June 22, 2006
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Seeds Veggies

Growing Hard Beans

Guest post by Emira Mears

Last week, said friend and I were having a drink and discussing the ups and downs of local eating. He happens to be something of a literal expert on the subject and is a true wealth of info on all foodstuffs local. In my dream universe of local eating, life would work as follows: I’d have the time to tend a very large garden that would allow me to support most of our fresh fruit and veggie needs in the backyard; I would can and preserve like a 60 year old Nonna for the winter months; I would supplement my own crop with the bounty of my grandma’s backyard; I’d get the odd harvest from the Farmer’s Market to stock up on things like blueberries and flour; and, we’d indulge in the odd tasty exotics from the Italian deli up the way. (This might not be Martin’s ideal, but he types too slowly to butt in). The biggest thing missing there, aside from canned legumes from the deli, would be sources of protein. I’ve always kind of assumed that save being able to raise goats for cheese, or maybe having a hen house for eggs (something I’m actually increasingly finding myself daydreaming about which is so very ridiculous that I laugh at my own daydreams), that there weren’t that many local resources for vegetarian protein. And here is where the hard beans came in. According to the local expert, it would seem that you can successfully grow hardbeans in this climate. With abandon! Who knew? (Likely many people, just not me). I always thought that our climate was limited to the regular green, wax and odd purple bean for eating at their young and fleshy stage.

My enthusiasm for the hard bean growing project was such, that my friend dropped off a wee paper packet containing some pinto beans this afternoon. Fun times. According to the somewhat bombastically labelled package, the "spotted rooster" bean that I’m holding in my hand there hails from Peru and is over 7,000 years old.

Pinto Beans

A friend came by the office today and dropped off a wee package of GE Free "Spotted Rooster" pinto beans which I’m pretty damn excited about growing.

I’m going to take advantage of the current warm season and get these little dudes in the ground quickly probably on Sunday morning to coincide with the new moon for good luck. I’d like to end up with enough of them to harvest some beans for storing, which may mean going outside of my two square containers. I may just fill up the empty spots in the flowerbeds with a few bush beans, and then pot some. If we can hurry up and eat tonnes of lettuce, I should also be able to squeeze in a square or two.

So thanks James! We’ll see how much protein we can grow here in East Vancouver.

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March 31, 2006
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Bulbs Containers Flowers Gayla's Gardens Herbs Seasonal Seeds

There’s Some Livin’ Going On

We’ve been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures here in Toronto which have pushed me to get out and do some early-season garden work. I can’t recall being this eager to get gardening but I suspect that I am always this excited, it’s just the lapse of time between fall and spring that has me convinced my excitment is bigger and better than ever!

It began a few days ago when I got up the drive to clean the street garden. What a mess! I can say with all certainty that it has never been so disgusting. The impetus for this sudden clean-up was the shocking discovery that several clumps of crocus blooms were buried underneath empty liquor bottles (Vodka being the liquor of choice), cigarette filters, and burger wrappers (All I’m going to say is that certain unnamed fast food chains should be sponsoring this clean-up). Thanks Toronto! I know how hard it is to walk those ten extra feet to the garbage/recycling can. SO HARD!

Here’s the evidence: Before | After

I know it doesn’t look like much but that represents the sweat of 2 adult people, 2 garbage bags, a nearly full recycling bin, and some plant material. The fence is toast. This year I’m thinking about getting some rebar and using that for posts. Try and knock that over drunk guy who tramples through the garden to urinate against the wall at 3 am! Or drunken dude that falls into the irises and completely smushes them with his entire drunken body ruining a beautiful display of just-in-bloom flowers!

gayla_seeds_mar06.jpg

So then I acquired more seeds.

  • Lettuce: ‘Lolla Rosa’ – A bright red lettuce.
  • Calendula ‘Antares Flashback’ – Multi-coloured blooms with reddish undersides. I love calendula because you can just toss some seeds in the garden and they’ll come back up by themselves. You can eat the petals or use them to make skin salves.
  • Nigella ‘Cramer’s Plum’ – White flowers with plum coloured pods.
  • Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
  • Sugar Pea ‘Carouby De Maussane’ – Flowers are purple instead of the usual white.
  • Mexican coriander – In trade.
  • Tomato ‘Pera d’Abruzzi’ – Also in trade.
  • Beans ‘Scarlet Runner’ or ‘Painted Lady’

I have been growing chives in a galvanized metal tub out on the rooftop for several years. They are just starting to come back up. I can also see anise hyssop, and wormwood making an appearance.

I made a quick trip to the community garden today on my lunch break to check on early spring progress. I picked a few beans (see above) that were left on the vine over winter.

gayla_beans_hands_mar06.jpg

The onions were in full swing:
gayla_onions_mar06.jpg

Lemon balm was poking through the soil in more places then I would appreciate, as is their way:
gayla_lemonbalm_mar06.jpg

My visit was cut short by an unexpected rain shower that continues as I write. While it put a damper on our sunny, warm weather, it does ensure that I’ll be able to get out there soon to plant some peas, greens, and the bulbs I neglected to get into the ground before it froze (oops). Spring is starting.

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