urban Gardener: May 2009

If you are wondering

Considering That Less Than 6 % of the food we consume is grown on Vancouver Island means that we are neither “food secure” nor “food sustainable”. Alarmingly, that number has steadily declined in past years and leaves our island communities vulnerable to food shortages, if there is ever an interruption in the food delivery system. This column is designed to encourage people who have never gardened to begin their first steps in growing a few herbs and vegetables in small spaces. As our understanding of food production deepens it will hopefully lead to a social and environmental awareness of the need to support local food producers and to purchase what we eat close to home.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

THE VANCOUVER ISLAND DIET

It Was Only a Matter of time and now the “Vancouver Island Diet” is attracting all the buzz. First it was the 100-Mile Diet originated by an amazing young Vancouver couple, then the 50-Mile Diet that mushroomed out of Powell River and now the focus is shifting to an all-island diet. A group in Cowichan Valley seem to be the source who are spear-heading the movement. Their manifesto caught my eye and to quote a few lines: the Vancouver Island Diet means not only eating food produced on the island but supporting our local farmers, fishers and food producers by providing them with a decent livelihood. It means taking the trouble to seek out producers of all kinds of products that we use on a daily basis and making the very political decision to shop locally. It means asking the managers of local stores to clearly label which foods and products are from the island. For more go to… http://www.vancouverislanddiet.com/

Having Just Finished Barbara Kingsolver’s latest and hottest book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where she recounts her move back to a West Virginia farm with her family, I encourage you to ask for it at the local library. It is an absorbing story of a family taking over their old farm and learning to restore and plant the land in order to produce all their foods for an entire year. One of Kingsolver’s greatest concerns, when they were still existing as commercial consumers, was the distances food traveled to reach their table. Her experience has prodded me into doing a similar count. Let’s see…fresh flowers from Columbia, 6,000 air miles, tomatoes from Mexico, 2,500 miles, fresh peas from China, 7,000 air miles, goats cheese from Quebec, 3,500 miles. Well, you get the idea. If one is sincerely trying to buy locally it means peering at every label and asking the retail staff endless questions. If we all put pressure on our retail stores we will soon get clear labeling telling us what is island grown, what is B.C. grown and what is Canada grown. Of course there are many things we can’t get in this country but it supports our farm industry if we always start by thinking “Island First”.

The Edible Plant Workshop I attended earlier this month gave a whole new meaning to “Eating Locally”. Colin Buss and Luisa Richardson lead our group of 20 on a trek through a Simms Creek tributary and it was a revelation to discover that so many plants that we hardly glance at can actually sustain life, if necessary.
Retired archivist, Irene Ross, listened intensely, taste tested all the plants we were shown on the trek and the following day tried out some of the native greenery on her husband, Dr. John Ross and her brother-in-law. Luncheon included Miner’s Lettuce, fiddleheads (from the base of Lady Ferns,) Maple Tree shoots, the young needles from Douglas Fir, Salmonberry shoots as well as its flowers, and berry-like heads from a plant known locally as Snap, Crackle & Pop. The salad was topped off with a vinaigrette dressing. The diners consumed the greens with gusto and proclaimed the meal a success!

60,000 Honey Bees on the Vancouver Conference Centre roof, runner beans on the lawn at London’s City Hall? In the search to bring you interesting items on what’s happening in the grow-your-own food movement it is astounding to see this quantum shift throughout some of the world’s greatest cities. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is drawing up plans for community gardens surrounding the Tower of London and Marble Arch. The Hayward Gallery will soon have a vegetable patch on its roof. At Vancouver’s Fairmount Waterfront the chef harvests fruits, veggies, herbs and honey for his menus and even has apple trees ripening amongst the skyscrapers. Even New York has turned green and a civic dinner was recently served to a group of eco-chic types which included Bronx Collard Greens, Brooklyn Beans and cocktails with Muddled Berries foraged from Central Park. Now where does Campbell River rate amongst these metropolises? Stand by for an exciting announcement on what is planned for the just installed green roof on our City Hall. http://www.islandfocus.bblogspot.com/

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

BUSINESS IS BLOOMING IN GARDEN SHOPS

Business Is Blooming in local garden shops as residents’ enthusiasm for growing food gardens increases. Retailers tell me that seed racks are being quickly depleted and baskets of starter vegetables are flying off the shelves. The homegrown vegetable movement seems to be sweeping the province, according to news reports.

“Harvesting” the Cut & Come Again garden evokes a feeling of satisfaction, especially when you’ve waited weeks through this chilly spring weather to sample the crops. That’s the way Jurgen and Inga Kettler expressed their pleasure when telling me about their first meal of mixed greens freshly picked from tubs on their east facing deck garden. For their premiere luncheon they added a few organic tomatoes, herbs and a splash of organic oil. Yum!

In my deck pots I have a mixture of young plants purchased at the garden shops as well as a variety of salad greens started from seed. The miracle of “harvesting” is that you can go on eating from the same tubs of veggies until the weather becomes very warm in July. At that point your plants will “bolt” and produce a flower head. Let them dry out and recover the seeds from the head. If they’re organic those seeds can be planted again in late August and you’ll have vegetables growing in the barrels all winter long. Imagine on Christmas Day wandering out on to the deck with a basket looped over your arm prepared to snip a basketful of crisp greens for the holiday table. You’ll be bragging so hard your guests will groan…with envy.

There is a technique for cutting the leaves so that the plants can reproduce. In fact there are two systems. Either take a pair of scissors and clip off the top of the plants…like giving the plants a hair cut…or the other choice is to clip only the outer largest leaves from the plants. Whichever way you chose, it provides you with an endless supply especially with spindly plants like chives, mizumi, arugula and lettuce. It takes a leap of faith to shave off all those leaves but it works. The next crop will bounce up in a couple of weeks. Clip basil differently. Remove greens from the top down to the last two large leaves. The plants will reproduce surprisingly quickly.
Make sure your basil is sitting on a sunny windowsill...too chilly outdoors yet to move it.

A Mittlenatch Reader Called to ask if I knew anyone who would like to share space in their very large garden. She and her husband also have a small greenhouse and produce so many edibles that she calls their garden the “Zero Mile Diet” as opposed to the “100 Mile Diet”. If you need garden space and/or are willing to help them manage their garden the email is jndandeloin@gmail.com. Now that’s a very neighbourly action. They moved here from Saskatchewan where “spin gardening” was born in Canada. That a type of gardening where a farmer rents out land to allow others to raise crops for personal use or resale at farmer’s markets.

The First Farmers’ Market of the year opened on Sunday and the great news is that there will be local farmers selling local produce. We appreciate the huge effort the Comox Valley farmers have put in through the years to haul their produce up to our Sunday market. Now we can enjoy their produce as well as “support local growers and buy close to home” This is a small step in fulfilling the mission to become a sustainable community.

Did You Know there was an Edible Native Plants workshop held Saturday at the Sportsplex. That was a chance to discover many of the edible native plants in our area and where to find them. I jumped at the opportunity to learn more about the nutritional value of native plants and how to prepare them for sustenance. Watch this column for future workshops on this subject.

Did you know?

… if you google Campbell River on your computer the arrow that pops up shows the entrance to town is located at 14th Ave. Now picture a first time visitor to Campbell River heading north on the Inland Island Hwy., then turning right at 14th and driving past the Eagles Hall. Then the route takes them along an industrial strip leading to the Maple St. left turn bend. No wonder the hapless driver ends up in Campbellton asking for directions! The recently formed Campbellton First committee has identified its initial outdoor task is to clear garbage, groom sidewalks and improve landscapes. A Campbellton First Clean-up is being held on Saturday, March 31. The energetic new committee welcomes volunteers from all points of town to join in the effort. Watch The Mirror for further information on the clean up.

… it is probably the furthest thing from your mind in the middle to this hot spell but it’s now time to prepare the soil for your winter garden. If you want to eat fresh, organic, local food all year round for the price of a few seed packets then check out West Coast Seeds Winter Gardening Guide. So far the booklets are available at Campbell River Garden Centre. It advises, for example, sowing arugula from June to the end of August for harvest in fall and through winter into spring. Carrot seeds can go in the ground the first two weeks of August for winter harvests. Other winter vegetables include beets, Brussels sprouuts, kale, lettuce, parsnips, spinach, Swiss chard and turnips. When choosing seeds for winter gardening check the package as it should indicate whether it is a hardy, winter variety. You might have to experiment the first year but that’s part of the fun in learning about your garden’s potential.

… garlic, chives, cilantro, fennel leaf, parsley, sorrel, bay leaf, chervil, rosemary, sage, thyme and winter savoury are available year-round. Harvest them fresh or dry them out in a warm room and grind them up in with a mortar and pestle or processor. They make much appreciated gifts for friends and of course for use in your own kitchen.

… it is possible to raise worms in a small container or tote box on your back deck. My experiment is turning out well and all I did was fill the tub full of soil, spade in a handful of red wiggler worms given to me by a friend, and enough water to keep the soil lightly moist. Feeding the soil with finely chopped left over vegetable peelings, the worms receive a steady supply of food which they convert into nutrient-rich castings. Two or three pounds of green kitchen refuse including tea bags and coffee grinds a week is all that’s needed to keep them happy. To create the perfect environment I really need to find a tote with air holes and a spigot to drain off excess water. The compost they create is considered “black gold” as the castings are far more beneficial to plants than any man-made fertilizer, according to a website called WormWatcher.

… there is always something new to learn when setting up a food garden and my friend Lance Klassen recently revealed an amazingly easy method of seed-starting for transfer into pots. Lay your various seeds on a damp tea towel. Sprinkle the seeds loosely and cover with a second damp towel. Leave them on the kitchen counter or somewhere indoors. For the next three days make sure the towels stay damp. By the fourth day the seeds should have sprouted. At that point you can very gently transfer each seed that has produced a strong root into small containers full of potting soil. I tried this successfully with 12 different seeds and five days later I now have trays of happy seedlings arrayed on the window sills and peeping out of their pots. This method sure beats sprinkling the soil with seeds and then having to thin out the weaklings once they have struggled up through the earth.

... that those tough little veggies like arugula, chard and kale which survived the winter can be tenderized successfully by placing them in the freezer for 30-40 min. and then quickly steamed or stir fried. It is a year since this column was first published. Those of you looking for guidance on how to start a veggie garden in small spaces just Google Campbell River Urban Gardener and my blog will pop up to display all the archived columns.

... that I have a cooking technique for turning sprouts into a culinary triumph. Prepare to be amazed! You may be able to convince your entire family to munch a few sprouts after trying out this idea. Heat up your frying pan and melt a large dollop of butter in the pan. Add half a teaspoon of brown sugar. Cut the sprouts in half, lengthwise. Arrange them face down in the pan and cover with a pyrex see-through lid if possible. Don't add water. Cook them at medium heat for about five minutes. You'll know they are ready if the sprouts turn intensely bright green and can be pierced with a fork. Remove immediately and serve with a smile. The U.S. President said publicly that he hates sprouts. I think I will send this recipe to Michelle. It may change the course of history.

... that fresh cilantro can be frozen in the same way that you have learned to freeze parsley. Place in a plastic bag, unwashed, and snip or slice off whatever you need and then return it to the freezer. It keeps its intense flavour despite being frozen and sure beats finding a half decayed bag of your favourite kitchen herb decomposing at the back of the veggie container.

... that stinging nettles make fabulous fertilizer juice? Well, that’s so, according to a local friend who told me to cut down the huge stinging nettle growing at the back of the property and chop it up into small pieces. Then I am to place the pieces in a bucket and cover with water. After about six weeks, according to my advisor, it will turn into a dark green slurry. Then it’s time to strain it and place in a lidded container. I can then add a few tablespoonsful to a watering can and it makes an outstanding liquid fertilizer.

... that there is a technique for harvesting veggies called Cut & Come Again so that the plants can continually reproduce. In fact there are two systems. Either take a pair of scissors and clip off the top of the plants...like giving the plants a hair cut...or the other choice is to clip only the outer largest leaves from the plants. Whichever way you choose is provides you with an endless supply, especially with spidly plants like chives, mizumi, arugula and lettuce. It takes a leap of faith to shave off alll those leaves but it works. The next crop will bounce up in a couple of weeks. Basil needs a different approach. Pick from the top of the plant down to the next set of leaves. That's where the growth is renewed.

... that you can keep a pot of fragrant basil on your kitchen window sill and, even if you continuously clip leaf clusters from the top of the branches, the plant will produce new leaves within a week. I’ve been doing this for ages and it still amazes me. I can purchase a sturdy looking little basil plant for $3 at the grocery store, even in the dead of winter, and it will keep producing for months on end. Eventually the plant will exhaust itself and need to be replaced. But, in the mean time there is a supply of one of the most favored herbs. In the summer it thrives when planted out doors in a very hot spot, tucked in under the spreading leaves of a large tomato plant. Try a thickly sliced home grown beefsteak tomato, sprinkled with shredded basil leaves and a teaspoon of organic olive oil. It’s a humbling experience. One should only consume such an offering on bended knees…with your head bowed.

... food grown on Vancouver Island has steadily declined and is currently less than 6%!! So when you sow a few seeds and start your very own food garden you are taking the first steps in making us and our children “Food Secure” in our beautiful island home. You will hear more and more about the issues of food sustainability. It means eating close to home and supporting farm markets and local producers in the mid-North Island.

... that you can enjoy your home grown parsley all year round by filling a small plastic bag full of fresh green leaves and storing them in the freezer. When you need a sprinkling of parsley to top up an omelet or a fresh salad, grab your kitchen scissors and slice off some frozen parsley.You'll be surprised to discover that it still retains that lovely pungent smell of fresh cut parsley.

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