ready, set...

Clifford wonders
why are there so many fences around me?

our vegetable garden
24 May 2013

Rows are ready, peas are in, next to be planted in the large bed: carrots, beets, leeks, kale, cucumbers, zucchini, beans; already up: asparagus. In the small bed: tomatoes & hot peppers. Herbs throughout. Perennials rising, containers sorting themselves out...

Middle "yard" still a mess, waiting for paving stones.

Dear Garden Diary,

my one and only sunflower
and Thunbergia

Lately when I spy on Laura's garden two fences away I am spied on back by dozens of sunflower faces. They're incredible and I'm more than a little garden-jealous. I have one - one sunflower ...I know I planted more seeds than one. That's just the way a garden grows sometimes. 

Laura's flowers have had me thinking..., next year's garden is going to have more spring, late summer & autumn flowers. Considering the seasons of garden we enjoy the garden most - planting season and fresh returns, and later reaping the harvest, the lushness of mature plants and vines gone wild....

I'm not going to spend too much time on mid-summer plants, little reason seeing as we're not here - but plan for when we return. In pots the ivy still looks nice long after annual blooms have faded, and the Coleus container is still brilliant. In the garden I have plans for a big cull; as sad as it makes me, I have to reconcile my desire for every favourite perennial and use the space more wisely. The delphiniums just have to go...somewhere, maybe the west side, maybe into the back lane...but as much as I love them, they are just too big. I had considered moving them to the little micro-climate garden by the back porch, but I have plans for tomatoes there next year - and delphiniums are too prone to mildew to have close to the tomatoes. I have some 'Crazy Daisy' Shasta Daisies also needing a better home - so we'll just have to see where the shuffle takes them. Also moving, (even if just a few inches): the Crimson Knautia, that weird mystery rose from Creekside that never really grew - to make room for the Monarda to shuffle over a bit. Once they're all moved and replanted (which I will do some time in October) I'll add in some spring tulips - a rainbow of colours and kinds dotting the east side perennial bed.

I wish we had more space. Every zucchini and cucumber we have grown (and still are growing) has been put to great use. I've only given a couple away... We've eaten a lot of zucchini (soup, bread, cake, muffins, more soup, grilled, in frittata, tossed with pasta... and you know what, I'm not even tired of it and excited there are some nice ones still coming. The cucumbers are the best I've ever grown - sweet, juicy, huge. I've made more tzatziki than we could consume, and the dogs have had their favourite treat fresh from the garden for months now. Sadly, with frost nearing I'll let them enjoy today's rain, and harvest soon..

Precious Claire waits patiently for a fresh bean treat.

The beans (also loved by the dogs) are so tasty, and have grown into a sturdy wall. Even the Grape Tomato is using the bean wall for support. The other tomatoes have suffered a bit from crowding and smothering by wild zucchini. As unmanageable as they can be, we can't have a garden without cucumbers and zucchini. Next year we're simply not going to plant so many vegetables. I know, I know...I'm the worst for it - working in greenhouses doesn't help. A plant addict to the end, R's not help either. I'm always so convinced I can find the room - and though I still stand by my claim that if we were here for the garden during the major growing period in July & August we would be able to train it to survive the crowd, the fact is we leave ...and a garden doesn't like being left.

It's easy enough to supplement through flexible CSA programs, I have to remember that. Our garden's size is perfect for a seasonal kitchen garden - not great for large guys like Brussels sprouts and potato plants. I could leave them out for more space and not miss them much. More use could be made of containers, sacks, and balconies, but again - unattended pots in a ridiculously hot back yard don't have the best survival rates. I leave spinach to the local farms also..I never have luck with spinach *shrug* 

Our leeks are beautiful, and even though the beets and carrots are few in number they're still pretty. 

Garden Soup
leeks, zucchini, kale, onions & beans from our garden
local carrots & Ontario celery

The Thunbergia has reached the railing of the back balcony, at more than 15 feet it's glorious and so reminiscent of what I've seen decorating Californian freeways. It seems indestructible and I think it scares my family. At ground level it is creeping in every direction, tendrilling up posts and hooks left around the garden, attaching to the nearby pots trellises. I'm not stopping it. I can't imagine not having one of these again next year - just too fun.
The micro-climate garden by the porch has only a few permanent residents: John Davis, some crazy chamomile, garlic chives and whatever thyme & lavender survive (they always get replanted if winter snuffs them out). Snowbirds include herbs rosemary, tarragon, and sage, mint in pots, this year some lemon verbena too. I can see a Thunbergia becoming a regular too.
This year is was home to ten foot tall peas. Next year, I'll plant only two tomatoes in the space - early (...with R's construction skills we're planning a removable greenhouse contraption), and keep the rest of the space for tall autumn cutting flowers. We can add basil between, and with all the other herbs I think that would make the space quite nice this time next year. :)

Inter & Companion Planting the Edible Garden

Inter & Companion Planting the Edible Garden

Trending now is a new generation of back-to-the-land gardeners reviving and reinventing a very old concept in gardening: interplanting home-grown vegetables and herbs with flowers to make the most of urban spaces. Area gardeners are creating spaces where families can retreat, eat, educate, and entertain. Thunder Bay is becoming a city where back lanes are grazing grounds, where neighbours plant seeds, ideas grow, and biodiversity is the aesthetic consideration of our backyard gardens.

Filled with healthy plants that provide both beauty and abundance, there is an ever increasing interest in edible gardens, whether in a backyard, a community plot, or on a balcony. No matter the size – edibles are everywhere. People are growing tomatoes and peppers upside down from balconies, or on them: herbs and peas in pots combined with favourite annual petunias, calibrachoa, edible pansies and marigolds. This is inspiring; the possibilities are endless.

Companion planting in the eco-friendly garden understands the symbiotic relationships between the plant species, and with pollinators. The ways in which opposites attract in the garden can be used to establish beneficial habitats: sun lovers provide shade for those who require it, nitrogen fixing plants can be paired with heavy feeders to balance soil nutrient, and deep rooted plants together with those with shallow roots can work together in the same space.

Attracting pollinators and beneficial insects by planting their favourites, which in the Thunder Bay area include beautiful, hardy deciduous shrubs such as hydrangeas or weigela, perennial cornflowers (bachelor buttons) and coneflowers (echinacea ), monarda (bee balm), sedum, and veronica – these and other plants with high nectar concentrations will draw in helpful hummingbirds , bees, and bats. Herb plants, such as coriander, dill, and parsley not only complete a kitchen garden, but are all the preference of beneficial bugs.

 The same works for deterring unwanted visitors; if you want to keep aphids from your roses or lupins try interplanting garlic, which also helps to prevent fungal diseases. Hardy area roses such as those in the Explorer Series, Mordens, or Rugosas attract pollinating bees and butterflies to vegetable crops while their intoxicating scent fills a backyard with home grown aromatherapy.

Prevention as pest control can be easily achieved both in containers or garden beds. Interplanted sage, calendula (pot marigold), mint, and geraniums repel pests through summer, while migratory birds are lured by late fruit bearing shrubs and trees. Here, a pesky mosquito problem can be taken care of with the inclusion of a bat house in the garden. Bats are active members of the garden ecosystem and also work to pollinate fruits trees, tender annuals, and disperse seeds.

Understanding soil composition is a good preventative step, and helps to simplify the process of soil building. By topping up and amending we improve soil nutritional quality; plants grow strong, more resistant to harmful insects, and produce more flowers and fruit. Supplements such as bone and blood meal, NPK compounds (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), and by replenishing mulch will provide the balanced nutrients for plants to bloom profusely, and produce large yields. Choosing appropriate plant type fertilizers saves valuable energy and improves the efficiency of the garden.

Our Boreal climate, with its many shifts in temperature, allows us optimal chances to observe seasonal blooms: through our long (often confusing) spring time weather, tolerating the heat of July becoming lush in August lasting through October. By designing environments which are diverse, stable, and have the resilience of natural ecosystems, our garden spaces will thrive and require less intervention.

printed in:

May 2012 Home & Garden flyer

distributed by the Chronicle Journal

Sunday, 13 May 2012

Dear Garden Diary,

iGarden
8 November 2011

Yeah, I took this photo using my iPhone, dangling it over the balcony's railing. Dangerous. Earlier yesterday I dangled it over a bridge on May Street. This is why I have to return to using my Nikon for photos, with it's sturdy strap - less likely to slip through my fingers to a watery or pottery death. I've been so distracted with the iPhone photo apps lately that I haven't bothered updating about the garden. These things happen.

Well, we cleaned (R did most all of the gross work) and tucked away pots, preparing for winter the best we can. If we weren't basement hoarders we might have more space to store things. hmm.
R also did all of the digging, creating additional vegetable garden space. There is now three times the space and half the grass lawn. We're definitely putting a yellow brick path in to boarder the grass and perennial garden because we are corny like that. grin. Beyond the mugo pine the potentilla will be taken out and a gate will be put in its place.

This is exactly what happened with my first garden. Over eight years I slowly turned sod into garden. This is only my third season with this yard. Heh heh... We'll always have to have sod in the dog run - and the dogs will have have the run of the "dog forest" to the west of the existing path. It used to be a lovely, kept formal garden with lush grass that could only be manufactured. It was beautiful.
But it wasn't my kind of garden, and I think R feels the same (he grew up with orchards and bees, and did the dogging after all). It's fun to have a productive yard, and we both want to use this new space wisely. We now have the space to properly plant after our over-zealous seedling shopping sprees, we vow not to screw this up. We had more tomatoes than we could handle this year, giving them away from a box on our door step in the end...

I've said it before: our most challenging hurdle (more even than having a Gromit) is leaving the garden at the peek of the season. That's a toughy.., summer vacation time is summer vacation time - and family beckons. In the real world family trumps gardens, so the gardener has to adapt. I'm thinking there has got to be a way of planting around our three week adventure away.

I am so excited to have space for root vegetables in our own backyard. So excited. I think a couple fine brussel sprout plants would fit too. grin.
There's still a heap of triple mix waiting in the dog run to be put into the new garden, some lime, meal, and whatever compost I can come up with. It looks good and wormy already, so we're off to a good start.

Now that it's November, it's time for doodling gardens not digging in them..., taking long baths, settling in for winter. I can't help looking forward to next year, feeling so much better after feeling so off for so long. I didn't even realize how ill I've been until I started feeling better - things like balance: just in the last two weeks, while walking downtown noticing that I feel more steady than I have in years, and my body moves more cooperatively (if that makes any sense). I can breathe a little deeper, sleep a little deeper, think ahead again. It's actually quite remarkable, and a little scary.
Whatever infection that started this all - back in 2009, I'll probably never know..., and honestly I don't even care about knowing anymore. It all makes sense, the culmination of an infection (undoubtedly starting in my kidneys, as per my initial complaint, spreading, finding equilibrium with my immune system, reacting autoimmune: "lingering pathogen") combined with a toxic overload - mold most likely, and god only knows whatever else (Ryan Building). Stress. Miscarriage. Depression.
I won't disregard gardens and greenhouses either, sadly. There's a reason why products get pulled from shelves and tests are run on soil. It could happen to anyone, really, for so many reasons - making it hard to fuss about - unless you plan on living in a bubble, or worse: in fear.

It took two very different approaches to medicine: Western and Eastern, two hemispheres, an acupuncturist from the picturesque Leura Mall, and four local female doctors practicing in four unique healing directions to bring me back. The last month has been like an awakening.

I believe that by the time next spring arrives I'll be back to where I was, maybe even better.


CURRENT MUSIC: Watching the Wheels - John Lennon

John Davis Explorer Rose

John Davis Explorer Rose
7 July 2011

John Davis the first
my garden 2005

A John Davis Explorer Rose is the first rose I added to my first garden, where he lived happily for seven years (or more?). With me through it all... even tolerating three homes in three years, he survived to live in our garden here for one year...
until last spring, when we decided it was time to say good-bye. "Replaced" just doesn't sound like a nice word here, but that's exactly what happened: John Davis the first was replaced with John Davis the second.

With his clusters of pretty pink he was a favourite of Hannah's when she was younger (when everything had to be pink). I love how the blooms start out a deep shade of pink (in some years John Davis the first appeared almost red) then open up to such a soft pink, showing the yellow stamen inside. It's a delicate flower, and reminds me of a cross between an old fashioned rose and wild dog roses (Rosa canina).

 John Davis the second, in our garden July 2011:

A rambler, being known to reach seven or eight feet, John Davis can be taught to climb. Our John Davis, here in his second year, is doing well nearly reaching the top of the five foot trellis. I'm allowing him to spread out a little along the way, while assisting some stems to wrap themselves around the trellis.
He lives in the corner of our kitchen garden, nearest to the back door, attracting bees, and caring for the garlic below.

John Davis the second
in his second year
6 July 2011

John Davis Explorer Rose from Vesey's

Dear Garden Diary,

In order to better map our garden, and for when I speak of spaces such as "the west side garden", "east garden" I chose to draw what I see from the balcony. The balcony faces south(eastern a bit) and is just off our study steps away from my desk. I sat there yesterday and drew what I saw from the east side by the door, then took some pictures shooting downward.

CLICK TO VIEW

This summer in our backyard the vegetables are finding homes wherever they can; they'll weave through the established perennials, and take up spaced once used by ones lost. We've got one pot crowded with Brussels Sprouts (to torture Hannah); others with jalapeño peppers, purple sage, purple basil snapdragons, verbena, browallia, or nicotina. The potted grape tomato is already thriving (though the other in the largest pot, bush beefsteak, is a little slow but is growing...)

Above: Browallia 'Blue Bells', not yet blooming, near the weside side garden. Behind: Hosta 'Twilight Time'. 

We seem to have a bit of a purple theme this year:

purple dragon carrots

purple sage

purple caspicum

purple basil.

The east garden (named so because it is on the east side of the yard) is what I'm looking forward most to watching grow this season (and next). Between the established plants and trees, some who were planted by W (the pine, the irises, bergenia, juniper and cedar), and some by R (the caragana, and sumac). Together we've now added the Wegeila, and four clematis: 'The President' and 'Niobe' climbing up the fence between the caragana and peonies, and 'Daniel Deronda' and 'Nelly Moser' to grow up and along the dog run fence between the lilac and cedar.

Hannah's basketball  court/ east side dog run

Also climbing the fence: two 'black beauty' zucchini, with some sweet peas scattered here and there. For this to work (to not overcrowd the space) the zucchini has to climb. There's no space for it to ramble because beside it and in front a little is a cucumber 

(there are cucumbers all over the garden this year. Something (or someone) must have compelled us to buy cucumber plants every time we've entered a greenhouse. Not that I've ever had a problem with more plants than space.)

I wouldn't be worried if I wasn't leaving the garden for three weeks in prime growing time...training vines isn't something T, our dog and house sitter, will want to have a crash course in. He's the best dog sitter in the world, but not a gardener. That said, we came to a great garden last year, so he did well for not eating vegetables. Yeah, he doesn't eat vegetables <- that was what he told me when I first told him about the garden; excitedly I told him he's have tomatoes and cucumbers, zucchini and herbs at his fingertips, so to enjoy. That was when he looked at me - sort of scared-like (of my vegetablemania), and said, "I don't eat vegetables." 

"Oh," I said. Ooh. hmm

I've wondered ever since how he survives, but he seems to do well, and loves our dogs and is excited to see them again after a year abroad. So, that is all that matters. That and because he's the cleanest person we have ever known. We (all three of us - even Hannah) marvel at what a strange clean house we returned to; delirious after the backward flight home from Australia, I think we all thought the cleanliness of our house was a mirage of sorts, but no - no, in the morning it was still there: a clean house. 

(It didn't last of course, but whatever..)

Anyway, so T doesn't eat vegetables and that is why I can't expect him to manage a zucchini vine that will be growing vigorously at that time. N said he would harvest and tend to the garden while we're gone...but we, in a fit of friendly guerrilla gardening, just  planted a spare jalapeño pepper in the middle of their garden surrounded by a hot pink tomato cage while they were away celebrating their anniversary. hee hee 

N would tend to the vine well, but we might have also get some prankster payback. 

the east garden, 14 June 2011

In front of the zucchini is one of the yellow tomato plants (another mystery variety, with a tag that just says: "yellow tomato"), and a "purple pepper" (capsicum), both in ordinary tomato cages. The bee balm, rudbeckia, and Baby M's Lady's Mantle surround the vegetables, with the cucumber rambling through them and the wegeila, irises (which are severely stunted from the long drawn out separating process, but have survived), the rescued red daylilies and now, a a hardy shrub rose, Marie Bugnet.

Rosa x Rugosa, 'Marie  Bugnet' - hardy shrub rose

 I had in mind the David Austin 'Winchester Cathedral' for the spot, remembering the one I had years ago (which survived in a similar sunny location for a number of years).Winchester Cathedral has one of the prettiest fragrances I've ever known in a rose, plus the actual cathedral holds sentiment to a romantic memory my mother has with my father - which means something to me. :) I wouldn't refuse a good substitute though, and I found that yesterday while plant shopping (with my mother): Marie Bugnet, a hardy shrub rose.

I planted my previous Marie Bugnet beneath the sign post to the LU garden, where it remains, so I'm happy to have her again. Beautifully fragrant and an early & repeat bloomer she'll attract more things with wings - the kind we want - to our garden. A compact srub, she'll still probably grow a little big for her space between rescued red 1 and rescued red 2, in front of the irises (which are in front of the 'Red Prince' wegeila - all of which will be wonderful in bloom together ....next year. Everybody has to recover from the mass transplantation first.

I also picked up two yellow cornflowers (bachelor buttons, mountain bluet) yesterday, along with a single trollius (globeflower). I have no idea where I am going to plant them..(west side garden?) The globeflowers are in bloom across the street at H's right now, and every time I look over there I think: I want those. So, now I have one. I could plant it near the geum in the front garden, but that bed is, admittedly, getting full (R might never believe I said that). 

Geum, 'Totally Tangerine', 'Tim's Tangerine' 

The west garden has been turned over to the dogs, but is not without it's weeding and pruning needs. R pruned the junipers on the weekend clearing better pathways for dogs to chase each other through. He also trimmed some lower, scraggly branches off the the two spruce trees near the fence, which now look nice, and look like they'll have the space to grow - hopefully tall, providing much needed shelter in the city.

We've talked about adding some hops to the fence, and maybe adding a burning bush near the dogwood.

I honestly don't know how the trees are surviving there, on (what I've learned from R) is a pile of rubble. Apparently W threw some soil on it and planted the trees. After rescuing the red daylilies I don't doubt it - the soil there was terrible, and shallow - and my spade hit rock a few times before finally sinking in to soil (ow). 

I think we should work around the mulch and top up the garden soil, but I also think poor R is having gardening sticker shock, not to mention the composted manure in the "sports station wagon." 

(Is composted manure 

worse than

dead beaver?)

Terrible soil aside, the trees seem to be doing well. The dogs love to gallop through the trees and over the rambling junipers. It makes for a nice marriage of dog companionship and small downtown garden. There's nothing blooming there now, but it's still pretty, well used, and enjoyed by the whole family. :) (woof!)

Claire under the Tamarack in the west garden 

The west side garden begins near where Claire is standing in the photo above, with the hostas "Gold Drop" x 2 and 'Twilight Time.' Then there is the divided Rescued Red 2, a Morden shrub rose: 'Morden Blush' surrounded by two hardy geraniums, Geranium endressii 'Wargrave's Pink.' Beside it another hosta - the one from the Farmer's Market - which hosta-sticker-shock-suffering R now knows really was a bargain: 'Frances Williams.'
And, of course, tucked in between the geranium and hosta, a cucumber vine to ramble down the sidewalk.

There's a new one in a giant pot down there also, but I can't remember it's name right now. 

There's not a plan as such for the west side garden - other than taking advantage of it being an ideal location for lotsa hostas (I just had to say that, sorry..). I suspect it will develop like most other of my gardens: with whatever grabs my heart. 

As for the middle garden, like Middle Earth, it is another story and it is a long one. I'll talk about (and deal with) that another day.

Dear Garden Diary,

Where have all the irises gone, you ask? Well, I can not break them apart - they are so overgrown and so tightly grown together that no spade nor old kitchen knife can dissect them. I thought about sectioning them, but even that proved to be too much. Admittedly my arms are weakened, but with all else I am able to do now again, I should be able to free a few irises. sigh

I've moved the giant clumps to the side of the house, for R to attempt to break apart this weekend. I do desperately want to save and replant 20 of them (maybe more) in the large open space in front of the Wegeila, eastward from where they were before, a little closer to the fence.
They are a stunning blue, the perfect colour to break up the pinks and reds we have such an abundance of in that are (unlike the front garden which is home to too many blues and purples...)

rescued red 1                            rescued red 2

I've rescued the two red dayliles from the west evergreen garden, which can now become dog territory without worry for the flowers. My favourite of the two, rescued red 1, is planted near the spot where the Rudbeckia Goldsturm is mean to be (a few leaves have appeared but timidly and without the vigor that plant should have)... I may have to seek another rudbeckia plant. Rescued red 1 is a large-flowered cultivar with deep red velvety, ruffled petals with a yellow throat and eye. Rescued red 2 has more tapered petals in the same deep red, with just yellow in the eye of the flower. They're both late summer bloomers, appearing just as the peach and yellows ones are finishing their bloom on the east side of the garden. It should look nice now that they're all together on the same side, ...though I'll miss the balance the red blooms brought to the west side of the garden.

The name Hemerocallis comes from the 

Greek words ἡμέρα (hēmera) "day" 

and καλός (kalos) "beautiful".

I'll find a great bit of satisfaction adopting blooms and more for the west side's new side garden (I should come up with better names for the garden beds...this is getting confusing..). After a few thousand dollars in vet bills to remove rocks from a certain Basset's belly, R has removed every rock and pebble from the beds on the west side of the house along the walkway - creating two rather large, 26 foot long x 2 foot garden beds. One side, to the west of the walkway, we've filled with bags of triple mix and manure, but we'll be needing a truckload to finish the job (and repair the dog run). 

The tall, thinly leafed hosta nearest the corner is "Twilight Time", which we chose for H thinking vampires are all the rage, but I don't think she was nearly as excited as I was. Either way, it looks nice - and under are two lime leafed, small 'Gold Drop' hostas. Further along is another hosta, another rescued plant from dog territory. This one was hidden under the giant dogwood that's taking over the middle garden, and unknown to R until I mentioned it. It's a gorgeous hosta (the kind I usually fall for in the greenhouses) and will thrive in his new spot nicely. Near to that is a section of rescued red 2, which divided nicely during the move.

Hosta 'Gold Drop'

Taxonomists differ on the number of hosta species; there may be as many as 45. The genus may be broadly divided into three subgenera. Interspecific hybridization occurs since all the species have the same chromosome number (2n = 2x = 60); except H. ventricosa which is a natural tetraploid that sets seed through apomixis. Many Hosta formerly described as species taxonomically, have been reduced to cultivars; these often have their names conserved, and retain Latin names which resemble species names (e.g., H. 'Fortunei' ).

Getting back to the east side, other losses have created new space for ..apparently tomatoes. Yellow tomatoes to be exact, which fill both the space where there was once that nice two toned spurge plant, and an open area in front of the zucchini. Hoping that the zucchini catch the trellis on the fence and climb upward, my only concern would be if it caught a touch of mildew. It's a little tight in there with the tomato, but it's a sunny, hot (probably the sunniest of the whole garden) there so unless it gets damp from over crowning or too much water from above we should be good.

Black Beauty Zucchini Squash

COMPANION PLANTING:

Monarda is a great companion plant to grow with tomatoes, attracting pollinators and some predatory insects that help to minimize garden pests. Commonly understood as a food plant for the larvae of some Lepidoptera species and many Coleophora (moths), the plant is a favourite attraction for hummingbirds and bees. Also, the roots of the Monarda plant contain oils which are beneficial in deterring subterranean pests around small, susceptible vegetable crops. 

Monarda, (Bergamot, Bee Balm) and the East Garden

Tomaat!

Sara's superfantastic TOMATO MAP

Red Brandywine,
Stupice,
Harbinger,
Moskovich,
Wonderlight or 'Plum Lemon',
Landry's Russian,
Mortgage Lifter,
Doublerich,
Baxter's Bush Cherry,
Superfantastic,
Old Brooks,

Connie's heirloom tomatoes were transplanted by Sara and Roy June 21st. The plants have endured a lot already, but most look alright now that they're in the garden. Sara was careful to plant them deeply, and sink any broken stems. Beneath the new three way mix is quite a heavy clay, which she has expressed concern about, a concern I share...but, the soil's properties are not unexpected, all things considered - so we just have to work with what we're given this year and hope for the best.
Some will require staking.

Before and after additions to the soil; the three piles delivered by LCR have now been distributed between Connie's tomato garden, and two 30x15 FSRN plots at the south end.

Many thanks to the help from the Physical Plant/Grounds for moving the soil from one end of the garden to the other!!!



Jeff is going to come rototill it all again - time permitting, hopefully on Friday. :)

planting map FSRN 2008

for reading in a bathtub:
Harborne, Jeffrey B., and Herbert Baxter. Chemical Dictionary of Economic Plants: Dictionary of Useful Plant Products. 2001
0471492264