No one could have predicted 5 years ago where the ‘local food’ movement would go. Or that there would even be a ‘local food movement’! For Canadian gardeners the idea of eating food that is grown within 100 miles/kilometers or meters from home is very exciting. Perhaps the very message of eating locally grown fruits and veggies is preaching to the choir – but in any case – gardeners are fully on board, you can be sure.

The benefits of eating locally produced food cannot be overstated: generally fewer chemicals (or none at all!) are needed to produce great food that does not have to endure long distances to get to market, it tastes better, is better for you and it supports the local economy.

I might add that growing your own food is a great way to bring people together too. It is a poorly kept secret that gardeners are generous with information. Ask an experienced gardener how to grow most anything and you will gain the benefit of his or her knowledge without prodding. Conversation flows between gardeners with a shared interest in food gardening. In short you could say that the activity of gardening cures shyness!

As you gather round the Thanksgiving table next week, give the abundance of Canadian gardens some thought.

And be thankful that we live in a country where our soil and climate generally lends itself to feeding the nation. Right from our own backyards.

As we focus on the harvest and the success of our crop

s, let us not forget the beauty of these edible plants. Growing food plants in the garden provides us with sustenance – to be sure. But have you thought about feeding the soul with food plants? Put another way, the ‘look’ of food plants can provide an appearance that draws people into your garden just as a flowering shrub or flowering perennial can. Truth is, there is a lot of colour in the new Swiss Chard varieties that anyone will find attractive. Not to mention the textured blue leaves of a Savoy Cabbage (how are they any different from a large leafed Hosta, from this point of view?), the fine leaves of a carrot could be mistaken for a fern (in the sun, no less!), the flowers of your runner beans are as ornamental as a clematis, when you get down to it.

You get the point.

Of course, this is coming from a guy who prefers to travel the back roads of the country vs. highways so that I can get a look at many of the fine vegetable gardens on Canadian farms and rural properties. To me, the straight rows of edibles equal the vision of a flowering perennial garden. The look is different, to be sure. But given that much of the food that we eat comes from the garden, our appreciation for the sight of it should be deeper.

Mark Cullen

Goodbye September, Hello Fall!

Any semblance of ‘summer’ is about to slip between the tines of my manure fork. September is on its way out the garden gate and I still have lots that I want to do in the garden. For one, I have not started to plant any fall ‘Holland’ bulbs. And I am not worried.

There is about 6 weeks in my zone 5 garden to wrap things up before the winter wind blows and I batten down the hatches for 4 months of bad hockey (you guessed it, I am a Leafs fan!). For the next month and a half I have to move quickly to get all the stuff done that I want to do out there in the yard and garden: time to make a list.

For this week:
- Get a start on bulb planting. Daffodils and narcissus like to be planted ‘early’ in the fall season vs. hyacinths and tulips which are simply not very fussy about when you plant them. When my Dad was a garden retailer he would bring home all of the left over tulips the week before Christmas and they reliably put on a great show come spring.

- If you have been feeding the hummingbirds, be sure to bring in and wash out your feeders after the first frost as you do not want to encourage the little hummers to stick around.
- Pick the remaining tomatoes and put them in a cool, well ventilated place. Notice that I did not say put them on the kitchen window sill: though, that would be fine if you want a convenient place to inspect them daily. They will ripen faster up there, to be sure. But be sure to save some for eating later – the later you can enjoy them the more you will enjoy them.
- Peppers, basil, corn and beans need to be harvested before the first frost.
- Brussels sprouts (you can actually eat these?) ‘improve’ with frost as does savory cabbage, leeks and most ‘brassicas’ – i.e. ‘gassy’ vegetables.
- Plant trees, shrubs and evergreens now. Such a great time of year to do it! They put down roots this time of year to support new growth come spring and often you will find good quality stock on sale as retailers like to move their plants now.

- Build a deck, stain the tool shed, etc. Before it gets too cold and wet.
- Mulch perennials and shrubs with bark mulch to protect them over the winter. A 5 or 6 cm layer over the roots will do the trick.
- If you have finished compost in your composter now is a great time of year to clean it out and spread the compost on the surface of the soil of your veggie or flower garden. No need to dig it in as the earth worms will do that for you before you plant next spring.
- Prepare to fill the composter with 4/5 fallen/shredded leaves and 1/5 ‘green’ stuff like the finished tomato plants and petunias and the like. This will get the microbial activity going.

That should do it for the week. Next week we can begin thinking about what to do with the fallen leaves, the cut down perennials (if you are cutting them down at all), the finished annuals, etc. I will explain.

In the mean time enjoy the temperature and the wonderful ‘harvest’ time of year. Visit a local farmers market and buy up lots of produce while it is cheap to store at home.

Until then, keep your knees dirty.

Mark

http://www.markcullen.com/

Home for the Harvest

“Seeds men reckon that their stock in trade is not seeds at all – it’s optimism”
~ Geoff Hamilton

Autumn breezes. Autumn frost.

A few ‘blogs’ ago I talked about all of the wonderful, redeeming features of the ‘harvest’ month in the Canadian garden.

You must think I am nuts.

Soon it will be Thanksgiving weekend and the kids are home from University and we are going to enjoy the finest turkey since, well, since last Thanksgiving.

Giving thanks for the bounty of our great land is reason enough to talk about the harvest. Let’s start with the frost tender stuff:

Tomatoes
Peppers
Cucumbers
Eggplant and the like.

If you are lucky enough to have some ripened ‘fruit’ in your veggie garden, you would be well advised to go pick it. Now. Don’t even finish this blog. If you don’t pick it and use it right away the birds will. Or it will rot.

Pick the unripe fruits too.
Immature peppers? They are just as good as the big ones, only smaller. Better still, ‘can’ them or ‘put them up’ in mason jars

Small cucumbers? Pickle them.
Egg plants? Mix with your ripe tomatoes for fabulous pesto sauce. BBQ them.

As for the frost ‘hardy’ stuff, no panic.

But truth is your winter squash, cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots etc. have reached their peek. There is little advantage to putting off the harvest now.

What to do with:

Carrots: as winter draws close dig all of the keepers and ‘replant’ in bushel baskets 2/3 full of clean, sharp sand (not beach sand) put in your garage until hard freezeup, using them as you please. Before they freeze hard in the damp sand, place them in the coolest part of your basement.

Potatoes: Cool storage (14 – 18 degrees C) dark and dry. The cold cellar seldom works as it is too damp.

Cabbage and Kale: cool as you can get it: without freezing. Your garage or shed works until hard frost occurs, when you will move them into the cellar. Keep your eye on them for signs of rot… roll them over every week to keep the bottom side from rotting.

Onions. Braid them if you can. Place in a cool, dark and dry place. Hanging them works best of all.

Leeks. Actually improve in flavour with late frost. Dig soon though, to avoid rotting. Either make potato/leek soup for the freezer or just puree the leeks for later use with potatoes. Store in the freezer.

There is a theme here – ‘cellar’ or ‘basement’. This is your autumn work out. As you go up and down those steps be sure to give thanks. We live in the greatest country on earth. If there is any doubt, imagine life without a harvest.

Eat well. Stay well.

And keep your knees dirty.

Mark
www.markcullen.com

Save money, save the planet: save seeds!

You planted them. You watered and nurtured them to maturity. Now, why not harvest them?

This is the best time of year to collect seeds from your favourite plants: clean them, sort them and save them for planting next year. For many of the plants in your garden, this is easy and great fun.

Annuals that will reproduce nicely from seed gathered from your garden include zinnias, many marigolds, portulaca (which self-sows at my place!), cosmos, 4 o’clock, euphorbia, some nicotiana, sunflowers and virtually all of the large seeded varieties that are not hybrids. The hybridized annuals that you planted this spring will not reproduce true in colour or growth habit to their parent plant. However, sometimes the results are interesting!

Vegetables that produce well from garden seed include beans, tomatoes, peas: most all ‘large seeded’ plants. The ‘hybrid rule’ mentioned above still applies.

My favourite perennials from garden seed include the native Echinacea, some rudbeckia, Russian Sage, Bee Balm (Monarda) and, once again, most of the large seeded plants that are not hybridized.

What to do:

1. Let them mature. The whole reason – the ONLY reason from the plants’ point of view – that a plant produces a bloom is to produce seed. And the only reason that it produces seed is to reproduce. It is a basic law of nature: plants, like animals, have an inherent need to multiply or, at least, to perpetuate the species.

2. Remove when dry. After the seed has dried (and before the birds eat it), remove the seed head (the finished blossom) from the plant and bring it indoors. Remove the seeds from the seed head or pod and place them on a screen or in a ceramic saucer. Do not use a paper towel as they will stick to it.

3. Place is a sunny window for 7 to 10 days.

4. Put the seed in an envelope, label it carefully (don’t skip this step or you will regret it next season…) and place in a tightly sealed jar.

5. Store in a cold cellar or in the veggie crisper in your fridge.

6. Most perennial seeds can be stored for a long time in the freezer. I do not recommend this for annual or vegetable seeds, though you can experiment with some and you may be surprised at the germination rate of the ‘frozen’ ones come spring.

How do you know when seed is ‘viable’ (will germinate)?

Place a few seeds in a glass of water and let stand over night. The seeds that are floating in the morning are the duds, the ones on the bottom of the glass are the viable ones. You can also do this experiment with pre-moistened paper towel by rolling the seeds up in the towel, keeping it wet for 7 to 10 days and unrolling it to see how many have germinated.

The ‘germination test’ is a good way of determining the % of seeds that will grow and therefore how densely you should sow them come late winter/early spring.

You can learn more at http://www.markcullen.com/, www.primalseeds.org/seedsaving and www.seedsave.org/issi/issi

Keep your knees dirty!

Mark
http://www.markcullen.com/

Grasses, Cosmos and the BEST time of year in the Garden!

Breathtaking. This morning in the garden was just unbelievable.

As I poured fresh rain water (we had lots over the weekend) into a bucket for my morning ritual... watering our 25 chickens, picking up the Toronto Star at the end of the lane... I was dumbfounded by the appearance of light fog over the property. The sun was not quite up over the trees on the east side of our property, the sunflowers not quite conscious of a dawning day.
No wind.
I saw one of our hummingbirds, yes the one of the many that my wife Mary is fed up of me pointing out: I saw one of them hovering over a hosta, ready to pounce on some nectar.

A snapshot of a gardening season in progress... on the high side of middle age, I would say (the garden, not me!). I feel that way because the ornamental grasses are tasseling (or, flowering). This is a sign that summer is nearing its end and autumn is pulling up from behind with its own surprises.

I don’t know why we don’t see more ornamental grasses in Canadian gardens. Just when you return from your summer vacation or cottage, the kids go back to school, the evening air turns cool and morning dew gets so heavy that you really need rubber boots to go for an early walk: this is the time of year that gardeners should reward themselves with some real action in the garden. Ornamental grasses deliver.

My two berms feature 150 Maiden Grass, Miscanthus Sinensis ‘Rotsilber’. I planted them 5 years ago this fall from one gallon pots. They have grown 20 fold, as near as I can determine. And they are so thick that I hardly have to weed them any more.

There are so many gorgeous ornamental grasses to choose from.

The ones that come back each year are available in generous numbers. Look for Sea Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium for a unique look that matures at about one meter high. Or Feather Reed Grass, Calamagrostis acutififlora ‘Karl Forester’ which was the 2001 Perennial Plant of the Year. I have a bunch of these down by the pond. They grow to 1 ½ meters high and behave themselves.

These are just a few of my favourites… there are many more. Take a look at your local retailer and keep two things in mind - you are looking for a variety that is winter hardy in your area AND (this is most important!) ones that Do NOT travel…. Some of these rascals are very aggressive.
Like Ribbon Grass, Phalaris arundinacea. My sister Sue fell in love with this colourful, easy to care for grass and gave it away to unsuspecting friends and neighbours. She was an ornamental-grass-goodwill-machine for about 4 years. Then it dawned on her and others that she had been giving away a weed.
In time she did the only respectable thing, and moved out of town.

Don’t make the Sue mistake.

Keep in mind that all ornamental grasses need sun. The more the better. (Just one reason why they love the prairies!)

People that planted cosmos earlier in the season are getting their just rewards. Wow! And you can do this from seed….!

Echinacea is attracting countless finches as they chow down on the maturing seedheads. Watching them hang up-side-down is kind of fun. They almost seem drunk…..

To the lawn for a moment: the grass seed that Rudy and I sowed over 3 weeks ago is germinating and growing very well. How is yours? Don’t forget that this is a great time to lay sod too.

And it is a great time to build a composter. Why not, you are handy enough – come on! Besides, before you know it the leaves will be falling and you will need a place to put them. And don’t even think of putting them out to the curb side. That is paramount to pouring money down the storm sewer…. Your leaves are God’s gift to the gardener. Compost them or put them on the surface of the garden soil.

More on that later, as we get closer to the composting season.

Meantime, lots to do and even lots not to do – like doing nothing but enjoying the sights and sounds of your garden. The clock is ticking. We will be indoors enduring bad Leafs hockey soon enough.


Keep your knees dirty!

Mark

http://www.markcullen.com/

Cedar hedges: an investment that grows.

One of the ‘most asked’ gardening questions that I get is, “Is it o.k. to trim my cedar hedge now?”

Cedars (Thuja) are one of the most versatile evergreens in Canada. There are very few areas of the country where you cannot grow at least one variety of cedar and they always lend themselves to ‘trimming’ and make a great looking hedge.

When can I trim?
The truth is that you can trim a cedar hedge most any time of the year – you just cannot hurt it by pruning it at the ‘wrong time’ even in mid winter. However, there are better times of the season than others for pruning/trimming and this would be the best time of year, if you ask me.

Most cedar trees grow relatively consistently throughout the growing season. From late in the summer until early fall they push new growth, as long as there is moisture in the ground and the temperatures are not too high (say, over 30 degrees C). By pruning cedars this time of year you are giving them the ultimate shape that you desire and will still benefit from a slight ‘filling in’ of the foliage before winter sets in. This is akin to getting a hair cut and waiting a couple of weeks before you get your picture taken.

You know how your hair looks just after a trip to the barber? Kind of severe. A couple of weeks later, it has filled in a bit and looks pretty ‘natural’. Not a bad time for picture taking! Your hedges behave much the same way.

What Kind of Cedar makes a good hedge?

In Central Canada the native White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) is the most popular of all for use as a hedge. It is inexpensive and often is dug from ‘native plantations’ almost bare root. They sit for a year or two in your garden before growing but when they do you can expect up to a meter of new growth each year. This usually occurs in the 3rd year.

Other Cedar tips:

- Autumn is a great time for planting all cedars!
- Prairie gardeners can choose from the ‘almost winter hardy’ Emerald Cedar (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’) (which will need to be planted on the east side of your home or wrapped with burlap in late fall for protection) and the much more hardy ‘Brandon Cedar’ (Thuja occidentalis ‘Brandon’).

- B.C. coastal gardeners can choose from many cedars including the native B.C. Cedar otherwise know as (Thuja plicata).

Pruning tips:
- When pruning, always shape the bottom of the hedge wider than the top. This allows even exposure to sunlight and helps to keep the entire cedar hedge looking thick and healthy.
- Use sharp, quality shears. I recommend ‘Mark’s Choice’ pruning shears. Guaranteed 5 years and made in Canada.
- If your hedge has been ignored for several years you can still bring it under control by removing up to 1/3 of the foliage each year until it looks the way that you want it to.
- A cedar hedge will live for 30 to 60 years depending on the variety and its’ location.

It is not true that cedars attract mosquitoes: they get this reputation from growing in low/wet land where mosquitoes tend to breed. It is their environment that can cause mosquitoes to grow in numbers, not the cedars themselves.

It is true that cedars are your best bet for a fast growing, evergreen hedge in most parts of the country.

Planting cedars:

- Mark your line with a string or garden hose, to get the hedge straight.
- Dig a trench ½ meter wide and 1/3 meter deep.
- Back fill the bottom of the trench with triple mix (1/3 top soil, 1/3 peat and 1/3 compost) or Mark’s Choice planting mix (the best that money can buy!).
- Stand your cedars upright in the trench before piling the remainder of the triple mix on their roots.
- Once the cedars are lined up straight, plant them using triple mix and step firmly on the soil as you plant, making firm contact between the soil and the roots of the new trees.
- Water thoroughly and stake every 2 meters with a ‘T’ bar or 2” X 2” stake, using heavy gage wire to secure them in place.
- Most important! Don’t be too ambitious when choosing your new cedars! New trees about 1 meter high will establish much more quickly than large, 2 meter high specimens, unless the large trees have been nursery grown.

Be patient! Your cedar hedge will grow and mature into a thing of beauty as time passes – and you attend to the annual trimming (yes, only once a year will do the trick!) AND you will have an investment that grows in value each year – unlike installing a fence!


Keep your knees dirty!

Mark

http://www.markcullen.com/

Of Flower Bulbs, Nursery Stock and a Quiet Garden

Why is it that when the kids go back to school the atmosphere changes?
We have just finished the finest summer of recent times: lots of sunshine, tolerable heat throughout most of the days and an adequate amount of rain.

To the garden and some things to do of importance if you want yours to look good and feel good as it matures into the autumn:

- Lawn. A great time to apply lawn fertilizer. Not the ‘fall’ fertilizer yet: you will apply it in late October or November and it IS the most important application of the year. In case you didn’t hear that before.
o This is still the best time of year to start grass seed or lay sod (the ‘season’ for this one is mid August up to the end of September for most parts of Canada).
o Use Mark’s Choice Lawn Soil and spread Golfgreen Grass seed (weedfree/Canadian) at the rate of one pound per 400 sq. ft. or ½ kilo. Per 50 sq. meters.

- Perennials: Dig and divide. You can successfully dig and divide many perennials now. I dug up a bunch of ‘Monarda’ (Bee Balm) in spite of the fact that they were still in bloom (sort of). Now, I would generally discourage this sort of thing… digging up and dividing perennials in bloom. But this is one tough plant species and the truth is, you will have a hard time killing it. Just make sure that you water the root zone thoroughly before you dig up the plant and after you have planted it. AND make sure that you plant in good quality soil.

- Apples and pears are ripening now. I picked my first truly ripe apple (vs. the sour ones that I kept handing to the kids saying, “try this and tell me what you think.”) It was a ‘Liberty’. Quite good. The point of course is that you should pick fruit while it ripens on the tree – as close to its peak of ripeness as possible. However, it is better to pick fruit before it reaches its peak vs. after. Unless you like a mouthful of rotten apple/pear.

- Tomatoes are now ripening to beat the band. Be sure to pick them as they ripen too, whether you plan on using them right away or not: otherwise the over-ripe ones that rot on the ground and fill with earwigs will just harbor more of the same for the more desirable tomatoes. No point in letting them rot/get eaten by bugs before they ripen to your kitchen plate!

- To market, to market! If you can’t pick your own, go to one of the many local farmers markets that have sprouted up (weekends) across the country. This whole idea of the ‘100 kilometer’ diet and ‘locavors’ is an idea that is catching on. My brother in law Guy is a ‘pick your own’ farmer (www.farintosh.com) and he tells me that the number of people coming that he has never seen before is quite noticeable. He puts this down to the new trends. Especially among young consumers (would you care to qualify that please? I assume that you mean anyone under 60).

- PLANT! the first week of September marks the beginning of the autumn planting season… the best time of the year to plant trees, shrubs, evergreens and (if you can get them) roses. These winter hardy plants will put down roots before our winter hits home which will support substantial growth come spring. Fall planting provides much more satisfying results than spring planting. AND many retailers are selling at discounted prices to move stock before winter. They would literally rather have you plant now than have to overwinter excess stock.

- The Bulbs are in!! Yes, the Holland bulbs arrived at garden retailers across the country this week and believe me that this is the best time to shop for them. The selection will not get any better as (the truth is) they all arrived on a boat from the Netherlands and they do not send more over later. One boat: one chance at the best selection. Go to http://www.dutchbulbs.com/ for more information (likely more info than you want!). More to follow in upcoming blogs.

Last weekend I had a very pleasant day with two of my kids – we took our bikes over to Toronto’s Centre Island. Our favourite part of this trip is to slowly ride around the quiet pedestrian streets of Wards’ and Algonquin Islands. The cottages are remarkable for their architecture, and in some cases they are in such poor repair that it is remarkable that they are still standing! In any case, the gardens alone are worth the day trip.

With the kids back in school – take time to enjoy some quiet and to enjoy the beginning of the most restful season in your garden – fall.

Keep your knees dirty!


Mark
http://www.markcullen.com/

A '101' Tutorial on Lawn Care

Judging by the number of lawn questions that I am getting at http://www.markcullen.com/ it seems to me that the season of seeding, sodding and lawn fertilizing is here in earnest.

For several years now I have been saying that late August and early September is the best time of the year to thicken an established lawn or start a new one. Many of my associates in the business have been saying the same thing.

The heavy dew in the evening, the cooler temperatures at night (generally) and the regular rainfall of late summer/early autumn combine to create the perfect conditions for grass seed germination and the ‘putting down of roots’ of freshly laid sod.

Here is a short tutorial on late summer lawn care. I offer the information in the form of answers to the many excellent questions that I am getting on my web site:

How do I control Creeping Charlie, plantain, dandelions etc in my lawn without the use of chemicals?

Answer: Compete them out of existence by spreading fresh grass seed over the weed infested area.
Think of lawn weeds as competitors… nothing more. You give them the space in your lawn to put down a root and they will take the opportunity to thrive and multiply.

How useful is it to dig or pull weeds out of my lawn?

Answer: A good weed puller can be useful when bringing weeds under control but if you do not overseed with fresh grass seed at the same time you are often just postponing a bigger lawn weed problem. The ‘hole’ in your lawn that the weed leaves is an invitation for the remaining root to re-grow and other weeds to put down a new root.


How do I sow grass seed in an established lawn for best results?

Answer: Spread a 2 cm (one inch) layer of triple mix (1/3 top soil, 1/3 peat, 1/3 compost) over the area that weeds are thickest.
Broadcast quality grass seed over the area at the rate of ½ kilo per 40 sq meters (one pound per 400 sq. ft.). I spread the seed by hand but you may opt for one of those hand-held whirly gigs. In any case just make sure that you spread the seed as evenly as possible and incorporate the seed with the triple mix by raking it in lightly and then stepping on it with flat soled shoes to get firm contact.
Use only the best quality grass seed. I only use Golfgreen.

Is this a good time of year to fertilize my lawn?

Answer: if you have not fertilized since spring (within the last 8 to 10 weeks), now is an excellent time of year to do it. Fertilizer is not a substitute for good quality soil, but a quality brand like Golfgreen, So Green or Green Earth will provide the elements that your lawn craves the most.
Note: The most important application of lawn fertilizer all year is in the late fall – about 8 to 10 weeks from now!

Should I use an organic fertilizer?

Sure. There is no reason why you shouldn’t. However, keep in mind that you will not get the ‘lasting’ results of a sophisticated synthetic based fertilizer and as a result it will not last as long. I use Green Earth 9-3-4. It contains natural kelp for a broad range of nutrients.


How often should I water my lawn?

Answer: If we enter a period of more than a week without substantial rain (over a centimeter) and with no rain in the forecast, I advise that you apply water from a quality lawn sprinkler once a week only. Leave your sprinkler on for 2 to 3 hours to allow the water to sink deeply into the ground: the goal is to get to the root zone.
A daily sprinkling of water on your lawn accomplishes nothing and encourages shallow roots that are not drought tolerant.

How should I cut my lawn?

Answer: Cut it high (at least 6 to 7 centimeters) and use a mulching mower.
The taller the grass blades the deeper (and more drought tolerant) the roots.
The mulching attachment on your mower returns the natural ingredients in the raw grass clippings to the root zone of your lawn where they break down, providing nutrition and an insulating layer that protects against the drying effects of the sun.

How can I produce the ‘perfect’ lawn?

Take a page out from the British: cut your lawn with a ‘reel type’ lawn mower, like the one pictured. Or use a manual reel type mower. Keep the blades sharp and clean.
And for added effect, put down a line of string that is 90 degrees diagonal, follow the line for the entire area of your lawn and repeat the process going in the opposite direction.
This way, you will end up with a ‘look’ that is professional: like the ball parks on TV that use natural grass.

For me – I will stick with my Honda powered Yard Man. And I will cut it only once.

Thank you very much.

Keep your knees dirty!

Mark
ww.markcullen.com

Flower Arranging for Klutzes

“I dig: therefore I am”.

I can relate to this statement as a gardener. It is the joy of digging that draws me to the gardening experience more than anything. I wrote about this in my book A Sandbox of a Different Kind: Personal reflections on the Canadian gardening experience. (‘I Love to Dig’, chapter 43). http://markcullen.com/buyers_guide/books.htm

Cutting the bounty of all that digging and planting to bring indoors this time of year is not second nature to me. I am a flower arranging klutz.

But having said that, I sure enjoy seeing the fruits of my gardening labour displayed indoors in a deep vase full of water. Years of listening to the professionals has taught me more than a thing or two about what to cut, when and how to display it to best advantage indoors.

So, in a nutshell, here is everything that you need to know about cutting flowers and arranging them, just as long as you are not trying to win awards. Like they say in the Tim Horton’s ads for pee wee hockey: the primary idea, after all, is having fun:

Think Fresh. With apologies to another national advertiser for stealing a good line, when you are out there in the garden doing a tour in search of the best flowers for cutting, keep in mind that the plants that are currently coming into bloom will provide you with the longest show of colour. In other words, if the plant has been in bloom for some time, the flowers will not stand up in a vase for very long.

Use a limited range of colour. Say what you will, mixing up colours without regard for how they look together is hard to pull off without producing a mish-mash. Stick within a narrow range of colours when cutting flowers for a vase. If you have lots of different colours to choose from in your garden pallet, then create more than one arrangement. Think ‘monochromatic’ – tints and shades of the same colour.

Take a long stem. The most common mistake of all is cutting too short a stem for the flower for the vase/arrangement. The heavier the flower, the longer the stem. (I made this mistake years ago when cutting peonies in June... the whole bunch were wasted.) Also: the larger the flower the lower it should be placed in the arrangement.

Greenery? What greenery? When you buy cut flowers at a florist they always through in some asparagus fern or leather fern or what-have-you. No need for this stuff when you are cutting flowers from the garden. For the most part the flowers speak very well for themselves without the addition of greenery. Many flowers have leaves that add plenty of interest on their own.

Use a deep vase. You want your cut flowers to last as long as possible indoors, right? The best way to do that is to use a good, deep vase and fresh, cool (not cold) water. Change the water every couple of days to prolong the life of the flowers.

What would Mother Nature do? It is a simple question, but the answer is not always so obvious. Take your time to observe how nature arranges flowers in a meadow or how they mature in your own yard. Take your design cues from her. They are effective and free.

Have fun. You are arranging flowers for the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of your gardening labour indoors. Even if you are making a special effort to do this for expected company, remember that you need to be satisfied with the look of it, above all.

Right now my garden is awash in colour from Echinacea (purple cone flower), several varieties of rudebeckia (Brown Eyed Susan), and Veronica, all of which make for great flower arranging.
Fyi – daylilies, while they look great in the garden, do not perform well as cut flowers.

Give it a shot. Maybe, like me, you will find that you CAN do it and get a lot of satisfaction from it, even if you are a klutz.

Keep your knees dirty,

Mark
http://www.markcullen.com/

I am in a good mood these days.
The fruits of my spring labour are finally coming to fruition. With emphasis on the ‘fruit’ part of the fruition.

The tomatoes are awesome. No, really. I don’t know what I am going to do with all of them, if they don’t keel over before I get them all picked I will have enough here for the entire Blue Jays baseball team. Plus a few baseball fans!

I have 200 or so tomato plants: 4 kids, 21 chickens and a wife.

You do the math and you can plainly see that we do not need all of these tomatoes.

Alas, we live in prime tomato growing country (that is why Heinz planted their tomato processing plant in south western Ontario – they grow great tomatoes).
While I don’t live near Leamington, the home to Heinz, I do live within a ½ days’ drive. So I think that Stouffville qualifies for ‘great tomato growing’ territory. Besides, the 20 yards of fallen leaves and 6 yards of finished compost that I churned into the soil this spring must count for something in the fertility department!

Now I must confess that I don’t pick ALL of my tomatoes.
Rudy – my Grenadian friend and right hand culprit gives me a lot of help.

Truth is, I would much rather grow them than pick them.
Can’t tell you why, I just experience more pleasure from the former rather than the latter.

We are picking from our 3rd crop of snap beans now. And pulling some mighty nice carrots too.

If you have not ‘grown your own’ this summer (maybe you just enjoy reading about growing your own?) then I encourage you to look for the locally grown produce in your neighbourhood. Truth is, it doesn’t matter where you live in this great land of ours, you are never too far from some great ‘home grown’ fruits and veggies.

If you look around you will find that a lot of farms will deliver their produce to a market near you: if you live in an urban centre.

In Toronto I am hearing great things about the Brick Works Saturday market. Go to http://www.ebw.evergreen.ca/ for more info.
And if you live in Ontario you may find copies of ‘Harvest Ontario’ still available at your local Home Hardware. It is a 120 page book that directs you to pick-your-own farms, farmers markets and bed and breakfasts’ across the province. Go to http://www.harvestontario.com/ for more info.

For the rest of the country go to http://www.harvestcanada.com/ for more info.

Remember ‘Plant A Row/Grow a Row’ for the hungry.

It is simple and works like this: you grow more veggies and fruit than you can eat and you take them to your local food bank. They LOVE the fresh, perishable stuff, in spite of what you have been told about ‘non-perishable’ etc. It is good for them- food bank clients, just like it is good for you.

In the ornamental garden, I continue to look for perennials that need cutting back. After they have finished blooming the plants seem to go into hiding. Without the eye attracting colour of the bloom you have to wade into your garden seeking them out.
But there they are – right now the Shasta Daisies are standing there waiting for autumn, bloomless.

If you cut off the finished blossoms and about 25 cm or so of the stem you will be amazed how they often re-bloom later in the season. This is true of gardens located in the north.
In fact, the further north that you go, the more likely that you will experience re-blooming of your perennials. You see, northern gardeners enjoy longer days, longer.
In other words, more daylight hours than their southern neighbours.
Of course this is made up for during the winter when they have shorter days, longer. But that is another story. Let’s just say that they have earned the long growing season!


Keep your knees dirty!

Mark
http://www.markcullen.com/