deer fencing for the FSRN garden

Many thanks to Matt for the driving in the posts for what is to become our deer fence. The poles are 8' in length, driven in the ground 2' 10 yards apart. We've allowed for a 6' edge around the perimeter of the garden - which will hopefully one day be an accessible boardwalk.

Connie has arranged for 25 units of light weight nylon mesh fencing to be sent from the Gardener's Supply Company. Each roll is 7' x 100' with mesh openings of 5/8 in. x 3/4 in.



I've had two loads of 8 cubic yards of three way soil brought in, along with 8 cubic yards of composted manure.
Supplied by LCR Estates, not far from the university on Oliver Road and staying in the theme of local resources, I'm impressed with the quality - though have to admit that 24 cubic feet of good soil looks more like an ant hill than a heap when dumped on such a garden site. Of course, I went and stuck my bare feet in it immediately.



Joining me now as the Campus Garden Assistant is Sara - who brings both a biology/chemistry element, along with a flare for theatre and and an enthusiasm for Food Security. :)

Food Security resources

• Ontario Food Security & Nutrition Network
  
  
• Thunder Bay Disctrict Health Unit - Food Security
  
  
• Centre for Studies in Food Security - Ryerson University
  
  
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Food Security
  

The Lost Gardens of Heligan

I'm currently lost in the gardens of Heligan, thanks to another book my mother gave me:
Smit, Tim. The Lost Gardens of Heligan. Orion, London 1997. 978-0575402454

I encourage everyone to look up this garden restoration. In Cornwall county, UK, the Heligan estate, home to the Tremayne family for many generation, fell in to ruin with the onset of WWI. Generations of gardeners from thisfamily and the area contributed to this masterpiece over hundreds of years.
Tim Smit writes a well told story of his role. His passion for his project is evident in his language. I love this book.


Next, I have in my hand here - a *murder mystery* set in the Lost Gardens of Heligan. :D

Patricia found Edwinna

A while back I published a list of books I wished I owned. My mother made it so that I now do own two jewels on the list. I couldn't have been more surprised. Out of print, neither easy to get your hands on - she did. They're fabulous. Grin.

Von Baeyer, Edwinna. Rhetoric and Roses: A History of Canadian Gardening, 1900-1930. Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Toronto, (1984), Ist ed.. 197 pp hard cover 0889029830
~ which tells the story of the development of Canada's civic gardens, railway gardens, parks, and the growth of horticultural and agricultural programs across the country.

Von Baeyer, Edwinna, Crawford, Pleasance, Eds.. Garden Voices: Two Centuries of Candian Garden Writing. Vintage, 1997. 9780679308607

From the Publisher
Garden Voices is the first anthology of Canadian garden writing to celebrate the legions of gardeners, from every decade since the 1790s, and from every province and territory. Listen to L.M. Montgomery as she describes the Prince Edward Island garden where she played as a girl and to Mackenzie King as he designs a balustrade for his Kingsmere retreat in 1931. A delightful read and the perfect gift for the armchair or active gardener, Garden Voices will instill in any garden enthusiast the perennially hardy spirit of Canadian gardening.


Henrietta Wood 1917
"My Garden - 1917: A Dream"

Dorothy Perkins
1918
From "The Kitchen Garden and Production", in The Canadian Garden Book

on community gardening in Toronto:

Trevisanutto's today

the buzziness of beekeeping

Surrounding the dandelion this bee landed on last year in my backyard are white crabapple flower petals. They fell like snowflakes, and looked like small feathers floating between the blades of grass.

Established in 1881, the Ontario Beekeepers' Association is one of the oldest established farm organizations in Ontario, and was founded even before the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs: Apiculture infosheets and 2003 Beekeeping Industry Commodity Profile

..and from the Canadian Honey Council:

• It takes one colony of honey bees (around 30,000 bees) to pollinate an acre of fruit trees. Pollination success increases if there are more honey bees present at the time of peak flowering.
  
• The value of bees pollinating fruits vegetables and legumes is 10 times the value of honey produced (over $1 billion in Canada)

A Guide to Managing Bees for Pollination
Published by the Canadian Association of Apiculturists
c/o Dr. Cynthia Scott Dupree
Dept. of Environmental Biology
University of Guelph

The Value of Bees to Pollination
(originally printed in Hivelights Vol 14 (4):15-21 November 2001
Agriculture and Agri-Food CanadaMarket and Industry Services BranchHorticulture and Special Crops Division)

Trevisanutto's yesterday

LUCK Garden

a young tomato plant in my office: planted & grown by Euan Pound (age 5)
and given to me :D

I've been thinking about having some giant letter shaped raised beds constructed for the children's garden. I've seen this sort of thing in children's gardens (giant A B C raised beds / planters) - perhaps a large L and a U. How about a C for Campus and K for Kids, spelling LUCK? Lakehead University Campus Kids garden. :)
...or maybe just an L and a U...*shrug*, who knows...

• 
  
  native plants
  
  
  
• 
  
  sustainable water catchment systems
  
  
  
• 
  
  an ethnobotanical First Nations garden
  
  
  
• 
  
  a butterfly and bird habitat garden (in the surrounding area & greenspace)
  
  
  
• 
  
  children's art (painted benches and garden seats, watering cans, poles and structures for fun climbing plant projects)
  
  
  

varieties to consider planting with children:
~ Genovese Basil: as an example of an organic pest deterrent
~ Royal Burgundy Bush and Pole Beans: the purple beans that change from purple to green when cooked, and purple potatoes (Russian Blue)
~ Chioggia Beets: mild white and red striped beets
~ Tomatoes: Yellow pears, green striped Zebras, Paul Robesons, Amish Paste, German Giants, and Grape

• Edible flowers such as Nasturtium, viola, chives and other cooking herbs.
• Big seeds for little hands such as corn, beans, sunflowers; fast producers including radish, beets, lettuces, thumblina carrots; and instant gratifiers such as cucumbers, edible-podded peas and beans that can be eaten in the garden.
• Alphabet gardens - to help children remember the common names of flowers.
• Other theme garden ideas: a pizza wheel, and a salsa garden.

Eating the Alaphabet
by Lois Ehlert
978-0152010362
(see also: Growing Vegeltable Soup )







I Eat Vegetables
by Hannah Tofts
978-1840890280








I will not ever NEVER eat a tomato
(in pop-up!)
by Lauren Child
978-0763637088

Trevisanutto's today

gardenerd

The two Little Thinker Shakespeares pictured below live in the English Department.

They are currently playing a game of Go Fish in the department display case with my playing cards - which I used to keep in the pocket of my apron at the greenhouse .... ;) Almost all of the flowers on the cards grow native around here - or are available at the nurseries.
The one that look like Dracula belongs to Monica Flegel, the other is mine - my daughter is afraid of his eyebrows. Silly as they are, we love our Williams. :)

Gardens and literature, literature and gardens.

Shakespeare's Flowers playing cards

the dish I'm in

I was thinking today about life, the basics - elements...thinking about soil. Putting it all together for the FSRN garden, thinking about the "rugby soil".
I have a strong but fuzzy memory of my Dad sitting on the edge of my bed when I was young, home sick. He's dressed and ready for work, and he has come in to say goodbye - but before he leaves he tells me all about the cells in my body, and bacteria, and the importance of building as many healthy cells in my body so they could be a strong army against the ones that were making me sick. He explained it such a way that I was left feeling like I'd been placed in a petri dish; but I understood "sick" in different way than before, and it made sense. He placed me in numerous petri dishes, and I'm glad he did - because I called upon that nook in my memory today, thinking about soil.
Seeds and soil I should say. I 'm planning for seeds, ordering seeds, but not knowing yet what the story of the soil is. From pig farm to rugby field to FSRN garden/habitat and so it unfolds... I couldn't think about the seeds without thinking about the soil, and what the soil needs in order to provide optimum nutrients to our food plants so that our food can provide optimally for us.
...Can I seriously send out a communications bulletin requesting donations of earthworms? The compost trench will have to be a project and on-going experiment in itself. Building up the soil; beginning and thinking about the basics.

Years ago my mother gave me this book; now tattered (not torn) and very well read. It too changed the way I think about "me", biologically, and how I feed my body. I see myself standing there in the FSRN garden, in my pink boots (which just might be a tad too big in scale in my sketches) feeling like just another small (but important) organism with this huge dish around me....I think and I wonder: who am I swimming with, what is all here, how does this all fit together? So many questions. I do know that if I feed it well, it will feed me well - and that is all it really boils down to. Building blocks.


On Food and Cooking
The Science and Lore of the Kitchen

Harold McGee
Scribner, New York
978-0684800011

this book will change the way you think about food forever




soil brainstorm:

seeding

....ordering seeds from Salt Spring Seeds , also finding:

• for the kids: bean-keepers from evergreen.ca
• planetnatural.com
• avant-gardening.com organic gardening tips