What do gardeners do in the winter?

We had a long fall gardening season this year - summer was slow to get started and then we had warm weather as the days were shortening. I had a number of long season vegetables that I was still harvesting well into October. I finally cleaned everything out as we were about to get frosts, just before Halloween!!!

Once the harvesting got busy I got behind on posting, but I took lots of pictures so I plan to catch up over the winter. That will prevent me from starting seeds in my basement too early! Watch this space for more memories of summer flavours!

Swiss Chard Update

Earlier I complained that I had spinach coming out my ears. Now the Swiss Chard has officially caught up! I planted two packages of seeds, some in the raised bed and some in the ground plot. Both are doing well.

As usual I planted them too close together. Some time I will get wise enough not to do that! The seeds are just so small! I always think some of them won't come up. Then they all do!

I always plant the variety called "Bright Lights". They come in all the colours of the rainbow - mostly green leaves, with some streaked with red, and a few dark burgundy. Then contrasting stems in red, orange, pink, yellow, white... The most striking one so far has a burgundy leaf, with a fine line of green around the stem and ribs, and a broad bright orange stem.

I've noticed they seem to come in different sizes, too. No matter how much room they have (or don't have), some grow large leaves and broad stems, and some are small with pencil thin stems and a modest leaf. The largest ones all seem to have red or pink stems, and the yellow ones all seem to be small. This must be a byproduct of all the genetic variety that gives them such diverse colouring!

The best part is, no matter what they look like, they taste great! Swiss Chard is one of those vegetables that I used to hate, but now that I am not a "youth" anymore, I just love. When I was 19 I used to work at a market garden, where we sold every kind of fruit and vegetable known to local growers. I used to shake my head at the crazy people (mostly with a few gray hairs) who bought greens like Swiss Chard. Once I had gray hairs of my own I tried Swiss Chard from the Farmers Market and discovered how delicious it is. I think taste buds have to mature before they can appreciate chard, spinach and other greens with their faintly bitter flavours.

We have been making Chard Cheese Pie (see last year's archive for a recipe), and this year we discovered the joys of chard steamed in foil packets over a campfire. It also works on the BBQ. For extra flavour, a bit of onion or herb is also welcome. I put the stems in a layer on the bottom and the leaves on top. The edges singe a little and this gives a great caramelized flavour to the rest of the chard. It turns out a little different every time but it's always good!

Stone Soup

Is everyone ready for a big pot of stone soup? Last time I saw Brian he asked me to let everyone know it was just about time to get together and make a big pot of stone soup to share.

You know the story... A traveller shows up in town late at night, and the suspicious villagers won't give him anything to eat. "Nope," they say, "we don't have any food here." So he says "No problem, I'll make my stone soup, out of this magic stone here." And he puts his stone in a big pot of water.

All the villagers gather round. "Is it ready yet?" they ask. "Is it good?"

"Just about ready," says the stranger. "It'll be fine soup. My magic stone is working. It will be even better with a carrot, though. Too bad I don't have a carrot."

"Hmm... I think I might have one small carrot left" says First Villager. And she scurries off to get a carrot. The villagers crowd around and watch the carrot go in.

"Great!" says the traveller. "Now it's just about perfect. The stone is working its magic. The only thing missing is a potato."

"Wait, I have one potato left!" says Second Villager. And she runs to her cellar for a potato. Plop - in goes the potato.

And the villagers look curiously at the soup. And wait. Then the stranger says, "I can smell the magic working. It is nearly ready. All it needs now is a bit of bone for some flavour."

Third Villager slips off to her cupboard and brings out a ham bone. "Here is a bone, it still has a little meat left." In it goes, along with the potato and the carrot and the magic stone.

The stranger stirs the soup and says, "Good thing I brought this magic stone along. We'll all have soup soon. What fine soup it will be. If only there was a little bit of celery, it would be just perfect." The villagers all look at each other, and Fourth Villager says quietly, "Well, I have a piece of celery. If it will help the magic work, I could spare it." So he goes to get his last piece of celery and throws it in the soup.

The traveller stirs the soup again and they all wait. After a little while, the magic works, and the stone turns a pot of water into a big pot of soup. With only a little help from all the villagers and their cupboards.

So Brian thinks it is time for a little stone soup at the Hummingbird Garden. There are plenty of magic stones in the earth, and each of us villagers has one or two vegetables we could throw in the pot to help the magic along.

Maybe it will even be this weekend! Watch for magic happening at the garden...

Sage

When I was cleaning up my garden last fall (in mid-October), my sage was still standing. I couldn't bear to just dig it up, so I thought I would leave it and just see what happened. Many herbs are annuals, so I really had no expectations. I just thought it wouldn't bother anyone over the winter so I would leave it there. It's in a raised bed, so it didn't even get in the way of the tiller.

When I came to check it out in the spring, there was nothing much going on - the stems and leaves had dried up and gone brittle. I broke off most of the top part, but the roots still seemed well attached. So, I left it some more. Still not expecting anything, but...

On May 17th I came to check the garden, and to plant a few seeds. I was prepared to dig up the sage and turn it into compost at this point, just to clear the space for something else. But when I looked closely - here's what I found! Tiny shoots of sage emerging into the cool sunlight!

So of course I planted around it and used it to anchor the "herb corner" of my raised bed. I put some parley, basil, and chili peppers growing around it. And it came on strong! It has gotten far bigger than it was last year - over a foot across, and by mid-July it was starting to send up mauve stems of flowers. Here it is blooming away on July 20.

By now the first flower stalks have faded, and seeds were starting to form. I cut them off - one perennial sage plant is quite enough, thank you! And more flowers are coming. I had no idea that garden sage could be so pretty!

Garden Guardians

These bright birds were up and watching over the seeds early in June. I wonder if the pinwheel wings are supposed to scare off real birds or other beasts that might eat the seeds or sprouts? I wonder if they work?

Potato Bug Update

The bugs are still munching. Most of them are adults now with stripy backs.

A few gardeners are starting to dig new potatoes, so they can't be holding the potatoes back too much. Some gardeners are dusting with the old standby vegetable dust, some are using Aim, and some have home-made remedies - rhubarb leaf tea with a bit of dish soap seems to work fairly well as long as you can spray the bugs directly.

The word of the week

The word of the week at the garden is POTATO BUG! Everyone is talking about them! Of course they turned up a few weeks ago, and everyone with potatoes has been comparing notes: how many bugs, what to try, how often to dust or spray... Picking them by hand is sometimes necessary but never fun. And for people with a whole bed of potatoes, just not possible!
Some seem to prefer the old-fashioned dust, while others have good results with someting called Aim. No matter what they use, the key seems to be getting out ahead of the bugs. Constant vigilance! My solution is to avoid growing potatoes altogether. I don't often eat them anyway. This seems to put me in the minority!

Two juvenile bugs are seen here munching away determinedly.

Spinach Mountain

Last year I had Swiss Chard coming out my ears... This year it is spinach! I planted it in succession, every couple of weeks starting April 25. (Yes, I know we hadn't officially started planting...) It has been growing really well in the cool (until this week) weather. I started harvesting it at the beginning of June - now my first plants are just about to bolt, and my last row is starting to produce (shown here with some volunteer dill trying to hog the limelight). I picked a large grocery bag full last night. Home grown spinach sure beats the stuff from the store - thick and crunchy leaves and great flavour.

I planted Bloomsdale Long Standing this year. Has anyone tried any other varieties? How do they compare?

Smelly Plant?

Sherri has this plant growing in her plot. She knows it as "smelly plant" but is not sure of the right name. Does anyone know for sure? It looks to me like it might be garlic chives. Any recipes?

Good growth!

Well the heat means good growth, as you can see here. Every time I go to the garden everything seems several inches bigger. Some of the leaf crops are harvestable already, and the summer crops seem to be coming along really well.

Of course, the hotter it is, the more we gardeners worry about water! It can get to be our only topic of conversation!

Last night was a busy one at the garden, with several people hauling water from tap to plot. If you've been in the last few days you may have noticed the NEW TAPS! Hose has been trenched in underground, and three taps added. One is at the East end of the West garden - giving better access to the plots at that end, as well as the raspberry plot. The other two taps are on each side of the East Garden (B Plots) - At last!

So now both plots have taps within a reasonable hose distance. We all still need to remember to attach the main line to each set of taps at the meter when we start, and to un-attach them when we are done. At this point we can't have both gardens hooked up at the same time.

Brian reminds me every time I see him, that the underground lines are only old hose. That means they could burst or spring a leak some time without us knowing it right away. If that happens with the hose still attached at the meter, we could flood the whole garden, and blow our summer's water budget, in one go!

Busy day at Hummingbird Garden

Well, the heat has everyone out in the garden this weekend. Everything seems to be coming up well, even the new plots are going strong. The heat following a week or so of cool wet weather has brought up the sprouts. Everyone seems to have at least something coming up (except for one plot still not planted...) and some people have everything coming up!

A few people have been particularly busy:
Marge spent the whole evening today weeding the flower bed at the West end - thanks Marge!
Bob and Brian were out with mowers this evening trimming around the raised beds and the edges of the plots.

Brian asked me to pass on a few reminders in case anyone is reading!

The water tap will soon be locked up - gardeners will need to bring a 9/16 socket or an adjustable wrench to get into the control box. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE turn off the water at the meter when you leave for the day, and make sure all the hoses and taps are turned off. The last thing we need is a blowout in the underground hose!

From the mowers - everyone is reminded to please keep the grass clear - no rocks, bricks, toy trucks or other things to clog up the mower blade! And if we all pull out the long stuff next to our raised beds, they can just go through quickly and chop it all up.

The bricks from the new garden area need to be kept off the grass - Brian suggests piling them next to the composter. If everyone picks a few every time, the field will be clear in no time. Weeds can go in the composter and will be taken to the compost area at the landfill. We had thought we might be able to use the compost in the gardens, but we get too much miscellaneous junk that just won't turn back into soil - so off it goes to the dump!

That's all for now - my back is aching and I need to clear the dirt out from under my fingernails! Happy seeding and weeding!

Water!

There is water at the West garden (A) now, with three different taps.  Brian has rigged up a tap at the middle of the A plots and at the north edge to give access to the ground plots and the raised beds.  

The new plots on the East end have no water tap (yet?!).  We are hopeful that a tap will be brought over to the B plots soon, but no news on when.  For now, Brian has a plan B for the B plot gardeners - on Saturdays and Sundays, he will bring over a long heavy gauge hose and connect it at the A plot tap.  He will be over in the morning, and leave the hose there until early evening.  Today I was there at about 8:30 pm and he was just gathering the hose up.  

Brian also asked me to remind everyone to turn off the tap at the ground when we are done watering.  So far the hoses have held, but if we ever had a leak or some mischief, we could have a minor flood (and a ruinous water bill) before we got it turned off.  

Happy watering everyone!

Garden Season is Open

Hummingbird Garden is up and running for the season as of Thursday May 14th.  Our unofficial head gardener, Brian, tilled our main plots, and broke ground for a set of new plots to the East of the original garden.  The new plots mean everyone on the waiting list got a plot.  Word has got out and I think they are all full now...  

A few other changes - the raspberry plants have been corraled into two small areas, so they won't be taking over our veggie plots.  There is still a small pile of dirt for topping off the raised beds, too. 

If you have a plot and you're not sure which one is yours - check out the plot map on the bulletin board at the garden.  If you're not sure which map goes with which plot, ask one of the experienced gardeners.  

We can also show you how to access the water pipe.  But not until our water line is turned back on...  Should be soon!

A new season - a new name!

Hummingbird Garden

We now have an official name for our community garden.  The votes came in over the winter, and most of us preferred Hummingbird.  There should soon be a sign with our new name.  And the lanscape designer that is working on a plan for our layout will include hummingbirds into a theme.  Watch the garden sign for signs of change!