New Seeds!

We've received our order of new seeds from Solana Seeds: www.solanacom.com

Lots of new and interesting plants:

- Mizuna: Oriental green with thin, finely cut leaves that are picked young and added to salads. Subtle peppery flavor. Grows back when cut.

- Agretti: (Salsola soda) Novelty Italian vegetable with small thin leaves. Crunchy texture and salty taste. Very nice presentation on plates. Can be used fresh in salads, steamed, or cooked in olive oil. Still popular in Italy and now sought after by chefs around the world. Bushy plants, 35-40 cm high. High tolerance to wet soils. Easy to grow. Cut and grows back.

- Mitsuba: Japanese Parsley (Cryptotaenia japonica) Small aromatic leaves with unique and distinctive taste. Used like parsley to flavor soups, salads, stir fries. Used in japanese cuisine. 60 cm plant looking somewhat like parsley. Perennial in zones 4 to 9. Commercially grown in Japan.

- Shiso Green: Perilla, Japanese Basil (Perilla frutescens, var. crispa) Typical green leaf variety used extensively in Japan and all over Asia to season vegetables, rice, soups, fish, etc. It is also often finely sliced with ginger and added to salads, sautéed vegetables, sashimis, tempuras and sushis. Can be used dried to flavor rice. Wonderful complex aroma, like parsley, mint and cinnamon. Also known as Perilla or Japanese Basil.

- Shiso Purple: Perilla, Japanese Basil (Perilla frutescens) Oriental herb with spicy scent reminiscent of cinnamon and cloves (the fresh leaves actually taste like Big Red cinnamon gum!). Popular in Japan, where it is used fresh or pickled, along with fish, rice, vegetables and soups. In Vietnam and Korea, the leaves flavor noodle soups and spring rolls. Nice purple ornamental foliage with iridescent shades. Was once used as an ornamental. Height: 30-50 cm. Full sun, part shade.

- Red Russian Kale: Mustard type plant with long 40 cm leaves and purple stalks. Peppery cabbage flavor like other mustards, but less pronounced. Use like mustard greens. 50 days.

- Purple Orach: (Atriplex hortensis, "purple savoyed") Beautiful ornamental variety, with slightly crinkled purple leaves. Orach is a great spinach substitute, with a flavor similar to swiss chard or spinach. Leaves can be cooked like spinach and they retain their color. Production is spread out all season. Pick smaller leaves for extra tenderness. Tall plant, about 1,5 m high. Striking plant in the vegetable garden. About a quarter of seedlings will sprout green (select purples for final planting).

- Rampicante Zuccherino Melon: Italian strain with tiny round melons. About baseball size. Salmon flesh is very sweet. Green skin turns yellow when ripe. Often served with Parma ham in Italy. Easy to make the vines climb. Early: 65-70 days. Rare!

- Minnesota Midget Melon: Incredibly small cantaloupes, the size of an apple! Very compact vine too: 1 to 1,5 m. And also very early: 65 days! The perfect melon for small gardens, trellises, balconies and northern climates with short seasons. This one will produce everywhere cucumbers can be grown. Early: 65 days.

- Ogen Melon: (Hogen, Haogen, Ha'Ogen) Wonderful melon from Israel with superb fruity flavor. Aromatic, sweet, thick pale green flesh with incredible tropical flavor. Small size: only 15 cm. Can easily be grown on a trellis. Thin rind turning gold when ripe. Undoubtedly, one of the best! Can be successfully grown in southern Quebec (zone 5). 85 days.

- Rainbow Quinoa: (Chenopodium quinoa) Annual. Variety with nice multicolored seed heads. Can be used for food or just as an ornamental. Plants are about 1,2-1,8 m high. They have been grown in the Andes for centuries for their nutritious grain. Selection that can be grown at lower elevations. Blend of pink-red and orange varieties. Start plants indoors a few weeks before last frost. 90-110 days.

- Strawberry Spinach: (Strawberry Sticks) (Chenopodium capitatum) Interesting plant bearing bright red, strawberry-like fruits along its stems. Flavor is unusual, somewhat like a mix of watermelon and beet (thus its other common name: "beetberry"). Add sugar to taste. Height: 16". Full sun. Sow directly outside or start 2-3 weeks before last frost. Easy to grow. Can be used for borders or in containers. Reseeds itself. 60 days.

- Pruden's Purple Tomato: An earlier Brandywine type with large, dark pink fruits. Flavor is often considered superior than that of Brandywine. Better adapted for culture in Canada. One of the best tasting varieties in 2003. Slightly ribbed fruits, sometimes lobed. Long sepals. Large, vigorous potato-leaf plants that can reach 2 m. Recommended. 80 days.

- Oaxacan Jewel Tomato: This little gem from Oaxaca has a wonderfully intense, lingering fruity flavor. Exceptional! Bicolored, medium to large size fruits covered with very long petioles (left picture). Marbled flesh. Medium size, potato-leaf plant. From the mountains of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico (zapotecs). One of the few bicolored that will develop its full taste even when grown in the north. Highly recommended. 75 days.

- Cherry Brandywine Tomato: Wonderful Brandywine flavor, but a month before its big sister! Cute little dark pink cherry type fruit, round, slightly flattened, ranging in size from 2,5 to 4,5 cm. Juicy, with that sharp and complex Brandywine flavor. Potato leaf plants, medium size. Early: 65 days. There are no reasons now not to enjoy the Brandywine flavor, even in zones 2 or 3! Rare.

- Stupice Tomato: Bright red fruits with excellent, rich and intense tomato flavor. Salad size. Potato leaf type. Adapted to cold climates and quite early: 63 days. From the ancient Czechoslovakia. Highly recommended.

- Chianti Rose Tomato: Wow! Without a doubt, one of the best tasting tomato around! Incredible flavor, delicious and bursting with taste. To be ranked up there with Brandywine and Prudens Purple. Potato-leaf type. Beefsteak style tomato, medium to large, with deep pink-reddish skin. Early enough to be grown in the north, at around 80 days. Said to be tolerant to cool or bad conditions. Exceptional flavor.

Garden Diary - September 20

We did it - built a 10 x 10 foot raised garden bed in the backyard. Now we just have to fill it with soil. Mark's plan is to put in a bottom layer of leaves and wood that can gradually decompose. But we're still going to have to acquire more landfill somehow.

The eggplants are still getting bigger, and the decorative kale is becoming more brilliantly coloured (and less assaulted by pests).

Here's a rundown on what worked and what didn't in the garden this year:

Perennials:
• rhubarb - excellent (new transplant in the front got to a decent size; might harvest from it next year)
• gooseberries - get lost behind the raspberry bushes - maybe I should move it?
• raspberries - great, although some canes mysteriously died off without the fruit ever ripening
• sage - more than we can eat
• purple sage - beautiful, but not really for eating
• chives - tasty, and lovely purple flowers; the transplant in the front did well
• silver thyme - not as big as last year's - might be a bit shaded out by the sage
• lemon thyme - spread nicely; after it flowered it never lay as flat as the woolly thyme, but still makes a nice groundcover, especially since it smells like lemon after you walk on it
• blueberries - many more berries than last year
• daylillies - flowered consistently, but didn't try eating any
• hollyhocks - got ragged pretty quickly; might uproot next year - not much point
• sorrel - new regular sorrel was very tasty to eat, didn't get very big - might need more sun
• golden oregano - spread nicely and got surprisingly tall - should transplant to other areas as groundover
• mint - still grows like a weed, but hasn't spread any further at least
• lemon mint - doesn't grow like a weed, which is a relief
• chamomile - nice flowers, although I've never harvested them to make tea
• stevia (new) - fascinatingly sweet leaves; I'll have to figure out if I can really substitute them for sugar
• winter savory (new) - seedling never took - better luck next year
• greek oregano (new) - seedling never took - better luck next year
• alpine strawberries (new) - seedling never took - better luck next year
• corn salad (new) - seedling never took - better luck next year
• tarragon (new) - seedling never took - better luck next year
• garlic chives (new) - didn't end up planting (will it really be any different from the chives I already have?)
• rosemary - stayed a bit small - was a bit shaded by the sage
• bee balm - pretty flowers this year - I'll transplant some to the front bed to battle it out with the mint

Annuals:
• scarlet runner beans - grew well under challenging conditions along side fence; next year I'll plant more there, and earlier
• nasturtiums - didn't end up planting, but want to put in some pots next year
• mesclun salad mix (new) - didn't end up planting, as had alot of other greens already
• purple pole bean - not as great a harvest as last year - maybe do better in ground than in pots?
• snow pea - very tasty, but vulnerable to drying out
• Indian spinach - grew much larger than last year, and very attractive; not my favourite green to eat though
• cucumber (new) - they were a revelation - so much better than store bought cucumber; will plant more next year!
• basil mix (new) - only one basil seedling made it; might have done better in pot - tough hillside spot to grow in wasn't ideal
• ground cherry (new) - grew well in challenging conditions, fruit quite tasty, and plants very attractive - will definitely grow again
• chocolate cherry tomato (new) - plant in hanging pot didn't do well, but the few tomatoes we've had are great - will plant again
• ildi yellow grape tomato (new) - very prolific and juicy tomatoes, although not intensely flavourful
• window box Roma tomato (new) - grew decently in ground; should do better in pot next year
• early butternut squash (new) - not sure if it was this variety or seeds saved from store bought variety that were planted, but it did pretty well
• sunburst patty pan squash (new) - seedling never took - better luck next year
• Easter egg radish (new) - uneven performance - will have to experiment next year with why
• small sugar pumpkin (new) - seedling never took - better luck next year
• explosive ember pepper (new) - got a late start, but have still enjoyed cooking with a few early peppers
• tall telephone peas (new) - seedling never took - better luck next year
• new queen watermelon (new) - got one very tasty tiny watermelon - must do whatever possible to encourage more next year!
• spicy mix salad greens (new) - very tasty, but didn't hold up well to repeat harvesting
• blue curled Scotch kale (new) - not sure if it was this or winterbor, but did nicely in ground
• winterbor kale (new) - not sure if it was this or Scotch kale, but did nicely in ground
• ornamental kale (new) - sadly attacked by pests, so only get a fair chance at growing starting in September
• fairy tale eggplant (new) - got a late start in pot, but is doing well - must get it started earlier next year
• chioggia beets (new) - too crowded in pot - give more space (and maybe plant in ground) next year
• asparagus peas (new) - grew well in challenging conditions, but taste/texture of pods wasn't too exciting
• buttercup squash - seedling never took - better luck next year
• rainbow chard - haven't been able to find the seed packet - regular chard has done alright, but is maybe too crowded in pot
• Huazontle red Aztec spinach (new) - grew really well in pots; sweet/mild taste quite different from other garden greens; great red colour when matured; will definitely grow again
• arugula - had a whole pot that stood up well to repeat harvesting - this is definitely the way to grow it
• radish baby leaf Sai Sai - didn't end up planting
• spinach (new) - suffered a bit in summer heat; hopefully will hang on and improve with cooler weather
• dinosaur lacinato blue kale (new) - has done well in both pots and in ground, although some plants attacked by more pests than others; tougher texture - definitely needs to be eaten cooked
• broccoli raab (new) - didn't do too well - maybe needed to be in pot in more sun
• komatsuna (new) - doing better now that weather is cooler
• chicory mix (new) - the only one from the mix that has come up has been too bitter to eat
• zucchini - pests kept eating before I did - should stake vines up next year
• winter squash (new) - has done fairly well
• Chinese green lance kale (new) - didn't do too well - maybe needed to be in pot in more sun
• Choi-san (new) - didn't do too well - maybe needed to be in pot in more sun
• mustard red giant (new) - quite attractive and strong-tasting; need to cut down when bolts; will plant again, but maybe only as part of mixed pot to be harvested when young

Garden Diary - September 13

Last Sunday, with the help of Mark's friend Mike, we moved the shed into its final resting place. With the car jack, the full-length pipes for rollers, and some careful thinking the puzzle sorted itself out. Next step is to put in a big raised vegetable bed in the space left by the shed - it should be about 10 feet by 10 feet.

The eggplants may yet get big enough to eat before the frost comes, there are yellow grape tomatoes to eat every day, and the kale still looks very happy.

Garden Diary - August 20

At last - we ate our watermelon! It was so ripe that all we had to do was touch the knife to it, and it split right open.

Our second watermelon never got bigger than a peach, but it sure looked cute.

Garden Diary - August 16

We moved the shed! Not quite to where we want it to be, but we have established that we can move it around ourselves. Me + Mark + car jack + ABS pipe rollers + extra patio bricks = mobile shed. And in the process we unearthed and did battle with a prehistoric beast.

Garden Diary - August 9

Another cool, rainy week, and my watermelon doesn't seem to be growing at all. Hopefully the warm, sunny weather predicted for this week will spur some new growth.

Yesterday was a day of massive thunderstorms. I took a photo of how fast the water was coming down into the barrel - half of it was splashing right back out.

We finally got rid of the aluminum shed - now we just need a plan for moving the wooden shed to the back corner, and we'll have a perfect spot for a nice big vegetable bed.

Garden Diary - Aug 3

Not a lot of growth in my watermelon this past week, but it's been fairly rainy and cool. However, since I was away for five days, the growth in the rest of the garden seems tremendous - the decorative grass is taller and starting to bloom, the daylilly has multiple flowers every day, and as always, the mint is bigger than I ever thought possible. I harvested the biggest of the three cucumbers, and it was fantastic - sweeter and more melon-like than anything I've had from the grocery store. I added it, three radishes, some dinosaur kale, and a variety of the mixed greens to a can of sauerkraut, for a pretty interesting salad.

Garden Diary - July 26

The watermelon continues to grow - now it's the size of a grapefruit. There may be a new one starting, although it's still too small to say for sure.

We just got another rain barrel for the front, and Mark installed it yesterday. Both are full to the brim with the serious thunder showers of the last two days.

The daisies have been beaten down by the rain - I really haven't found a good way to prop them up, so I'll probably cut them down instead.

The bee balm that I planted in the back last year is flowering - it has very fine, electric purple flowers.

Garden Diary - July 19

I can't believe how fast the watermelon is growing - it's the size of a peach now. And the squash are growing fast too - Mark has had to set up some supports underneath the ones that are hanging on vines, so that they don't break off as they get heavier.

I'm trying out some of the asparagus peas in a quiche today, for the first time. Here's hoping they taste like asparagus, as promised. The raw pods were pretty bland, but maybe they just need to be cooked.

Garden Diary - July 12

I have a baby watermelon! It's the size of a small egg right now. I've wrapped it in a copper wire mesh bag so that it won't get eaten by a squirrel or raccoon while it's small and vulnerable (I can't wait for it to be big enough to outlast everything). It's an orange-flesh early-ripening variety from Veseys: http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/vegetables/melons/watermelon/newqueen

I've also eaten my first blueberries from the bush I planted last year. They're small and delicate - just like wild blueberries should be (although maybe not quite fully ripe yet).

After a torrential downpour on Saturday, Mark put together an overflow system for the rain barrel - we walked back from Rona with a 12-foot length of ABS pipe and a few elbows - it should help direct all the excess water away from the house. There's something a little strange about crossing the intersection with something that big in your hands - I could take out a few cars with a careless move...

I finally got fed up with the lamb's ears and cut off the flowering stalks. I also cut down the ragged dying leaves from the bachelor's buttons. And I took a bit off the back of the tall ornamental grass - it was crowding out some of the nearby plants.

I've finished up all of the weeding from the concrete walk beside the house - now I'm ready to try filling the gaps with polymeric sand to control the weeds (while I was carrying home the ABS from Rona, Mark was carrying the 50-lb bag of sand - thank-you!).

Garden Diary - July 5

On Canada Day we spent a full day working in the garden; we installed our new rain barrel (which after only one rainstorm is quite full - we're harvesting rain from a fairly big area - 400 square feet of the back half of the roof). We also now have 6 more self-watering planters (with peas, Aztec spinach, mesclun greens, radishes, beets, and likely some other seeds I've already forgotten). We've also got a self-seeder tomato in the planter in the backyard - hard to say which it is of the three varieties of tomatoes that grew there last year, but it seems to be getting along fine (although slower growing that the tomatoes getting full sun in front).

We've started harvesting strawberries - I've already had about a dozen, which is 11 more than last year. There have been a few early raspberries. And the greens are well enough advanced that we can start gathering a few leaves from each plant to add to pasta or omelettes; my favourites are the red mustard giant (strong mustard taste, distinctive burgundy colour and doesn't get eaten by any bugs) and the dinosaur kale (dense thick leaves that hold up well to cooking, unique elongated leaf shape and bumpy texture). Yesterday we tried a few leaves of the stevia; they really are sweet (although they don't taste like sugar; I'll be interested to see if the taste changes once they are dried and if they can be directly substituted for sugar).

I pruned the forsythia in front down to size, and also trimmed the hedge in back (now that I at last have a ladder I can trim the hedge from top to bottom!). And I've weeded the driveway (yet again) - I need a longer-lasting solution for discouraging weed growth - I'm considering the polymeric sand sold for filling the spaces between interlocking bricks.

And today I have, at long last, finally hung up laundry on the clothesline. Why has it taken me over two years to do this? A combination of rainy days, a tendency to do laundry in the evenings, and not enough time spent around the house to see it through until it's dry (although I must confess there's some element of laziness in all of this too).

Garden Diary - June 28

First raspberries today (2) and strawberries on Friday (5)! I've finally figured out a pest-repellent strawberry protector - copper wire mesh wrapped as a bag around the berries.

The forsythia is out of control (in desperate need of pruning). The lamb's ears are far bigger and taller than I ever thought they'd be (I may try moving them to the back yard where there's more room). The sorrel grew way out of control, so Mark pruned it down - hopefully it will come back as a nice, attractive plant without tall flowering stalks. The rose is smaller this year than last year (probably a good thing).

We're planning to make more self-watering planters - the squash are far happier in there than anywhere else.

The lemon thyme is blooming with tiny purple flowers. I thought it was blooming earlier this spring, but now realize they must have been bright yellow new leaves.

Garden Diary - June 16

Everything's blooming fabulously now - the sage in particular. And I've realized that the golden sedum is blooming - that's why it's sending up tall stems. There are so many plants that never flowered last year when they were new transplants.

Most of our seedlings have taken - the red mustard giant is growing especially well. I don't know that the peppers and eggplants are going to get large enough to bear fruit.

Garden Diary - May 31

There's even more room for plants in the front yard now - last weekend I expanded the bed (so there would be room for a row of plants in front of the brick pathway), edged, weeded and re-mulched. We got many of the new seedlings in the ground, and the hanging tomato planter installed. 

And on May 31 I edged and re-mulched some of the beds in the back - still more room for a few more seedlings back there!

The blue oat grass has been putting out seed heads - something that it never did last year when it was just newly planted.

Garden Diary - May 15

Things are really growing now - the purple sandcherry is in full bloom; my trilliums and other woodland plants have all returned; the backyard smells of lilacs. We've also bought the lumber for our two raised beds (one will be going on the near end of the driveway, the other where the wooden shed currently stands). And we also bought lots of other supplies - mulch, manure, a wheelbarrow... there's lots of work ahead in getting things built and tidied up for the summer season. 

Garden Diary - May 3

The forsythia is still blooming, the tulips are about to open, the grape hyacinths looks amazing (I'd forgotten that I'd planted so many - what a great surprise!), the seedlings are growing, and the lawn might be just about ready for its first trim!

My red trillium bloomed about a week ago, and the white trilliums look ready to bloom any day now. The mayflowers are still opening up, and no sign yet of my jack-in-the-pulpit - hopefully it's going to come back again.

Garden Diary - April 19

We had a full snow April 7, which was a bit of a shock. But everything seems to have come through just fine.

My forsythia bloomed (probably sometime on April 17, during the first really warm day of spring). The hyacinths are in full bloom, and the tulips and daffodils shouldn't be too far behind.

Also - my rhubarb transplant in the front yard is looking great - its leaves are already larger than the parent plant.

My seedlings are coming along well; the tomatoes are the farthest along, with their first set of true leaves.

All of the ground cover plants seem to have gained alot of ground over the winter, and look amazing now. The lemon thyme is currently in bloom.