Vegetable Gardens
- I Support Bill C-517
- Lee Valley's Row Greenhouse
- Local Farmer Seeks Gardeners
- Giving the Gift of Rhubarb
- Hungry Rabbits Take out the Tulips
- Spring Has Arrived in Ontario
- Finding a Community Garden Plot
- Working at a Local Garden Centre
- Choosing Heirloom Tomato Varieties
- Photos of Last Year's Veggie Plot
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
Those concerned about eating food that includes genetically modified organisms can encourage their MP to support this bill, requiring labeling of all GMO food in Canada.
A private member’s bill supporting mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food in Canada was selected randomly for debate in the House of Commons this month. If Bill C-517 is passed into legislation, Canadian manufacturers of food containing genetically modified ingredients will be required to label their products as such.
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) don’t occur naturally, since they are created through the process of genetic manipulation, to prevent plants from being affected by a herbicide or pesticide, for example. The genes from one organism are inserted into the genetic code of another. According to Greenpeace, “In Canada, up to 70 per cent of the processed foods found in grocery stores contain GE ingredients. The most common GE ingredients come from crops like corn, soy, canola and cotton.” They produce an electronic guide revealing which products do and do not contain GMOs.
This issue is also of concern to vegetable gardeners and farmers because genetically engineered food:
I wrote an e-mail to my Member of Parliament asking her to support this Bill. You can, too!
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) don’t occur naturally, since they are created through the process of genetic manipulation, to prevent plants from being affected by a herbicide or pesticide, for example. The genes from one organism are inserted into the genetic code of another. According to Greenpeace, “In Canada, up to 70 per cent of the processed foods found in grocery stores contain GE ingredients. The most common GE ingredients come from crops like corn, soy, canola and cotton.” They produce an electronic guide revealing which products do and do not contain GMOs.
This issue is also of concern to vegetable gardeners and farmers because genetically engineered food:
- Destroys biodiversity,
- Benefits rich, large agri-businesses instead of small farmers,
- Destroys family-owned farms whose operators can’t afford to buy seeds, pesticides and fertilizers,
- May have long-term effects on our health that are not yet known, and
- Are not sustainable.
I wrote an e-mail to my Member of Parliament asking her to support this Bill. You can, too!
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
Using a row greenhouse in my back yard vegetable garden has allowed me to extend my growing season into early spring, while protecting seedlings from hungry rabbits!
A few years ago, one of our good friends gave to us as a wedding gift a $300 gift card for the mecca of all garden shopping destinations: Lee Valley.
While this store sells woodworking and hardware items, its main draw for me is the unique and very useful gardening tools and gadgets their catalogues frequently feature. I had been wishing for a greenhouse ever since we had started gardening together, and this was my chance to get one!
What I purchased was not a traditional greenhouse, but a row greenhouse, one that sits directly on the soil in the vegetable garden. This product covers 76 square feet of my vegetable garden from early spring right into summer, and cost just $62.50CAD. It is assembled in much the same manner as pitching a tent, with the use of steel anchors pegs that fit through metal-lined holes along the edge of the plastic cover.
The advantages to using a row greenhouse are many. Perhaps the most significant “bonus” to using the row greenhouse in my yard, in addition to extending the growing season, is that the rabbits that visit our back yard buffet rather frequently don’t seem to be able to penetrate the sides of the greenhouse, keeping the small seedlings and tender spring greens safe inside.
The major drawback is that, although vegetable seedlings do very well inside the row greenhouse, so do weed seedlings. The soil inside the row greenhouse is currently covered with a very fine covering of tiny clover seedlings. The row greenhouse also prevents rain from penetrating the soil inside, so watering is necessary.
A product such as Lee Valley's row greenhouse is a great addition to every vegetable garden, especially for those who battle bunnies!
While this store sells woodworking and hardware items, its main draw for me is the unique and very useful gardening tools and gadgets their catalogues frequently feature. I had been wishing for a greenhouse ever since we had started gardening together, and this was my chance to get one!
What I purchased was not a traditional greenhouse, but a row greenhouse, one that sits directly on the soil in the vegetable garden. This product covers 76 square feet of my vegetable garden from early spring right into summer, and cost just $62.50CAD. It is assembled in much the same manner as pitching a tent, with the use of steel anchors pegs that fit through metal-lined holes along the edge of the plastic cover.
The advantages to using a row greenhouse are many. Perhaps the most significant “bonus” to using the row greenhouse in my yard, in addition to extending the growing season, is that the rabbits that visit our back yard buffet rather frequently don’t seem to be able to penetrate the sides of the greenhouse, keeping the small seedlings and tender spring greens safe inside.
The major drawback is that, although vegetable seedlings do very well inside the row greenhouse, so do weed seedlings. The soil inside the row greenhouse is currently covered with a very fine covering of tiny clover seedlings. The row greenhouse also prevents rain from penetrating the soil inside, so watering is necessary.
A product such as Lee Valley's row greenhouse is a great addition to every vegetable garden, especially for those who battle bunnies!
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
Community gardens are starting to draw the attention of land owners in the Province of Ontario. One farmer in the Village of Kendal hopes to start a garden on his land.
This week I attended the monthly meeting of the local branch of Canadian Organic Growers. Every month the chapter's publicity co-ordinator makes several announcements about organic gardening and community gardening at the beginning of the meeting. As usual, this week she had several announcements about garden tours, open houses, plant sales and new products available to organic gardeners. This week, however, there was one announcement that stood out as exceptional.
There is a farmer who lives in a rural area of Ontario called Kendal, and this farmer has 10,000 square feet of land he’d like to donate for the use of growing food. It sounds like what he is envisioning is a community garden. He says there is enough space for 40 plots! He’ll even supply the water.
This man has his heart in the right place. Unfortunately, his farm just isn’t in the right location for this initiative to be successful. Kendal is quite a drive out of the way for most of the people in this community to make use of the land in this manner. It quite defeats the purpose, when the rising cost of fuel is factored in, to drive a vehicle to a community garden that is 45 minutes to an hour away from home. Out in Kendal, most people have space for gardening. The nearby cities of Oshawa and Whitby are more in need of community gardening space.
Perhaps this farmer should consider looking for a couple of people who would like to make a go of market gardening? With 10,000 square feet, a lot of vegetables could be grown and sold in many of the nearby summer farmer’s markets, and making the trip out to the garden would be much more realistic.
Interested individuals can e-mail me for this farmer’s telephone number.
There is a farmer who lives in a rural area of Ontario called Kendal, and this farmer has 10,000 square feet of land he’d like to donate for the use of growing food. It sounds like what he is envisioning is a community garden. He says there is enough space for 40 plots! He’ll even supply the water.
This man has his heart in the right place. Unfortunately, his farm just isn’t in the right location for this initiative to be successful. Kendal is quite a drive out of the way for most of the people in this community to make use of the land in this manner. It quite defeats the purpose, when the rising cost of fuel is factored in, to drive a vehicle to a community garden that is 45 minutes to an hour away from home. Out in Kendal, most people have space for gardening. The nearby cities of Oshawa and Whitby are more in need of community gardening space.
Perhaps this farmer should consider looking for a couple of people who would like to make a go of market gardening? With 10,000 square feet, a lot of vegetables could be grown and sold in many of the nearby summer farmer’s markets, and making the trip out to the garden would be much more realistic.
Interested individuals can e-mail me for this farmer’s telephone number.
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
I was pleasantly surprised when a member of the online recycling community, Freecycle, recently agreed to give me a division from her rhubarb patch.
When I began to plan out my vegetable garden for this growing season, one of my goals was to increase the production of fruit. Many early summer mornings I’ve enjoyed the ritual of walking to the back of our property to pick a bowl of fresh raspberries to enjoy with yogurt and granola. I thought that adding some other fruit species to our garden of edibles would increase the pleasure of growing food in the yard.
My Dad has often described his childhood habit of sneaking off to the rhubarb patch with a small dish of sugar. He would cut off a stalk of ripe rhubarb and dip the damp end into the bowl. The bittersweet taste filled his mouth with a lively burst of flavour throughout the summer.
I came across some rhubarb seeds during a recent seed exchange, but when I learned that it would take several years before the plant would yield usable stalks, I decided it would be a better idea to source out a chunk of rhubarb from a fellow gardener who was dividing an established plant.
Freecycle is an online community of citizens who are trying to keep reusable items from entering the landfill, and although I have never received plants from anyone through this method, I decided to give it a whirl. I posted a message asking local gardeners to let me know if they had any rhubarb to spare. What a pleasant surprise to find that Anne, a fellow vegetable gardener in my town, had some to offer me. I gladly took her up on her offer and I’m now the proud owner of a small patch of rhubarb in my own vegetable garden.
Generous gardeners are to be found in the strangest places!
My Dad has often described his childhood habit of sneaking off to the rhubarb patch with a small dish of sugar. He would cut off a stalk of ripe rhubarb and dip the damp end into the bowl. The bittersweet taste filled his mouth with a lively burst of flavour throughout the summer.
I came across some rhubarb seeds during a recent seed exchange, but when I learned that it would take several years before the plant would yield usable stalks, I decided it would be a better idea to source out a chunk of rhubarb from a fellow gardener who was dividing an established plant.
Freecycle is an online community of citizens who are trying to keep reusable items from entering the landfill, and although I have never received plants from anyone through this method, I decided to give it a whirl. I posted a message asking local gardeners to let me know if they had any rhubarb to spare. What a pleasant surprise to find that Anne, a fellow vegetable gardener in my town, had some to offer me. I gladly took her up on her offer and I’m now the proud owner of a small patch of rhubarb in my own vegetable garden.
Generous gardeners are to be found in the strangest places!
Hungry Rabbits Take out the Tulips
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
Every year I hold out hope that the rabbit population in my neighbourhood will magically decline, but it never does. This year is no exception!
Last October, on one freakishly warm day (the last really warm day of the year), I happily planted tulip and grape hyacinth bulbs along the perennial border in my back yard. I thought about how lovely it would be to look outside at that garden in early spring and see the hopeful green shoots of these spring bulbs emerging from the soil.
I love grape hyacinths, also known as muscari, and when they are allowed to naturalize in the garden, they create a pretty purple blanket of colour. I looked forward with hopeful optimism to creating this same patch of purple in my own garden.
Over the last week or so I’ve noticed that some of the homes in my neighbouhood are sporting flowering spring bulbs already. I decided to check out the situation in my own yard to see what was what.
Upon closer inspection of my perennial border, I was dismayed to see that almost every last one of my emerging tulip and muscari bulbs have been nibbled down to nubs. Those blasted rabbits are at it again!
Rumour has it that some thoughtless resident in our subdivision kept rabbits in their yard at one point in time, and when he got bored of them, simply set them free. The critters have multiplied, living under local porches and decks, including ours. While we have made efforts to deter the rabbits from eating our prized plants, it’s a real struggle.
I’ve made chicken wire cages, plastic mesh cages (they chew through it), cayenne pepper and even trapped and moved a few of the critters in efforts to prevent the rabbits from chewing and killing young plants. Nothing really works.
I’ll just have to begrudgingly add tulips and muscari to the list of plants I can’t grow in this garden.
I love grape hyacinths, also known as muscari, and when they are allowed to naturalize in the garden, they create a pretty purple blanket of colour. I looked forward with hopeful optimism to creating this same patch of purple in my own garden.
Over the last week or so I’ve noticed that some of the homes in my neighbouhood are sporting flowering spring bulbs already. I decided to check out the situation in my own yard to see what was what.
Upon closer inspection of my perennial border, I was dismayed to see that almost every last one of my emerging tulip and muscari bulbs have been nibbled down to nubs. Those blasted rabbits are at it again!
Rumour has it that some thoughtless resident in our subdivision kept rabbits in their yard at one point in time, and when he got bored of them, simply set them free. The critters have multiplied, living under local porches and decks, including ours. While we have made efforts to deter the rabbits from eating our prized plants, it’s a real struggle.
I’ve made chicken wire cages, plastic mesh cages (they chew through it), cayenne pepper and even trapped and moved a few of the critters in efforts to prevent the rabbits from chewing and killing young plants. Nothing really works.
I’ll just have to begrudgingly add tulips and muscari to the list of plants I can’t grow in this garden.
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
It's time to put away the snow shovels and haul out the garden tools now that spring has finally made its appearance in Southern Ontario.
We finally had a beautiful, mild spring day here in Southern Ontario. In a year of near record snowfall, I'm happy to report that most of the snow has melted from my neighbourhood, with the exception of the 30-foot glacier-like icy drift that remains at the back of our yard.
Reading garden blogs is still a lovely way to pass away the early morning time. However, it is even more lovely to be able to head outside after coffee, after the first gentle rays of the sun have had a chance to warm the surface of the lawn and vegetable garden, to open the shed, take out a shovel, and start to dig.
I began the official physical work on my vegetable garden for the 2008 season by edging along the side of the bed. Because my vegetable patch is situated in the lawn, the grass surrounding it had begun to creep in, and the edges were no longer sharp. I used the edging tool that my father had given me, one he had used for years, to slice into the soft earth, leaving a crisp edge on the bed.
Next I raked the soil, removing piles of organic debris that failed to decompose over the winter. Thick stems, skins of rotted tomatoes and crunchy autumn leaves littered the bed through the winter, and I moved this organic “junk” onto my compost pile.
Last but not least, I set up my row greenhouse, my saving grace for vegetable gardening in Ontario. Having a row greenhouse set upon the soil extends the growing season, and I intend to plant radishes, onions, peas and beets there very soon.
What a relief to make the change from snow shovel to garden spade!
Reading garden blogs is still a lovely way to pass away the early morning time. However, it is even more lovely to be able to head outside after coffee, after the first gentle rays of the sun have had a chance to warm the surface of the lawn and vegetable garden, to open the shed, take out a shovel, and start to dig.
I began the official physical work on my vegetable garden for the 2008 season by edging along the side of the bed. Because my vegetable patch is situated in the lawn, the grass surrounding it had begun to creep in, and the edges were no longer sharp. I used the edging tool that my father had given me, one he had used for years, to slice into the soft earth, leaving a crisp edge on the bed.
Next I raked the soil, removing piles of organic debris that failed to decompose over the winter. Thick stems, skins of rotted tomatoes and crunchy autumn leaves littered the bed through the winter, and I moved this organic “junk” onto my compost pile.
Last but not least, I set up my row greenhouse, my saving grace for vegetable gardening in Ontario. Having a row greenhouse set upon the soil extends the growing season, and I intend to plant radishes, onions, peas and beets there very soon.
What a relief to make the change from snow shovel to garden spade!
Finding a Community Garden Plot
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
The internet is a great resource for finding local community garden plots, but the best way to find one is to explore your neighbourhood with a friend!
Now that I’m a community gardener, I somehow see community gardens in places I never noticed before. It’d odd, as though there were complete gaps in my visual consciousness before. It makes me wonder what other things I’m not seeing!
A couple of summers ago, my husband and I were out on a bike ride in our neighbourhood and I was pleasantly shocked to find that there was a community garden within a five minute bike ride from our house. We had lived in our home for a couple of years before coming across the garden, and I wondered how this was possible? Fortunately one of the garden’s organizers was there, tending her plot, and we were able to secure ourselves a plot for the following season.
Obviously, finding a community plot isn’t so easy for some would-be gardeners. Indeed, in some cities there are extensive waiting lists for community garden plots. I’d like to present a few tips for finding a community garden in your area.
A couple of summers ago, my husband and I were out on a bike ride in our neighbourhood and I was pleasantly shocked to find that there was a community garden within a five minute bike ride from our house. We had lived in our home for a couple of years before coming across the garden, and I wondered how this was possible? Fortunately one of the garden’s organizers was there, tending her plot, and we were able to secure ourselves a plot for the following season.
Obviously, finding a community plot isn’t so easy for some would-be gardeners. Indeed, in some cities there are extensive waiting lists for community garden plots. I’d like to present a few tips for finding a community garden in your area.
- Search the web. For example, the City of Toronto features the Toronto Community Garden Network, and the city’s official website also devotes a section to community gardening. A simple Google search string containing the city or town and the phrase “community garden” should yield some results.
- Head out! Explore your neighbourhood on foot or by bicycle. Like my husband and I, you might just stumble across a community garden project nearby.
- Start a community garden in your neighbourhood. If there just isn’t a community garden in your area, consider banding together with some fellow citizens to start a new garden. A list of frequently asked questions for starting a community garden is also found on the City of Toronto website.
Working at a Local Garden Centre
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
Several years ago I worked at a large greenhouse and garden centre, where I learned all kinds of things about annuals, perennials and vegetable plants.
Five years ago, I found myself really in the depths of gardens and gardening for the first time. I had grown annual flowers in pots and planters, but had recently begun to grow edibles and the gardening bug had hit me hard.
I thought maybe there was a way I could make a living handling plants, so that spring I started to apply to garden centres in and around the City of Toronto, where I lived. The day I got hired at a large garden centre, I was thrilled. The interview was informal; the owner was an Italian woman whose family had been operating the business for many years. We walked together around the beautiful, bright greenhouse, and she pointed out various species of plants, asking me to identify them. She quickly realized that I knew something about perennials and hired me to be a perennial plant salesperson.
Going to work every day at the garden centre in early spring was a wonderful experience. Daily tasks consisted of watering plants, moving flats around and keeping them organized, and talking to customers about the habits of various perennial plants. I learned most of my common knowledge of perennials from that job, and often still reflect on it when I'm trying to remember something about growing a certain kind of perennial.
The best part of working at the garden centre, however, was the discount offered to its employees. When it was time for vegetables and herbs to be sold, I took full advantage of this employee discount! I selected peppers and tomatoes, lettuce greens and herbs to grow in my small back yard plot.
This season I am hoping to return to the horticultural industry part-time. For garden enthusiasts, it's a wonderful way to earn a little money while surrounding yoruself with the plants you love!
I thought maybe there was a way I could make a living handling plants, so that spring I started to apply to garden centres in and around the City of Toronto, where I lived. The day I got hired at a large garden centre, I was thrilled. The interview was informal; the owner was an Italian woman whose family had been operating the business for many years. We walked together around the beautiful, bright greenhouse, and she pointed out various species of plants, asking me to identify them. She quickly realized that I knew something about perennials and hired me to be a perennial plant salesperson.
Going to work every day at the garden centre in early spring was a wonderful experience. Daily tasks consisted of watering plants, moving flats around and keeping them organized, and talking to customers about the habits of various perennial plants. I learned most of my common knowledge of perennials from that job, and often still reflect on it when I'm trying to remember something about growing a certain kind of perennial.
The best part of working at the garden centre, however, was the discount offered to its employees. When it was time for vegetables and herbs to be sold, I took full advantage of this employee discount! I selected peppers and tomatoes, lettuce greens and herbs to grow in my small back yard plot.
This season I am hoping to return to the horticultural industry part-time. For garden enthusiasts, it's a wonderful way to earn a little money while surrounding yoruself with the plants you love!
Choosing Heirloom Tomato Varieties
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
With hundreds of varieties of heritage tomato varieties to choose from, narrowing down the selection to a reasonable and manageable number is a real challenge for me!
Earlier this week I watched an episode of Vision TV's Recreating Eden about Montreal gardener Gwynne Basen, self-proclaimed “Tomato Queen.” In the episode, Gwynne travels to France to visit the Loire Valley to attend an annual tomato festival at the Conservatoire de Tomate, home of over 600 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. 600 varieties!
Over the past couple of years I have grown approximately 35 different varieties of tomatoes in my back yard garden. Each year I tell myself that I am going to cut back a little on the tomato plants. Although they are my absolute favourite plant to cultivate for the vegetable garden, it has been a challenge to keep up with the harvest. I have given away almost as many tomatoes as I have roasted and preserved and eaten in my own kitchen.
In my article, How to Grow Heirloom Tomatoes, my recommendation is to select a range of tomato varieties for growing in the home or community garden plot. I’ve been trying to follow my own advice, but it’s been difficult to stick to a plan, since trying a new and exciting variety of tomato is hard to resist.
I believe I’ve narrowed down my selections for the 2008 growing season:
Over the past couple of years I have grown approximately 35 different varieties of tomatoes in my back yard garden. Each year I tell myself that I am going to cut back a little on the tomato plants. Although they are my absolute favourite plant to cultivate for the vegetable garden, it has been a challenge to keep up with the harvest. I have given away almost as many tomatoes as I have roasted and preserved and eaten in my own kitchen.
In my article, How to Grow Heirloom Tomatoes, my recommendation is to select a range of tomato varieties for growing in the home or community garden plot. I’ve been trying to follow my own advice, but it’s been difficult to stick to a plan, since trying a new and exciting variety of tomato is hard to resist.
I believe I’ve narrowed down my selections for the 2008 growing season:
- Red Currant, a tomato that is about the size of a marble, packed with flavour, and perfect for tossing into salads.
- Black Plum, a beautiful plum tomato that I have already started in seed trays in my dining room.
- Paul Robeson, a black tomato. It has a marvelous, rich, tomato flavour that cannot be beaten.
- Amana Orange has been my beefsteak of choice, and will be again this season.
Photos of Last Year's Veggie Plot
Posted by
Amy Urquhart
Amy Urquhart
Reviewing my collection of photographs of my vegetable garden over the last few years helps to cure the winter blahs, and provides some direction for the season to come!
Old Man Winter has just got to be kidding. I've absolutely had enough of this season for 2008, thank you very much. Yesterday the Weather Network indicated that a powerful winter storm was on the way to my part of the Province of Ontario. I laughed at their use of the adjective "powerful." Today the powerful storm has been upgraded to a "menacing" winter storm. I'm hoping that it will be the storm to end winter.
Spring starts officially in twelve days. Coming this close to the back end of winter has led me to look desperately for something green. In my community there is a sore lack of indoor green space to enjoy during winter, so I've been using the Internet once again to keep in touch with all things vegetable gardening and green. I've been perusing my personal Flickr site, in an attempt to get back in touch with my garden.
Reviewing last year's photographs of the vegetable garden has been revealing...I've noticed a few things I wish I had done differently. There are a few plants that have left me wondering why I bothered to grow them in the first place. There are also some great successes I've enjoyed reviewing. Keeping a photographic journal of my garden is such an essential part of the season for me that I couldn't imagine a gardening season without a digital camera in one of the pockets of my gardening apron. Photo hosting sites like Flickr, Photo Bucket or Photrade are excellent tools for managing a collection of garden images, and sharing them with other gardeners. If you're as desperate for spring as I am, check one of them out. There's sure to be some inspiration for this year's plot, just a click away.
Spring starts officially in twelve days. Coming this close to the back end of winter has led me to look desperately for something green. In my community there is a sore lack of indoor green space to enjoy during winter, so I've been using the Internet once again to keep in touch with all things vegetable gardening and green. I've been perusing my personal Flickr site, in an attempt to get back in touch with my garden.
Reviewing last year's photographs of the vegetable garden has been revealing...I've noticed a few things I wish I had done differently. There are a few plants that have left me wondering why I bothered to grow them in the first place. There are also some great successes I've enjoyed reviewing. Keeping a photographic journal of my garden is such an essential part of the season for me that I couldn't imagine a gardening season without a digital camera in one of the pockets of my gardening apron. Photo hosting sites like Flickr, Photo Bucket or Photrade are excellent tools for managing a collection of garden images, and sharing them with other gardeners. If you're as desperate for spring as I am, check one of them out. There's sure to be some inspiration for this year's plot, just a click away.
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