What to Compost.

What can you compost? The following information provides you with a list of items that can go into your compost pile.

From Your Garden:

Leaves (chopped - to speed their breakdown)

Grass (not wet)

Plants & Weeds (without ripe seeds)

Old potting soil

Soft plant stems

From Your Kitchen.

Coffee grounds and filters

Fruit scraps

Vegetable trimmings

Crushed eggshells

Teabags

Shredded paper

The following items should not be placed into the compost:

Dairy products including cheese

Meat, fish (including sauces) and bones

Plastics

Metals

Fats and oils

Pet waste

Remember that a successful gardener builds soil and compost enables you to do that work.

Foraging Wild Food

Greetings, this video will help you identify and, possibly, appreciate wild food plants.

Seed Staring Indoors

Hi, are you a tomato fan? This video is for you.

Attracting Birds to Your Garden.

This video will help you create a garden for the birds that visit, live in your community.

Thanks to the Renfrew Public Library, I am part of a podcast focused on the various aspects of gardening. The first episode was recorded today and will be available on FB sometime next week. , Stay connected. The topic of the first episode, Gardening Planning and Seed Staring Indoors. The format is Q&A. Your questions and comments are encouraged. I will post here, on Twitter and FB when the first episode is ready.

Permaculture Guilds

Hi, this video by Heather Jo Flores provides an excellent look at what guilds are.

Rooftop Gardening

When considering your gardening options look up.

There are always options and that is the approach that I take to gardening and most other aspects of my work and life. When it comes to gardening if you want to grow something green you can. Your desire and imagination will wake up the creative energy that is needed to overcome obstacles and enable you to design a garden to fit your space.

If you can’t grow in the ground, use containers or raised beds, if you have limited space think vertical.

One area that is often overlooked when planning a garden is the rooftop.

Now your house may not have a roof that suits a garden; it may be too slanted or does not have easy access for regular gardening chores.

It is important to make the distinction between a rooftop garden and a green roof, while there are some similarities, they generally serve different purposes.

Green Roofs:

Green roofs are a roof that allows plants, trees and shrubs to grow in a specially designed light-weight growing medium.

The three main types of green roof systems are:

• complete systems where all the different components including roof membrane are an integral part of the whole system
• modular systems that are positioned above the existing roofing system
• pre-cultivated vegetation blankets that consist of growing medium and plants that are rolled onto the existing roofing system with drainage mats and root barriers as required

Rooftop Gardens

The rooftop garden is simply a garden, usually in containers, that is located on a rooftop. The rooftop may be a house, an office building, a garage, shed or any other structure that has a suitable surface and is strong enough to take the extra weight.

BE sure that the roof you choose can handle the extra weight, or you may get a major surprise. You may need to consult with a structural engineer before proceeding, remember that in addition to the garden, there will be at least one person adding to the overall weight.

If you are ready to proceed in the design of a rooftop garden the process that you are beginning is similar to combining interior decorating with landscape design.

Step One:

What is the purpose of the space? If you are looking to grow a container or two of herbs and vegetables that is one thing; if you are planning a community garden that is another.

Or, are you designing an outdoor space for relaxation and entertaining that incorporates flowers, shrubs and trees into the design?

It is possible to set up an orchard on the roof as long as the containers you use are big enough.

Step Two:

You know the space’s purpose; now what do you want to grow?

Step Three:

How much time do you want to devote to gardening? If your time is limited you may want to keep the garden element of the design small, you can always add later, enough so that you can give the plants the attention they deserve.

Be sure to make notes as you go; you will want to refer to them as you proceed.

What you do next will depend upon the answers to the questions raised in the first three steps. If you are adding an outdoor room to your home then you need to think about furniture, for example; if you are growing food, then all that is left to do is decide what food you want to grow.

Some considerations, the weather conditions on a rooftop, much like a balcony, will be different than those at ground level, there may be little to no shade so it will be hot and the winds will be stronger.

The combination of heat and strong winds means that the soil will dry faster than it will in the garden and therefore, the plants will need watering more frequently.

This brings us to another point, water overflow; containers can be designed to catch excess water so that it does not puddle on the roof, making for slippery conditions and added weight. I suggest you hand-water your rooftop garden so that you get sued to the plants’ needs and thus avoid excessive watering.

A rooftop garden is an ideal place to grow native perennials. They will be able to handle the ecosystem and you will be helping maintain the native plant population. This will also encourage native butterflies and birds to drop by for a visit.

Spring Renews

This was written a few years back but is still relevant.

There is a change in the air, the wind, although still strong is warmer, only slightly, but the difference is everything.

Spring is near, though the snow still lays heavy on the ground, little rivers of water slowly trickle from under the banks that have been here since late November.

Soon, another four weeks or so, the greening will begin and the first signs of Spring will appear. The crocuses and hyacinths are usually the first to appear, but I look forward to the dandelions which shout hello fro everywhere. The sighting of the first dandelion is heartening.

There will be cold days and nights and the remainder of winter will occasionally ride the wind, but the change has come.

One of the first signs of Spring’s arrival is the call of the white-throated sparrow, known by some Canadians as the Oh Canada bird as they hear the words Oh Canada, Canada, Canada in its call.

As a Canadian, I like that but what truly pleases me is knowing that the songbirds will soon return from their winter homes and spend awhile in my tree.

Their morning song will wake us but there are few better ways to begin a day. There are those who say that it is the birds’ morning song that wakes the sleeping flowers and calls them forth. I do not know the truth of this but it feels good to think of the relationship that way.

Each spring and fall, I watch the comings and going of plant and animal. Over an extended period of time if you observe Nature’s activities and the time of year they take place and what else is going on at that time you come to understand the ecosystem you inhabit and develop an awareness of the changes that may be taking place. This study is known as phenology.

Phenology  is the study of the timing of natural events. Common examples include the date that migrating birds return, the first flower dates for plants, and the date on which a lake freezes in the autumn or opens in the spring.

Phenological records help alert us about the events of nature and provide interesting comparisons between years and among different geographic regions. If recorded carefully and consistently, these records also have scientific value for understanding the interactions between organisms and their environment and for assessing the impacts of climate change.

Spring is indeed a time of renewal, a time of hope and a time to put into action all the plans that were made over the winter months when the outside was not ready. Now do not get me wrong, I enjoy winter and embrace the cold and snow but like all things, this too must pass and the arrival of Spring’s harbingers is a sign that the passing has occurred. Winter will return but not now, that is a future reality, for now, Nature is awakening and it is time to enjoy, observe and spend time with her.

Unfortunately, this year Spring will need to be enjoyed from my front deck and my garden. I am staying home due to Covid-19 and ask you to do the same.  Drop by this blog for videos t help you stay home and save live.

Bees, Butterflies, Birds

The three Bs, birds, bees and butterflies are a gardener’s good friends. If you make a few wise plants choices, refrain from engaging in chemical warfare and understand that Nature will provide what you need, then you are well on your way to creating a great garden; one that will provide the fruits, herbs, flowers and vegetables you seek to grow.

The plant choices you make need to be those that provide for the needs of the beings you wish to attract to your garden. Herbs are a great place to start and can be incorporated into a garden bed or arranged throughout your design.

Bee and Sunflower

Bob Ewing photo

• Flowers and Herbs That Attract Butterflies
  - Flowers and Herbs That Attract Butterflies - Nicki's Garden - information and resource guide

Plants

Dill and mint, for example, will bring the butterflies to your garden. Be sure to consider the whole butterfly family and choose plants that provide a place for the butterflies to lay their eggs. If you also provide them with a drink of water, they will hang around.

Sunflowers will attract all three, bees and butterflies first and then as the seeds develop the birds will drop by for their snack.

There are two things that butterflies are seeking: one is nectar, the food that adult butterflies need, and the other, host plants, the place where the female will lay her eggs and the food that caterpillars need. Both are necessary to create a successful butterfly garden.

Birds like seeds, nuts and berries so plants shrubs and native grasses to get their attention. Shrubs also provide them with shelter so they have a place to fly to when they feel the need, which can happen quite frequently in an urban backyard.

The plants you choose will do the job best when they are native to your area. The bees, birds and butterflies will recognize them and make a point to visit.

I suggest that if you are just getting started then take a trip to your local public library or talk to a naturalist society and find out what birds and butterflies are native to where you live and the plants they demand. Butterflies, especially, can be very fussy about what they eat and where they lat their eggs so get those facts first and then plant accordingly.

The three Bs, birds, bees and butterflies, provide the gardener with a number of services, pollination, pest control and beauty, for example. The plants required to make them feel at home in your garden are all plants that even the vegetable-only gardener can appreciate.

Native Plants

I am making changes to my garden, my small garden. Native plants, plants that are adapted to this region will play a more predominant role. I am a seed saver and plant breeder so will be saving seeds from these plants and possibly attempting a breeding program so the seeds can handle changing weather. Any advice and ideas are most welcome.

I live in Renfrew ON.

Covid-19 and Your Garden

Will Covid-19 have any impact on how you garden this year? If yes, what changes will you make?

The Community Garden

One of the many aspects I like about living in Renfrew On. is its community garden. I am not a member because my osteoarthritis makes trips back and forth, difficult, but just knowing the garden is there is a feel-good reality.

If you want to garden and grow and maintain your own food, flowers or herbs but do not have a space suitable at home then a community garden can be the place where you can set your gardening passion free.

A community garden is a plot of land that is usually divided into subplots with each gardener having their own plot. You can grow herbs flowers or vegetables or a mix of all three.

There may be a communal plot where you grow corn or squash which is then shared.

Each gardener tends their own plot according to whatever rules the group has set.

For example, you may want to grow organically and in order to do this then all the gardeners would need to agree.

Terms such as whether the garden is organic or not are best set out in a contract which each gardener agrees to and signs before the season gets underway.

There may be communal workdays. Especially at the beginning and the ending of the season to take care of site preparation and clean up as well as putting the plots to bed for the season.

There may be chores that all share. When I was in Saint John, New Brunswick, for example, I belonged to a large community garden and there were chores such as cutting the lawn in the common areas and doing a bit of weeding and composting. Each gardener signed up for a shift.

First Short Road Trip

Tuesday we drove around the back roads of Renfrew County and along the Madawaska

How to Start a Vegetable Garden

Bob Ewing 

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How to start the vegetable garden

. There are three things that you must consider if the garden is to be successful; sun, soil and water. The garden will need six to eight hours of sunlight per day in order to produce vegetables or flowers.

Soil comes in three basic types, clay, sand or loan. The ideal soil is a sandy loam. There is a simple way to determine the type of soil in your garden. Pick up some soil with one hand, roll it into a ball. If it forms a ball that break apart readily it is loam. If a ball does not form, it is sand. If a ball forms but does not break apart easily, it is clay.

This primer will help you plan and design your first garden; it does not matter what you decide to grow, vegetables, flower, herbs or all three, the steps are the same.

Step One:

There are two questions you need to answer at this point.

1- What do you want to grow?

2- How much time to you have to garden, each day, and week?

It is important to match your schedule to your interests; you do not want to start a garden that is too big, as it is likely to become a burden and that will take all the fun out of the project.

It is equally important not to put in a garden that is too small as your yield, what you get back for your labour, will be smaller than you expected and you will be disappointed and perhaps discouraged.

Step Two:

Now is the time for the garden plan. Don’t panic, this is simple; a plan helps you stay on track, makes maximum use of your gardening time, is fun and can be changed whenever you desire.

You now know what you want to grow and how much time you are willing to commit to the growing and maintenance. Now you must determine:

1- Where will your garden grow? The backyard, most likely, but where, well for most cut flowers, herbs and vegetables you want a spot that gets full sun for 5-6 hours a day, minimum.

2- How big will it be? The size depends upon what you want to grow and how much. A good cut flower garden can be fairly small in feet 6x6 will do; same for a herb garden. Now unless you are prepared to convert your whole backyard into a vegetable garden and even then, you are not going to grow all the food your family needs, so pick you 3-5 favourite vegetables and focus on them.

3- Homework time. You need to know the plants you plant to grow, the public library can be a great source of information as can the Internet. You can also visit a local plant nursery and have a chat with the manager.

4- Put the right plant in the right place and it will thrive.

Read this hub, for details on building the garden bed. Speaking of reading, if you are planting seeds read the seed package. The information there is meant to be followed, so do so. If you are using plants then read the tag that should be in the pot with the plant, the same story; if it is, not then ask.

Gardening is a rewarding activity that does not have to be difficult or time-consuming, just be sure to build the garden that matches your needs, wants and schedule.

Consider keeping a journal. Record what you planted, how it fared and anything else that you notice. This information will be valuable when planning next year's garden.