Last week Frost - This week Potatoes

Well it isn't just that the weather has gotten better- I have simply changed locales and come to our Island paradise.  Believe it or not the potatoes have taken over the garden which is only strange because I didn't plant any potatoes this year! Planting lettuce and celery in April was the last job before I left clean beds in April.  Here it is early June and I came back to (almost) full grown potatoes. Because baby potatoes make such a fine lunch we have decided to dig a few for that purpose. 

CBC Question: Will Sumac Grow Here?

 I had a caller ask about sumac on my CBC phone-in show this week so I decided to post a photo of Tiger Eyes sumac. It usually dies back in winter but meanwhile it makes a nice addition to the bed because of it's unusual colour and form. Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra) and the native sumac (Rhus trilobata) also work here. I actually love the little native sumac because it is a small round shrub and is very drought tolerant and hardy - it never dies back in the winter.

Springtime in the Rockies.... June 7/09

Well -  we knew it would happen but today when it froze, and snowed, and warmed up so much I hung my plants back up just in time for 2" of hail I knew this was Calgary at it's best. I heard it snowed in Medicine Hat and Saskatchewan so I guess we aren't the only ones hard hit. 

I honestly think if I hadn't dropped that hanging basket when hanging it back heavy with water after the snow and before the  hail it would have survived. Oh well- more bits and pieces to add to the compost. In good news it is wonderful to see snow and apple blossoms on my neighbor's outdoor table. What could be prettier?

Don't Squish Lady Beetle Eggs

Yes- they have barely emerged from winter but lady beetles are already laying eggs. While visiting my daughter in Edmonton last weekend she squished some while we were looking at leaves on plants. I pointed out other eggs on other leaves and she realized she had squished the good guys. Just in case you didn't know the eggs are laid in clusters and are yellow - usually on the underside of leaves but sometimes they are on the upper. Look for them and don't squish them!

Gentian in Bloom!

This is why I love alpines. This week when it was hot and (almost) unbearable my favorite dwarf Gentian (Gentian acaulis) popped into bloom. This weekend, with snow threatening it will be just fine, thank-you very much. It seems bizarre to have blooms 4-5 cm above a carpet of green foliage but this is definitely a drive-by beauty ... or as my son calls it " a positive externality"

Only other Calgarians will notice I find the flower form bizarre and not the weather. Go figure.

CBC Today

Call in toll-free today to CBC radio (1-866-468-4422) with your questions or ideas for the show. It is live on 1010 AM in Calgary from 1:30-2:00 PM today.

Dandelion roots - get them all

Seems like a simple enough task but digging dandelions to get the roots out is easier to say than do. This root was "dug" with the Lee Valley water weeder. This tool shoots a strong stream of water down beside the dandelion root and in the end a very long root comes out. This dandelion is not likely to re-grow but it does take a lot of effort and water to remove a dandelion with this system.

Keep in mind that overuse of commercial fertilizers gradually reduces available Calcium (which is displaced off the clay particles by Pottasium and then leached). Low calcium levels are implicated in poor soil conditions and higher dandelion populations.  Underuse of micro-organism stimulating organic matter can also lead to compacted dandelion-prone soil. 

Something White this week in the Calgary Herald

What are all those white trees, shrubs and flowers in bloom this week in Calgary? This photo is the double bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis 'Flore Pleno') in bloom just before it's glorious lezves appear. 

Mayday and Apple are also at their prime right now so look for them on a street corner near you!

A Poppy Moment

A little poppy moment on today's dog walk reminded me that everything does not need to be planned out completely in a garden. Here an icelandic poppy (yellow) seems to have sprouted in place.

Growing in front of a rock edge and seemingly on a paved path, this poppy doesn't take up much room and is a reminder that we don't need to deadhead everything - a few poppy pods left standing led to this happy surprise.

Trouble in Veggie Land

From Inga:

Since it is garden planting time, I am wondering how to to control onion maggots since the usual powdered chemical is no longer available. What should one use to aleviate this problem?

DB:

We had this question Friday on CBC and a listener called in to say she had planted rows of carrots between her onions for 40 years and had not had a problem. I guess the smell of the carrots confused the flies.

Other tips for control include sanitation. The last generation of larvae in the field in the fall are looking for feeding sites and they do like to feed on random onions left in the field.

Gardeners should keep their sites clean and move onions to new locations frequently. If I had this problem in the past I would choose a new site in the spring - plant early and cover the crop with reemay (also known as floating row cover). This would keep the adults from laying their eggs into the new seedlings. I would also plant carrots as per the listener's suggestion- why not?

Inga:

Our potatoes have small black spots in several places as if infested by some worm... Also the skins are covered with 'scabs'. How can this be remedied?

DB: The small holes are probably from flea beetles and the scab is from too much manure. Certain potatoes are thin skinned and more susceptible to scab, although it doesn't affect eating quality. A freshly manured field will often have the bacterial problem of scab.

Inga:

Carrots are also infested by black worm like areas about 2 - 3 inches below the tops. Cause? How do we get rid of this problem?

DB:

Again, reemay is the only cure for carrot rust fly and it only works if the fabric is put over the carrots in a new area that did not have flies last year. If you try to grow carrots where they have grown before the small flies will hatch out in spring and if the fabric is already in place they will quite happily smell and find the new carrots and lay their eggs at the top of each plant right there under the fabric..... so move your carrots to a new and clean site before adding the row cover.

Home Depo and Proven Winners - compare these plants

High end decorating magazines always show the expensive area rug or table next to the knock-off. Consumers always feel ripped off if they have just bought a trendy new interior piece at the high end price when it clearly looks the same as the knock-off. 

I feel that way right now showing you photos here of  Silver Fog Euphorbia (a Home Depo - ie cheaper- brand) and Diamond Frost Euphorbia  (a Proven Winner - ie expensive brand). Of course the Home Depo plant is bigger but the cost for this 11 cm plant was $4.47. The specialty nursery charged me $8.45 for the smaller 9 cm pot. Of course I can't tell you where I bought that but I just want gardeners to be aware of costs and to let you know even Donna Balzer pays too much some times. 

CBC Radio

Participate in the phone-in on CBC today ... 1:30 PM to 2:00PM. Lets hear how spring is progressing in your neighborhood! Are the trees leafed out? Are your Nanking Cherries in full bloom like my neighbor's?

It's Summer Grandma!

Yes it is hard to believe I was reporting in from BC a good six weeks ago and noted at that time the daffodils were starting to bloom. Today my five year old grand-daughter said "Guess what Grandma... it's summer now."  When I asked her how she knew it was summer (I mean it is still freezing at night and the leaves are not fully out on the trees) Mali told me the tulips were in bloom and that meant it must be summer. 

Wherever you are I am hoping these overnight frosts are not getting you down and that you are using frost blankets on your annual flowers if they are already in pots. Meanwhile - enjoy summer (or at least spring) and this beautiful photo of daffodils in full bloom.

Pruning Trees- More follow-up

Kathleen is following up with even more (very good) pruning questions. 

"When is a good time to prune trees?  I have a mountain ash and an ohio buckeye that needs some attention."

This can be done in June -  it is easy to remember "prune in June" for deciduous trees. The only question I ask is why do you want to prune? Except with fruit trees, after the first few shaping and formative years of pruning,  trees can often go a long stretch without any extra trimming. Ohio buckeye in particular are slow growing so I wouldn't want you pruning and slowing down their growth. Trees don't need a lot of trimming once their basic form is set. Heaven forbid you start doing massive renovation style pruning and then find you have to keep it up over time. 

At this time of year I only suggest pruning to remove winterkill. Later (i.e. in June) you can remove crossing branches or anything that is suckering or growing straight up through the tree. If the tree is old keep this to a minimum. If you are in the first years of a tree's growth you may occasionally also remove a lower branch or two - but only after it is fully leafed out in June. If there is a lot of trimming to be done  I always suggest hiring a certified arborist. The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) should be able to give you a name or ask anyone you hire to make sure they are certified.

Red Currants and Other follow-up Pruning Questions

Iris in Hanna, Alberta saw the Herald column on pruning but was wondering specifically what to do with Red Currants - I didn't address those. She's says she is a faithful reader so what can I do? I must add a little addendum:

Red currants bloom on small spurs on wood that is 2-3 years old. Iris' shrub is only 4 years old but she is afraid to prune it. I suggested she wait until mid-June to make sure it doesn't bloom this year and then cut the shrub back to about half because she says  it is getting tall and unmanageable (a sign of a young tree or too much compost or fertilizer). In the future she can cut out all but two-three of the new sprouts in spring and most of the older than four or five year branches. If the sun shines on her shrub she should have blooms this year and every year after!

Spring Plant Sale

Just a reminder the best little plant sale is happening this weekend at the Lakeview Community Hall in Calgary. Buy alpines like you've never seen before!

Date: May 23

Time: 1-4 PM

Place: 6110 34th St. SW Calgary

crags.ca for more details

Garden Fluffing- Spring

Yes everyone knows now that to sell a house it needs to be fluffed. A pillow just so or a blanket tossed casually over a chair in the bedroom. This casual elegance doesn't work quite so well outdoors where things continue to grow and plants reseed. Deadwood causes concerns and yes vigorous spreading mint takes over.

In this four part series we look at fluffing the garden seasonally and we start with spring. Look for it next Friday in the Calgary Herald!

Cover up - it might snow!

It was +10 C and sunny this morning but by noon it was pouring and reports from the north say it is already snowing in Edmonton. In the too good to be true department (where we all pretended it was spring  as we basked in the sun over the weekend) it looks like Murphy's law once again. We will in fact probably have snow by the long weekend.

If you have been buying plants and getting excited by the whole "garden shopping" season then you need to get down to a garden center to buy floating row covers, spun-bond polyester, frost blankets or Reemay (all the same thing but with different names) to cover up your plants. You are gonna need it.

Alpines in Bloom

We have been waiting all winter to see the tiny and delicate alpines bloom in the city and finally the waiting is over. I am sure they are in bloom now all over the country but surely no one waits for spring as long as prairie gardeners?

I absolutely love the Primula marginata shown above, and it came directly to me from the Calgary Rock and Alpine Garden Society (CRAGS) spring plant sale two years ago. This year's sale is once again in the Lakeview Community Hall in Calgary and is free to the public so check it out on May 23, 2009.

Look at the CRAGS web site for further functions and open gardens. http://www.crags.ca/events.html

Gears or no gear?

My neighbor is shy but he really wants me to know that the new hedge clippers he bought are so much better than his old ones. Why is that you may ask? The new clippers are geared - with each clip there is less push needed to get the same effect as with his old non-geared clippers on the left. If you are in the market for new lopers or hedge trimmers try the geared ones. They really are easier to use. And don't be shy. Send me your tips.

Winterkill & Boxwood

In our cold and crispy climate it is little wonder there is going to be a certain amount of winterkill. Boxwood is a plant that most people don't think grows here (in zone 3 Calgary) but - in fact -  it can be quite good in a sheltered east or semi-shade location. The tiny bit of winterkill showing here is easily removed at this time of year. Check out my Calgary Herald article on May 15 for a full article on spring pruning to remove winterkill and other such things.... Yes it is gardening season again at the Herald so don't miss out.

Finally Rain!

The Value of rain is impossible to measure. It is free. It brings nitrogen directly to plants with each drop - greening things up faster than you can imagine. It is soft and warm compared to our hard and cold tap water in the city. Best of all it is chlorine free so will not kill all the little micro-organisms in the soil or on the leaves. After a dusty dry spring we love  rain! Now we just have to remember to hook up our rain barrels for another season.

A New Love!

Okay - it is just a petunia. But the dark pink fringe and soft pink center have won my heart. I love this new Proven winner 'Raspberry Blast' petunia.... I think it would be excellent with Limelight Mirabilis, a fast germinating seed-grown annual available from Vesey's.

Book Review: Canadian Vegetable Gardening

Its here! Douglas Green's new book for newbie veggie growers. It is a short, easy read for new vegetable gardeners. Yes it is based out of zone 5 in Ontario but whether you are growing giant purple turnips in Beaverlodge or lettuce in Lethbridge, this book is a big help for getting started! Does it answer every little question? Of course not - but we love the layout and the easy access way it is written so get this book "Canadian Vegetable Gardening" from Cool Springs Press for the beginner vegetable gardeners in your life. 

Way to go Doug. 

Beware: Ladybugs are waking Up

Don't through away your ladybugs this spring via over-enthusiastic raking and clean-up. Instead, rake the lawn or garden lightly and gather up the materials and start a pile of leaves for future leaf mold. This is not the same as compost.... it is a dryish pile left somewhere on your property that you can get to later to use in the compost or not. This way the wakening ladybugs will have a chance to warm up and fly off to breed. 

Thanks to Joan for the great photos of the ladybugs breeding!

PS Waking ladybugs need to eat and there probably aren't any aphids out yet so allow some early flowers to be their pollen source. 

Lawns are greening!

Don't blow it this summer over-fertilizing your lawn. They are already green in warmer climates and just turning green in our cooler zones and something weird is happening. They are turning green all on their own. This is because of the natural action of micro-organisms in the soil. They are breaking down organic matter and doling out nitrogen to each other and of course to the lawn. In other words there is always some nitrogen available to lawns right away. Adding fertilizer now before the lawn really needs it may do one of two things:

1) Weaken the lawn by causing it to grow lush (and you just know we are going to have a few more snow falls, or

2) Run off the lawn surface or into the sewer systems further polluting out water.

What to do? Rake your lawn, or have it aerated and compost the "browns" coming off your lawn now. Then top-dress the lawn with organic matter. I just used composted manure and worm castings. Rake it in lightly and then water. I watered it lightly with a solution of kelp mixed with humate to make sure to give the micro-organisms a good start. It has been very dry here but if it had been threatening rain I would not have watered at all.

Why Zones Don't Matter

I was in Creston yesterday and an interesting observation came from the audience. A lady in Kimberly  noted that Annabelle Hydrangeas (Zone 4-5) were so suited to their zone 3 climate that they had gone wild and reseeded all over. 

Compare that to zone 3 Calgary where Annabelle Hydrangeas only grow if you hold your mouth right and live in a sheltered or inner city location. In other words zones are not that important in the big picture or at least our maps are far too vague to be of any real use. What is important is snow cover in winter, soils, moisture and elevation all in combination. Obviously in Kimberly where the snow falls deep and stays - making the skiing there delightful - zones are not really that important as indicators to what will grow there. 

As usual an old gardening axiom - "Zones are important" - has nothing at all to do with achieving success in your garden. This is not the first time zones have been wrong - especially in a climate not actually measured very accurately by anyone. I am thinking of Mary in her zone 2a garden in Beaverlodge Alberta. Clearly she didn't know Hydrangeas were not zone 2 plants and she is quite happily growing them. Moral of the story: Have a look at zones but don't get too hung up on them! Consider soils and soil type, winter conditions and quantity of protective snow as well as elevation which will be an indicator of summer temperatures in the evening. Calgary has little snow in the winter, a high elevation (3,000 - 4,000 feet) and cold evenings in the summer - meanwhile hard winds dry out the soil in both winter and summer. In other words it isn't really a zone 3 or anything like it. They just don't measure zones  carefully enough to use them to predict much of anything. 

If you are new to gardening tour other gardens in your area and make a note of what grows. Then try to grow plants of similar type as you expand your palette. Join a garden club and see what the members of that club are growing and work from there. When it comes to zones you just have to fur-ged-a-bod-it.

Creston in Bloom!

I have just arrived in Creston to give a presentation to the local garden club. This is one beautiful mountain town in British Columbia and it is in early spring bloom.  The daffodils and forsythia (shown above) are flowering like crazy but the  Cherries are a few weeks behind. Does that mean cherry eating season will be delayed as well?  Hope the talk goes well. Gotta run. 

Snow in April - Not too unusual

Yes- while I was up in Beaverlodge speaking to the fabulous garden club it was snowing back home in Calgary. This - of course- after I put out my pansy wreath the night before (when it was plus 20 C). Oh well, even with the snow, it was only minus 8 C according to my i-phone-  usually pansies can tolerate this. Okay - it's true, I usually  suggest hardening off Pansies before plunking them out in minus 8 but I was in Beaverlodge! What can I say? And just in case you have never been to Beaverlodge - the town - I am not speaking about visiting a little rodent home but a real live town west of Grand Prairie. And the people there were great! Thanks for the hospitality.

See photo above of pansy wreath and below that a photo of the first hospital in Beaverlodge.  Expect to see future photos of thriving pansies!

Live on CBC Radio for another season

If you live in Alberta you can check out and participate in the CBC  radio phone-in show about gardening. 

I start again this friday at 1:30 PM MST and can be listened to or spoken with by calling the show directly. In Calgary listen to AM 1010 or FM 99.1 for details but to find where you can hear it check out CBC radio on-line for local channel listings within Alberta.

Heat Wave - Pansies Planted

I heard Des Kennedy - a garden writer and humorist from Denman Island in British Columbia - give a talk last week so I thought I would include a little quote from his book, "Crazy About Gardening".  His definition of  a gardener:

"A dreamer and schemer. A paradise seeker. An eternal optimist, convinced that perfection is only one rose bush move away."

On that happy note I bought a rose bush and a few pansies in Medicine Hat after I gave a talk there last weekend and even though I heard our low temperature next week is going to be minus 11 degrees Celcius, I planted the whole works outside tonight.  A dreamer, and schemer and paradise seeker? Or perhaps just a gardener - who like a poker player measuring the odds - wanted to get her hands dirty and the season underway in one fell swoop.

Love That Fish Compost!

Where ever you live there is bound to be great compost but if you live on the coast you are in for a treat.  Fish compost- piled high and steamy hot just ripe for spreading - may be available close to you!

I say this knowing full well most people buy their soils and compost in the tiny cubic foot bags and pay about $3.00-$5.00 per bag. This is such a waste of plastic (27 bags per cubic yard is a lot of hauling and cutting open of bags and general hassle). It is also a waste of money. While the tiny bags need to be individually opened and then disposed of, the bulk compost is  available by the cubic yard from a local "bulk landscape supplier" outlet for $50.00 per yard.  The first thing I did when I arrived at our "beach" house was to google bulk landscape suppliers. I wanted to go look at the mulch available. 

I was surprised and delighted by the appearance of the fish compost available on Vancouver Island- it is made with fish parts mixed with bark mulch and the finished product is screeened and black and weed free. Unlike composts made with manure, the fish compost is probably free of herbicides as well. I immediately spread it by wheelbarrow loads over  my lawn. I  tossed shovel loads off the wheelbarrow and began raking it in. I used a fan rake to make sure it wasn't in big clumps or piles on the lawn - this would cause random green sprouts everywhere. All in all I spread it about 50 mm or 1/2 cm deep (about 1/4").

My point is simple. Wherever you live you can call or google a bulk landscape supplier and get yourself some wholesome compost. 

Andrea - New Gardener waiting to bloom!

Hi Andrea-

Thanks for coming to my talk to the U of A Alumni. What a great group! I am always excited to meet new gardeners and I see you are full of questions .  If I can clarify/abbreviate  your e-mail, you have inherited a garden with mixed trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables. Right now your immediate questions are about pruning your fruits and improving your vegetable area and compost. Your zucchini failed to bloom last year and you added manure to the vegetables and are now worried about the quality of that manure.

First things first. Do not trim your Saskatoons or Nanking cherries until after they bloom and start to leaf out. This is still over a month to six weeks away in Alberta. Some people do like to prune in the winter but why cut off all the flowers and potential fruit just a few short weeks before they pop out? Instead, prune in June... take a course or look at a book about pruning because this is too big a topic to be covered here. I usually minimize pruning because plants that are rarely pruned almost always do better.

Manure can be a problem when added to the vegetable garden because it often carries herbicide residues but it is easy to test for this at home. Take a few samples of the soil - one from each of your five beds - and try potting up a few fast growing seeds such as peas or sunflowers in each sample. If the growth is twisted or abnormal, you do have herbicides present. If the plants grow normally everything is fine so go ahead and plant.

You mentioned you added rhubarb to your compost. This is no problem unless you are planning to eat your compost (not advised). I think you are worried because you have heard rhubarb leaves are poisonous to people but this is no problem for compost!

If your zucchini are not blooming you may be low on light. Most vegetables need sun to bloom - at least four or five hours a day. If you don't have this much light you may have to prune or remove some larger trees or grow leafy vegetables instead of fruiting vegetables. Try leaf lettuce, spinach or swiss chard if light levels are low. 

Daffodils in the Ditch

Okay- yellow is a common weed colour - dandelions in Alberta and Daffodils? on Vancouver Island. Saw these daffodils growing in the ditch this week and they turned out to be one of many clumps in full bloom -and fully naturalized - in the ditches along the highway. Weeds are certainly in the eye of the beholder.

Angsting Over Spring

Yes- I was tired of waiting for spring to come to me so I have gone to spring. Spring is in full bloom here on the west coast. And, no, I am not forgetting about all those lovely U of A alumni and their many questions. I will be getting to those shortly under the various headings their questions posed but right now I am basking in the sun and  have been spending time weeding which probably seems boring and dull, but when you have left snow drifts behind it is fabulous even to be touching soil again. 

The rage on the west coast is fish compost. Yes we can get this everywhere thanks to bagging and shipping but here - on the west coast - it comes in bulk and we are having some delivered today! Yahoo - six yards of dead fish arriving this afternoon. Can't wait.

Zinnia Seeds up in two days!

What a difference a warm floor makes! And I am not just talking about the way it feels when you walk on it in your bare feet early in the morning! 

Seeds planted on the weekend (March 28) were watered and placed on the warm floor in the basement to help them germinate. I was hoping for seven days before germination so that I could bring them upstairs and put them under the lights before I head off to the Island on the weekend. These little zinnias were up in two days! The lettuce and basil were up in three. If you haven't got a warm floor buy a heating pad to start seeds- it always amazes me how fast seeds germinate with bottom heat.

Soil Testing May be a Scam

We've all heard of internet scams but how about soil test scams? It's hard to imagine something as well known and long recognized as a basic soil test could be a waste of money and time for a home gardener.  Heide Hermary debunks soil tests for Organic home gardeners in her e-book "Soil Testing for Organic Gardeners" (free downloads on the Society for Organic Urban Land Care (SOUL) web page). 

While I have been dissing soil tests for home gardeners for years in favour of actually looking at both the soil and the plant health, this is the first time I have read a piece sympathetic to my views. Good job Heide - I couldn't have said it any clearer or better. 

Transplanting time!

All the little tomatoes are in their root-trainers now! It's beginning to look a lot like spring... well, except for the snow outside. I transplant into pro-mix Bx - it has specialized root fungi - or mycorrhizae - included in the mix. This means I do not have to add any extra mycorrhizae when transplanting. I usually add 10% worm castings to my soil when mixing it prior to transplanting but my Magnesium and salt levels were so high when I had my castings tested that I decided not to do that this time. I am trying to figure out why a fruit and veg diet for worms has created such a high Mg level. The trouble with Mg is that it ties up nitrogen and at levels this high it might mean nitrogen is not available to the little plants. Anyway my worms are eating like crazy so I have a lot of castings.... I will use them up on the lawn later.

In previous experiments, purchased worm castings worked in at a 10% by volume ratio  kept plants stockier and less likely to sprout so tall and fast. Just a note on that: if tomato seedlings are longish as you do your transplanting, it is easy to plant them deeper than they were in their seedling flats. They are one of the few plants that can be planted deep and it definitely keeps them shorter. Now get out the grow lights and keep the small plants 20 cm from the light source.... that is only 8 inches. I personally like to have 12 hours of light and I do that by keeping the lights on a timer.

Soils Need Available Calcium

Okay- this just in. I went to a two day seminar that was as low tech as these things come. Two overheads the first day - a few more the second. No outline - just free-form talking.  I did  learn something about "soil health" but only some focussed thinking about it will reveal how much I learned and the quality of information taken in. 

What is this electro-field you feel as you plant your garden? It is the natural flow of energy from west to east.... okay I am not sure what all the electricity talk means but this I do believe:

1. Conventional soil tests do not always give a clear understanding of what is actually available in the soil and therefore available to the plant. They simply give a mining report - possibly not ideal?.

2. Cracked carrots are deficient in copper. Narrow pears are not as high in food value as round heavy pears. Thin skinned heavy oranges are better for you than thick skinned light-weight oranges. 

3. The farmers I met are willing to learn new techniques and listen to knew ideas. Several have promised to phone or e-mail me when the results of their studies with this "calcium theory" fertilizer is underway. 

4. Calcium is "available" in our soil and in our water in Calgary but is often tied up with carbonate - ie the white scum (Calcium carbonate) inside the kettle. I think I heard colloidal calcium in our soils  will bring it into our bodies via food grown on these soils. This is the part I need to study more. 

5. Race horses as well as people have thinning bones from poor quality feed (ie low weight, low brix, low Calcium). More available calcium in the soil will mean heavier oats and stronger bones for horses. People eating heavier foods such as good quality pears or apples will get health benefits.

6. Get your best food by growing your own in soils that are high in good micro-nutrients.

7. Adding colloidal calcium will raise the "energy" of our food. Okay- I am not sure about this energy thing or if I even got it right because gardeners and cooks usually refer to energy as calories but this is not the energy that was discussed. Again, I need to study this further.

8. When fertilizing in response to a conventional soil test we tend to over-fertilize soil with Nitrogen and Potash. This pollutes our water and ruins our clay structure. Consequently everything falls apart.

More to follow as I sort this out. Who knew there was so much more to the soil than what I had already been teaching people for years?

Sustainable Soils

I am taking a soils and fertility course in the coming days. Okay I have taken dozens of these courses over the years including four full term courses at University years ago. And to tell the truth nothing is really changing in how we classify soils or deal with one soil type or another.

What is changing is how we deal with fertility in soils.  "In Defence of Food"  ( by Michael Pollan - published 2008) says that food quality is going down and that this is largely attributed to soil quality going down over time as land is used and reused with traditional farming techniques. Does a plant really know where it's nitrogen source originates? No - but in soils kept growing with only the use of chemical fertilizers the lesser known nutrients are also diminishing and not being replaced. In an organically managed soil, the micro-organisms provide a lot of the nitrogen to plants and in doing so provide many other  little know benefits. 

If you have time for any late spring reading pick up a copy of Teaming with Microbes, by Jeff Lowenfels (Timber Press) and learn how to manage your soils better and more naturally.

Stay tuned here as I report back from the Sustainable Soils conference being held March 23-24, 2009.

Self-Watering Plant Boxes

I picked up some new grow boxes today. Not just any old boxes - these ones have a two-week water reservoir and the stress plants face when the pot dries out is eliminated. I already have twenty or so of these boxes in different applications. I use them in my greenhouse as a modified hydroponic system for growing cucumbers and tomatoes. I also use them at my cabin  for flowers since there are extended periods of time when I can't be at the cabin in the summer to water but I want some colour there.

Anyway these are not boxes for starting things indoors right now - I just wanted to get ready to get ready for spring. I have hauled them up to my second floor balcony which will be my veggie area this summer because it has the most sun. I have also bought one for my step-daughter's new balcony in Vancouver. She wants to make use of her new 500 square foot balcony and I suggested she raise herbs for her other new venture - cooking. So this is just a heads up, if you have a growing area where it is inconvenient to water or if you just don't have time to water, try a Maxikap (self watering plant box) for your gardening ventures this spring.

Have  a look on-line at Maxikaps (http://www.buyagreenhouse.com) and think about whether you need to add one to your garden this spring.

Seed Leaves vrs. True Leaves

In my little tomato world there is action. The seeds have germinated and the seed leaves are sitting there taking in energy until the true leaves grow. I mention this only because many people don't know you can't transplant anything until the first true leaves appear. At that time the seedlings need to be held by the leaves only and not the stem. A leaf is disposable but a stem.... not so much. 

When taking hold of your seedlings do not grab the plant by the neck (ie stem) - instead hold it by the arm (leaf). Let the soil dry a bit so it is not soggy and lift it with a pencil (or similar sized dibbler) and then pull the plants out of the soil by tugging on the leaves. A tomato can be planted deeper than it was - which is unusual in the plant world. Most things like to be replanted in the next container at the same depth they were planted in the first container but this is not true of tomatoes. Plant them deeper so that they are sturdier than they were before.

Tomato Time ....

Yes, this weekend - March 15 - is the time to start tomatoes. I say this only because the temptation in a cold climate, under grow lights, is to start tomatoes anytime they arrive in the mail. But I have found they get too big by June - our normal plant outdoors time of year. So the seeding date is March 15 - except that this year I am going to be away in early April and will miss the first transplant date and just can't leave a task like that to my house-sitter. Oops! So rule breaker that I am I started my tomatoes last weekend on March 8 and meant to blog about it but before I knew it they were already up! How did I do it? Easy, really.

As usual I started tomatoes in the little seedling tray designed especially for this purpose. Of course I washed the tray out with soap and water because even though they are plastic, they may have diseases of some kind because they have been used several years in a row. Seeds can also be started in a pot but believe me the bigger the pot, the more soil and the bigger the chance you will get damping off diseases because big pots of wet soil stay stay wet longer. So start seeds in a small container.

Use special seed starting mix. I like the big bags of Pro-mix but I also like Sunshine brand Organic soil mix. When you open the pro-mix it has been compressed - the sunshine is already fluffy so is ready to go. Add enough water to make a moist mix that looks like a damp sponge. It is not a soggy sponge dripping with water but a damp sponge. Fill the containers with this moist soil mix and tamp it down lightly so that it is just below the rim of the container. Sprinkle the seeds in a measured way in the rows. Measured means spread out - not all in a pile at one end.

I try to make tags for the rows first because otherwise I forget which tomato was seeded in which row and guess what? Every tomato cultivar looks exactly the same to the novice eye when it germinates. In the past I had old venetian blinds that I cut into small pieces with scissors. They were ideal for labels. I have finally run out of venetian blinds so I used little wooden labels this time because they were on hand. Either way, write on it with pencil. Permanent pens always fade and the end result? You just don't know what you have.

Once the seeds are spread out along the row, you can take a little of the dry soil mix and crumble it between your hands to lightly cover the seed. Once all tomatoes are seeded and labeled and covered I water sparingly. This is a technical term meaning don't water too much. I like to use luke warm water that has been sitting out overnight so that it doesn't have any chlorine in it. Finally I put on a plastic cover (not a sheet of plastic that will stick to the seeds and soil but a rigid clear cover made for this purpose). The real secret to success is that I put the whole works in the basement on my heated floor. It is so cozy down there and I check my seeds daily and mist them with a little misting bottle because they could germinate at any time and the soil surface could dry out because of the heat given off by my floor. Voila! They are up. Today. Which is a good thing because I am heading off for the weekend so I need to check the water and mist again before removing the cover and placing the whole tray under the grown lights set up in my office.

It is tomato time again ... can spring be far off?

PS Photo above is the lovely Cohen - at age one - eating his first Zebra Green heritage tomato from Aunty Kalen's garden.

Commercial greenhouses do have their plants well grown by now because they have the light and conditions to keep plants alive. Marianne at E & M Woodland Gardens (1-403- 224-2771) informs me they are just moving their tomatoes up to 3 gallon pots this week. By Mother's day they will be in 5 gallon pots and already have little tomatoes on them. Quite a different world from the home garden where we want to plant outdoors in the soil.

Rosemary Cuttings- Grocery Store Gardening

It happens to even the best gardeners. We leave our favorite and critical herbs outdoors come fall and unless you garden in Palm Springs it is long gone and buried under the snow by March.

While buying fresh rosemary for my favorite toasted pecan recipe I realized most of it would go to waste. You know how it is - you leave it on the counter or in the fridge or in water and next time you need rosemary it is black and dead and in the compost.

I am happy to report I put my leftover grocery store Rosemary to better use a few weeks ago. After using the two tablespoons I needed for the pecan recipe I cut the rest into 2" pieces (about 5 cm), pulled off the lowest leaves of each piece, dipped the end into liquid kelp (to take advantage of the natural growth hormones in kelp) and then stuck the pieces into a pot of moist potting soil. I put several cuttings into one pot and put the pot in a plastic bag so they won't dry out while the cuttings are rooting. The bag keeps the hunidity up while the cuttings root. They are all growing in my sunny windowsill although none show roots yet. (I cheated and carefully pulled a few out to check)

Grocery store gardening - who knew?

Basil is Busting Out!

It's a humble beginning to spring but the basil I started at Christmas is ready to eat. Wow! My first crop of 2009. I really hate buying basil in the winter and I have been spoilt - I really hate using dry basil at any time of year.

Having trouble with basil? Keep it warm. It suffers from life in a cold greenhouse or cool attic room and easily gets damping off disease in a cool overly wet environment. (this happened to me in my cool attic where I have my grow lights - I over-watered before going away so that the plants would not be forgotten and some plants perished in my absense).

A warm sunny south window is ideal for a heat loving plant like basil and for me that sunny space is in my kitchen. What could be better than fresh basil in the kitchen?

Peas and Beans and Barley Grow

Let me get this straight right from the get-go. You can't start peas and beans in Calgary this week or even this month. On Vancouver Island, however, where the weather is a little kinder and softer -  Linda Gilkeson, Ph.D. was encouraging participants in a course at University of Vancouver Island to do just that. She brought along her props to class including peas that had been directly seeded into vermiculite and she showed how easy they are to pull out.

After years of experience gardening and a record of producing 95% of what she eats (in the veggie department) Linda knows what she is talking about. In the cold March soils on the Island the seeds would rot or be eaten by insects before they could sprout so she developed this technique of allowing the seeds to germinate in a warm indoor setting before pulling out the small pea or bean plants and plunking them directly in the garden. So easy and so effective. Well, our soils aren't just cold in Calgary, they are frozen solid and they are likely to be that way for a while yet. But come late April, a full month before I usually seed my peas and beans, I will be trying Linda's technique. 

UBC Farm - Sowing Seeds for the Future

A Trip to the UBC Farm in Vancouver, British Columbia really woke me up last week. I had just seen the Northwest Flower & Garden Show and was a little disappointed by everything ornamental and then I came across UBC. In a brown early spring setting everything was bright and buzzing with potential. 

"Sowing Seeds for the Future: Apprenticeship in Organic Agriculture" is just primed to start it's second season and Apprenticeship Coordinator Sarah Belanger is very excited. "We are working with New farmers as opposed to Young farmers" stressed Belanger. Apprentices are from their late twenties to forties so many have had another career before. "I perceive there is a growing sense of respect for farmers - there's more cultural recognition now. Our program brings out the beauty and value of farming"

Instructor Elaine Spearing stresses that many of the interns have quite a bit of experience already. "We are aiming to equip people with skills and knowledge that lets them go further (and) make their progression (with farming) more productive. Some (of our interns) had home gardens but some lived in apartments. We encourage people to go work for established farmers so they can learn a farm system" stressed Spearing.

According to Belanger, in the last 60 years (1941-2001) the percentage of the Canadian population  living on farms has decreased from 26% to 2.4% . Only .5% of our population are farmers and their median age is 50. "Who is going to grow our food in the future? asks Belanger.  

For further information about the program or for your own interest see the videos posted on you-tube. Start with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1r-Bi2evGM

Northwest Flower & Garden Show

I am always hoping to be garden overwhelmed and lately I think everything proposed in ornamental gardens is the same old same old. This happened again this week when I went to a sneak preview of the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle. It was advertised as the last flower show for Seattle and I had been really excited by previous shows so I flew down for the event. 

Water, rocks, pots and comfy couches. Yes - it sounds dream-like and it was - except every exhibit had these elements. The only things a little more unusual were the green walls and especially the green wall fence with the peek-a-boo view through (See photo). I am pretty sure we can't do that in Calgary but it was fun to look at. It makes me long for the Canada Blooms show last year with it's emphasis on recycled materials. 

While the Seattle show is over by Sunday Feb. 21, 2009 the Toronto show is a month away and well worth it if you are in the neighborhood - which I will not be. This year I am speaking in Wainwright Alberta at that time - showing photos and videos of Seattle among others -  so there is no way I will make it to Canada Blooms. Come to think of it the shopping opportunities  outweighed the exhibits in Toronto last year but at least we can buy the products here in Canada without worrying about border crossings!

Here is a video of one exhibit in Seattle under construction. Is is beautiful? Yes. Is it new? I don't think so - what do you think?

Tiny Vegetables for Pots

In my city garden I don't have room for all the big things I used to grow in the country or on my parent's farm so I have been using the self-watering boxes sold at Garden Retreat (Maxikap). ( see www.buyagreenhouse.com/greenhouse_accessories_maxikap.php)

These boxes hold up to a two week supply of water. I already use them in my greenhouse to grow tomatoes  fresh basil, cape gooseberry  and long English cucumbers.

This  year I am going to make use of an underutilized tiny second story patio on my house by planting it up with these self watering plant boxes instead of flower pots. It is a space that is on the west side of the house in the tree tops so it gets more light than the rest of the yard. It is  awkward to water pots on this deck so these boxes will be ideal because I can drag a hose up every few weeks instead of every day for regular pots. I don't think I am alone when I say there is a lot of excitement about vegetables in cities and we are all trying to squeeze out a bit more space for something extra.

This year I have been combing the on-line and old-school print catalogues for small vegetables and accent plants I can grow in these shallow soil (about 4" deep) boxes. The catalogues list a wider range of options than I have space. It's obvious I can't grow carrots or most root crops for that matter but spilling cucumbers, tumbling strawberries, spicy lettuce and miniature beans are all possible.

So far I have ordered:

Mercano Beans (Chilterns) - a narrow straight dwarf french bean 

'De Cicco' Calabrese (Chilterns) an Heirloom Italian sprouting broccoli

'Super Bush' tomato (Renee's Garden)

'Climbing Trombetta' squash (Renee's Garden) because they will spill over balcony with their luxuriant vines

'Italian Gigante' Parsley (Renee's Garden) - exceptionally good Italian parlsey - once you have tried this you will never grow curled parsley again.

'Monet's Garden' Mesclun lettuce (Renee's Garden)- colourful come-again lettuce 

'Sugar Sprint' edible snap peas (Vesey's) - small bush plant

'Small Wonder' Spaghetti Squash- small fruits on trailing plants ideal for tumbling off deck

Hanging Strawberry Plant (McFayden)- trails so can be planted on edge of boxes

French Green Sorrel (Dominion) - Very lemony leaves for fresh eating and soups

See these and other catalogues for seed selection:

Renee's Garden (www.reneesgarden.com) 

Vesey's Seed ( ww.veseys.com) 

McFayden Seeds (www.mcfayden.com)

Dominion Seed House (www.dominion-seed-house.com) 

Chiltern Seeds (chilternseeds.co.uk)

Meet Donna - Come to a talk!

If you run into me on 4th street you will probably ask - "So- what do you do in the winter"?

Okay - maybe you won't ask it that directly, but you are probably thinking it as I juggle my produce and dog and look a little less than put together. Well the news flash is that I am putting together talks. These talks are all going to be revealed this spring. I am also traveling to see what is new in the big world of horticulture.  

I know, I know, many of you thought I knew everything already but in fact there is always something new or some new interpretation of something new or something old made to look new. In the last few weeks I have met with irrigation specialists and soil labs to see what is new in these areas. And there are new things and I do intend to write about them but as you know I am busy putting these talks together. 

I have also booked a trip to Seattle to see the Northwest Flower Show in Seattle on Feb. 17, and I have signed up for a course on Vancouver Island February 28. 

Of course I have been skiing and walking my dog but that is just to stay fit for my challenging, upcoming speaking engagements. In fact, that is what this column is all about - my speaking engagements. I want you to look at the sidebar on the left and if you can come to any of my talks this spring please do. And take the time to  introduce yourself as a blog reader! I can hardly believe winter will be over soon and gardening will start in ernest. 

I am so busy getting these talks ready I have not even ordered seed yet. Yes, it is true - I have not ordered any seed yet. I will do that promptly. Next week. Well, how 'bout when  I get these talks finalized? Meanwhile I will leave you with a quick tip. If you are working with old seed and lets face it - who doesn't hang on to some old seed for more than one season? - you can give it a germination boost by misting it with kelp before you seed it or by actually soaking the seed in kelp overnight before it is seeded. Either way, the gibberellins in Kelp will trigger better germination in old seed and even if you spend all winter not ordering new seed you will have something to show for it. 

Now make that call and sign up for a talk! Okay - I also need to write more about biostimulants such as  kelp and humic acid and whatnot but not today. As I said - I am busy. 

Winter Pruning

Darcy asked about pruning mature trees and shrubs. He wondered  what to remove and when - he also wondered if there was someone who could guide him in making the right decisions.

The simple answer for Darcy is that he should minimize pruning of mature trees. By the time trees are advanced in age they are growing slowly and do not send out large amounts of new growth unless something - or someone- triggers unnecessary and sudden growth. Old trees should have been "trained" when young so will probably not need any more shaping now.

Heavy pruning of any tree in the dormant season will possibly trigger lush growth in spring so this should be minimized. Light pruning to remove an occasional broken branch, crossing branch or branch interfering with a power line can be done in our zone (3-5) while the tree is dormant (from February to mid-March) or in June after it has fully leafed out.  It is illegal in Calgary to prune Elm trees in summer so if he has an elm it could be  trimmed now but only if absolutely necessary (ie a broken branch). Before he makes any quick moves, Darcy should call an ISA Certified arborist for a consultation.  It is better to be safe than sorry. We avoid pruning of any kind once trees start to grow - ie the buds are swelling and leaves are emerging (Mid-March through to mid-May). This is a time of high energy use by the tree as it  tries to push out new leaves. 

Shrubs are an entirely different matter. A mature shrub can either be beautiful because its nature and structure have been retained over time with careful pruning or it can be a rat's nest of tangled branches after years of abuse. Sometimes it is easier to do renewal pruning (ie cut back heavily) in the late winter (Feb- mid-March) on shrubs that have become an overgrown eyesore. Avoid cutting spring blooming shrubs such as lilacs now because you will remove all the beautiful blooms Darcy!

Edmonton Horticultural Society 2009 Schedule

Wally Affolder has released the 2009 Schedule for the Edmonton Horticulture Society: 

Feb 23 , Rank the Ratings , Greg Polkosnik

March 30, A New World of Gardening, Jim Hole

April 27, What's New and Exciting in Gardening, Deborah Sirman

May 25, Rejuvenating a Yard, Kevin Napora

June 29, Donna Balzer talks about Common Sense Gardening

August 31, Be it resolved! Nature is the best model for the garden

September 28, Awards Night - No Speakers

October 26, Connecting Gardening to Today's Lifestyles, Brian Minter

November 30, Butchart gardens History, Rick Los

Contact Wally at waffolder@shaw.ca for details.

Something New

Wow.  These pots looked great during the day but at night they were spectacular. An internal light came on after dusk so that the pots glowed. Thanks  to Larry Hodgson (Horticom.ca) for forwarding the link to me for the source of these pots out of Italy (www.serraluna1825.it). If you want to wow someone - especially on a big site- these are your pots! I noticed when I went back to Quebec in the fall the summer plants had been changed out in favour of fall mums colour coordinated to the pots! 

More on recycled pots...

Well - here it is. The basil seedlings are well up now even though our house was so cold over the holidays my poinsettia died from cold temperature injury! What are you gonna do? It's an old house and the furnace gave out during an especially cold spell. Enough about the house. Our housesitter - lovely girl - watered my basil in my freezing cold house as often as she remembered while I was away over the holidays.

One obvious thing  is that the cowpots do not tolerate  drying out - or at least I assume this is what happened because everything had germinated before I left them in the care of the housesitter. From left to right here are the pots on trial: Coir pot, ecotainer, cowpot. As you can see the cowpots have failed miserably and there is nothing left. These pots look and feel a lot like peat pots and I know those are also subject to drying out.  Cowpots pots break easily too and the rims are already breaking down even though the pot of dead plants is no longer being watered - obviously. I guess I'll move some of the basil plants into individual pots and allow the two remaining pots of basil in the two surviving recyclable pots to bulk up a bit as is just to see if the pots break down as the plants grow bigger. Watching plants grow - my new hobby in January!

What about those recyclable pots?

Yes- for those who have been wondering - my new recyclable pots that I tested with basil have had some mixed results. I am about to transplant the basil started just before Christmas but will take a few photos and post them here first. You will be surprised....

Coming soon

New Year's Resolution- just a few days late!

Okay folks - now is the time to commit to organic. I am realizing as I read over the Soil Association Standards (www.soilassociation.org/foodandfarming) that it is no longer allowable to use bonemeal on certified organic farms in Europe. No more bonemeal? That is fine by me because I have never been a believer in bonemeal but what else is there to know about organic gardening and farming that may have slipped through my inspection process?

I decided I needed to pursue the study of organics more fully and have made that my new year's resolution. I am also attempting to eat more organic foods as well as grow them and this could be a challenge. Sometimes the expense of buying organic veg is in the hidden cost of transportation. That cost to the environment  can't be all good so it puts a small black mark on transported organics and places us back at the old question of how to find good local and organic food at this time of year.  

I am not giving up on our farmer's market although I realize many of their products and suppliers are not organic even though they are local. Some of them do claim to be pesticide free and that is a good start. Organically managed farms improve the soil over time and they do this with green manures and some animal manures as well as rock dusts. Once the soil has the nutrients it needs, the food it produces is better for us. Well, that is my claim and I am sticking to it! If in doubt please read Michael Pollen's "In Defense of Food".  It is an amazing read.

Winter Snow Weighs down hedges

Our Christmas break to our west coast getaway went sideways with snowfall exceeding expectations for Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island as we arrived December 23.  With over a metre (3 feet) of snow falling the weekend before Christmas, all golf games were cancelled and planned gardening activities such as digging the final carrots for Christmas dinner just didn't happen. The heavy snow literally crushed hedges and created what could be quite a mess this spring. 

Evergreen hedges will probably be most affected and the only solution is to be right there when the snow falls and knock it off before it builds up. Easy to say but hard to do once the damage has happened. We will now have to wait until spring to really evaluate our damage.

The good news is that once the snow melted a  bit it was once more kayaking season and a view from the bay revealed a surviving  hedge near an older home. Imagine pruning this tall evergreen hedge!

The Original Christmas Decoration

The original Christmas decorations? I am not sure but this mountain ash is beautiful under the new snow this month and this photo is my present to all my readers. 

I am away from my computer now until after Christmas but please enjoy the beauty of nature and of your gardens this time of year.

Basil is Germinating!

Yes- the basil planted to test out the new recyclable pots is coming up. Teeny tiny seedlings are appearing. Okay - it is a weird time of year to sow seeds but - heh- I have grow lights and basil is on ongoing pleasure.

By the way- the seeds in the plastic, non-recyclable pots are up first. What does that mean?

How to Attract Mice - 101

They are cute and they are trainable but do you really want mice in your garden? 

A caller this week asked me to suggest a source of weed free straw so that he could put it on his garden to protect tender perennials from frost. The trouble in our crazy climate in Southern Alberta is that we frequently lack a snow cover in winter and gardeners are always trying to push the zones and grow risky plants. Of course I immediately called  back to say there is no such thing as weed free wheat or barley straw because it is impossible to get all the seeds off the straw and the wheat or barley itself becomes a weed. Meanwhile the seeds attract and feed the hungry little mice who were wondering what they would eat now that the weather is cold. 

The caller then asked if hay would work better. In a word - no. Hay just provides a cozy home for mice and comes with it's own fair share of weed seeds. The only viable straw for protecting gardens and not contributing to mice food or habitat is the very tough and difficult to spread Flax straw. It can be purchased in square bales and spread out in the fall over tender perennials. It is almost impossible to compost so it will still be there in spring and can be raked up for reuse in the fall. Trouble is that very few farmers grow flax anymore so I am not sure the average city gardener would be able to find a bale or two for their use. 

Other options for fall protection of tender plants are piles of dry leaves. I have noticed a lot of those blowing up against fences lately. Once the soil is frozen solid - which it appears to be right now - the leaves can be collected and piled on the plants. Organized gardeners already have their piles of leaves in bags at the ready. The mice won't be able to burrow into the frozen soil and the leaves will give a bit of frost protection to the plants as the snow comes and goes this winter.

Marilyn Needs Help

Dear Donna-

I transplanted about 20 of my houseplants in the fall. I used a reputable President's Choice houseplant soil and clean plant pots. Unfortunately, I had some other unwanted things appear in my home about a week later. They are a small black quick flying little bug. They are very annoying and they are everywhere....

Marilyn

Dear Marilyn - Refer to my previous "It's Bugs In The Wine Time Again" blog. You have a different bug than I have but the cure is the same. You have fungus gnats - and they came free in your soil. In the future when you buy new soil put a bit in a glass jar, moisten the soil, seal the lid and wait a week. If you see flies hatching be ready with your nematodes as soon as you use the soil.  See "Fly Killers Have Arrived" entry for nematode info. 

Donna

Dear Donna- Thanks for your quick reply. A major offensive was launched when I found them in my drink of water...

Marilyn

Dear Readers- I couldn't make up anything this good!