators.

‘Purple Beauty Peppers: I’m so proud of this plant. It’s been producing well and is still making more. It’s a tasty variety. I will definitely grow this again.

Green Sausage Tomatoes: I’m not a fan of these and the plants have been incredibly prolific. I harvested a ton the other day and made up a batch of Green Tomato Chutney (the recipe is in the YGG book). It’s good on crackers with cheese.

Did I Mention It’s Hot?

This has been the hottest, driest summer I can remember in a while. It has been raining around the perimeter of the city on a fairly regular basis, however it has been dry as a bone in my area since June 13! The weather has threatened rain several times; the sky has turned grey, the clouds have formed, only to suddenly turn back to sunny and hot in a flash. As a result I have been watering all of my gardens a lot more than I am used to. And man alive, it has been HARD.

Commence with the tears.

As an example I NEVER water my street garden short of the bucket I dump on new additions. Basically my technique is to dig a hole, fill it with water, wait for the water to soak in, fill it a second time, wait for that to soak, dig in the plant, make a moat around it, pour more water in and let it go. I check on the new addition regularly and pour some water in if it looks like it needs it but I try and grow drought tolerant plants in that garden that can handle some dry periods once their roots have developed and they are solidly settled in.

But this summer has been something else. I got the hose out yesterday afternoon and gave the street garden a good soak for the second time this growing season . I did this only after waiting as long as I felt I possibly could. When the anise-hyssop is wilty there’s just no denying that things are dry and HOT.

Some of the rooftop plants just a few days ago.

That’s the thing about this summer. We’ve had droughts, but the heat has been so intense on top of it. Take my rooftop garden as an example; I water the containers every day of the summer. It just can’t be avoided when you’ve got big water-loving tomatoes in containers. Well, last summer was the exception with temperatures that never did climb much into uncomfortable. I could get away with going a day, sometimes two without watering. But this summer has been crazy. I check my plants twice daily, once in the morning and once in the early evening, hauling bucket after bucket after bucket of water on a repetitive path from my bathtub to the deck and yet I still managed to produce some tomatoes (on one plant only thankfully) with blossom end rot. I know it’s a terrible after all that big talk in my last post about my killer tomato plants. They’re all still doing exceptionally well — the plants love this heat, it’s just a matter of keeping the soil wet.

It’s a jungle. The baby cucumbers are just starting to form!

I finally understand what it’s like for some southern gardeners who throw up their arms and call it quits during the hottest, driest part of the year. I always understood in principle but now I REALLY GET IT in practice. Hauling countless buckets on a twice daily basis only to wake up the next morning to wilty cucumbers and a touch of blossom end rot on a couple of tomatoes sucks. And I water deeply. None of this splashing a bit here and there business. This morning I went through the ridiculous process of hooking the coiled hose up to my bathroom sink and dragging it out through a window because it just made more sense than the hauling of the sloshing water. The one worry I have about this is the environmental soundness of using what seems like a lot of water to grow my tomatoes. Granted I do get a decent show on each plant, my growing practices are good, I’m doing the best I can to keep moisture in under extreme conditions, and I’ll probably be laughing maniacally over handfuls of ripe fruit come September. Still, it does seem a little over-the-top this year. These tomatoes better taste like liquid candy. They will.

A few more pics: