We Are What We Eat

 We are what we eat. Food is our medicine. These two sayings are oft repeated by people who understand that food and health are intimately related. I do not plan to argue the truth of either, I leave that up to the individual.

What I am interested in is the quality of the real food we eat. By real food, I mean vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and chicken. Personally, when it comes to what I either buy or grow, my main concern is the item contains the minerals, vitamins and micronutrients my body demands.

When it comes to growing my own, there are three reasons why I select the plants I do.  The first, I like to experiment. Grow something I have never grown, just to see what happens. Second, I enjoy certain food. Third, I want to add foods that have a high nutrient density.

Nutrient density is a measure of the nutrients provided per calorie of food, or the ratio of nutrients to calories (energy). The salad or cut-and-come-again garden is ideal for some high nutrient plants.

Cut-and-come-again refers to the plants’ abilities to grow new leaves after they have been harvested. In hot weather, lettuces and other green leafy plants have a tendency to bolt, in other words, go to seed, rather quickly and the crop is lost.

Now what to grow in the cut-and-come-again garden or salad garden? There are many options. I like spinach, romaine lettuce, kale and arugula, for example, but there are a number of others, that are ideal in a salad garden.

My five top crops for the home salad garden are and this is not in order of importance: leaf lettuces, radishes, snow peas, tomatoes and cucumbers.

The snow peas, cucumbers and tomatoes can all be grown vertically in containers if your space is limited or if you simply do not want to bend over to tend them.

Leaf lettuce is a lettuce with an open growth habit, which forms loose clusters of leaves rather than a tight head of lettuce.There are a few leaf lettuces on the marker, a favourite is red leaf lettuce.

Leaf lettuces reach maturity before other lettuces and are ideal for the short season garden. I like growing several plants that are early producers because winter is long and the growing season quite short.

Growing something that provides a yield early provides fresh food early in the gardening season. This is why I also grow radishes. Some radishes can reach maturity in 28 days. We enjoy the mild heat and flavour in salads and sandwiches.

Cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce make a fine sandwich. Cucumbers are one of the foods that remind me of my youth and a garden just would not be complete without them.

Snow peas are great in a stir fry served with rice or noodles. They also make a great addition to a salad. In fact, all these vegetables can be combined in a number of ways to produce healthy and delicious salads.

Sugar Free Apple Pie Recipe

 When we lived in New Brunswick, there was an apple tree in the yard. The fallen apples provide extra food.

Apple Pie (Sugar Free) & Apple Sauce Recipes | HubPages

Wild Bird Feeding

 Why feed wild birds? If we consider wild birds to be any bird that is not being kept in a cage, then the birds humans feed most often are sea gulls, crows and pigeons. The birds that eat our refuse and I for one would rather not fed them.

I do not have anything against any of them, well sea gulls can be very tenacious, loud and will swoop down on humans if they feel the human is trespassing. But that is what happens when humans move into bird territory or humans toss away so much food related items that our towns and cities become feeding ground for many wild beings from cockroaches to rate and beyond. source

The Organic Lawn

 People still devote hours and dollars to maintain a lawn that may look good but requires constant attention and far too many rely on toxic chemicals to keep the green, green.  from

The Organic Lawn | HubPages

Garden Planning: Attracting Butterflies

 T

here 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.

It does take some thought and a bit of planning but then so does any successful garden. You need to know which butterflies are native to your region. You need to know what they like to eat and where they sleep, in short, you need to know butterfly habitats and habits.

Your public library or nature society can be a very useful source of this information.

Let's start with a look at the butterfly.

Adult butterflies and moths have mouthparts that are shaped into a long, coiled tube. Butterflies feed on liquids (nectar) and they get all their food through this tube.

Their offspring or larvae, on the other hand, have chewing mouthparts, which they use to devour leaves.

The eyes of the butterfly are large, rounded compound eyes. This allows them to see in all directions without turning their heads. Butterflies are nearsighted, like most insects, and are more attracted to large stands of a particular flower than those planted singly.

Butterflies do not see the colour red as well as we do, however, they are able to see polarized light (which tells the direction the sun is pointing) as well as ultraviolet light, which is present on many flowers. This helps guide them to nectar sources.

Butterflies use their antennae to smell and their sense of smell is well developed. All butterflies' antennae are club-shaped, as opposed to moths, which can be many shapes but often are feathery.

Nectar Preferences (food)

Different species of butterflies have different preferences of nectar, in both colors and tastes. If you want to encourage different butterflies to visit your yard then your best bet is to supply them with a wide range of nectar source or plants.

Diversity is the key word here, ecosystems thrive on biodiversity. This is an opportunity to explore and have some fun and a chance to engage your imagination.

Consider a circular garden bed that is just off of centre in your front or back yard. You can use twine or even a garden hose to lay out the circle. It does not have to be a perfect circle. A diameter of 4 to 5 feet is sufficient to add beauty and function to the yard.

If you combine wild and cultivated plants, and use plants with different blooming times of the day and year you will encourage a wider range of butterflies to stop by.

When you plant you flowers in groups of the same plants this will make it easier for butterflies to see the flowers than singly planted flowers would.

Housing:

If you want the butterflies to stay in your garden and raise a family then you need to provide them with food plants where the females can lay their eggs. Some females are pickier about which host to lay their eggs on than others.

The butterfly larvae are also distinctive. Some caterpillars have hairs or forked spines, which may be or may not sting (often the hairs are just for show).

Certain swallowtail caterpillars imitate snakes or bird droppings. Other caterpillars, like sulphers, blend into their surroundings very well.

If caterpillars are eating excessive foliage from a prominent or desirable part of a plant and you want to palce them elsewhere then use gloves to move them if they're hairy to the backside or another less noticeable portion of the plant.

All insects are cold-blooded and cannot internally regulate their body temperature. Butterflies will readily bask in the sun when it is warm out, but few are seen on cloudy days.

It is a good idea to leave open areas in a yard for butterflies to sun themselves, as well as partly shady areas like trees or shrubs, so they can hide when it's cloudy or cool off if it is very hot.

A flat rock placed in full sun will provide the spot that butterflies need to bask. Butterflies like puddles. Males of several species congregate at small rain pools, forming puddle clubs.

Permanent puddles are very easy to make by burying a bucket to the rim, filling it with gravel or sand, and then pouring in liquids such as stale beer, sweet drinks or water. Butterflies love overripe fruit,that has been allowed to sit for a few days.

Native Plants Help the Garden Grow

 If

 you are planning to create a native plant garden, you will need to know what plants are native to your region. I always recommend that people visit their local public library as the library can be a source of much information. If you have a native plant society or a naturalist society in town, then contact them.

There are some very sound reasons for selecting native plants for your garden, for me the environmental reasons carry the most weight but ease of care follows as a close second.

Environmental reasons:

The environmental reasons are strong motivators for selecting native plants, with a native plant garden you will:

·         increase biodiversity;

·         provide habitat for a wide variety of creatures such as birds and butterflies;

·         provide a home for many native plants that are becoming increasingly rare in the wild;

·         conserve water;

·         and eliminate the need for chemical inputs such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.

The other important reasons for using native plants are the practical and aesthetic benefits of native plant gardening: less work and lots of beauty!

Once you get started you will soon discover that native plant gardens almost look after themselves. Remember the plants look after themselves in Nature and do not have a gardener to feed and water them.

However, the best guarantee of gardening success is taking time to stroll through your garden. Enjoying the sights, sounds and smells, with an eye open to spotting the unusual, unexpected or unanticipated. This investment of time can head off possible plant catastrophes.

Genocide

 originally published on my blog Enough is Enough. The Inquisitive Gardener sees gardening about growing community as much as we do growing as much as we so plants

Genocide and Canada

June 09, 2019

There has been considerable discussion about using the term genocide in direct reference to Canada's historical relationship with Indigenous people.

The term genocide was created: In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin (1900–1959) sought to describe Nazi policies of systematic murder, including the destruction of European Jews. He formed the word genocide by combining geno-, from the Greek word for race or tribe, with -cide, from the Latin word for killing. In proposing this new word, Lemkin had in mind “a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.”  https://www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/defining-genocide

The debate was recently sparked by the final report of the national inquiry "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls" (MMIWG) You can read the report here.  
https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/

"In response to calls for action from Indigenous families, communities and organizations, as well as non-governmental and international organizations, the Government of Canada launched an entirely independent National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in September 2016."

Some have said Canada's treatment of Indigenous people was not genocide. I disagree. Over the next few months, I will explore this topic in greater detail. I am not a historian or an academic simply a concerned Canadian.

Gardening for Beauty and Food

 

Over the years I have designed and grown a wide range of gardens from a one pot with tomatoes and basil on my balcony to a 1 acre commercial operation. One reoccurring question raised through all these various gardens’ projects over a 17 year period is whether to grow flowers or not.

I am not talking about edible flowers but flowers that are grown purely for ornamental or ascetic purposes either as cut flowers for the table or bouquets or dried flowers for various craft purposes.

To clarify the discussion further, I am not discussing commercial growing of cut flowers or flowers for drying, both of which could be solid business opportunities, but rather flowers grown purely for personal use and ascetic qualities.

There are gardeners and then there are gardeners; some will only grow food and scoff at those who grow, for example, gladiolas. Te glad has no edible value but it perhaps one of the most beautiful flowers that I have seen.

I have grown glads in containers on my balcony and in the backyard just so I could have them to cut and bring inside to admire.

I remember on evening some years back I was sitting on my balcony looking up at the sky when I noticed a small bird hover near the deep red glads growing in the container. It was a hummingbird. It paused in its flight and gave me a look that said hey what you are doing here this my space.

The hummingbird bird came back at approximately the same time every night for a week. Now that is what I call a good reason to grow flowers; to attract these winged jewels.

The group of gardeners who want to grow only food; or plant trees will argue that growing flowers for purely aesthetic purposes is a waste of time and resources (soil, water) but I simply cannot agree.

Beauty is a function and one that deserves our respect an

d attention. Spend, even20 minutes, in a backyard near the flower garden, feel the sun warming your face, hear the hum of the bees and watch the butterflies float from plant to plant and you will see the value that beauty brings. The dance of life is taking place before your eyes.

Besides a cut flower garden can attract the beneficial friends, (bees and other insects) to you garden that will help you do the work.

My perspective is this; if you have enough space for a garden then take a diverse approach, grow the vegetables that you want for your table but add a few herbs and a few cut flowers into the mix so that your garden will not only provide a greater bounty for your table but so that you set out a portion for your garden helpers.

The successful gardener does not work alone. Another saying that is worth remembering here is that we do not live by bread alone; vegetables will feed your hunger but flowers will feed your heart.

Gardening and Wonder

 Have you ever seen the look in a child’s eyes when she or he sees the first butterfly? I have and to me that look is the best definition of wonder and awe that I can come up with. Education should inspire similar reactions.

The pure delight of finding something you did not know before, something new. The joy of discovery when you see a butterfly emerge from a cocoon or watch bees buzzing from flower to flower on their endless journey to collect pollen for the hive.

The garden, both at home and at school, is a safe environment where children can experience discovery while learning about nature and so much else.

Reading a scene from Romeo and Juliet after watering the roses in the garden, and then talking about the uses of rose hips, could make a dynamic lesson that helps the child appreciate  Shakespeare, roses and wild food.

We learn by doing and when the teacher or instructor can couple the theoretical or the literary experience with a real-world event the lesson will take on a deeper meaning.

Math is a necessary part of gardening; read the instructions on a seed pack and then create a math problem based upon that information.

If the gardeners are growing peas and pole beans, for example, they will need to build supports which also requires math in addition to basic mechanical skills.

Biology and botany are obvious garden subjects. How does a garden grow? This is a short question but the answer introduces the student to photosynthesis, pollination and soil science, for example.

Plants have their own history and students can journey back through time by tracing how a plant came into being and explore geography when they uncover the various lands that plant may have traveled through over time.

A vital lesson is the most obvious one, where food comes from and what real food tastes like. Have you ever bitten into a just picked tomato, still warm off the vine?

The awareness that food does not originate in the grocery store nor naturally come in microwaveable boxes will change the learner’s relationship with food and those who produce it.

If your child’s school does not a learning garden think about starting one. Talk with the principal, to start.

If you have a garden at home and are not already gardening with your young ones do so, you will create memories and lessons that will last a life time.

Ten Steps to an Organic Garden

 Organic gardening is so basic, anyone can create a garden where plants thrive, flower and bear fruit. 

Gardening is a simple and straightforward activity, it is not necessary to understand the science involved, however, it is important to use an organic process.

All you need to do to grow flowers, herbs and vegetable, organically, is follow these ten steps.

1.      Put the right plant in the right place. In other words, make sure the plant you choose is placed where it gets the amount of sunlight it requires as well as the water and food needed for strong growth.

2.      Do the above in the planning stage so you know what you are going to do before the actual planting, what you will plant, where you will plant it.

3.      Organic gardeners feed the soil because healthy soil will produce healthy plants. One of the most effective ways to build healthy soil is to add organic material, such as compost to the soil.

4.       Mulch, proper mulching prevents weeds from taking over your garden and thus reduces your labour. Mulch also reduces the soil’s thirst, as it reduces the rate at which it dries out after watering, and will warm up the ground in Spring and Fall.

5.      Use organic and heritage seeds as these will breed true and you are then able to save seeds from the most productive plants. 

6.      When planting the seeds, especially if you are a novice gardener read the seed pack and follow the instructions.

7.      Rain barrels allow you to collect rain and use it when you need to water the garden. Dry days are not uncommon and to save turning on the tap to provide the plants with that needed drink if you have a rain barrel you can meet their needs and conserve water at the same time.

8.      Spend time in your garden simply observing the activity. An evening stroll can serve as an early warning system and help to avoid infestations and diseases. Paying attention to your garden can pay big dividends when it comes to combating pests and diseases. 

9.      Keep a garden journal, record your observations and thoughts. This will help when planning next year’s garden.

10.   Enjoy experiment and have fun. We learn by doing so do not be afraid to do.

If you are a beginner do not read too many gardening books, stay focused on what you want to grow and how much time you have to garden. Start small and expand, if you want, as your skills develop and your knowledge grows.

Time and Your Garden

 When people ask me how to get started with a garden, one of the first questions I ask them is how much time do you have to spend in your garden each day?

The reason I ask this question is people often have great gardens in their minds but in their daily lives, they simply do not have the time to care for those gardens. 

Sure, the first few days are full of energy as the garden bed or beds are prepared and the seeds and seedlings are planted and everything is watered.

But then life happens and the busy schedule that is many peoples’ reality starts to take over and tending the garden gets put aside or left to the weekend. Now, once a garden is established, you do not need to visit it every day, although I do recommend that if you really want a thriving organic garden then allow yourself at least five minutes each day.

During those five minutes all you are doing is observing, looking for changes like any unwanted visitors or signs that something may be wrong, brown leaves, chew marks and so on.

This early warning will increase your odds of saving the plants before the problem zooms out of control.

The English Cottage Garden

 I believe people should do what they can to grow some of their own food. I also believe that a garden without flowers is missing an important element.

The English Cottage Garden fits perfectly with both these beliefs. The plant options the gardener can select from are numerous. If the garden was mine there are plant that would have to be included.

For me, the ideal cottage garden would include hollyhocks and cosmos. These two add a majestic and ethereal beauty to any garden. There are also bee attractors.

The hollyhock takes me back to my boyhood and the cosmos with its feathery foliage speaks of ancient times and a sense of mystery.

After our long and sometimes, seemingly endless winters, a bit of early colour is welcome.  Thus, tulips, daffodils and crocuses belong in this garden.

Lilies can bring beauty throughout the season due to the wide variety available Lavender, thyme, dill and basil will be there to add fragrance and flavour.

Of course, tomatoes, strawberries and beans are all essential elements of this landscape.

Picture a sunny summer morning, you step out the back door and into the garden, which is alive with the sight, sounds and smells that only a thriving garden can bring.

The bees are busy pollinating the various blooming plants and the butterflies are flitting from flower to flower. The fragrance of lavender gently floats across the tranquil but active scene.

It is a bright sunny morning, the garden an ideal place to enjoy the first coffee of the day and to pause before going on your way.

The cottage garden provides not only food for the eyes and body but a place to retreat from the daily world, a place where you reunite with nature and rejuvenate.

The garden reawakens our primal connection with the earth and engages us in her ever-turning cycle

The garden I am describing is based upon the English Country Garden. Outside of the backyard food forest, which I will discuss in an upcoming article, the English Cottage Garden is be one of the more holistic and environmentally sound garden styles.

The backyard food forest is, without question, a better way to meet all your food and other needs, but not everyone is going to turn their space into a food forest so the next best thing or rather a choice that any gardener can select is the cottage garden.

The Cottage Garden traces its origins back to the 15^th century and the English villages of the time. The gardens are a mix of flowers, herbs and vegetables and can meet many of the residents’ daily needs, such as, medicinal teas, herbal balms, insect repellents and food.

The size of the garden depends upon the time the gardener has and the space that is available for a garden. The English Country Garden can start small and gradually grow over the years, as space, time and interest change.

A Literacy Garden

I worked, some years back,

as a volunteer literacy tutor and was amazed at what some of the people who I helped learn to read could do.

It is feasible that we can combine the skills that people have with their desire to learn to read and do so while building and maintaining a garden.

People learn best, through an active process, that is by doing, and in the case of the garden, the first lessons could begin with the design of the garden plan. The first step could be determining what they gardeners want to grow and drawing on seed catalogues to form the basis of a reading lesson. Seed packets can also be included as they contain information that the gardeners need.

However, before we begin designing lesson plans, there are a few things that are even more essential. One is the land. Where will the garden be located?

There are some possible options; a church may be willing to allow the use of some of its property for this [purpose, or perhaps a school or community centre?

The municipality may have available land or if there is a literacy organization they may have land.

The teaching could be handled by master or other experienced gardeners working with literacy tutors to develop the lesson plans.

How does the process of creating a literacy garden begin? Well, as with most projects, you will need to assess your resources. For example, is there a master gardeners group where you live? Is there a literacy organization? If the answer is yes, you may want to contact these two organizations in order to determine their interest.

If you are a gardener and feel comfortable with your ability to share your knowledge with others then you may want to team up with a teacher or literacy worker and get a few ideas down on paper; keep it simple what you are looking for is a discussion paper, something to get people giving some serious thought to the idea of a literacy garden.