Veggie Garden Primer

~ February 23, 2011

Canadians have fewer diversions in late winter: swimming, boating, fishing and, yes gardening, are distant memories. It is difficult to even remember what warm sunshine feels like, never mind get outdoors and absorb some vitamin D.
Oh for those spring time diversions!!

If mid-winter blahs are a concern to you, I am here to give you hope. Useful diversions are as close as your local garden centre, hardware store and even on line. Read on!

This brings me to food; the kind of food that you grow in your garden. We are in ‘prime’ seed buying season. Now is the time to get into your local garden centre or hardware store and look over the fresh seeds on the racks. Check out what is new and plan on starting some of your seeds early, indoors.

I order many of my vegetable seeds by ‘mail’, even though you can do this very easily over the internet.

Some of my favourite on-line seed suppliers are:
Veseys Seeds in P.E.I. (http://www.veseys.com/)
Dominion Seeds in Ontario (http://www.dominion-seed-house.com/)
Ontario Seed (http://www.oscseeds.com/)
Stokes Seeds in Niagara(http://www.stokeseeds.com/)
Early’s Seeds in Saskatoon (http://www.earlysgarden.com/)
and of course the granddaddy of them all, McFayden Seeds in Brandon Manitoba (http://www.mcfayden.com/)

Some seed buying tips:
Assuming that you are a ‘home gardener’ and not a commercial producer, avoid the varieties that are recommended for production purposes.
You are looking for freshness and flavour, above all.
Of course, if you want to grow some squash to save for months into the winter, by all means look for that quality in the variety that you choose.

Some of my favourite vegetable varieties include:
- Snap beans – ‘Provider’ - Veseys
- Pea – Sugar Sprint (new) - McFayden
- Runner Bean – Scarlet Runner – everywhere – great for a fast fence, screen, garden tee-pee and the beans are o.k. too, when picked young.
- Radish - Sparkler – high in vitamin C: easy to grow – get the kids involved in this one! - McFayden
- Tomato - Brandywine – a favourite ‘heirloom’ variety. Produces 2 lb fruit in 75 days. Everywhere that heirlooms are sold.
- Tomato - Early Canadian Beef. A small beefsteak (7 to 10 ounces) that produces early, 75 days. - McFayden
- Carrots – I always buy ‘coated seed’: it is easier to sow and requires less ‘thinning’ than non-coated varieties. For me, the coating has been the difference between success and failure some years!

I will provide you with an extended list of vegetable favourites as we get closer to spring.

Keep in mind that now is the time for planning your veggie garden AND acquiring seeds – but it is too early to start vegetable seeds indoors. Stay tuned to this blog for timely information in that regard.

Early as it may be for vegetable seed starting, it is not too early to start some herbs indoors from seed. Go to http://www.richters.com/ for the best selection of on-line herb seeds on the continent.

Basil.

I like to have some basil on the go all of the time: it is useful indoors for cooking even before you plant it out in the garden come May. Keep some growing on your kitchen window sill where it is handy when making soups, pasta sauce, etc.

Some basil facts, courtesy the Horticultural Therapy association of Canada (http://www.chta.ca/) with special thanks to Yvonne Snyder:

Basil is a symbol for ‘Love and good wishes’.
Sacred to the Hindu tradition, considered an aphrodisiac in Italy (what isn’t?).
Look for a wide selection of varieties: lemon, dark opal, bush type, ornamental and of course many culinary types.

Cultivation:
Best started from seed and transplanted outdoors in late May or early June, when the soil has warmed.

Harvesting:
Serve fresh.
Can be dried or stored in olive oil, but the flavour is not as intense when preserved.

Uses:
Culinary: makes great pesto, use in culinary vinegars, ‘cooked in’ with tomatoes. A good companion with garlic.

Household: place potted plants on window sills to deter flies.

Folk Medicine: An infused tea can aid digestion, many uses in aromatherapy.


My 18th book!

Pick up a copy of my book, The Canadian Garden Primer, for more information on the above subjects. There is a chapter dedicated to growing your own veggies and a separate chapter on growing herbs. Available at Home Hardware and retail book stores.

And keep your knees dirty,

Mark

A reminder that Canada Blooms comes to the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto Wednesday, March 16 to Sunday, March 20th. Get discounted tickets on line at www.canadablooms.com. I will be there each day (though not Sunday) to open the festival with Denis Flanagan at 11:30am. Bring a camera, walking shoes and a relaxed attitude… you are going to have a good time!

Get the Jump on Spring

~February 16, 2011

You know the feeling of planning for a big day so far in advance that you kick back and just kind of dream about it and then all of a sudden you realize that the big day is not that far off and you had better get your butt in gear and get serious about it? Well, that day is today.

I know that there is likely a lot of snow on the ground where you live right now and some of you are still in the deep Canadian freeze. We often forget that the piles of snow at the margins of our driveway will melt away in just a few short days. This may not happen tomorrow or the next day, but it WILL happen and when it does it behooves all of us gardeners to be prepared for it.

The usual cycle is: snow to water, water to ice, ice with snow on it, snow to ice and ice to water and then a big wind and then the sun and then you just want to be outside because hosing down the driveway feels like a trip to Florida.

On that first day of plus 15 °C with the sun shining down, you open the door and shove the kids out of it and get yourself a cup of something hot and sit on the steps and watch them play. Maybe my kids are a little too old for this scenario as they have all moved out, but I will still do this only the kids are now the wild birds that I will sit on the step and watch play. And if it is late in the day it will not be something hot that I will be drinking….

All of this is to say that February is a wonderful month to be a gardener as we have SO much to look forward to and ‘the big day’ – which is really a ‘season’ - is really not that far away. For all Canadian gardeners, the truth is that we are over the hump and more than half way through our ‘time out’.

This Saturday take a break from winter and start planning for this year's growing season at Get the Jump on Spring.

If you are counting the weeks until Spring arrives you can look forward to one of the earliest harbingers of the season at the Toronto Botanical Garden's Annual event, Get the Jump on Spring, on Saturday, February 19, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is FREE, but a $2 donation to the TBG will give visitors chances at great, garden-themed hourly prizes!Put on in partnership with the Ontario Horticultural Association, District 5 and the Toronto Master Gardeners, the event offers a chance to find out more about horticultural societies, garden clubs and environmental organizations from across Ontario. Master gardeners will be on hand to answer questions and there are fascinating hourly lectures and demonstrations, a popular floral design competition and a marketplace with spring flowers and many garden-themed products for sale. Indulge in a delectable treat at the Jump Cafe.

PRESENTATIONS AND DEMONSTRATIONS

Every hour, starting at 10:30 a.m. well-known gardening experts and members of the Toronto Master Gardeners will give free 45-minute presentations and demonstrations on subjects ranging from Bee Keeping in the City and Balcony Gardening to tips on cooking with and preserving herbs.
Location: Toronto Botanical Garden, 777 Lawrence Avenue East (at Leslie) Toronto.

Free parking.For more information call 416-397-1341 or visit http://www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/

A reminder that Canada Blooms comes to the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto Wednesday, March 16 to Sunday the 20th. It is the biggest and the best flower and garden festival in the country. Come say Hi – I will open the event each day with Denis Flanagan at 11:30. (though, not on Sunday.)
Get a discounted ticket on line at www.canadablooms.com

Countdown to Canada Blooms

~February 9, 2011

As I write this I am sitting in the mid morning sunshine of one cold day. Forecast high of -9 Celsius. Sure feels like winter.
Sometime between now and the growing season of April and May I have a lot of work to do elsewhere - like at Canada’s largest annual ‘garden festival’, Canada Blooms.

I am speaking there, with my friend Denis Flanagan, each morning at 11:30am (Wednesday to Saturday). Denis and I will welcome visitors to the show and help you plan your day at the festival. I am also speaking at 1:00pm on Saturday, March 19, with my daughter Heather. We have some terrific stories and pictures to share with you.

Canada Blooms runs Wednesday, March 16 through Sunday, March 20, 2011 with a preview party scheduled for Tuesday night. Tickets for the preview are only $75 at http://www.canadablooms.com/
Pick your day – but do it very soon. More details below!

Canada Blooms
Canada Blooms produces a monthly e-newsletter – with more frequent communications as we get closer to festival dates. Sign up at http://www.canadablooms.com/.
This year Canada Blooms is partnering with the 40th Anniversary JUNO Awards. As part of the JUNO awards excitement, Canada Blooms will create a new “JUNO Rocks” garden feature. Five selected JUNO Award nominees and winners will collaborate with garden builders from Canada Blooms to create beautiful personalized gardens reflecting each artist’s particular style and genre in honour of the JUNO Awards Ruby Anniversary. Gardens will be judged by attendees with one lucky 'voter' winning a JUNO VIP Package which includes tickets to all of the events of the 2011 Juno Awards.
Tickets are available online (www.canadablooms.com), at the Canada Blooms Head Office or at the Toronto Botanical Garden.
Wherever you live, be sure to try and get to this years’ edition of the event. Canada Blooms is the largest flower and garden festival in the country and the 2nd largest in North America (Philadelphia is 1st).

I am really charged up about Canada Blooms this year and I hope that if you do get to the festival be sure to say Hi and introduce yourself to me.

Check out my facebook fan page for regular updates.

http://www.markcullen.com/

Fight the Winter Blues

~ February 1, 2011

Reduced light levels and long cold days can take their toll on us. Resist the temptation to close the curtains and hibernate until spring. There are many 'gardening' activities to keep you busy.
The air in your home can be very dry during the winter. Dry air often leads to the occurrence of spider mites on your tropical plants. Spider mites can be green, brown or red and they are difficult to see without a magnifying glass. The first symptom of spider mite damage is deformed leaves. They will turn yellow and become dehydrated. Once the leaves turn brown they will fall off the plant. If you spray the plant with water you will see the small webs created by the mites. The most effective treatment for spider mites is misting the plant with water and spraying with Green Earth Insecticidal Soap daily for a couple of weeks. Spraying with water will help increase humidity in the air around your plant.



The #1 question I hear this time of year: “How do I look after an amaryllis when it is finished blooming?


Once your Amaryllis has finished blooming it requires some attention. Cut the flower stalk back to about 2" in height. Allow the leaves to continue to grow and water when the soil feels dry. This will allow the leaves to produce energy which the bulb will store for future blooms. In the spring you can plant your Amaryllis (and the pot) in your garden. Find a location with partial shade and water during periods of drought. Fertilize regularly with a high phosphate liquid plant fertilizer. In late September bring the pot indoors and cut back the foliage. Dry the bulb for 2 weeks at 65 degrees F and then store for about 10 weeks in a cool, dry, dark place. At the end of this storage period you will need to repot your Amaryllis bulb in fresh potting mix and start the cycle again.


Feed The Birds!


Look after your feathered friends. Watching birds in your backyard is a great form of entertainment year round. As the snow piles up outside don't forget to fill your bird feeder on a regular basis. Remember that birds also need a supply of fresh water throughout the winter. A bird bath heater can be installed to prevent the water from freezing. I recommend that you use quality bird seed. When we developed the Mark’s Choice line of bird seed we took our time and made sure that we were including only the most attractive bird seed varieties in each bag. We also purchase our seed from reliable, Canadian sources. Check out the full line of Mark’s Choice birdseed mixes (http://www.markcullen.com/buyers_guide/markchoice_products3.htm). You will attract lots of birds and enjoy hours of entertainment outside your window. Be sure to use fresh food and keep your feeder clean. Watch for ice build-up and clear snow away from ports.


Believe it or not Canada Blooms is only a few weeks away….Wed. March 16th to Sun. March 20th at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place Toronto. I will be there with my buddy Denis Flanagan at 11:30 a.m. to help get you started (we are not there Sunday). Come on by and say Hi! For discounted tickets go to http://www.canadablooms.com/.

Advice for traditional Guys this Valentines.

~ Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I know that Valentines is 2 weeks off: consider this a public service from your buddy Mark.

I am a guy, which means that I qualify as one of those people who does not take a lot of risks around the special occasion that we call Valentines Day.

I am a member of the majority of guys who buys red roses for his sweetie on Valentines Day. In spite of what you hear and read about buying candles and fragrances and underwear, the average guy – and I claim not to speak for anyone else here – is into dinner out and long stem red roses.


If we have a sweetie that really likes chocolate and is not likely to hit us over the head with a box of them, we might buy them too. But be careful with this one: chocolates can send a message that you have not been listening lately to the ‘does my butt look big in these’ questions. Read between the lines.

No Risk Giving.

So guys: if you are like me and not about to risk your most special relationship on a Valentines purchase that may not go over really big, stick to the roses. And if you are sticking to the long stem red roses, at least buy them with some measure of knowledge – which is where I come in.

First of all, some reasons to buy roses as an expression of your love for someone:
a. They do not last forever. That is precisely the point. Plastic does not say the same thing –in fact plastic flowers are a language that most women do not understand.
b. In the Victorian ‘language of flowers’ roses were a sign of loyalty and strength - that is why they are associated with royalty.
c. The same Victorians believed that Red roses were a sign of passion. Not a bad message on Valentines day, to the right person, right?

How do you know that your roses are fresh?

1. Give them the squeeze test.
Every self-respecting florist will get on the rose-delivery truck and squeeze the rose buds before taking delivery.
If the rose bud is firm – like an onion – you have fresh roses. If the rose bud is soft and mushy, best take a pass.
2. Look at the stems. Yes, the stems may be knobby and scrawny. If that describes your cut roses, you are paying no more than $15 a dozen and you are paying too much. Better to get 3 really good quality roses with some girth – about the thickness of a pencil, measured about 24 inches or 60 cm down the stem.
3. Long stems. That is why they call them ‘long stem roses’. They should be at least 30 inches long, if they are the real thing. And don’t let the florist cut off too much of the ends before plunging them into water or applying the water picks (see below).


Get them home looking good.

How do you get your investment in quality roses home is good shape?

The florist will put a ‘water pick’ on the end of each rose stem. Some people call these water condoms. Not me.
‘FloraLife’ is the brand name for the little envelope of preservative that is packaged with the cut flowers. Use the entire contents in the first vase of water.
Use a deep vase. The more water that makes contact with the stems of the roses, the longer that they will last.
Change the water daily. O.k. – you really want to score points with your sweetie? Change the rose water every day and use only room temperature, tepid water straight from the tap.
Put the cut roses in a cool room or refrigerator every night before bed. Think of the roses as your new pet –one with a short life, granted. But you can extend the life of your (her) roses by several days by exposing them to cool evening temps.

If your roses should collapse, which is not uncommon: the rose bud will just droop at the stem. This is a bubble of air that has become caught at the top of the green stem. Pre-moisten newspaper, wrap the entire rose, stem and all, in an upright position in the wet newspaper and put it in the refrigerator over night. By morning the rose bud should stand up on its own.

Viagra can help.

Finally, to maximize the life of your long stem red roses, drop a half a Viagra tablet into the water – the same water that you are going to change every day. According to a study at the University of Tel Aviv in Israel, this works wonders at helping your long stem roses keep their heads up.

This is a good excuse to buy some Viagra. If anyone meets you at the drug store cash out, just tell them that I told you that the stuff really helps to keep your long stem roses up.

Really.

And what you do with the left over Viagra is your business.

Valentines is a fun time, for those of us in love.

If you don’t have a significant other, than buy yourself some fresh cut flowers. The selection this time of year is at its all time best. The industry is geared to it, so go with the flow and indulge yourself.

And remember to keep your knees dirty.

Mark

Let the Therapy Begin!

~ January 19, 2011

In recent weeks I have waxed on here in my blog about dreaming, planning and scheming your new 2011 edition of your garden.
Enough already.
Time to actually get to work.

You see the garden that you dream about is only going to become reality with the aforementioned plan and some – ahhhhemmmm (throat clearing) – work. There. I said it.
Those of us in the gardening business do not think of the slugging, bending, pulling, pushing and grunting associated with the garden as ‘work’ – it is more a kind of therapy.

So I say – “let the therapy begin!!” by starting some seeds indoors.



Seed buying.

You may be thinking in terms of your veggie garden – which is good if you are buying your seeds at your local garden centre or hardware store this time of year. I encourage you to get in there and buy your heart out as the selection of garden seeds – garden variety seeds and the rare ones more so – is at its very best right now. Store seeds in a cool and dry place, out of the sun, humidity and away from mice. And make a note mental or otherwise where you put them or you will have to buy them all over again in a month or two.

Vegetable seeds do not require germination yet. The #1 home grown crop – tomatoes – are actually started 6 weeks before the last killing frost in your area… so find out what that is by going to http://www.markcullen.com/ and locate your town/city on the zone map. When you find out what the last frost date is, count back 6 weeks and voila. For zone 5, where I live, that is about the 3rd week of April. So there is lots of time for that.

Flowers are a different thing – violas, pansies, impatiens, petunias and geraniums should be started now.

Getting started.

Follow the directions on the back of the seed packet and keep in mind these general rules of ‘green thumb’:

- Use a ‘seed and cutting’ seed starting mix – not ‘soil’. Look for good quality brands like CIL, Green Earth, Premier and Schultz.
- Fill seed starting trays/cell packs with the mix and premoisten it. In other words, water the soil mix and let it soak in for a half hour or so before you sow your seeds.
- Impatiens require darkness to germinate. After you sow the seeds, place a piece of black plastic over them until germination takes place in about 10 days. Place the seeding tray on the top of your refrigerator where it is warm, to speed germination.
- Use a ‘misting’ atomizer to apply water to the surface of the soil until about 10 days or 2 weeks after germination. This is the most gentle method of applying water at a time when the seed/seedling does not like to be disturbed.
- Allow the soil to ‘dry to the touch’ between watering. This is a rule that you can live by – use it when starting most any seeds, otherwise you will have to deal with the next point:
- If a white powdery mildew appears on the surface of the soil, apply Green Earth Garden Sulfur to prevent damping off. This is the result of overwatering, water logged soil and poor air circulation. A small fan placed a half metre or so from the seedlings, will discourage further problems with damping off.


Above all, have fun. Involve the kids, grand kids, neighbourhood kids in the project if you can and remember that you are saving a ton of money in the process by avoiding the purchase of bedding plants come spring.

Remind yourself of this should some of your seeding efforts end in failure.

And keep your knees dirty!

Mark

Salt Alternatives

I hear from Jason, my Winnipeg connection, that things have warmed up considerably in the last few days on the Canadian prairies. So much so that his young kids can now go outdoors to play and not risk life and limb due to minus ice-age temperatures.

This reminds me of all of the salt that we use in this country, especially when the temperature ‘warms up’ to greater than minus 12°C. (Note: only someone from the Prairies would consider -12°C ‘warm’).

Truth is, salt does not effectively melt ice or snow at temperatures below minus 12°C. (+5°F) which explains why most cities on the prairies favour the dirty grit that they spread on their roads for traction as a salt alternative. This stuff makes your car such a dirty mess that you often can’t tell a Mercedes from a Chevy, but for the most part, it does the job.

In the rest of the country we reach for the salt when clearing the roads of ice and snow, which is a danger to the plants in your garden, our water, our soil and a threat to aquatic life. Other than that, it is fine.

Protect Your Plants.
I recommend that you wrap your upright evergreens, especially cedars, on the east side of a busy road with two layers of burlap to avoid the inevitable ‘salt drift’ that occurs when traffic kicks the salt solution or brine up off the road. The prevailing winds push it in the direction of your prized evergreens. The two layers of natural burlap will insulate them from the inevitable damage that will occur from the burning effects of the salt.

I could go on about the toxic mess that salt creates, but I am not here to bash the use of salt. Let’s face it: salt is cheap and it provides for much safer driving conditions when the temperature is right (see above).

Alternatives.

However, for those of us who are not under contract to the highways department for snow and ice removal (i.e. if you are only concerned about your front walk/steps and driveway) there ARE alternatives to common ‘road salt’.
Some are synthetic and others are 100% ‘natural’. Both have their features, benefits and limitations. From a practical point of view these products provide a reasonably economical alternative to the much less damaging and slower working common salt.

I have been using Alaskan Ice Melter for a few years: it is Canadian made and contains a combination of calcium chloride, CaCl2 and urea. The granules are ‘colour marked’ so that you can tell when you have put down enough or used too much. It works even when temperature dip to as low as minus 31°C(-24°F), it lasts twice as long as rock salt, is gentle on concrete, grass, plants and pets when used as directed and it provides good traction the moment that you apply it. http://www.icemelter.ca/


Downside.

There are other ‘ice melters’ on the market that are worth a try, I am sure. In my opinion the less salt that we use, the better all round. Let me say that if you over-apply an ‘ice melter’ they often produce a white residue on your boots and your car floor mats, but this is much less stubborn than that of salt and washes out easily.

Also, if you use more than directed on the package you may cause damage to your lawn, plants or concrete, but you would be challenged to do this. Again, my experience tells me that salt is far more damaging to anything that is living and we have all seen the damage that it can do to concrete over time. Just visit a building in most any part of Canada with concrete steps over 20 years old…. Look carefully and you will see that the steps are pock marked, beat up and aged or they have been replaced or repaired over time. Unless they have used a salt alternative.

All Natural.

Home Hardware sells their own brand of salt-less ice melter under the Natura brand. I have not tried it, but I trust the brand. (http://www.homehardware.ca/)
Another natural alternative is Get a Grip® Natural Ice Melter (www.icemelter.ca/products/getagrip_e.php). It will melt ice at temperatures down to – 18 C, contains a similar ‘colour marker’ as the Alaskan brand, provides instant traction and is reportedly ‘gentle on concrete, grass, plants and pets. No mention of kids in their press release but I assume that it is gentle on them too. I would not recommend that you keep them indoors just because you ‘salt-alternative’ the front walk.

Give the alternatives to salt a try and let me know how you do.
If your experience is anything like mine, you will be hooked and will never buy another bag of salt for anything. Except maybe the water softener.

Keep your knees dirty,

Mark

Next week: time to get off your butt in earnest and ‘Start Your Garden Indoors’ – I will tell you how, why and what to sow for a great looking (and cheap!) garden.

Dreaming

Well gardeners – are you enjoying your ‘time off’?
God gifted us with this season that we call ‘winter’ to relax, reflect on the season ahead, educate ourselves and drink lots of coffee.
We do this now because there is precious little time for any of it come spring.

I took a walk around my garden the other day after a particularly beautiful snow fall. Only a couple of centimeters had arrived overnight, but it landed so lightly and in such cold conditions that I would have turned down a free trip to Florida even without the usual hassle of customs and airport security just to be in that moment.

Here is a shot of my now famous hydrangea garden covered in a fresh shroud of snow.

Here also is a shot of the same hydrangea garden in mid summer, looking its best.
One has to marvel at the dramatic changes that occur over the year in the average Canadian garden, regardless of where you live. We observe the cycles of new growth, flowering, fruiting, colour change and the slow onset of dormancy knowing that we – the gardeners – exercise very little control over any of it.

Plant Managers.

I am not sure that gardeners even orchestrate change – waving a baton at the key players in a symphony of colour, fragrance and flight of wing. No: I think that we are, at best, plant managers.

Gardeners can design and plant a garden. We can add to the existing soil or dig the whole mess out and replace it with the good stuff. We can prune existing shrubs and trees and move perennials around the yard as they mature. But we don’t actually ‘grow’ anything. Evolution took care of that job for us many generations of Hosta and hoyas ago.

If you don’t believe me, take a look around you and you will notice that there is a whole big green world out there that is growing without any help from any of us. Thank you very much. Before the Europeans arrived in this land the woodlands were left for the most part on their own. Carbon dioxide was exchanged for oxygen and a few other goodies and voila – forests grew up all over the land.

The best time to plan and to dream.

Mid winter is the best time of year for us to think about the garden that we want this coming year, to plan for it, to make some calls to contractors and designers to enlist some assistance in this process. And to dream.

It would be easy for me to recommend that you subscribe to seed catalogues right now, to read gardening magazines, to visit my website to get your nagging gardening questions answered at http://www.markcullen.com/ and to go to a few horticultural meetings. These meetings are occurring all across the country in greater frequency than ever before. They are a great way to meet like minded people and engage in some conversation that will get you going in a direction that will help you produce the garden of your dreams.

But I am not going to suggest any of that.
Instead I merely want you to do one thing this week: to dream the dream of the greatest garden and yard that you ever had.
No great accomplishment in this world ever occurred without a dream.

It is your turn, Canadian gardeners.

Our ability to dream is a vital part of the gift.

Dream about keeping your knees dirty – and pour yourself another cup of coffee.

Mark


Join me on Thursday, January 20th for an event with the Applewood Garden Club. The event takes place at the Lakeview Golf Course in Mississauga. For more details, visit http://www.applewoodgardenclub.org/. Hope to see you there!

Investing advice for 2011.

I just received an interesting memo from my financial portfolio manager. It is a ‘top ten list’ of important things to remember when investing in the stock market this year. The most dominant message is that things have changed and by the way in case you forgot, things have changed and they are going to change some more.

Well, I have some advice for all of the stressed out financial advisors out there (and if they are not stressed out, they should be): bet on the gardening experience to produce dividends that you have only dreamed of.

You see, gardening is a blue chip investment from any point of view. Take a packet of seeds, for example. I don’t know who said that the best bet that you can make is with some good soil and a packet of seeds, but he or she had a point. The risks are few and the potential rewards many.

It is in the garden that we connect with the natural world around us and learn, providing that we are listening and asking the right questions in the first place. We learn, for example, that whatever goes up must come down. Try growing a vine in your garden and you will learn that it won’t go up in the first place without some support. And in time, the vine outgrows the support and the vine grows downwards again. You have to keep shoring up the support or cut down the vine.

Everything has a life cycle. By planting in one season and removing the finished plants in another we learn that every living thing has a life cycle. Even the mighty oak will fall, someday. Hopefully not on your house. The productive tomato finishes its work in one season. Garden leeks and garlic need to experience some frost in order to maximize their flavour. Raspberries are best in their 3rd and 4th years, strawberries in their 2nd year and asparagus never seems to quit after it’s 5th year, but man are they slow to come around until then! The same for rhubarb. But even they will peter out in a generation or two. Everything that grows eventually regresses.

Even plants that seem never to quit are actually just fooling you. Take the peony for example. If you visit the location of a long-ago homestead, where a farm house once stood but has long since disappeared, you will often find a lonely peony or two just hanging out on their own with no seeming interest in civilization – occupied house or not. Maybe it was planted there over a hundred years ago.

Truth is, the root structure of the original peony plant has died and been replaced by other, newer roots. The vigour of the peony plant is constantly refurbished in this way. This is why peonies will often appear to change colour over time: it isn’t the original root that is changing. The new one is just taking a different genetic direction. This is Mother Nature’s way of renewing the original plant. And as far as you and I are concerned the peony looks like it has been there forever.

Renewal is our reward. For being patient, we experience the natural division of plants as they multiply before our eyes. Take the Lily of the Valley for example. They seem to go and grow without stopping. The root is a rhizome that moves beneath the soil making new plants as it moves. A lawn thickens much the same way.

We are not alone. In gardening, we engage in a partnership with Mother Nature and grow relationships with neighbours and friends, creating a sense of community that is without price. I believe that people who spend time writing for the financial pages and the financial planners themselves would actually benefit by spending more time in the garden.

The support system is invisible. The burgeoning popularity of organic gardening offers one very basic tenant that is worth keeping in mind: the health of your garden plants is determined by the health of your soil. A colony of thriving bacteria, beneficial insects and protozoa = good quality soil. Add lots of raw organic matter in the form of compost for these critters to feed on and your plants will grow almost despite themselves because a buffet of goodies is at their feet.

Now, how is this helpful to financial planning professionals?

Let me sum up:

Everything has a life cycle. The markets had been growing for a record period of time then took a plunge and then recovered. Funny – just like Nature to behave that way.

Renewal is our reward. As sure as the markets are up they will go down. How fast and how far is anybody’s guess. But they will bounce and new, better stocks will replace some of the tired old ones. Be smart and be patient.

We are not alone. They say that 47% of Canadians were invested in the stock market last year. Remember that when you open your investment update this month. As Red Green said many times, ‘We are all in this together.’

The support system is invisible. The news is full of union disputes, large companies that are standing in line for government bail outs, other companies that are in decline and some that are closing their doors.
The media will not tell you about the people who are making their best effort to create a product or service of value: many are hanging in there. The majority of us are reporting for work on time, getting the job done and making a small but significant contribution that helps to make Canada great.
Those companies that are hanging in there are making something or selling something that people want and can afford. I had to wait in line today behind 4 people at McDonalds for a fillet-o-fish. Somebody other than me seems to want their product.

But I digress: it is a new year and time to reflect on what is important.

From William Alexander, author of The $64 Tomato.

“Things that I remember: witnessing childbirth, finding myself standing absolutely alone before DaVinci’s Last Supper. And planting potatoes on a perfect spring morning.”

If you like this message I hope that you forward it to your financial advisor.

Keep your knees dirty,


Mark

Gift Ideas for Gardeners

I have said for some time that it is easy to buy for gardeners: generally you do not have to worry about the colour or size (except for gloves). In most cases the gift will get used because so many things that a gardener needs cannot be “over acquired”.

Take good gloves as an example. I have lost track of the numbers of pairs that I have around the property….tool shed, barn, garage, truck, car trunk and at the front door cupboard. Look for goat skin or reasonable substitute, reinforced finger tips, an open weave back to allow your hands to breathe and a Velcro closure at the wrist to stop dirt from travelling down into the working portion of the glove. I have just described the Mark’s Choice garden glove at Home Hardware. $15.

Garden Magazine. A copy of the latest Canadian gardening magazine does the trick, if you are looking for a ‘stocking stuffer’. For the more generous there are some great deals on subscriptions. We are blessed in Canada to have several great publications that address the peculiar needs of the Canadian gardener. Look for Canadian Gardening, the tried and true (http://www.canadiangardening.com/). For information guaranteed to meet the regional needs of gardeners pick up Gardens West/Central/East, for which I write (http://www.gardenswest.com/) and the newest publication on the block is Garden Making, for lots of colour and columns by some names that you may be familiar with (http://www.gardenmaking.com/).

The Truly Canadian Almanac, by Harrowsmith. Finally there is a great, 100% Canadian almanac that provides you with weather forecasts, small town stories, trivia and all manor of washroom reading. Sure to keep the receiver of this gift busy for hours. $5.95 at Home Hardware and books stores.

How bout yourself?

Consider donating TIME to the receiver of your Yuletide largess. This may be the most appreciated gift of all!

Weeding. Offer to donate several hours of weeding at a mutually convenient time. Every gardener gets weary of pulling weeds, after the romance of the thing wears off about mid June. Bring your own equipment, including a long handled Mark’s Choice Speedy Weeder from Home Hardware. At about $28 it is the best investment that you can make in effective, chemical free weed control - without the back pain associated with stooping and bending.

Pruning. Most of us do not like to cut our own kid’s hair. Ditto the plants in our garden. Offer to come over with your loppers/shears and a green wood saw and do some trimming. Take away the trimmings for a bonus. Btw, the best loppers and hedge shears in the business are made right here in Canada. They are the Mark’s Choice limb loppers ($50 and $70) and hedge shears ($50) at Home Hardware.

Consultation. If you love to garden offer your services to people on your list who have a moderate interest in gardening. Your experience is worth something. Likely more than you know. Can you give advice on plant placement? Soil prep? Accompany your friend(s) to a garden retailer next spring and offer advice on the best deals on the lot, noting that the lowest price is not as important as the quality of a live plant.

I hope that these ideas are helpful.

With many thanks for reading each week, I wish you a very Merry Christmas this week. Regardless of your religious beliefs I encourage you to take the time to reflect on a world of peace and goodwill towards our fellow humans.

Hold the people close to you closer.
Hold the door for a stranger.
Hold out the hand of friendship to someone in need.

And God bless.


Mark