Problems

This week has been rife with problems in the garden.  When the temperatures stay cool (think 25 degrees and under) almost all gardens look perfect.  Once you turn the heat up, you typically find out where the issues lie, and unfortunately for me, I have lots of issues.....

First up on the list:  Fusarium wilt.  As it turns out somehow, someway, I've brought a contaminated substance to the balcony. 

Nutrient problems

 Fusarium wilt is a soil born fungal infection which can last in the soil for up to 10 years.  It can be a little tricky to diagnose because it starts from soil level and gradually moves up the plant.  At first it appears to be a nutritional deficiency, because it doesn't have the characteristic wilt.  Then, as the plant continues to die back you begin to see the tell tale signs.  Some of the leaves start turning white with green veins, and the green parts begin to get a little bit wilty... and then... bam! You realize what you have, and you panic.  Why?  Because you can't really kill Fusarium wilt.  You can however hope it doesn't spread, and then only plant Fusarium wilt resistant plants.  Which, I did after I yanked those peas out.  In about a week I should have an Early Fortune 500 Cucumber sprouting.

Next on the list: Too many plants per container.  I did an experiment with my beans this year - I wanted to see how many plants I could fit in my container.  I tend to garden a little bit more bio-intensively to start with, so this was *really* bio-intensive.  Instead of my typical 3" seed spacing grid, I did a two inch grid.  As you can see, it was a BAD idea.  The container pictured has the worst nutrient problem I've managed to create in a container.  These have been replaced by a single Papaya Pear Squash... which is an early maturing F1 hybrid type of zucchini squash.  The second pot of beans wasn't nearly as bad as the first, so I decided to experiment (I know, I know) and just cut back the dead stuff and ripped out a few of the extra plants.  We will see how that goes.

The last thing on my list is a nasty case of Blossom End Rot.  Blossom End Rot is a calcium deficiency issue.  Usually the problem is that a plant has gotten too hot, cold, wet, or dry and therefore doesn't absorb enough Calcium.  In this particular case, I think my plants got far too hot over the last few weeks.  It's been up over 35 degrees, and they are sitting on hot concrete, with full sun and lots of wind... things like this remind me that roofs really aren't ideal for gardens!  However, never one to be spurned by mother nature, I'm going to take it in stride and be thankful that a) I live in a part of the world where I have a roof top to garden on b) I have the money to set it up and c) I've already enjoyed a nice set of produce, with more to come!

Happy Gardening!

Close up of Fusarium wilt

Blossom End Rot

Food history: Swiss chard

Today I'm home sick with a stomach bug and stuck in bed.  Thankfully The Man set up the laptop in bed for me.  I'd like to think it's because he loves me and wants me to have all the creature comforts possible during my time of need.  Realistically?  He doesn't want me spreading germs on the main level.  To keep myself occupied, I decided to search some plant history.  There will be more of these posts in the coming weeks - however today, the only item I have several decent pictures of is Swiss Chard.  And I feel like garbage, I'm so not going out there to take new ones.  And now, with out further adieu, let me introduce Swiss Chard!

Swiss chard is one of the healthiest vegetables around.  It's a descendent of the beet family, and has been selectively bred for it's nutritious leaves for as long as we can remember.  Well, at least as far back as ancient Greece.  Although not overly popular in North America (unless you're a nutrition buff), it's considered to be a prized food in Mediterranean areas. The name "Swiss Chard" comes from the Artichoke thistle of all things - otherwise known as Cardoon or Cadre in French.  Apparently someone thought that Swiss Cadre would be a great name for the plant, and the name stuck - albeit the corrupted version Chard.  Depending on where you are, you will also find Chard masquerading as Roman Kale, Silverbeet, Leaf beet, and Sicilian beet.

Bright lights chard

For being rather unassuming, Swiss chard is a vegetable powerhouse - one cup cooked supplies more Vitamin K and A then you need in a day, 50% of your vitamin C, 22% of your required iron, and a whopping 10% of your daily required calcium intake.  Most people have eaten it, but very few realize what exactly they have eaten.  I was no exception.  Years ago a friend of mine suggested growing some chard, and I did.  That year I learned that the weird not-quite-spinach item in my baby greens was chard.  Yes, I am confessing.  I don't like chard.  I wish I did.  It's just so darn good for you.  I've tried sauteing it, hiding it in lasagna, using it in a shake, steaming it, eating the baby leaves in my salad.  All of it is a no go. 

It is pretty isn't it?

But yet, I can't seem to stop growing it.  Look at it! Honestly, how can you say no?   It's leaves are gorgeous and complemented by slender, attractive stems.  It's hardy.  It gives added depth to the appearance of my garden.  Just don't put it on my plate.  But do look at it.  It's gorgeous inside and out.

Second pot of chard - after being cut back ruthlessly due to the leaf miners

This year, I grew two pots worth - I figured I'd spread the love to my Chard eating friends and family.  Sadly, one pot was infected with leaf miners earlier this year.  Just when I think it's free (like I did when I took the picture above), I go out, and find another infected leaf.  As I mentioned in a previous post, leaf miners are hardy little pests, and we've managed to wipe out almost all of their natural predators through wide spread use of pesticides. So, it seems the one small pot below will continue to struggle since I have to keep pinching it back.  However, I'm convinced I'll win it was two weeks from the last infected leaf until the one I found this morning.  Chard grows right up to the frost (and after! depending on the severity), so I have time on my side.  Maybe, just maybe once I kick this stomach bug, I'll try eating it.  Maybe this time I'll actually like it.

Happy growing!

Peppers, peas, and potatoes... Oh My!

Today was a good day to potter about in the garden - there have been quite a few changes to the plants as the garden has grown.  I discovered that the shallots I'd located behind the potatoes were too shaded, so I shifted the potatoes to the back, and the shallots to front.  While I was shifting I realized that my potatoes were quite unhappy.  I planted three potatoes per bin, which was apparently too many.  In an effort to save them, I yanked them up, pulled off a boat load of beautiful new potatoes, and replanted one plant per container.... more on that in a future post.

Anyway, while all the potato destruction was going on I noticed that one of my peppers was hiding.  $20 for the person who finds it first.......

Found it yet?  No?  I guess that was the problem.  He was pretty small when I planted him, and clearly didn't catch up before the others got started.

Find the baby?

I was just going to leave him, after all, plants in the wild have to fend for themselves all the time.  Right?  But as I sat there, staring down at his innocent leaves I realized I couldn't be the person who leaves an innocent pepper to death and dispair.  I mean look at him.  He just wants to be as tall as the others!

Here he is!

And so, I found another pot and relocated him to a new part of the garden.  Look at him all proud and happy.  He's already made friends with the purple basil .... I just know it!

Proud and happy in a new part of the garden

So, after dealing with the shallots, potatoes, and baby pepper, I figured I'd better take another look at my kingdom, seeing as the various tenants didn't seem as happy as they looked.  Thankfully the other group that was unhappy was the peas.  I had hoped they would climb up the solitary bamboo pole, but they chose to despair.  I don't have a trellis, and had already used up the two tomato cages I own, so I decided to do a makeshift string trellis.  It may not be a thing of beauty and a joy forever, but the peas are quite happy about it.  They are already working their way up to the main trellis.

Makeshift string trellis

Last but not least, I allowed a sweet potato slip to immigrate to the garden.  I'm fresh out of pots, so I decided to plant her in a canvas Zehr's bag.  She's quite happy to be out of water and in to actual dirt.  I'm hoping she has a growth spurt and I get a sweet potato or two for my trouble, however, considering it apparently takes 5 - 8 weeks to grow slips, I'm impressed I've managed to get a sweet potato with foliage in to the ground before July 1st.

Sweet potato slip - just planted

With the addition of the pepper pot and the sweet potato bag, my total count is up to 34 pots and 1 grow bag.  I'm pretty impressed it all fits up there... and I still have room to sit.

Happy growing :)

The goods

This past winter was unspeakably warm here in the GTA.  So warm we didn't have lasting snow in Mississauga and my left-for-dead Raspberry plant from last year managed to over winter (although he is still lacking in growth compared to the new plant from this year - more on that in a future post).  It seems this spring is continuing on the same path with mild evenings and warm, sunny days..  Most years I have to wait until mid-may for seeding cold tolerant plants, and well in to the first week of June for putting out warm-season plants and seeds.  This year I was able to start seeding and planting about a week and a half in to May and have been enjoying the bounty since May 29th.  I always start out with a few lettuce transplants from the store so that I have some salad material while I wait for the stuff I seeded myself to sprout and start to grow.  I was worried about my greens this year though, usually high heat makes greens bolt to seed, but so far the night time temperatures have cooled off enough to keep my plants edible.

So far I've harvested a considerable amount of herbs (purple basil, Genovese basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, and parsley), romaine, radishes, baby greens, and a few small potatoes.  That said I'm a touch concerned that I cut my tarragon back too far - it doesn't seem to be growing anymore, so it's possible I cut off the terminal stem.  Oh well! Live and learn!

Happy gardening!

Herbs and romaine

Philadelphia white box radish

Baby greens - black seeded simpson, generic butter-head leaf lettuce, minnopa spinach, and bright lights chard

Norland potatoes

Update: Things I don't/do want to see in the garden

I've been really bad about posting the last few weeks - it's been very, very busy here.  Don't believe me.  You should see the state of my house.  Ewww.  Anyway, I was originally going to post about all the food I've been blessed to harvest, but then I went out in to my garden and was greeted by several things I'd rather not see, and some I'd love to see more of. 

So first up.  I was trimming baby greens for lunch today and decided that I just might add some spinach to the mix.  While looking in my spinach pot I saw some powdery mildew.  Gross - but easily corrected.  I moved my spinach over to a sunnier spot because sun kills mildew (even better than Chuck Norris.) Period.  So here I was innocently trimming my spinach when I was confronted by a strange looking piece of wood.  Only it wasn't wood.  It was a slimy giant man eating slug.  I thought we lived in the Great White North.  Slugs should NOT be this big.  On a side note - I have a good friend currently residing in Dakar, Senegal.  I'm sure when she sees this post, or the facebook picture, she will laugh at my concept of a giant man eating slug.

Giant Man Eating Slug on your 12:00

Sadly for the poor slug, he found himself on my trowel and quickly exiting stage right... slugs gross me out, and I'd rather be the one eating my spinach thank you very much.

GMES about to exit stage right

Next up on my list of things I'd rather not see?  Leaf miners.  These little guys are the pits.  I've had them every single year I've been gardening.  I'd love to say they are following me, but in reality, the issue is that there just isn't a good way to prevent/kill them.  Sadly, the most effective way to deal with leaf miners is by growing healthy plants in a healthy, diverse ecosystem.  With the rampant use of chemical pesticides, we've managed to kill off significant populations of predatory insects which would help to keep our leaf miner population low.  So far the best strategy I've found is seek and destroy - watch for the miners, and ruthlessly cut back any damaged leaf material.  This helps keep them in check and prevent a large infestation.  However, in a perfect world?  We wouldn't be over using pesticides and would have large armies of predatory insects coming to our rescue!  So please, listen to this public service announcement and think before you spray

Leaf Miner mine on a leaf of Swiss Chard

The actual larvae

After meeting the GMES and The Miners, I was feeling rather sad and despondent.  So, I decided to take a moment and count my garden blessings.  I may have some gross creepy-crawlies out there, but I'm also blessed with a generally healthy, happy, productive green space. My potatoes are in full bloom.  Their lovely pink flowers make them one of my all time favourite vegetables to grow because they are tasty and gorgeous.  My potatoes might not have many actual tubers though - the foliage is rather large, which generally means there is too much Nitrogen in the soil... however, whether we get tubers or not, I'll still enjoy the flowers!

Potato flowers

My raspberry plant really shouldn't have produced anything this year - however, there is a small cluster of green berries starting to fruit.  I was worried they would have died off last week with the cooler temperatures, but they are hanging in there!  Let's all keep our fingers crossed shall we?

First raspberries starting development

Tomato flowers.  And I have lots of basil.  Enough said.

Tomato flowers

A quick picture of my first Weird or WHAT? moment.  My Italian parsley just randomly decided to grow a second type of leaf structure.  Where is William Shatner when I need him?

Weird or WHAT?  Two different leaf structures from the same plant.

So all in all, that is my garden round up.  I'm hoping I have significantly more "things I like to see" moments versus "things I don't like to see" moments in the future... but that is the joy of gardening isn't it?

Happy growing!

The Wildlife is coming ...

Everyone always says that once the "wildlife" starts coming you know you have a good space.  Bugs, birds, and larger mammals love nice green areas.  So, now that I've set my garden, I've been eagerly watching for wildlife.  Imagine my dismay when the first "wildlife" to appear was a troupe of spiderlings.  Nothing in the world freaks me out more than spiders.  That said, I did spend about an hour trying to ID them.  Apparently putting and ID on a spiderling is quite tricky. I'm going to assume they are some sort of sac spider based on the adults I see in the area.  Regardless, lets hope that the adults move on far, far away.  Spiders seriously creep me out!

Spiderlings!

I'm done planting! Long live the Queen!

The Garden in all it's glory!!!

The other side

I love a good excuse for a holiday.  This gorgeous, sunny Monday I have off thanks to Queen Victoria and her birthday.  Long live the Monarchy - not only do I really (genuinely) love The Royals, but I REALLY REALLY love the bonus long weekend day off.  It's always just in time for our last frost free date and so this morning I finished planting the last vegetables in The Garden - two pots of Maxibel green beans from Greta's organic gardens.  It's been a long haul so far - we've gone from a horrid, empty concrete space to a true urban oasis.  Our garden boasts a fairly diverse list of produce spread over 31 pots.  In no particular order:

- One saved tree.  I think it might be a lilac?  But I'm not sure.  We rescued it from the woman who had our unit before
- Shallots.  All good food wants a shallot in it.  Except maybe apple crisp.  Obviously.
- Norland potatoes.  These are an experiment, which if we don't end up with a potato, at least look gorgeous.

- Romaine lettuce.  I broke down and bought these from the store - I should be able to eat some soon!
- Giant basil and purple basil.  Pretty, fragrant and delicious - what more can I say?
- Lavender.  You can actually use it like rosemary.  Just in case you didn't know.  Because I didn't.
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Sage
- Cilantro
- Rosemary
- Marigolds - though I don't tend to eat them.  I mean you can, but I don't like flowers in my food.
- Swiss chard.  I don't really like chard, but, I grow it anyway.  But, beware of leaf miners.  There are a lot of them in the GTA apparently.
- Spinnach.  Go Popeye!
- A purple grape, but I can't remember the variety.  It came from Canadian tire... or maybe Home depot?
- Raspberry plants (see above)
- Snow peas and snap peas - pretty, delicious, and rarely end up inside, since I just eat them all outside while working in the garden

- Tomatoes.  I broke down and bought a random hybrid version, though traditionally I grow heirlooms by seed
- Green peppers (The Man's favourite)
- Jalapenos (Also The Man's favourite)
- Several different types of seeded leaf lettuce
- Radishes (Philadelphia white box and Cherry Belle)
- French green beans
- Carrots (Some yellow ones and some purple ones)... though, these may or may not work, and I figure, at the very least, will grow a huge crop of carrot tops for Remy The Wonder Horse.

All in all, I think we'll have a good garden this year - whether we actually get a huge harvest or not is yet to be seen.  It's the first year I've ever had full sun for my container garden, and years past I've done fairly well.  However... it's the first year with full sun - I'm not sure if my smaller pots will happily retain enough water?  But, I figure it's all about the experience and the joy of growing.

Happy Victoria Day!

Locavoires

Toronto from The Garden

Yesterday as I was walking in the PATH under my office tower, I heard a woman describe herself as a "Locavoire" - someone who only consumes locally produced food.  It got me thinking about the whole concept of "Local" food and how that pertains to life in the city.  As I looked at this lady and attempted to ignore the Starbucks coffee in her hand (local?! I think not!!), I wondered... how local is local?  Does she only count food grown in the GTA?  Or does she count food from all of Ontario?  Does she partake in any form of agriculture?  Does she realize that eating local is a big commitment?  You can't just wander in to any of the City of Toronto farmers' markets and partake in local food because chances are that zucchini you're buying in June isn't from Ontario.  Your hot house Tomatoes might be - but if the idea of living local is about consuming both locally produced food and eating seasonally, should you really be purchasing it?  And how far do you go?  Do you say goodbye to bananas, mangos, pineapple, and citrus?  Or is it a give and take?  Do you still stop and buy a quick Longo's dinner for the kids if you're running late and need to get Jimmy to hockey and Suzie to ballet?

Sadly, this woman was running for the train, so I didn't have the chance to ask her what Locavoire means to her.  I know what it means to me - be conscious about what you buy, pay a little more for the made-in-ontario version, and try to grow some of your own.  Whether it's just a little pot of herbs or a full scale backyard garden "growing your own" is as local as you can be - with the added bonus of show showcasing how hard our farmers work to ensure we have what we need.

Happy eating!

Sprouting!

Spinach (Monnopa - seeds from Greta's organic gardens)

Sprouting is my absolute favourite time of the year in the garden.  I mean don't get me wrong - I love seeding, collecting the bounty, tucking my plants in for the winter, and planning out the garden for next year; but there is just something so alive and fresh about sprouting.  It's a reminder that life is all around us whether it be plants, new friends, or new opportunities sprouting up around us.  It's almost like a little teeny tiny moment of redemption out there... but enough of that!

Over the last week I've had quite a few little surprises popping up - I really wasn't expecting much to come up until the start of next week because it's been a little bit cool and rainy here.  However, Mother Nature has surprised us with a few beautiful sunny days, which has in turn surprised me with plants, which makes for one incredibly happy girl.
 

Rainbow mix chard (Greta again!)

My sprouts so far:
- spinach
- swiss chard
- lettuce
- potatoes
- shallots
- radishes
- peas

I'm still waiting on my purplette onions and a few containers of older lettuce.  I'll be quite surprised if any of those germinate though - the seeds were around 4 years old...but!  That's the joy of sprouting isn't it?

On hitting the roof

Getting started....

Sunrise from the garden

Last fall The Man and I had the pleasure of moving.  Ordinarily, I absolutely detest moving.  However, this move was special.  Our building has several apartments with roof balconies.  These little gems are just off the master bedroom and the units rarely come available.  So I couldn't (and still can't) believe my luck when the apartment people called and had one open!  Needless to say The Man and I jumped at the opportunity, and I am now the proud renter of one fabulous roof-top balcony.  I can't say enough about this space - it's the largest I've had to work with, and has the added luxury of being recessed so I have three walls for windbreaks, making my roof not quite as windy and arid as most.

The last two weeks have been very busy on the roof - the previous renters left quite a bit of junk up there, so between clearing it away, salvaging what I could, and potting the early season items for  this years' garden, I've been quite busy!  The next week or two will be "catch up" week for the blog, before I take another hiatus to plant my warm season veggies. 


Happy growing!

What's in a garden?

What's in a garden?  For years I've been trying to meet my need to garden by growing plants in containers.  I never allowed myself to think of it as a garden - after all, a garden has real dirt - not potting medium, ground to dig in - not containers, and a sense of permanency you just don't have on your apartment balcony.  You garden in your backyard, you have some planters on a balcony.  Right?

Wrong.

Last year I lived in an apartment with a shady balcony.  Shade means growing vegetables is tough - I started late in the season, so it was too hot for lettuce, radishes, and other cool season vegetables that grow decently in the shade.  Even my herbs were unhappy.  I realised, quite quickly that I was also unhappy.  I missed my former balcony garden - the cheery yellow flowers of my non-producing zucchini from the year before, tending my tomatoes, and picking herbs first thing in the morning....  I also realised for the first time that I'm not just a "container gardener".  I am a Gardener.   I realized that a garden isn't the physical space that you put your plants in, it's an act.  A garden is our connection to history, to years past, to other people, to the earth.  When you garden, you grow too.  You partake in everything that has brought us to where we are now, and that connection is what makes a garden - not the space you grow your plants.


So this year?  I'm making a new resolution.  I'm not going to be "just a container gardener".  I'm going to be a Gardener.