Yardshare Garden

October 13, 2010

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Variegated Arugula

Perhaps it is because I have a penchant for the weird and the unusual, or maybe it’s because I just think it’s pretty, but I seem to have a strong affinity for variegated plants. It doesn’t matter what it is, if there is a variegated version, I must have it.

Well, that’s not entirely true. Some variegated plants have an unhealthy, diseased appearance that is unappealing. Sometimes a sickly look is more than aesthetic. Variegation in plants can occur when cells get confused, causing a mutation that results in a lack of chlorophyll or certain pigments. Sometimes this happens spontaneously but disappears, and at other times it keeps going and spreading as the plant continues to grow.

Some variegated plants can be difficult to keep alive, especially when they produce foliage with no chlorophyll at all. I see this with my variegated citrus trees fairly often. The parts with little to no chlorophyll tend to be weaker than other parts of the plant and more susceptible to problems with pests. Watch your plants and see for yourself. But it’s worth the hassle. I love watching the way the new leaves form. It’s exciting to see what will happen next. With regular plants you always know what will come next, unless of course a spontaneous mutation occurs. A little surprise from nature.

The other day, Davin discovered variegation in some of the arugula aka rucola selvatica (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) growing at our Yardshare Garden (photo above). It’s so pretty! We’re very excited about it, but also feel a bit out of our depth and unsure about how to go about maintaining and even encouraging it to spread. I have never seen or heard of variegated arugula before, and am doubtful that we can get it to stabilize. Most of these sorts of spontaneous mutations revert back to green. It’s obviously in the plant’s best interest to do so.

I checked on the plant last night, and the variegated stem has flowers on it. We’re going to let it go to seed and see what happens when we plant it next year. Probably nothing, but it seems worth a shot. The best way to isolate variegation is by taking cuttings, but I have to admit that I’ve never tried taking cutting from arugula before. It’s so pervasive in the garden and easy to grow from seed, I’ve simply never had reason to.

Fortunately, this particular crop has proven to be very cold hardy. Some of the plants in that section have been growing since last year and seemed to overwinter with no effort on our part. Chances are that we’ll see this again next year.

Either way, this has become a fun diversion and a nice excuse to dip into the more scientific side of gardening for a change. If you’re interested in this side of things like I am, I suggest “Botany for Gardeners” by Brian Capon. It doesn’t say much about the topic of variegation, but there is lots of information about how plants develop and evolve, all presented in a way that is understandable to gardeners with no more than high school level science.

Have you noticed any spontaneous variegation on your plants?

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October 12, 2010

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We Made a Pumpkin

Thanksgiving weekend has just passed in Canada, and even though I’m not big on the holiday, the one thing I do demand is a homemade pumpkin pie. Fortunately, we made a pumpkin this year. Accidentally.

Here’s how it happened. Back in the late spring, a friend gave us some unmarked transplants for the Yardshare Garden. A few of them were squashes, but at that size we could not yet tell if they were bushes or vines. We didn’t have any full sun spaces left, so we tucked one into a slightly less than sunny spot near the back of the garden. It wasn’t the best spot, and we knew it wasn’t the best spot, but we planted it anyways. I thought it still had a shot and felt it was worth the experiment to see what would happen when the growing conditions aren’t perfect, but not too far off of the mark either. I’ve learned a lot experimenting in this way. Probably more than I’ve learned doing things the right way. Some edible plants surprise you: they turn out nicely but their yield is lower. Others are just too unhealthy and succumb to diseases and pests they might be more resistant to in better conditions.

When we planted the squash, I assumed it was a bushing zucchini. It wasn’t.

And so it grew and grew rather quickly as winter squashes often do. And when it was threatening to take over the yard, I brought over a freestanding trellis I had woven from green branches in the early spring and we wound it up and off of the ground.

It looked pretty good for an unexpected plant stuck in the wrong space. We were all surprised when the plant grew a pumpkin and the critters that visit the garden didn’t get it. I’ve grown pumpkins (intentionally) several times, but keeping them going in community garden spaces that are overrun by mammalian critters is difficult. The trick is to find ways to protect the fruit when you aren’t there, which is most of the time. City critters are smart — they always break through my defences. Yet, here we were with a pumpkin that we didn’t intend to grow, had put in the wrong spot, and had made little effort to protect. Go pumpkin!

Unfortunately, it was a strange summer. It was unbearably hot and dry for weeks, then raining, raining, raining. Not the best conditions for a squash plant that was not in the sunniest spot in the garden. The plant quickly turned the corner from nice to unsaveable in the bat of an eye. Fortunately, by then the lone pumpkin had turned orange and was very near mature. Eventually the plant died back entirely and the pumpkin fell off of its own accord.

Here it is.
Read more…

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September 20, 2010

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Morelle de Balbis Fruit

It’s mid-September (let’s pretend I did not say that out loud), and the glorious Morelle de Balbis plant is bearing ripe fruit. This process began a few weeks ago but I withheld my judgement until several were ready for picking.

I’ve had several opportunities to try them now and can report that the taste is, in a word, insipid. I read several descriptions shortly after purchasing the seeds and the fruit I am picking from our yardshare garden does not meet some of the more flattering accounts. They do have a slight citrus note, but watermelon and cherries… Please. Either my palette is unrefined or others’ are overambitious. Mind you I am basing my entire assessment on a single plant grown in a rather wet year, but still.

The texture of the fruit is very similar to a tomatillo or ground cherry. I suspect that cooking might be in order for the remaining harvest. If I can manage to harvest it all. Those spikes are deadly. Like a tomatillo, the husks pull back from the soft part of the fruit as they mature. This leaves a little bit of room to manage them but not much. Davin was unable to pick even one the other day without spearing his fingers on those spines. He claims they are poisoned in some way and that the ensuing welt was bigger and more painful than it should have been for a spine of that size. This is one crop I’d happily leave to the critters, but I doubt they’ll be bothered when there are still so many passive foodstuffs left to steal.

So let’s tally up the score. Litchi tomato is a hostile and belligerent plant that threatens personal injury at every turn and produces tasteless fruit that is damned near impossible to harvest.

Will I grow it again? YES!

Regardless of the outcome I’m glad I tried this plant and will definitely grow it again, especially when I’ve got more space. The flowers are gorgeous and have attracted an abundance of pollinators to the garden. Watching it’s progress has been a delightful experiment and a good start to my explorations in Solanum Family oddities. In the future I will grow it for show only without the expectation of a useful food crop at the end of the season.

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August 23, 2010

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Yardshare Stitched Panoramas

Click on the images to see full-size.

Davin took these photos of the Yardshare Garden the other day, using his iphone and an app called AutoStitch. The first image is a somewhat inaccurate representation of the garden as I believe what you are seeing is approximately 360 degrees in a straight line.

What is a yard share, you ask? Well, it works something like this: A neighbour has a yard, or a portion of a yard that they are not using, and they offer it up to gardeners in their community to use, typically with an agreement to share the bounty.

Hyperlocavore is one place to start if you are looking for a yard share in your area.

And I’ve added a Yardshare Garden tag if you’d like to follow along with the food we’ve got growing in ours.

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August 12, 2010

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Spotlight on ‘Trionfo Violetto’ Pole Beans

Back in June I wrote in my Globe & Mail column about growing beans. Within the piece I mentioned a favorite pole variety ‘Trionfo Violetto.’ It’s been years since I have grown this particular variety and now that the plants are in full swing and producing a little crop of beans daily, I can’t understand why I had set it aside and turned to other, inferior varieties for so long.

First are the dark, pinky-purple flowers depicted in the photo, above. And the way they are set off against the green foliage with a hint of burgundy that almost seems to be applied with a water-color brush.

All of this accented against slender, dark stems, and long, thin, purple beans that are delicious fresh off the vine. I can buy all manner of green beans at my local Farmers’ Market, but the French fillet-style beans are less popular and cost a small fortune.

Stunning, prolific, and delicious. Next year I will double my planting efforts and stop trying with other less interesting varieties.