GARDEN JOURNAL

What’s Up, Doc?

My goal this year was to grow carrots that numbered more than a handful and were big enough to warrant more than a wipe with a gardening glove before popping them into my mouth.

Goal accomplished. This is two handfuls. Plump, juicy and sweet, these little carrots were planted on May 17 and harvested just over 4 months later. When I dug them out, the soil was full of fibrous white rootlets, so I understand better why they wanted water every day.

The east facing clay trough that the carrots were thinly seeded into seemed to work well, daily watering was an easy routine and the thinning challenge was a patience-testing exercise that I finally figured out this year.

Grow carrots again next year? I think I will.

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And Repeat

And four months later ‘The President’ blooms again. Kinda unusual to have a new flower showing off so late in the season. It had made promises of a repeat performance, but I really didn’t believe it was going to happen. Faith in Mother Nature restored.

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Floating Fronds and Moss

As we head into the fall, the plants in each of my three stone trough ponds are starting to change colour. Salvinia natans, the floating fern, is starting to fade. Throughout the growing season this plant grows agressively and its new shoots are bright green. But as temperatures drop, the leaves loose their green glow and slowly start to darken to a dirty green-brown.

But Azolla carliniana, the floating fairy moss takes another path. It turns a bright purple-pink as temperatures cool. A true sign that the pond temperature is now cold more often than not.

The fishes are starting to slow down a bit and seem to be nibbling on the plants. Must be getting tired of a summer of only fish food and the ocassional insect. Can’t blame ‘em for wanting something fresh every so often.

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Easier to Order Than Grow

I bet you ordered edamame beans last time you went to a Japanese restaurant. I know I did.

So I grew some this summer. The brand was Container Gardens, Mr. Fothergill’s Edamame Beans, packaged in England and purchased at a local nursery. They were marked as needing a 90-day growing season, so seeds were in the ground by May 17. I subsequently had miserable luck with all of the beans I planted. So I ended up replanting the edamame.

Once the seeds finally sprouted (less that 50 per cent germination on the replant) and the plants started to grow, progress was very slow. This is a hairy little plant and the bright green pods are fuzzy too. The plants grew to about 40.5 cm (16 inches) high and I ended up adding bamboo stakes to the container to give the plants a bit of support. The beans wouldn’t necessarily need to be staked if planted in a container with other ornamentals that could provide some support.

The edamame bean plants finally started to hit their stride about a month and a half ago, as I was headed out on vacation. Isn’t that always the way. But the pods filled nicely, although there were not very many on each plant.

The harvest? – pretty small. These plants didn’t like the drop in evening temperatures that happened here in early September. And as a result the leaves and beans that were still to be picked turned yellow pretty quickly. So if you grow these watch carefully around harvest time – I found the window for harvest to be pretty narrow. That means one day they are ready and just a few days later the beans and pods have hardened and are too tough.

Grow again? Yes, I think I’ll try again next year – but in a container that gets a little bit more heat and is more protected from the wind. And I’ll probably seed a week or two later, just to ensure the weather is a bit warmer and settled. In the meantime, I’ll keep ordering them at the restaurant and buying them frozen – and be a lot more appreciative of what it takes to grow these fuzzy treats.

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The Pollinator Bed

I like Elaine’s Pollinator Bed. And on the balcony, I’m trying to do my part by growing sedum, thrift, aquilegia, clematis and potentilla to encourage bees to visit and pollinate my containers.

My parents garden in BC in Zone 6. It’s hot in the summer – +30˚C and mild in the winter, typically with good moisture – lots of snow. My mom has a pollinator-friendly flower bed that is in the full sun, so roses and liatris under-planted with thyme and lavender thrive. Local honey bees are pretty happy and active too. But although there seems to be a bee on every plant, there aren’t as many as there used to be. My dad used to have beehives, but retired them because of problems with the Varroa Mite in the area.

We all know the role of the pollinator is increasingly important. Another reason to have a bee-friendly garden on your balcony.

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Lovely Lavender

Bren Lukasiewich is the gardener and owner of Wynndel Lavender. I met her at the Saturday Creston Farmer’s Market this summer. I noticed her stall because of the lovely fragrance floating in the air. The look and feel of the booth was different too – nicely put together and totally appropriate for her products which include both fresh and dried lavender.

When and how did you start growing lavender?
I started growing lavender in 2007. When we were landscaping our new acreage, a friend gave me some lavender plants to put around the pond and they grew taller than the cedars! I did some research and discovered this herb, like so many Mediterranean plants likes the full sun, lime-like soil, little to no watering and good drainage. These are the exact conditions at the base of our acreage. It was a bonus to discover that lavender is deer-resistant as well.

I grew a few different species in trials beds and settled on the English (angustifolia) varieties of Hidicote and Munstead and the intermedia Lavandins (French) Provence, Grosso and Fred Boutin. All are specific to our Zone 6 and provide incredible colour and fragrance.

How big is your lavender garden?
Currently I have 750 plants. 

What is your biggest challenge growing lavender?
The greatest challenge is the weeding! Everything grows here in the Kootenays and the weeds are no exception.

How long have you been gardening?
I have been gardening most of my life, growing up on the farm on the prairies. When I retired from nursing after 29 years and before moving to the Creston Valley, I took the Master Gardeners course at the Devonian Gardens near Edmonton. 

What do you like about gardening in Wynndel?
Not in my wildest dreams did I plan on being a farmer again but growing and gardening in this area is beyond your greatest expectations. At the local Garden Club we often caution new growers to the area … “don’t plant too much!”. What a great problem to have.

Bren has been invited to Taste of Fernie and the Salmo Market, but has not confirmed. You can find her at the weekly Creston Farmer’s Market that takes place at the Creston Millennium Park parking lot. Stop by if you are in town.

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Hello Berry

We have an amazing network of bike trails in Calgary. From the city centre where the balcony garden is located I can head out in any direction and connect with the pathway system. Last week I headed out for a ride around the Glenmore Reservoir – which is the source of the city’s drinking water.

The Saskatoon bushes, that you can find around the reservoir are loaded with berries right now. In Alberta there are lots of growers and u-pick farms, many within an hour or so of the city, but foraging in town is pretty common. Someone had beat us to the ripe ones – not surprising as the paths close to the water are well travelled.

When ready to eat, the berries are dark purple and soft. These ones pictured below need a few more days of sun. I used to grow these shrubs, which will top off at about 1.8-2.1 meters (6-7 feet). They are native to the prairies, are vigorous growers and are a nice change from the common raspberry that is found in many backyards. Still haven’t grown them in a container yet, although I have good intentions.

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