urban Gardener: No Patio? No Balcony? No Problem

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.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

No Patio? No Balcony? No Problem

No patio. No balcony. No south facing window? That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy picking a few fresh greens grown right in your living room this winter. You can start by buying a bag of turnips from the farmer’s market or health food store. Eat some of them chopped in strips and enjoy their mellow crispness. Shredded, they make a wonderful addition to your salad. Slice them in wedge shapes and roast them crisp with a bit of olive oil and a dash of Cajun pepper. Now, for the secret of growing fresh greens. Take a few of the smaller turnips and place them in an attractive container, toss in some dirt and stick the pot in a window corner. Miraculously, using only their stored energy the turnips will begin sprouting delicious greens, even if the light is insufficient. It is amazing. Just make sure the turnips have not been dipped in wax. Sometimes producers do this to prevent the turnips from regenerating on the store shelves. If you do have a south facing window save it for your precious winter herbs and find an east or west facing window for your newest experiment in winter food production.

There is still time to plant a few herbs and veggies in November. Broad beans, also known as favas, are a highly nutritious vegetable. They are sturdy, robust and useful as a replacement for garbanzo beans in hummus or as a base for pestos and soups. If you plant them this month you’re going to need a very sheltered part of the garden. A cold frame or a cloche would be ideal to protect them for the next few chilly months. Just be warned…they will grow up to six feet so you may find them bursting through the roof of the average cold frame. You will have to remove the roof and devise another way of protecting them once their growth spurt begins. Another plant that is more than willing to prevail despite bone chilling rain and frozen ground is garlic. There is still time to plant this pungent friend according to the WestCoast Gardening Guide. Garlic is a bulb that that requires nine or ten months of growth. So that means it will be July or August before harvesting. When you finally lift your very own home grown garlic from the warm summer earth you’ll know the long wait was worth it.

Did You Know That…it’s the right time to mulch your perennials with wood chips, leaves, straw and kelp. Don’t dig deeply around your plants as it disturbs the micro biological relationship of the plants with the other growth surrounding them. Remember to mulch, mulch, mulch before winter really sets in. Also wood chips are preferred to bark mulch as the chips have more nutrients and decompose more readily…that’s according to the advise of the course presenter at a North Island College “Lettuce Grow” program. Those NIC courses are so full of information for the fledgling as well as the experienced food gardeners. If you love gardening you’ll love these courses so why not join us?

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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.

urban Gardener

Urban Gardener