The Growing Challenge pushes us to grow a little more food than we have before: a minimum of one additional type of fruit or vegetable than we did last year, and to grow it from seed. This here is an update on my progress.
After attending Seedy Saturday this past weekend and walking away with more seeds than was advisable, I am trying to get my seed stash in order. So many seeds, so little space to sow.
Yesterday I put in two varieties of edible pod peas – Sugar Snap OP and Mega OP – both from a old stash of West Coast Seeds. Since they produce in 98-115 days, I put them in my raised beds where my tomatoes will eventually go (in June). I’ve never done this before, but my idea was that I’d boot out the peas when the weather starts getting too hot for them, but just right for tomato seedlings. Talk about a hard-working plot! Crossing my fingers that this will work.
Here’s what else I picked up at Seedy Saturday:
Rouge d’Hiver lettuce, Red Russian Kale and Lacinato Kale (growing kale is new to me, and was part of my initial commitment to the Growing Challenge). I also bought a bag of 150 shiitake mushroom plugs from local fungi master Western Biologicals (they don’t have a website, but the product is similar to this). I am so excited about these mushrooms – I’ve been wanting to try this for ages. Expect a step-by-step post on the process of starting the mushroom plugs in the coming weeks.
So, I didn’t make it to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Although I knew it would be a disappointing alternative, I hauled my pregnant self to the BC Home and Garden Show as a sort of consolation prize.
It’s taken me a while to be able to write about the experience. I’ve needed time to gain some perspective. I’ve needed to simmer down.
When I got back from the show, I tossed a roll of toilet paper to my husband.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“The best thing about the show,” I replied. A free toilet paper sample.
Four days later, I think perhaps I was being a little harsh. But just a little. It was that bad. There’s really no excuse for it, either. A lot of money was put into marketing and executing the event. The show home featured “the latest in sustainable, modular-style architecture.” The display gardens featured a series of “urban decks.”
Then why did I find myself wandering through aisle after aisle of uninspired booths hawking vinyl siding, closet organization systems and gutters? How come so few of the booths were interactive? Why didn’t they offer anything back to the consumer? So many booths were promoting a service – why does that seem to mean their booths don’t have to engage the consumer? Why would I want to learn about a new credit card offering, chiropractic treatment, or newspaper subscription? And why on earth were there four booths selling massage chairs?
So I guess my gripe is both with the vendors’ lack of creativity and effort, and the event organizers for being indiscriminate in their vendor acceptance process.
Now I’ll say something nice.
 Juliet Lin did a nice little patio display using ELT green wall panels. It’s great to see how green walls can be adapted to a small space. Juliet even used edibles in her panels.
 Continuing the green wall trend, gsky Anne Talbot-Kelly Garden Design went for drama with this simple panel featuring black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’). See Anne’s comment on the thought process behind her design as well as a description of all the suppliers involved.
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For those of you who haven’t experienced the (ahem) joys of pregnancy, let me fill you in.
It’s a beautiful sunny day. You decide to get out into the garden. Nothing heavy – you just want to enjoy the rare February sunshine and do some clean up. Which is normally no problem for a fit young thing like yourself, except, this time, you’ve got a beachball fused to your torso.
This… bulge, you see, makes it a tad difficult to maneuver. Reaching between shrubs is a challenge, as is performing the “squat and scoot” method of weeding. And don’t even go near any tender new growth. You’ll almost certainly crush it as you lose your balance (which is a strong possibility, given your centre of balance is way off).
The other thing that you’ll find challenging is the fact that your arms are now a good six or so inches shorter. Oh, I don’t mean literally. But your reach is certainly diminished due to the fact that you’re working around the bulge. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop you from straining to reach things that are just barely beyond your grasp… if you could just move the baby out of the way for a moment.
Trust me, it’s not a pretty picture. There will be grunting. And falling over. And your “normal” pregnancy-related backache will be increased – guaranteed. And in the end, you’ll wonder if you should really be doing this. And then you’ll laugh to yourself and think, “Of course I should.” Because really, as ungraceful and ineffective as you may be tottering around your garden, there’s no place else you’d rather be.
Update February 20. I’ve just found out that I’m not going to be able to make it to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show because I’m 32 weeks pregnant and can’t get insurance coverage. (I can’t risk going to the States without it, especially in my “condition.”) Thankfully, Caitlin and Owen of Vancouver-based garden design team Aloe Designs are going to cover the event for Heavy Petal. Thanks guys! I’ve also added another event closer to home – the BC Home and Garden Show (thanks for the reminder, Ren!)
Who knew late February was such a peak time for gardening events? If you live in the Vancouver area, there are three four worth checking out this week, from a big-ticket show to a small-but-enthusiastic celebration.
Northwest Flower and Garden Show 2008
The 20th annual Northwest Flower & Garden Show starts this coming Wednesday, and will take place February 20 – 24, 2008 at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle. The highlight of the show is always the gardens, which, come February, are a welcome – if artificial – taste of the season to come.
The cost of admission, which includes entrance to gardening seminars, is $19 for adults, $8 for students 25 and under with valid student I.D., $3 for ages 6 – 17 and free for children under 5. Show hours are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
BC Home and Garden Show
This show focuses a little bit too much on the magic mop crowd for my taste, but since I can’t make it to Seattle, I’ll likely poke around the BC Home and Garden Show for an afternoon. There is a good list of speakers, and the display gardens look promising.
Wednesday, February 20 through Sunday, February 24 at BC Place Stadium, 777 Pacific Boulevard, Vancouver, BC.
Seedy Saturday
Seedy Saturdays are taking place all across BC this month. In Vancouver, visit Van Dusen Gardens‘ Floral Hall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 23 for a celebration of heritage
varieties and organic gardening featuring more than 30 growers, seed
companies and exhibitors, plus a heritage seed swap.
Admission is by donation.
Seedy Saturday is also being held in other communities across BC, including Nanaimo, Cobble Hill and the Comox Valley. Check it out! Seedy Saturday is great place to find vegetable seeds for your entry into The Growing Challenge, or to stock up on seeds for your seedballs.
Hellebore Hurrah
Local nursery Phoenix Perennials holds its annual Hellebore Hurrah (”celebrating early spring and all things hellebore”) on February 22nd, 23rd and 24th, 2008 from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. They’re carrying Heronswood Hellebores for one more year – better not miss out!
I don’t tell you often enough, but I think you know it anyway: Garden, I love you. Thanks for everything.
Love,
Andrea
I met Hartley and Anne-Marie (above) at the farmer’s market last year, because, well, they were selling plants – need I say more?
Early in the spring, there are always more vendors selling plants than fresh produce. Mostly it’s pretty basic: pots of herbs, annuals and a few cottagey perennials. But there’s also Otto with his Japanese maples, someone who sells bonsai, and another booth that focuses on water plants.
Hartley and Anne-Marie’s sign read, “Gone Wild: native ornamental plants for the urban habitat.” I think I probably squealed when I saw it.
It’s exciting because it’s tough to find retail sources for native plants here in Vancouver. Many carry some of the more marketable plants like ferns or the more ornamental shrubs, but just try to find Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) or Vanilla leaf (Achyls triphylla) at your local nursery!
Hartley happens to live just around the corner from me, so, yesterday, on the way back from the greenhouse, he kindly dropped off a snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) and an evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), which I’ll add to my “mostly-native” plant bed. (Despite James’ plea for me not to plant snowberry, it’s not an invasive plant here – so I’m planting it anyway!).
Gone Wild carries a great selection of native and ornamental trees, ferns, perennials, shrubs, and groundcovers. You’ll find them at the farmer’s market come April – or contact Gone Wild directly.
 Came across a sweet little online shop called the Garden Boutique. This UK-based store is carefully curated by garden designer Alice Bowe, and has the intimate feel of a neighbourhood boutique, with lots of delicious treasures to be found. It’s also nice to find garden stuff that’s not everywhere, you know? Like these British Wool Metal Spirals. Never seen these before. They hold natural wool to make it easy for birds to find nesting material. Necessary? I doubt it, but they do look pretty clustered together, as Alice recommends, “so that they catch your eye almost like white winter blooms as you pass through the garden.”
 But personally, I’ve got my eye on these white ceramic Birdball birdhouses, whose simple, almost sculptural form reminds me of much more expensive versions.
 Once your backyard birds are happily ensconced, work on your own nest. A couple of my favourite picks from the Garden Boutique are these hanging cut-glass tealight holders (above) and the oh-so jolly old rustic garden crown (below).
 All photos from the Garden Boutique.
I’ve decided to join The Growing Challenge, started by Melinda of Elements in Time’s Creating Edible Landscapes blog.
I’m not very good at these types of things, normally. Let’s blame it on my fear of commitment. Never could quite manage to do Green Thumb Sunday or Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day (although I have ordered the February selection for the Garden Blogger’s Bookclub from the library. Baby steps!). But this seems fairly easy: you just have to grow one additional type of fruit or vegetable than you did last year, and grow it from seed.
Getting stuck in a vegetable rut isn’t really my problem. I love growing unusual edibles. I’ve grown shiso and edamame, saffron crocuses and Vietnamese coriander. The issue, rather, is space.
My balcony is dedicated to veggie growing. I have two raised beds totaling just 16 sq.ft., plus a rag-tag assortment of pots and planters. Last year the balcony was home to five tomato plants, fennel, zucchini, edamame, purple bush beans, mixed lettuces — and a fig tree. While the sun isn’t as good, I grow the herbs (rosemary, parsley, basil, thyme, chives, mint, oregano, marjoram) just outside our kitchen door, for obvious reasons.
What I won’t grow again
I’m going to forgo the zucchini, because it takes up so much space, and hand-pollinating it drove me crazy. Fennel is a no-go, because, hell, how often do I actually eat fennel? I’m also going to pass on the edamame, because I don’t have room to grow enough to make a satisfying snack.
What I’ll grow again
This year, I’m growing a variety of heirloom tomatoes again, which take up half my planting space. I’m growing lettuces: last year’s “Garden Babies Butterhead” and heirloom “Merveille de Quatre Saisons” from Renee’s Garden did very well. The fig tree stays.
What’s new
VEGGIES
Instead of bush or pole beans, I’m going to try filet beans – perhaps Maxibel from West Coast Seeds? But the newest thing for me this year will be kale. I’ve recently discovered a love for the stuff, so I’m going to try Lacinato (also known as Tuscan or black kale) as well as pretty Red Russian.
FRUIT
I’m also going to add a red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) to my native plant bed in my back garden. I’m also curious about those Doyle’s thornless blackberries you see advertised in the gardening mags.
FUNGI
I’ve always wanted to grow mushrooms, but I want to grow them outside and not using a starter log. I’ve seen garden show display gardens sink mushroom patches into the ground, which looks fantastic in a woodland garden. I’ll be looking at my options this year.
That’s all I have planned for now – but once I’m standing in front of that seed rack at the nursery, there’s no telling what might happen.
So, what do you say? Will you join me in trying a new veggie this year? Join here.
 Check out this gourd birdhouse by Courtney of the craft blog Two Straight Lines. Inspired by the Polynest featured on Design*Sponge, but not loving the birdhouse’s use of not-so-natural polystyrene, Courtney decided to make her own.
She says, “We often see gourd birdhouses, but they are usually left unpainted, or are
painted decoratively. How about just a simple coat of non-toxic
paint? Add in a little twig perch.”
Here’s how you can make your own:
* Buy a pre-dried, cleaned and drilled gourd. (Martin gourds seem to work best. You can buy them here.) Or grow your own and preserve it yourself.
* Paint the gourd. Courtney ended up using leftover latex interior paint. You could also try non-toxic or low-VOC paints.
* Drill a hole for the twig perch. Courtney says, “the size of the hole for the perch is dependent on the size of the twig you’re using. It needs to be a bit smaller than the twig so that it is “press fit”– meaning tight. I also brush on wood glue.”
* Attach the cable (or whatever you’d like to hang it with). You can buy steel cable by the foot at any hardware store. Courtney says, “you will also need little aluminum crimping fasteners that can be hammered closed (one to make the top loop, and one to make the bottom loop.) They are found with the cable.”
Hang outdoors or in (I’m thinking this would be lovely in the woodland nursery!).
Thanks Courtney!
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