front yard update!

It's starting to look a bit like a real garden! You can vaguely see the Harcourt apple tree near the back, the asparagus along the left-hand side, and the lavender in front. The little blobs of plant matter are the buckwheat cover crop. And in the front corner we planted the tree you see poking into the right side of the picture - a Westcot apricot! Born and bred for Zone 3, all it needs is lots of sun and a decently sheltered place to live. Apparently anywhere in the city is pretty much considered "sheltered." It also requires a nanking cherry bush within close proximity in order to be a fully productive apricot, so that'll be happening in spring (unless you know of someone wanting to get rid of one...?) To be honest, I haven't done much research on the best time of year to plant tress, but my apricot came with a 5 year warrantee so I figured at 50% off, I couldn't really go wrong. :) 

So that's it! I think that's all I'm putting in for trees/bushes. I'll be adding a few perennial flowers to attract pollinators, some herbs, and some nitrogen-fixing plants (I was thinking of growing sweet peas next to the trunks of my trees...) to help my little lovelies get established. And probably a living mulch to keep in moisture and provide organic matter when I chop it down. Better do some more reading this winter as to the best of each to plant, because I'm running out of room!

Cover cropping

I've been learning a bit about cover crops in a rather eclectic fashion for the past couple years. I was at our CSA farm day a couple summers ago and he was talking about how letting a field lay completely fallow (totally bare) is actually a very poor practice, since you lose half your topsoil in the first big gust of wind. Rather, he said, plant a cover crop. He mentioned that about 1/4 of their giant garden was seeded with clover each year and left alone. Then the next year it would be rejuvenated and they'd dig it up and have at-'er! He must have been into some permaculture as well as organic gardening, since that's exactly what I read in my permaculture book this summer! Cover crops can do so many things for your soil - break up hard clay (like giant diakon radishes), add nutrients (such as nitrogen from clover), and add organic matter (what happens when you grow a crop of buckwheat).

So, I thought I'd try it out. I had a raised bed that nothing grew in this year, and I think it's because the "full of organic matter" soil that I bought from Canadian Tire was actually mostly peat moss with a little soil in there for color. Peat moss is basically carbon, so doesn't provide much in the way of nutrition for your plants! (as a brief aside, peat bogs are one of the best carbon sinks on the planet, which is why environmentalist gardeners keep telling us to stop using/harvesting the stuff! When we harvest it, they basically drain the bogs and then take a giant machine into it, and as it gets cut up and removed, it releases carbon into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to global warming). So as you might imagine, I was rather ticked about the misleading labeling since I now have a whole 4x8 bed of water-retaining but nutrient-defunct peat moss. Grr.

ANYWAY, I decided to see what kind of cover crop seeds I could order from West Coast Seeds, so I picked up some white dutch clover and buckwheat. And, obviously, I planted it. I was going to take a picture of it, but it's still pretty small and frankly it just looks like weeds! I'm wondering if I even planted it too late (end of August). But whatever, it's just one of many experiments. I'll wait until next spring and then turn it into my garden and hope that there's some more life coming out of all my plots as a result!

I'll have to take some pictures soon of the front yard, because, aside from the weedy-looking stuff, I also have a new apricot tree, apple tree, and three big asparagus 'plants'! Gotta love end-of-season sales.

And now my next-door neighbor decided to expand her front yard garden as well. It's still not to the extent of mine, but she's planting a bunch more perennials! I'm excited that she's planting lots of lilacs and other blooming bushes, because it means the pollinators will come visit and probably enjoy my fruits as well. It's quite a little food factory we have going. :)

keeping it!

As my garden slowly gets larger and larger, I get more and more interested in finding ways to preserve the harvest. My husband bought me a pressure canner for Christmas a couple years ago and I'm pretty sure it was in the kitchen for a straight month this summer.

I never thought I'd be interested in canning, but my friend and my mother-in-law introduced me to the ease of it, and I've been hooked ever since! I hate using up freezer space for produce because I always forget about it. Case in point, I froze about 15 jars of beets a few years ago, and when we moved, I ended up thawing and tossing them all because we never used them! And frankly, what do you do with frozen beets? Yuck. On the other hand, of the 50+ jars I made of pickled beets two years ago, there's only about 10 left, and the only reason those still exist is because we forget about them in the fridge! Whenever we put them on the table, they get snorted right down.

 

So this year, I made 5 different kinds of jam (not from my fruit, I didn't get that much after my kids ATE it all...not that I'm bitter), canned pureed tomatoes (WAY easier than canning them in chunks and almost as versatile), made pickles, applesauce, apple juice, and chicken stock. I had to put out an appeal for jars a few times! And I just ordered 15 lbs each of organic peaches and pears. Hey, when organic peaches and pears are on for $1/lb, you snap them up! I found a great recipe for canned peaches here, and am so excited to try them that I'm almost peeing myself. Almost. 

I'm not a homesteader by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it's pretty fun to have my hobby be all about food. What is more satisfying than filling an essential human need directly from your own garden/pantry? Ahhhh. 

Next week, maybe we can discuss the ridiculous amount of Swiss Chard I now need to preserve. I think I might need to renege on my anti-freezer qualms. Italian wedding soup, anyone?

Neighborinos

Apparently my garden is already having an effect in my neighborhood! Both my next-door neighbors ask me on a fairly regular basis about what the next step is, and they both seem fairly interested. Another neighbor came over the other day while I was weeding in front because he apparently just had to satisfy his curiosity! We had a great talk and he left seeming very content that his curiosity had been sated.

And this evening the neighbor kids were putting around in our driveway and when we peeked out, they were taking pictures in front of the flowers! They like to hang out on the curvy path too - I saw them the other day hanging out with my neighbor's cat on our yard, and one of them popped a strawberry in his mouth (I had previously told them to help themselves :). I was so pleased because that's exactly the dynamic I'd love to provide the neighborhood! A place where kids can come and try new foods and sit around in the midst of things that grow. 

The Great "Because"

I've been meaning to write a post about WHY I'm doing the crazy suburban gardening, so here it is! 

There is so much garbage happening in our world today, and a lot of it affects food security. Places in Africa are in drought because developed countries are spewing toxins into the air, causing the climate to change and droughts to happen in places where they don't usually happen. Mothers in Thailand work absurd hours stitching our clothes in terrible conditions, all so they can bring home a few bucks to buy food for their families. Little girls are sold by their families to strangers so that they can keep their farm or put a little more food on the table, and these little girls are subsequently trafficked around the world to satisfy the lusts of wealthier people. Like I said, there is evil happening in the world today, and admit it or not, our North American lifestyle is responsible for a great deal of it. 

I read a book about poverty a couple years ago that really put a new spin on things, and I'd like to read some of it to you.

"What does oppression of workers have to do with me? Of course, I'd never oppress workers or not give them fair wages - I don't even employ anyone to oppress! But these verses can guide the purchasing choices I make. The following passage affects me deeply:

The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: 

“…the plunder from the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty. 

The Lord says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion;
the Lord will make their scalps bald.” In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls. Instead of fragrance there will be a stench;
    instead of a sash, a rope; 
instead of well-dressed hair, baldness;
 

instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.

Isaiah 3:14-24 

God condemns those who "grind the face of the poor." In the next sentence, he condemns the women of Zion for their luxurious lifestyles, assumedly made possible by the oppression of the poor. It's very possible that the women of Zion knew little or nothing about the conditions of the workers who enabled their finery. They weren't in the fields. They were simply enjoying their wealth, probably without giving much thought to the workers - even if they knew just a little bit. But these women were condemned outright. Is there a similarity between the haughty women of Zion and me - enjoying the luxuries my money buys?...This isn't a simple right or wrong issue - these industries are sometimes the only thing keeping some farmers from death. But I do have to question whether God implicates me in the oppression of workers when I purposely buy cheaper products from companies I know are exploiting the poor rather than buying those goods from companies that ensure fair payment of workers. The passage in Isaiah convinces me that God has a high standard for the choices I make, and I need to buy with my eyes open wide." (taken from Hope Lives, by Amber Van Schooneveld, p 58-59)

I know that growing a garden hardly seems to address the greater issues going on in the world, but for me, it's a small way of going back to a lifestyle that isn't so hard on others. I try to buy clothes secondhand, and if I buy them new, I wear them until they're full of holes (sometimes even then :). I buy organic produce, not because I'm a food snob, but because I recognize that organic farming is much easier on the planet than conventional, which is my small way of cutting down on greenhouse gasses. (Although I admit that I've grown to love organic produce as well because it's healthier for my family.) Our family has only one car, although to be honest, it's not a huge sacrifice because my husband can walk to work. We don't flush the toilets every time we pee (except of course when we have company!) so that we can do our part to conserve precious clean water. 

And I garden without chemicals so that, in a small way, I can say to the "establishment" that I don't agree with the way the world is going, and I'd like to reverse that trend in any way I can. And I want to garden the front yard so that my neighbors can discover that it's ok to grow your own food. You don't have to drive your car to the store to buy food shipped from Peru, you can grow some of it and preserve it yourself! It's called the 100-step diet, hehe :)

I know there's a lot more I can be doing, and I'm sure that'll come. Another thing that we do as a family is to support children through Compassion. I've seen a lot of child-sponsorship organizations, and I believe that Compassion provides the most life-change-for-your-buck than any other organization. They not only provide food, water, education like other organizations, but they provide a child with adults who walk with them through life (one of the strongest factors in increasing the resiliency of an at-risk child). And most importantly, they teach them that God loves them, made them special, and has a plan for their future. That knowledge alone is what starts breaking those chains of poverty. Would you check out this link today? Please pray for these kids that they will have access to the food that they need to sustain them, and that they will have knowledge of the One who can satisfy their souls forever!

holy compost Batman!

So we went to Cleanit Greenit a few weeks back to get a load of compost. We were fully expecting to have to fill up the truck manually, and were VERY pleasantly surprised when the guy with the front loader offered to do it for us. One big dump and we were done! 

The dent we made in the pile. 

I should have taken a picture of the site where they actually make the compost - it's where all the organics from Sherwood Park go, and the pile was huge! This guy just drives around the piles all day, digging up chunks and flipping it over. Then eventually they haul it over to their screening site, where they screen out all the garbage that ends up in there (you people not sorting your organics correctly ;) and pile it up. The original stuff smelled HORRIFICALLY, and my dad was super worried about what I was subjecting my neighbors to. But thankfully, the finished compost barely smells. Yay!

Now that's a heavy load!
On a side note, can anyone tell me why my iPhone photos are downloading like this onto my Mac?

So if you're wanting to do the sheet-mulching technique (also known as lasagna gardening), just FYI, my approach isn't really found in the to-do manual. I started off right, but you're actually supposed to continue with several layers of greens/browns, and I stopped after two. But I figure that it's also about working with what you can get a hold of, and frankly, using the compost will make my garden productive WAY faster. I already have several perennial food plants in there - more photos to come. :)

Finally the garden is looking a little more like a garden and less like a barn!