Great Garden Reads

 

My book collection about gardening and related subjects seems to grow faster than my gardens do. My preference, for the most part, is for works published 50 to 70 years ago, when no one used the word organic to describe growing flowers, fruits, vegetables, and herbs. There was no need to add the adjective organic because it was the only way to grow.

When I hold a gardening workshop, especially one aimed at beginning gardeners, I suggest they forget books and rely on the instructions on the seed pack when planting. A few words about soil, hours of sunlight and watering, and they are all set to begin.

Once experience is gained it is time to broaden the knowledge base and read a few books.

The difficult can be in selecting two or three books from the hundreds that are available. Add to this the web pages and gardening articles found on the internet and the choice can be perplexing.

Where to begin?

First, answer a few questions. Are you new to gardening or a seasoned pro? Do you primarily grow vegetables, flowers or herbs? Are perennials your thing or do the possibilities of annuals turn you on?

Do you want the latest organic gardening tips?

The choice of a book will also depend upon your overall gardening goals; are you seeking to grow brilliant roses or to transform your yard into a market garden? Both are possible.

If you are interested in converting your backyard into a food garden then the book, I’d suggest is Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. It is published by Chelsea Green, 2001, and has a foreword by John Todd.  A second edition is available.

Hemenway’s book is for the people who are really determined to increase their ability to grow their own food. If that describes you then check out this book.

Speaking of checking out books, the local public library is a great source for gardening information. You can browse through the books until you garden fix is satisfied then check out the one(s) that you want to take a more detailed look through.

Book sales are another excellent source for getting great garden books; much of my ever growing collection comes from book sales. In the gardening world, there is much that is new again and the date a book was printed often does not matter.

Used book sales have added quite a few books to my collection.

I recommend getting at least one plant guide for flowers; make sure it covers plants that will grow in your area. The guide can help you make plant choices; a good one will have colour photos or illustrations of the plants plus information about the plant’s requirements and maintenance.

For anyone in the Canadian Maritimes, this is a good choice, The Atlantic Gardener's Greenbook, by Jodi DeLong (Nova Scotia, Canada).

 Gardening can be a very simple and enjoyable activity and a good book or three can enhance the practice and the pleasure.

Garden Gadgets,

 

Gadgets, where would any gardener be without their favourite gadget or tool? It does not matter what you grow or where you grow it, most gardeners have at least one tool that they hold dear and could not begin to garden without it.

Whether it be a pair of well worn gardening gloves, a favourite pair of shoes that are worn only in the garden or a spade that you can live without, it does not matter.

For me, for many years a pocket knife was m favourite garden tools. Now, I suspect as I was collecting pocket knives then, this was more a rationalization than a reality.

Now that I am a few years older than I was when I dug my first garden, I look for tools that make the work easier.

Long handled tools that enable me to stand up and do the work rather than bending over or kneeling down are ideal. I can still do the chores, such as bulb planting, I do love both spring and fall bulbs, are possible without causing me any problems.

As baby boomers continue to rise in numbers, garden gadgets that make it easier for them to either, take up or continue to garden, will find a ready market.

Another handy garden gadget is the garden tool cart. The garden tool cart allows you to take your tools with you easily as you move around the garden and also acts as a storage unit when you put them back into the garden shed or garage.

If you just have to get down and weed, then a kneeling stool will make it easier for you to do that. The kneeling stool gives you a comfortable pad to kneel on; is raised a off the ground and has sturdy support which you can sue to help yourself up and down. You can obtain a garden tool pouch to put over one of the supports so that your favourite garden tools are handy and within easy reach.

Anyone who wants to can garden. The garden gadgets that I have mentioned in this hub are designed to increase the gardener’s ability to participate in one of the most healthy and enjoyable outdoor activities that can also beautify your home; provide food for you family and increase your property value.

There are also long handled shovels; easy to use lawn mowers, and tools designed with special grips that are simpler to hold and use. Just like the garden glows when you put the right plant in the right place; the gardener grows when the right tool is selected. Happy gardening. 

Growing Herbs Indoors

 You are in you kitchen getting ready to make a tomato sauce. You need some fresh basil, what do you do? Well if you have a kitchen herb garden, you pick the herb you need.

without leaving the kitchen.

Getting your windowsill kitchen herb garden started is fairly straightforward.

You can be creative with your choice of containers and enhance your kitchen décor at the same time as you grow herbs to enhance your food, just make sure the container you select has a means to drain the excess water and something to catch that water in.

You could use terra cotta pots that you decorate yourself to add that personal touch.

First you plant your seeds in potting soil and keep moist until they sprout. You can place them on the top of your refrigerator as it will provide the needed warmth to get them sprouting.

Second, when the seeds have sprouted you move them to a sunny (5-6 hours of sunlight) windowsill and water them when they need it. As the herbs mature, cut back on the water as they prefer the soil to be slightly dry

Herbs

Dill – A common kitchen herb that has many sues, both the seeds and leaves of dill have sharp, slightly bitter taste. You can use the young branches are used to flavor salads, pickles, vinegar, sauces, soups, stews, and chicken, lamb and fish dishes.

Parsley – You will most commonly see parsley used as a garnish and it does work well but be sure to eat it and not toss it away. Parsley is very versatile and will look great on your windowsill I use parsley in salads, stews, omelets and soups, for example.

Sweet Basil – Sweet basil will add a pleasant aroma to your and a deep and spicy flavour to your food. It is essential for Italian cooking and Thai dishes. You can use sweet basil in tomato sauce and in stir fries for example.

Chives - Chives are one of my favorites, chives are a relative of the onion and bring that extra zip to any dish that needs it. The purple flowers are quite attractive and edible. Chopped chives can be added to salads, egg and cheese dishes, cream cheese, mashed potatoes, and sauces.

If you have these four herbs growing in your kitchen you will be all set to add that fresh something extra to a wide variety of meals. Your kitchen plants will produce well enough that you will be able to dry and store them for future needs or give them as gifts.

How to Force Bulbs Indoors

 

Winter is coming.

Winter and the garden is sleeping under a thick blanket of snow, keeping warm until Spring arrives and calls the bulbs that brighten our Springtime gardens and ease our snow worn eyes.

You do not have to wait until Spring to enjoy your favourite bulbs; there is no need to wait for those splashes of colour to break the monotony of the winter yard. You can grow you favorites indoors all Winter long.

The way you achieve this indoor bloom is by forcing them into the light, and it is not as painful as it sounds. Your indoor garden will work best when you select bulbs that are hardy, this way you will be able to have colour throughout the seasons,

The following are the hardy bulbs that are most commonly forced:

- crocuses (Crocus species),

- daffodils (Narcissus species),

- hyacinths (Hyacinthus species)

- tulips (Tulipa species).

You can also force:

- Dutch iris (I. x hollandica)

- netted iris (Iris reticulata),

- snowdrop (Galanthus species)

- grape hyacinth (Muscari species),\

- winter aconite (Eranthis species)

- star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum species),

- and Brodiaea species.

There are some bulbs that are difficult to force and may require special conditions such as artificial lighting, among these are the Allium, Camassia, Lilium and Scilla species.

There are four stages involved when forcing bulbs:

(1) selecting appropriate bulbs;

(2) planting;

(3) cooling;

(4) Forcing into flower.

You will achieve the best results when you but the cultivars that are recommended for forcing. ; This is important when you are working with daffodils, hyacinths and tulips, where the cultivar selection is wide.

The bulbs need to be handled with care so avoid exposing them to temperature extremes for example.

If you are not going to plant them immediately then be sure store them in a cool place (35 to 55 °F). You can place bare bulbs in the refrigerator for several weeks before you pot them.

It is best to keep them in a paper or mesh bag than have holes for breathing. If you are going to use the crisper drawer in your fridge make sure that you do not put fruit or vegetables in the same drawer. The ripening process gives off a gas that may harm the bulbs.

Remember that some bulbs are poisonous, and should not be eaten so if you have young children it may be best not to use the fridge for bulb storage.

African Violets

I am waiting for my African Violet seeds to arrive,

 

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Indoor Plant Propagation Air Layering

 Air layering is an alternative means to propagate house plants that are larger and possibly overgrown; for example, you can air layer rubber plants, croton, or dieffenbachia if have lost most of their lower leaves.

Azaleas and other woody ornamentals, such as camellia, magnolia, oleander, and holly also are able to be propagated by air layering. For optimum rooting, make air layers in the spring on shoots produced during the previous season or in mid to late summer on shoots from the current season’s growth. For woody plants, stems of pencil size diameter or larger are best. 

Choose an area just below a node and remove leaves and twigs on the stem 3 to 4 inches above and below this point. This is normally done on a stem about 1 foot from the tip.

Air layering differs, depending on whether the plant is a monocot or a dicot.

If the plant is a monocot, you make an upward 1- to 1 1/2-inch cut about one-third through the stem. Hold the cut open with a toothpick or wooden match stick.

Next you cover the cut with moist sphagnum moss (soaked in water and squeezed to remove excess moisture).

You can substitute well broken down compost for the sphagnum moss if you wish and as you can produce your own compost; this may be the best way to proceed.

The next step is to wrap the moss with plastic using a twist tie, for example, to hold the wrapping in place. The moss must not go beyond the end of the plastic wrap. The ends must be securely fastened so no moisture escapes.

If the plant is a dicot, then you proceed much like you do for a monocot but you remove a 1-inch ring of bark from the stem.

Always use a sharp knife. Make two parallel cuts that are approximately about an inch apart around the stem and through the bark and cambium layer. The cambium layer is the internal layer of living cells between the inner bark and the sapwood where growth takes place.

Use one long cut to join the two parallel cuts then remove the ring of bark; this leaves the inner woody tissue exposed. Remove the cambial tissue to prevent a bridge of callus tissue from forming.

If you wish you can now apply a root-promoting substance to the exposed wound.

Lastly, warp and cover using the same procedure that you would for monocots.

When roots fill the rooting medium you will cut the stem below the medium and pot the layer. Your new plant will need your care and attention for awhile, at least, until the root system becomes more developed.

This technique gets easier to do as you use it and remember that you can use compost instead of moss as the rooting medium.

Air Layering

• http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/ornamentals/airlayer/airlayer.html

Propagating Houseplants

 The outdoor growing season is ending, my passion moves indoors.

Stem Cuttings

The advantages of having houseplants are many; they add beauty and colour to a room, give you a hobby that can provide you with pleasure and considerable satisfaction, and make great gifts. Most houseplants are reasonable. They do not make tremendous demands upon your time and resources.

Perhaps, one of their greatest advantages is the ease at which you can multiply your houseplant collection, and to make this even more enticing, you can do so without spending a dime.

I have grown my indoor garden through trading cuttings both stem and leaf with others and through making my own cuttings.

I find that basil, which can be difficult to grow indoors, it gets leggy, will propagate readily from stem cuttings.  

Several years back I began with one basil plant that was growing in a well lit (6-8 hours) windowsill and turned that single plant into enough offspring that I was giving them away to others.

The plants as they were all raised indoors did well in the indoor environment provide their basic needs were maintained.

You can increase your plant collection by saving seeds which for some houseplants can take the time or through vegetative propagation. Vegetative propagation consists of using a specific part of a plant and encouraging it to form roots of its own.

Once the plant forms roots it is on its way to becoming a plant in its own right, stem cuttings are one way to achieve this.

Many houseplants can be propagated from stem cuttings. The cuts need to be made with a sharp knife or razor blade as you do not want to bruise the stem which may split the stem and cause rot to set in.

If you plant this operation ahead of time you can be sure to water the plant about two hours before you cut.

This ensures that the stems and leaves are fully charged with moisture.

If you are using a flowering stem, pinch the flowers off first.

If you want to hurry up the rooting process you can coat the cut end of the stem with a root hormone.

Rooting in water:

1. make a clean cut just above a leaf axil or node, this allows the parent plant to make new shoots from the top axils.
2. make a second cut immediately below the lowest node of leaf axil of the cutting and then gently remove the lower leaves.
3. place in water ; it may take up to 4 weeks, but do check, for 2-4 cm of new root to appear.

Now you can place the cutting into a potting mixture. I have found this to be a very effective method for creating new plants when I want to expand my collection or to prepare a gift for someone, also if the plant is getting too large for its location, taking a cutting and rooting them is an effective way to keep the size under control, maintain the plant’s shape and create a new plant.

It can take up to 4 weeks for the new roots to develop sufficiently enough to be placed into potting soil but I do strongly suggest that you keep a close eye on their growth as I have seen, basil at least, develop, much faster than this.

Still Reaching

 

Our Common Ground- Food

 Every being must eat.

What we eat varies due to personal preferences, ethics, financial ability, for in our world, food is a commodity and no pay, no eat, is the rule; culture and political and religious beliefs also play a role when we choose our fare.

Regardless of our food choices, the one choice that we cannot and usually do not want to make is to not eat. We eat or we die,

If we eat but do not get the nutrition that our body requires from the food we choose then we become ill. If we do not eat enough, even of good food, then we weaken and become ill.

In North America, we often complain of our fast-paced lives and how busy we are; this reality is well reflected in our food lifestyle, fast food dominates the food scene. Drive-thrus and delivery, microwaves, and frozen entrées have replaced cooking; which, along with growing our own food, is a basic survival skill.

How many people would suffer greatly, if they could no longer pick up or order in their supper or no longer pop something into the microwave and wait a few minutes for dinner?

How many days of food do you have in your pantry or storage cupboards? When was the last time that you preserved any food?

How long would your food last if the transportation system broke down and the food you buy was no longer on the grocery store shelves and the pizza place was out of dough?

North Americans have let the food supply system slip out of their grasp and the very item, the second most important need that we have, after air; water being the first, is in the hands of companies that are in many cases far away.

We can live for up to three weeks without food, but only 3 days without water.

Food is trucked, flown, and put in boxcars so that it can be shipped to its destination. How fresh can it be if it has been sitting in a container for 2 weeks before it reaches your plate?

Do you know how far your last meal traveled before it became a meal?

Tomatoes, for example, are being bred for their ability to travel rather than their flavour. So we get tomatoes that can travel but are tasteless.

Even the fast-food that we so dearly love relies on transport to deliver the bulk of what it serves.

Transportation requires the use of fossil fuels to power the truck that carry much of our food and the airplanes that fly in the foods from distant ports. The price of gasoline is rising in many places as is the price of food, they are connected.

The agriculture industry is one of the biggest users of fossil fuels, not just for transportation, but for the production of pesticides and fertilizers as well.

There is an episode of West Wing where President Bartlett is speaking to his chief of staff. The topic is the news that mad cow disease has raised its head in the United States. The President says and I am slightly paraphrasing this: “Often what we take for granted is the very thing that turns around and bites us in the ass”.

The conditions that the animals that we consume are kept in are all too often appalling, to say the least; this means that before they are killed they suffer. This reality is the reason that many people become vegetarians.

There are a number of food-based movements that are working to address food quality, local economies, and the sheer pleasure of preparing and sharing a meal with friends and family. The organic movement has become big business, the push to local food has drawn national attention and the slow food movement has spread across nations.

If we have any real interest in improving our quality of life, our environment and address issues such as poverty and hunger then we only need to look inside our cupboards and refrigerators and begin to change with what we put in them on shopping day.

Food is our common ground; we all eat so let’s give our next meal some thought.

Wabi Sabi Zinnia

 Nothing lasts forever.

Photos

 

Tar Spot And Trees,

 Tar spot is a common, visually distinctive, and fungal leaf spot disease. Tar spot can affect many species of maple including big leaf, mountain, red, Rocky mountain, sugar, and sycamore maple.

If a maple tree develops a relatively small yellow spot or spots on the leaves, then it is most likely that the tree has tar spot. The spots can remain small or they can get bigger as the season progresses. 

Worse, they can spread across the entire surface of the leaves. As this fungus matures, the centre of the infected area will become raised and turn black.

It is this black spot or blob that gives the infection its name, tar spot. The most common fungi that cause tar spot are Rhytisma acerinmu and Rhytisma punctatum.

There is no natural cure for tar spot. In the short term, it does not harm the tree but does damage the leaves. The most effective control is to rake up all the leaves from infected trees and bag them.

If this process is to work then all the leaves must be collected. If the municipality has a professional composter then the leaves can be composted. However, the standard backyard compost system will not get the job done, they do not get hot enough.

My interest in tar spot takes more of a long-term view than a short-term one. In the short term, there may be no obvious, other than beauty, damage to the tree. However, over a period of years, it may be possible that the decreased leaf surface, due to tar spot, may impact on the tree’s ability to play its role in one of nature’s most important functions, photosynthesis.

People and animals rely on photosynthesis to make oxygen available so they can breathe. The roots absorb water and other minerals.

When these raw materials, water, and oxygen, for example, flow into plant cell that contains chlorophyll, the chlorophyll draws on energy from the sun to change carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. Glucose is a sugar that helps plants grow. As this process takes place, the tree produces excess oxygen. The extra oxygen is released into the atmosphere.

The actual impact tar spot has on photosynthesis is not known.

If there are infected maple trees on your property please rake them and bag them.

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