While recreational field turf has its uses, most urban and suburban lawn leaves the Earth with a net loss. Space that could be used for growing food or feeding pollinators is dedicated instead to demanding, non-native grasses. Lawn grass is...
Continue ReadingWe continue our Twenty-One Days of Green with a look at an amazing community group. One of our favourite of all gardening organizations is Plant a Row Grow a Row. Quite simply, they encourage gardeners to plant one extra row...
Continue ReadingThe theme of this Twenty-one Days of Green campaign is to encourage everyone to Commit to Grow just one item that might otherwise be purchased at a grocery store. We love using chives as a place to start. To produce...
Continue ReadingCommit to Grow for Earth Day. It’s already April, and Earth Day on April 22nd is fast approaching. We love to see people celebrating this important day, but we were wondering what we could do this year to inject some...
Continue ReadingParsnip (Pastinaca sativa) As a member of the family Apiaciae, the parsnip counts among its close cousins the carrot, parsley, dill, fennel, cilantro, and celery. All of these bear tall umbels of flowers, but like the carrot, parsnip is biennial,...
Continue ReadingParsley (Petroselinum crispum) Both the curly leaf form (P. crispum) and the Italian flat-leaf form (P. crispum var. neapolitanum) of this useful herb are members of the carrot family Apiaceae, and share a close botanical relationship to their cousin the...
Continue ReadingLeeks (Allium ampeloprasum, var. porrum, syn. A. porrum) This member of the Allium family is thought to have been in cultivation since the 2nd century BC, from ancient Egypt to Mesopotamia. The Romans believed that eating leeks imparted a sonorous...
Continue ReadingCress (sometimes called garden cress, garden pepper cress, pepperwort, or pepper grass) is a leafy annual herb from the Brassica family. It is harvested when immature, around one to two weeks after germination, but will grow to a height of around 60cm (24”) if left undisturbed, and then form racemes of white flowers followed by small seedpods.
Continue ReadingIt’s already the middle of March, 2017, and spring seems hesitant to start this year. Despite the rain (and melted snow), we know that fairer weather is coming. So we’re building twenty raised beds in between the big red barn...
Continue ReadingCatnip (Nepeta cataria) This perennial member of the mint family is native from eastern Europe eastward to China. It is a bushy, branching herb that grows to 50–100cm (20–39″) tall. Like many mints, its stems are square in cross section,...
Continue ReadingAbout Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea Botrytis group) Modern cauliflower has been grown since the 15th century, and it was grown almost exclusively in Italy until the 16th century when it gradually migrated to France and then to American gardens 100 years...
Continue ReadingCelery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) & Celeriac (A. graveolens var. rapaceum) The Latin names for the different types of celery are revealing. In both cases, graveolens means “strong smelling” or “heavily scented.” Dulce implies sweetness, while rapaceum means “turnip-like.” Few...
Continue ReadingOne of the best things about working with seeds is the time we spend in seed trials, trying new varieties and comparing traits. We are completely spoiled by the multitude of fruits and vegetables that we grow, as well as...
Continue ReadingChives (Allium schoenoprasum) Chives have been in cultivation since at least the Middle Ages in Europe, and there are references to their use in ancient Rome, but primarily as a medicinal herb. They were used to treat sunburn and sore...
Continue ReadingAsparagus (Asparagus officinalis) Asparagus has very few close botanical relatives in its own family, Asparagaceae. The name “asparagus” simply comes from the Latin botanical title, with its roots in Greek and the original Persian, asparag, meaning “shoots.” The asparagus we...
Continue ReadingAbout Arugula Arugula is a low-growing member of the Brassica family that forms rosettes that resemble a cross between lettuce and dandelions. Its leaves have deep, round indentations reminiscent of oak leaves. These, as well as the flowers and seed...
Continue ReadingArtichokes are heat-loving plants of the large family, Asteraceae. The genus Cynara includes eight other wild, thistle-like plants, including C. humilis, which was grown as a food crop in North Africa. Some people grow these plants for their splendid purple...
Continue ReadingPrior to the 18th century, scientists struggled to find conventions with which to categorize organisms. In the 1730s, the visionary Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus developed a system of taxonomy (called binomial nomenclature), which assigned Latin names to all living things....
Continue ReadingNot so much an official trial, as an effort to grow out each of our sweet peas for comparative study. We grew out fifteen varieties among the other flowers and vegetables at our Kirkland House demonstration garden here in Ladner...
Continue ReadingGarlic is an incredibly economical crop. Planted in the fall, it grows very slowly over winter, and is ready to harvest in late spring to early summer the following year. If it is dried and cured properly, it will stay...
Continue ReadingFarm Box Pickup Week Two After learning how the system works, it becomes immediately a routine part of our week. Every Tuesday we look forward to finding out what’s in this week’s CSA farm box program. Lydia at Cropthorne Farm...
Continue ReadingAfter years of promoting Community Supported Agriculture, I finally broke down and joined a CSA program at one of the local organic farms. What a great decision it was, too! Back in February we signed up for a “small” farm...
Continue ReadingBasil is a heat-loving annual plant grown for use as a culinary herb. Many varieties exist, with subtle differences in flavour, growth habit, leaf colour, and so on. All have a rich, pungent taste and scent reminiscent of anise and...
Continue ReadingThe first two weeks of May is the ideal time window for starting squash seeds (including zucchini and pumpkin) indoors. By starting the seeds indoors, there is less risk of the seedlings being damaged during their most vulnerable early weeks....
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