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"All around the world people are questioning why a food chain that used to depend on sunshine for energy is now so overwhelmingly reliant on fossil fuels -- a practice obviously unsustainable for us and our planet."
Eight years ago, Carolyn and her family moved to an acreage on Vancouver Island to create their own self-sustaining oasis. Now she is poised to share her hard-won knowledge and passion for growing with others. Beginning this March 15 and extending into October, Carolyn will be teaching the "12 Steps to Sustainable Home-Grown Food Production -- An Organic Approach to Greater Self Sufficiency," Saturdays at Glendale Gardens in Victoria.
Class participants will take a hands-on approach to creating a stunning edible garden from the ground up. Those not lucky enough to participate with Carolyn can still join the adventure right here on GardenWise Online, where the 12 steps will be revealed one week at a time on Carolyn's blog.
As Carolyn reminds us, it's time to join the "Grow Your Own" movement!
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As many plants fall quietly into autumn dormancy, the purple spikes of my anise hyssop refuse to give up, all the while drawing bees and resisting browsing deer. Native to North America, it has been used through time by aboriginal peoples to treat fevers and colds; certainly, the leaves make a delicious and comforting tea.
Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) is a self-seeding perennial hardy to zone 5. It is easy enough to grow from seed, albeit slow to start.
What I love most about agastache is that when I walk through the garden I am tantalized by its licorice-mint bouquet. Nothing is more relaxing than a “scratch and sniff” garden full of soothing scents.
This past summer, when I planted up a container for the Vancouver Garden Show Container Contest (Edible Ornamental category), agastache was one of its mainstays. I can testify that this many-layered combination of scents will have you savouring spicy fragrances with every passing breeze. Or collecting its leaves for a pot of tea!
Here is my spicy container-garden recipe. Put the taller plants toward the centre and allow the creepers to flow over the edges of your planter:
- Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop)
- Foeniculum vulgare ‘Rubrum’ (bronze fennel)
- Mentha x gentilis (ginger mint)
- Mentha piperita (candymint)
- Nepeta cataria ssp. citriodora 'Lemony' (lemon catnip)
- Ocimum basilicum (cinnamon basil)
- Origanum vulgare ‘Aureum’ (golden marjoram)
- Perilla frutescens (shiso, britton)
- Salvia officinalis (tricolor sage)
- Thymus citriodorus (gold edge lemon thyme)
- Thymus citriodorus ‘Archer’s Gold’ (Archer’s Gold thyme)
- Thymus x ‘Doone Valley’ (Doone Valley thyme)
- Thymus vulgaris ‘Aureus’ (golden thyme)
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Recently, my neighbour Jackie Grant invited me to drop over and spend some time in her garden where she and her husband, Ian, have done a gorgeous job of tucking in plants among all the stunning rock in their yard. Here, again, I noticed creeping raspberry, a plant that offers wonderful coverage and seems too good to be true. Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of this plant it and it had me curious.
Could it be an invasive similar to that nightmare Lamium maculatum (dead nettle), which I continually tried to wrestle out of my previous garden? All reports to date, though, claim the opposite – that although creeping raspberry is quick to grow, it’s also easy to contain and is perfect for hot and dry slopes or ditches where the soil moisture fluctuates from wet to dry. In fact, it’s suggested as a safe alternative to invasive English ivy.
Jackie says she found creeping raspberry (Rubus pentalobus) slow to start but once it got going it provided a very dense and weed-suppressing coverage. Creeping raspberry doesn’t claim to be very cold hardy, but Jackie’s garden is in a windy spot and certainly chillier than the recommended zone 7.
According to The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, which awarded this plant a gold medal in 2005, “creeping raspberry is a fast-growing, evergreen groundcover imported from Taiwan. It spreads 3 to 6 feet in all directions. As the name implies, creeping raspberry creeps along the ground by forming runners – much like strawberries – which root at their nodes and establish new colonies. Although it is aggressive, creeping raspberry is not invasive. It doesn't climb trees or smother nearby shrubs, and it can readily be controlled with mechanical edging.”
Of course, being an edible-ornamental plant freak, one of my first questions to Jackie was “does it bear fruit?” So far, Jackie says there has been no sign of any. My research tells me it can fruit in favourable conditions, but not to get the jam jars out. According to The University of Georgia, “Although the fruits are tasty and edible, they are tiny, so don't expect an abundant harvest for your breakfast table.”
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As we enter cabbage season, here’s another recipe from edible-garden extraordinaire Sharon Hanna.
For anyone interested in growing their own bed of edible delights but not sure how to get started, Sharon has teamed up with business partner Karen Hodgson to launch HotBeds, a consultation and installation service for people wanting to grow their own food at home. Feel free to drop her a line at growsomefood [at] telus [dot] net.
Says Sharon:
Here’s a recipe adapted from Gourmet magazine in 1969, oddly named “Men’s Favourite Salad" Women find it rather tasty, also!
One cabbage, about 2 pounds
1 medium onion, cut in half, then very thinly sliced
as much parsley as you feel like chopping finely!
2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice or to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
Slice the cabbage in eighths, then shred finely as if you were making coleslaw. Or, use shred blade in the food processor.
Toss in a large bowl with all remaining ingredients, mixing lightly.
Ideally, chill for about an hour before serving, but a minimum of about 20 minutes for sure. The next day it’s different, but still tastes wonderful.
Serves 6 – 8!
The Veggie Venture blog/website has innovative, wonderful recipes for cabbage (and everything else – this is a site you’ll want to bookmark!) in “Alphabet of Vegetables”: A Veggie Venture.
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It’s a shoo-in as to what my favourite planter is – my much-beloved pair of gardening and walking shoes that I wore forever until the upper and sole separated and started “flapping.”
My husband finally suggested a new pair might be in order, but I admit to suffering from shoe-separation anxiety and after several weeks of ignoring his advice, he dropped a bigger hint by letting me know he had added my shoes to the trash can.
You’ll be relieved to know I promptly rescued them and have since proudly displayed them at our front door, planted up with that dry-shade and deer-resistant stalwart Geranium macrorrhizum.
It’s a shoo-in as to what my favourite planter is – my much-beloved pair of gardening and walking shoes that I wore forever until the upper and sole separated and started “flapping.”
My husband finally suggested a new pair might be in order, but I admit to suffering from shoe-separation anxiety and after several weeks of ignoring his advice, he dropped a bigger hint by letting me know he had added my shoes to the trash can.
You’ll be relieved to know I promptly rescued them and have since proudly displayed them at our front door, planted up with that dry-shade and deer-resistant stalwart Geranium macrorrhizum.
It’s a shoo-in as to what my favourite planter is – my much-beloved pair of gardening and walking shoes that I wore forever until the upper and sole separated and started “flapping.”
My husband finally suggested a new pair might be in order, but I admit to suffering from shoe-separation anxiety and after several weeks of ignoring his advice, he dropped a bigger hint by letting me know he had added my shoes to the trash can.
You’ll be relieved to know I promptly rescued them and have since proudly displayed them at our front door, planted up with that dry-shade and deer-resistant stalwart Geranium macrorrhizum.
It’s a shoo-in as to what my favourite planter is – my much-beloved pair of gardening and walking shoes that I wore forever until the upper and sole separated and started “flapping.”
My husband finally suggested a new pair might be in order, but I admit to suffering from shoe-separation anxiety and after several weeks of ignoring his advice, he dropped a bigger hint by letting me know he had added my shoes to the trash can.
You’ll be relieved to know I promptly rescued them and have since proudly displayed them at our front door, planted up with that dry-shade and deer-resistant stalwart Geranium macrorrhizum.
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As a gardener in between gardens, I didn’t want to buy a ton of pots when we only need them for a brief period of time while we prepare some new beds…still, how to contain my beloved herbs while they are waiting for their new home?
Happily, I realized that our bins for recycling plastic, glass, tin, etc., are a wonderful size for housing good-sized plants and even come complete with drainage holes. So our recycling is temporarily being sorted into cardboard boxes, and the bins are now planters… soon to be recycled once again into recycle bins….
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Driving home nowadays I know to slow down on Garden Bay Road when the stretch ahead looks lumpy. Here, a herd of goats like to soak up the heat of the day’s sunshine by lying out on the warm asphalt in the evenings.
Billy goats
And while one has no choice but to pause and give them a chance to move over, it’s also better not to dilly-dally too long (while you get your camera out) once they’re up on their hooves again – as at least one of these billies does not hesitate to hop up against your vehicle and pop his head right into your window!
Recently, I noticed the head of another goat protruding between the fence posts of my neighbour’s yard and she explained that this was a strategy to eradicate the blackberry bushes that were threatening to invade her entire property. So far, though, my neighbour has been disappointed with the results of the experiment, for instead of the blackberries, the goat seems to favour the flavour of her cedar hedge.
Nonetheless, for those with large spaces where weeds predominate, goats can be wonderful for clearing unwanted foliage. These adaptable creatures are capable of gobbling up brambles, woody vines and even thistles and thorns. And while they should not be given clippings from azaleas, yew, delphinium, lily of the valley and larkspur, they will chomp down pine needles, dead leaves, acorns and a wide assortment of bitter and high-tannin weeds. In fact, goats prefer all these things to grass, and if there is enough brush for their browsing will leave the turf behind.
Certainly, a herd of goats (with portable fencing to keep them contained) is an excellent environmental alternative to herbicides or to using heavy equipment for clearing fields for grazing cattle or the land below power lines.
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Pulling up a prawn trap is heavy work!
Emptying the prawns
Dinner awaits
Nowadays, when my husband and daughter head out to “get dinner,” they are not driving to the local supermarket.
Since arranging to moor our small “tinny” at Hospital Bay, we are learning how to bring in some of the many prawns available in local waters.
Prawns are best found at a depth of about 400 feet, so by the time my daughter has pulled up the heavy trap, she has definitely earned her dinner!
On occasion, instead of a glistening pile of fresh prawns, we haul up a heap of empty prawn shells and one very happy octopus.
Disappointing, but who can blame the octopus, which has found a feast? Naturally, any uninvited guests are released back into the sea.
As nice as it is to enjoy fresh seafood at dinnertime, my mind inevitably wanders to the possible benefits the prawn debris will have for our food garden.
Certainly, it’s my chance to try out the suggestions of our organic-gardening wizard Sheena Adams, who has a waste-not, want-not attitude about all things good for the garden: Boost Garden Soil With Additives From the Sea
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One need not have fancy digs to enjoy the benefits of a garden. Here, I stopped to admire the delightful patio garden of this modest trailer, which gives it a truly park-like setting!
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Caramel-Topped Pear Pie
This recipe makes two 8 or 9” pies, enough to serve 8-12 (or, two teenagers). The ‘caramel’-effect is achieved by drizzling whipping cream over the streusel topping.
Start with two pie crusts (homemade or bought).
3 1/2 pounds pears – ripe but not overripe (about 6 or 7 good-sized)
3/4 cup flour, divided (1/2 and 1/4)
1 tsp. cinnamon
One big lemon or two smaller ones, juiced to make about 1/2 cup
Pinch salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cold butter
6 tbsp. whipping cream (unwhipped)
Peel, core and slice pears loosely in half inch slices or chunks into a bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over the pear pieces, toss gently to coat. If the pears are VERY juicy, add 1/4 cup flour, toss, and let stand. (If they aren’t so juicy, use 2 or 3 tbsp. flour)
Preheat oven to 425°F. Oven rack should be about 1/3 up from the bottom
In another bowl, mix 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp. cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Cut butter into small pieces, then using two knives or your fingers work quickly to incorporate butter into streusel mixture until pieces are pea-sized.
Spoon 1/2 pear mixture into each crust, flatten down the pears lightly. Do not mound pears in centre. Sprinkle half of the streusel mix on each pie. Press down lightly. Drizzle 3 tbsp. whipping cream over each pie. Take your time and try to semi-coat all areas.
Bake 20 minutes at 425 F.
Lower heat to 350F and bake another 20 minutes - pie should be bubbly, caramel-coloured, but not burned. Keep your eye on it! If your oven is HOT, adjust these temperatures.
This pie is not too sweet, and satisfying to serve – after cooling for about an hour it cuts easily into slices. Go ahead and whip the rest of the cream and serve with the pie if you are feeling particularly decadent!
Do you have any feedback or comments? Or maybe you have a recipe of your own to share? Use the comment form and let us know what you think!
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