amy's garden

Name that Lily

2009-08-07T08:58:00.002-04:00

Mystery lilies in Amy & Rohan's garden.
I wonder if the daylily is Mini Pearl, which would be most appropriate being on Pearl Street. It looks more peach in colour than it appears in my photo. I'll have to ask Wayne, who planted the garden years ago. Not far from it is Mini Stella, who has been blooming for a few weeks. I'm guessing this asiatic lily is Tropical Dream, a popular lily, more so than Royal Present or Giraffe, which it also looks like.

This gives me good reason to have Caroline over for wine and lily identification. :)

Amy's Garden

2009-06-28T16:49:00.003-04:00

new RB trees

2009-06-26T20:06:00.004-04:00

Both the Ryan Building and the Library received new trees this year. :)

praying to the spade gods

2009-06-18T20:36:00.000-04:00

Gardens June 18 2009

Gardenerd goes YouTube-ing

2009-06-06T23:39:00.001-04:00

Yes, I know it's too big for the page....

Amy's Gardens

2009-06-02T21:22:00.010-04:00

Amy's Garden at the site of the St. John Street Beautification Project:

Tomatoes, peas, cabbage, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, and beets. Just enough.

Rohan`s Garden

2009-06-02T01:08:00.003-04:00

Euan`s Tree Farm

2009-06-01T23:49:00.000-04:00

Euan's Tree Farm
St John Street Beautification Project

LU Garden May 2009

2009-05-18T12:01:00.003-04:00

http://lakeheaduniversitygarden.blogspot.com/

the Campus Garden

2009-04-09T16:10:00.002-04:00

the Campus Garden April 2009

the Campus Garden March 2009

The Not So Secret Lives of Bees

2009-03-18T08:31:00.003-04:00

http://www.pollinationcanada.ca/

http://www.ontariobee.com/

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/food/inspection/bees/info_suppliers.htm

http://www.beeculture.com/

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/bees/

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3946

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/06/10/f-bees-colony-mites.html and http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/11/22/bees-nosema.html

http://biobees.blogspot.com/

FSRN Campus Garden Project

2009-02-17T13:20:00.003-05:00

Putting Peas By

2008-10-19T19:51:00.010-04:00

P e a s

"Prepare. Shell...
Blanch. In boiling water - for 1½ minutes. Cool immediately, drain.
Pack. Leave ½ inch of headroom.
Seal; freeze."

To determine when to pick shell peas, check the pods by eye and feel. If the pod is round, has a nice sheen, and is bright green, it is ready. If the seeds have made ridges on the pod and the pod is a dull green, it's past its prime.

You can pick snap and snow snap peas at any time, but they're tastiest when the pods still have some play around the peas when you squeeze the pods.

Pick snow peas before the peas start to enlarge in the pods.

Frequent harvesting increases yields. Pick every other day to keep the plants in production. Pick any pods that are overly mature; if left on the vine, yields will diminish.

Peas keep best in the shell, so don't shell them until just before cooking.

1/2 CUP OF COOKED SNAP PEAS:
Calories: 34
Dietary Fiber: 1.4 grams
Protein: 2.6 grams
Carbohydrates: 5.6 grams
Vitamin C: 38.3 mg
Iron: 1.6 mg
Potassium: 192 mg
Magnesium: 21 mg

Putting Food By
ISBN-10: 0452268990
ISBN-13: 978-0452268999
My edition was published by the Stephen Greene Press © 1973.
Edited by Janet Green, authors Ruth Hertzberg (New England Home Economics teacher and County Agent), and heirloom American recipe creator and writer, Beatrice Vaughan advise on everything from root cellaring to recipes for plain Dandelion greens and corn omelets.

There's been a lot of talk lately among the FSRN about ways we can teach ways to "extend" our growing season. Preserving, to take full advantage of everything grown an obvious direction. The basics are simple, but the possibilities for personal touches to recipes are inexhaustible.

The Anglo-Saxon word for peas was 'pise' or 'pease' as in the nursery rhyme, 'pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold.'

World Food Day 2008

2008-10-16T22:27:00.012-04:00

World Food Day 2008
Lakehead University Agora

World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Roots to Harvest, along with the Food Security Research Network, Advanced Institute for Globalization & Culture, Food Action Network, and LUSU hosted World Food Day today in the Agora.
The Boreal Edge Farm, Belluz Farm, Jeff's wheat mill and Brule Creek Farm, Seeds of Diversity, the Good Food Box, were among the many display booths; and Dr. Mustafa Koc co-founder of the Centre for Studies in Food Security visited Lakehead as keynote speaker.

Leaf Mould

2008-10-08T21:53:00.005-04:00

The lightest air-stir

Released their love-whispers when she walked
The needles weeping, singing, dedicating

....
excerpt ~ Ted Hughes Leaf Mould

white paper and dirty dirt

2008-07-16T16:04:00.006-04:00

Connie's tomatoes in the foreground

- with beams of morning sun bouncing
off The Hangar behind.

July 15, 2008

My first (and I suppose aesthetic) thought is that they are such strange neighbors. Together though, they illustrate quite well the partnership of urban spaces and gardens. SOME CONTRAST.

Except, this perspective is just one, from one rather large tomato garden to one rather large athletic facility. If you didn't know it was an athletic facility, this picture might make you think I'm talking about growing tomatoes on a runway. Had I turned around and taken the picture into the rising sun, you would think I was sitting in cleared space of a forest, with a river running through it. I love that about our garden.

Many thanks to Erin, Heidi & Bryan with their Roots to Harvest teams for all the helping hands in the garden!

Sara has been carefully tending to the tomatoes, plucking beetles and eggs (grin) and staking. All of the plants look wonderful. She also has been busy planting, and transplanting two other FSRN 30x15ft gardens - with attention to companion planting. I'll update more on those later. Around the tomatoes she's planted herbs and peppers.
One of these days I'll capture her as she flies into my office with hair askew and dirt all over, clutching her great pink hat and filthy, filthy notebook. It's a fantastic image even in a one line description. you should see it.
A common challenge in the life of a gardenerd is white paper and dirty dirt.

Old Brooks
70-85 days
great texture, sharp acidic flavour - great in sauces and pastes

four reasons why I love Hazeldean

2008-07-02T22:08:00.003-04:00

The Hogarth Plantation

2008-07-01T08:25:00.012-04:00

The Hogarth Plantation is a 44 hectare property used by the Faculty of Forestry and the Forest Environment for teaching and research.

Also using it for research is Connie, who is growing blueberries in a cleared section of the forest.
These pictures were taken last September, right around the same time I stumbled upon potatoes growing in the tilled rugby field.

I know that what attracts me most to the Hogarth forest is it's resemblance to the pine "plantation" that bordered the house I grew up in. The property was named 'Singing Pines', and for years there was a sign at the entrance tp the driveway. Over the years, each spring after winter, my father would replace or re-erect the sign which would get knocked down by the snowplows (sometimes driven by himself), until eventually the sign just never went up again.

The Pines always sang through the chickadees, and were beautiful - planted much like the Hogarth trees. I love the way they smell, and how the needles collect all over beneath them; even the way they eerily creek. The trees surrounded my playhouse, running from the road to the river west to east and north until they eventually thickened with the trees of Wishart.

Tomaat!

2008-06-30T23:08:00.014-04:00

Sara's superfantastic TOMATO MAP

Red Brandywine,
Stupice,
Harbinger,
Moskovich,
Wonderlight or 'Plum Lemon',
Landry's Russian,
Mortgage Lifter,
Doublerich,
Baxter's Bush Cherry,
Superfantastic,
Old Brooks,

Connie's heirloom tomatoes were transplanted by Sara and Roy June 21st. The plants have endured a lot already, but most look alright now that they're in the garden. Sara was careful to plant them deeply, and sink any broken stems. Beneath the new three way mix is quite a heavy clay, which she has expressed concern about, a concern I share...but, the soil's properties are not unexpected, all things considered - so we just have to work with what we're given this year and hope for the best.
Some will require staking.

Before and after additions to the soil; the three piles delivered by LCR have now been distributed between Connie's tomato garden, and two 30x15 FSRN plots at the south end.

Many thanks to the help from the Physical Plant/Grounds for moving the soil from one end of the garden to the other!!!

Jeff is going to come rototill it all again - time permitting, hopefully on Friday. :)

planting map FSRN 2008

for reading in a bathtub:
Harborne, Jeffrey B., and Herbert Baxter. Chemical Dictionary of Economic Plants: Dictionary of Useful Plant Products. 2001
0471492264

neighbourly clematis

2008-06-19T21:41:00.003-04:00

This lovely clematis has been peeking through the fence,
welcoming amy's garden to the new neighborhood.

pollination bzzzz

2008-06-19T21:19:00.002-04:00

Insect Pollination Of Cultivated Crop Plants

by S.E. McGregor, USDA

Originally published 1976

Virtual Beekeeping Book
updated continuously
additions listed by crop and date

red fife wheat

2008-06-19T21:13:00.000-04:00

bread from the history books Maclean's Magazine

Perhaps it's the alligator bread baker in me that's so interested in wheat. Gators of late have been made of rye and wheat bran.

Red Fife Wheat, soybeans, oats, quinoa can be planted through the NW of the garden. Yukon gold potatoes too.

more on red fife:

http://dp.biology.dal.ca/wheat/

http://www.grassrootsolutions.com/heritage-wheat/

The Garnet Wheat Controversy, 1923-1938
by Jim Blanchard Winnipeg Manitoba History, Number 19, Spring 1990
Press Reports and Other Writings on Halychanka (Red Fife) Wheat
from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

From the Ministry of Agriculture Food & Rural Affairs, fact sheets on organic farming in Ontario, field crop fact sheets.

Sex and the Gardening

2008-06-19T18:28:00.004-04:00

I've been wanting to go see the Sex and the City movie with Caroline, but of course haven't had time. I'm pulled toward seeing that on the small screen anyway, where I miss seeing it.

I thank Katie Malloch again tonight for keeping me company while I write. My back is sore, I'm having difficulty concentrating. Might be because I'm sitting at my piano that I can't quite play (but can produce some quick Beethoven thanks to my years with the wind instruments).

Weeks ago I wanted to write a post about 'pulling the hose'. I realized immediately that the title wasn't appropriate for my pretty little garden blog, ....I couldn't find the words, so I dropped it.

Today Sara toiled in the sun, with Roy - turning over beds, weeding, readying soil moving. I went to visit her during "lunch", her and Roy were making the best of the compacted soil, thanks to the heavy rains. The soil piles are heavy, and on the opposite side of the garden. Volunteers will be needed to help move soil, dig out rocks. But first, I agree with Sara that Jeff will be required to till again. Had it not been for the rains....

We had a 2 hour meeting in about ten minutes in my office at the end of the day, discussed plans, pondered questions - one of which being what to do about water for Connie's tomatoes, which need to be in the ground yesterday - among other things we want to plant asap. Rain barrels of some sort for this year, the RAM pump for next *crosses fingers*. I had a vision of Sara carrying pails of water from the McIntyre and want to put more effort into that pump. I will deal with the barrels.

All this talk of how to get water to the plant made me think of pulling the hose again. You see, the hose I speak of is the hose we drag across the parking lot to the 55 + Centre to get water to the greenhouse on River St.. "Pulling the hose" refers to pulling the long heavy hose across the parking lot and attaching it to the 55's spout. I don't particularly like pulling the hose, at all. It's the work of firemen, and I am not that. But one day it needed to be hauled back, Dennis was nowhere in sight - so I pulled the hose. When Dennis did arrive, he gave me a funny look and said: you pulled the hose, hmh. (with a sly smile) The next time the hose need to be pulled he "had a sore arm"; so guess who pulled the hose. Yeah.

What I enjoy most about pulling the hose are all the people who go by me while I do it and say things like: looks like hard work! or that must keep you in shape!. There was a time years ago when I was pulling the hose and a number of 55+ members joined in pulling parts of it. It was kinda like a scene from Cocoon. I don't know if it's wrong of me to say that.

While I was pulling the hose the morning of Dennis' sore arm, a white haired man rode my purple bicycle around the parking lot, squealing in delight of course grin.

and speaking of doing it:
Yale's doing it too.
I look at the pictures in that article and see so much of what I have envisioned for our space - and I have to admit to being somewhat green with envy. Yeah, green.
and the
University of Wisconsin-Madison also have a community-supported agriculture farm on campus.

Old Fort William - flood 2008

2008-06-17T09:35:00.007-04:00

Old Fort William

flood 2008

visit the Fort's official website

FSRN garden update

2008-06-16T23:43:00.001-04:00

I started receiving Google alerts for "university sustainable garden" a while ago. The articles I'm exposed to are filling me with so many expectations for our project, I'm bursting. Students at Grand Valley State are doing it, students at Princeton are doing it, everyone's doing it. Dude.

I receive other alerts for similar searches; that one seems to offer some pretty good loot.

Sara sent me scans of her staking/measurements on the garden plan, with what the dimensions related to in actual terms, posted below. I knew it wouldn't be exact, but I do have to say I'm impressed at how well it translated.
She's also reported a boggy area near the LUCK garden. Options are being weighed.

A call for volunteers to help move the soil will go out shortly, as an on-call request in accordance with the weather.

Sara's edits in pink are the plots, the blue are walkways. She's been so dedicated in getting out there to mark the plots, and recording her experience. She's certainly the Garden Voice of the FSRN garden this soggy spring!