You Grow Girl

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?

Fertilizing the Organic Way

Guest post by Niki Jabbour

The real secret to growing healthy plants is to feed the earth. If you wish to garden organically, you must begin by considering your soil and what you can do to improve its health, fertility and boost its organic matter. The ideal garden soil is dark in colour, smells a bit sweet and is loaded with earthworms.

Soil Amenders

By working soil amendments such as compost and manure into the garden and feeding plants with organic fertilizers you will build the soil and replenish spent nutrients.

Carla Isnor of Halifax Seed says that a garden can only benefit from a generous seasonal application of organic matter. “It’s important to continue to improve your soil every year. Always put some of your annual gardening budget into the soil. A garden has to be built from the ground up.”

Access to good quality compost is closer than you think. You can easily recycle your kitchen scraps, grass clippings and leaves by turning them into compost, black gold for the garden.

Compost may be created in a free-formed pile or enclosed in some type of container. Either way your composting area should be located in a sunny spot that is out of sight, but conveniently close to the house.

Still don’t have time to compost? This fall gather leaves in garbage bags, poking several holes in the top and bottom of the bags. Add a few shovelfuls of grass clippings, garden soil and a sprinkle of water. Shake the bags well and check every few weeks to see if they have dried out. If so, add a bit of water and shake again. Come spring, open the bags to find rich, dark leaf compost, a wonderful soil amendment or mulch.

Manure has been a traditional soil amendment for many years and should be composted prior to incorporating it into the garden. Fresh manure is very high in nitrogen and may burn your plants.

For the urban gardener bagged manure is convenient to transport and easy to apply. Composted cow and sheep manure are readily available at most garden centers and allow a relatively quick and mess-free application of organic matter to the garden. Many nurseries are also offering bags of mushroom compost, an excellent soil additive that is rich in organic matter and nutrients. For those of us close to the ocean, seaweed is an invaluable and inexpensive slow release soil amendment. It contains over 60 minerals and several plant hormones.

Seaweed is also rich in micronutrients such as iron, copper, boron and zinc. Add freshly rinsed seaweed to your composter or till it into the vegetable garden in the autumn.

Organic Fertilizers

When it comes to feeding your plants, organic fertilizers offer a slow, steady release of nutrients that are derived from plants, animals or natural minerals. Because they break down more slowly than synthetic fertilizers, organics usually only need to be added once or twice per season. They also are less likely to burn plants or leach into groundwater.

Bonemeal and Bloodmeal are perhaps the best known organic fertilizers and available at virtually every garden center and nursery. Bonemeal is a rich source of phosphorous and calcium and can be worked into the flower and vegetable gardens in the spring and fall. As it stimulates root growth, Bonemeal should be sprinkled into the planting hole when transplanting annuals, perennials or shrubs.

Bloodmeal is a good source of nitrogen and releases its nutrients relatively quickly. It is ideal for encouraging lush green growth in leafy vegetables or foliage perennials.

Fish Meal and Kelp Meal are also good organic sources of nutrients. Fish Meal contains varying amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but has been known to attract cats, so if frisky felines are a problem in your garden, use with caution.

Kelp Meal is essentially seaweed in a granular form and offers most of the same benefits as fresh or composted seaweed. Besides using it in the garden, sprinkle it on the compost pile to speed up decomposition.

Niki Jabbour is an Ornamental Horticulturist and a writer from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Fertilized by sea breezes, her gardens are comprised of a colourful mixture of perennials, annuals, vegetables, herbs and flowering shrubs, with a few patches of clover and chickweed thrown in for good measure. A member of the Garden Writers Association of America, Niki is also the weekly gardening columnist for the Halifax Daily News and the Chester Clipper.

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September 25, 2005

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Adventures with Plant Sitters

Guest post by Ariane Khachatourians (a.k.a. midge)

Whether you are away for a quick weekend at your folks’ house, or decide to take a month-long vacation abroad, plant-sitting is one of the necessary evils of being a gardener. It is always nerve-wracking to leave your little green babies under the care of a friend or neighbour, and each time, all you can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Not only can plant-sitting be a big favour to ask, depending on the size and diversity of your plant family, but it can also be a big risk, putting years of tender loving care on the line for some time away. Unlike pets or children, unfortunately, it is simply not an option to bring your plants with you. Also, unlike pets and children, plants often are not able to send out a distress signal until it is much too late. Still, if you have plants, sooner or later, you will have no choice but to leave them in the hands of a hopefully capable caretaker. Here are a few things to consider when leaving your plants with a plant-sitter while you’re away:

Finding a qualified plant-sitter

When selecting a potential plant-sitter, it is important to ask yourself a few crucial questions, such as:

Is this person reliable? Are they perpetually late or extremely disorganized? If so, perhaps they are not the best choice. If they are generally organized and on top of things, that is a great start.

Is this person a gardener? Your potential plant-sitter does not need to be a master gardener to be able to keep your plants alive for a couple weeks, but to get an idea of their capabilities, look around their house. Do they have plants at all? Are their plants healthy or are they shriveled, dry, and infested with mites? Do they have an outdoor garden at their house? Is it healthy? Observing the condition of your potential plant-sitter’s own garden and houseplants will give you a good idea of whether they will be able to gauge the basics, such as how much and how often to water, and catch more advanced problems, such as stem rot or insect infestations.

Finally, and equally important, is this person trustworthy? It may not be a good idea to leave your home in the hands of that lady down the street who you don’t know that well, but has pretty flowers and seems nice. You are, after all, going to hand over the keys to your home, and therefore most of your earthly possessions to this person! Of course, with most people, there is nothing to worry about, but if you leave your home with someone you don’t know well and something goes wrong, you will really only have yourself to blame.

Give detailed instructions

Even a competent plant-sitter does not know what your plants are used to, and will need some guidance. Write down a list of the locations of all the plants that need tending, and how frequently they need to be watered. But don’t stop there…give an idea of how much to water each time since over-watering and under-watering can be equally damaging, especially over a longer period of time. Make sure to give details for any plants that are sensitive and require special treatment. If you want to be extra cautious, encourage your plant-sitter to contact you if anything goes wrong.

Upon return, assess the damage

No matter how good the good plant-sitter, some damage can be expected. While away for a week and a half, I left my plants in the hands of a friend who is a keen gardener with house plants and a vegetable garden of her own. I suggested she water them a couple times, once at the start of the week once at the end, and to give the outdoor ones a little extra if it got hot out. When I got back, the indoor plants had been extremely over-watered, which I could tell from the water-logged dirt and the water stain on my window sill where one had overflowed.

The outdoor plants, on the other hand had not been watered enough, and one in particular, the chocolate mint that was in a smaller pot, seemed to have been missed altogether, and was a dried-out shriveled mess. I watered it consistently for the next few days, and one stem survived, so I think it will pull through, but it took some fairly heavy damage. Note the before and after:

Finally, be gracious!

Despite a little damage here and there, I am ever grateful to those who have cared for my little green family while I’ve been away, as without a plant-sitter, they would have surely perished. Make sure you pass on the plant karma and return the favour if you are ever asked, and give a big thank you to your plant-sitter, even if the plants are a little worse for the wear. Particularly if your plant-sitter was on duty for more than a long weekend, a small gift—baked goods, a case of beer, or a souvenir from your trip—is always much appreciated and is a very nice gesture, especially if you ever want them to do you the favour again!

Midge is a prairie gal who moved out to west for university in 1998, and never left. She now avoids working on her thesis and nurtures her eccentricity through knitting, music, reading, painting, photography, cooking, trying to embrace exercise, and of course gardening. Check out her plant journal on this site.

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September 15, 2005

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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 30, 2005

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