Braun Building cherry trees

Braun Building cherry trees June 5 2008

White Way of Delight

Jasmine S., student and eager volunteer to the FSRN garden project came to visit me today. Also a student of Scott's, fellow RB gardener, she came to collect her creative writing binder and to talk gardens.
And we did! I'm excited by her enthusiasm, even more excited because when we came to talk about the apple "orchard" I hope will be planted .....she spoke before me, when I mentioned a connection to literature there in 'the Avenue'...yelling out "White Way of Delight!" before I could finish. :D
I knew I wasn't alone in making these connections, these wonderful gardenerd connections between plants and literature. I see them all the time - but then I am somewhat surrounded in the both all day, every day. How lucky I am. Grin.

After speaking with Jasmine today, I'm convinced more than ever that those trees have to be planted. It will be delightful :)

possible garden plan 3

....if the weather holds up, Sara and I will be out there today using the measuring wheels from Geography. Trying to incorporate as many user uses as possible is a challenge (one I'm enjoying greatly) ...all is subject to change ;)

Sara's notes on deer fencing

Sara M:

"We finished putting up the deer fencing - it took a bit longer towards the afternoon as the wind picked up and made the work fussier. After we finished, I went around and secured spots that the wind had made apparent needed reinforcing. I think the fencing should be checked a few times over the next little while to see how it's holding up against weather.

One thing that I think definitely needs to be done is to apply some flagging tape or such to the fence. I noticed a few birds flying into it yesterday, and the man mowing the lawn pointed it out too. None of the birds seemed hurt, but it's probably best to not stress them out too much, as I'm sure we want to keep them around the garden area. I will bring some tape with me and do that today." (editorial comment: I've thanked Sara immensely for taking notice of this. av)

"We constructed "gates" out of the bamboo poles, and closed them with wire. (We left the equipment gate open, as there isn't anything to protect from deer yet.) I'm not sure how well they will stand up to use, as the poles are secured to the fencing by being woven through them, plus a little wire, but tend to slide around a bit anyhow. There is also an issue with ease of use, in that people will have to untwist some heavy wire to release the gate, maneuver it out of the way as it flops around, and then to close it put it back in the right place, push it into the ground and re-twist the wire. I'm trying to think a better system that will be easier to use and more durable.

The fence is in contact with the ground everywhere; not tight against it, but rather slightly folded and pooled, so an animal could squeeze in if it was determined and not too dumb (....) I'm not sure if smaller animals such as rabbits would be able to figure out they could get under the fence; more information needed on that to know if it's worthwhile to secure the fencing to the ground. We did a bit of a test and threaded the heavier wire through the bottom of a few sections of the fence to see if it helped pull it against the ground better. It's another finicky task, and it takes a bit of effort to get it pulled taut and tied off. The wire does give the bottom of the fence more structure, but I think to really make a big difference it would have to then be pinned to the ground with some sort of long heavy duty wire staple type thing. I'll take another look at it today and give it some more thought." (as did I)

"As it stood yesterday, we didn't think there was much call to put wire in the top of the fence. The only reason I could see that being useful is if the fence really doesn't hold up to well to weather."
(....)

"Roy and I felt bad clogging up poor Connie's office with all the tools and leftover fencing at the end of the day!" (there's nothing like a little bit of leftover fencing and garden tools in an academic office, especially when annual reports are due and courses are pending...)
We're working on finding a -found shed- anything to serve the purpose for the season. We'll work on a better structure in the near future (aaahh, what winter is for..).

The department of Geography is kind enough to loan us a measuring wheel for marking the beds and more; I think we should invest in/find our own - this will be a useful tool. I'm also looking to find a reel mower. av

amysgarden June 2008

• amysgarden and Amy have been in negotiations since May 4th. The few who rose up in protest were promptly planted in front of the house along the walk & steps to the front porch. They may not remain forever, but needed to be saved.
  There was once a garden bed in the location; found objects included some flagstone, a pair of old socks, more cigarette butts than I care to ever think of again, and lots of crabgrass. I transplanted a shrub of unknown identity (we'll know in a few weeks - he'll talk) to the other side of the overgrown-but-not-brown cedar. Around the cedar I planted: the southern elder, an astilbe, Annabelle, some hostas that were reaching their roots out of the pot they were moved in, clumps of forget-me-nots (blooming profusely) and ajuga (wow, that'll spread yes, but who's in control here? Me or them? ME.), John Davis, pig squeak and lamb's ear, oh and I planted the goat's beard - which ultimately will have to move...either he or the cedar (personally I'd rather lose the cedar and live with the elder, Annabelle, and the Goat's Beard...but, alas, 'tis not my tree). Some lungwort went in and is showing bloom buds today wow, coral bells, some fall color in veronica and rudbeckia, sedum fire, and also St. John's Wort and Sweet Woodruff to fill in and around. The pots are filled with a blood leaf plant and a hosta, the window box with varieties of coleus, lime potato vine, black potato vine, and vinca.
  
  I do not know when I did this - it's all a blur now.
  
  The back yard is an array of forget-me-nots, dandelions, thistle, ferns and lily-of-the-valley. I've offered up every valley lily to Karen of the Schmidt Sisters, the forget-me-nots are going to have to be donated elsewhere (Hannah's school? guerrilla gardening at LU?) I think I have enough for both *and* a small village continent.
  I've told it and the rest of amysgarden (waiting patiently - and well - in pots back there) to wait until July....when I might get a day off. ;)

UConn raises honey bees to supply dining hall ...so could we

BY GRACE E. MERRITT COURANT STAFF WRITER
June 1, 2008
The Hartford Courant

"In a great green meadow, behind a forgotten apple orchard, 100,000 bees got to work Saturday making honey for University of Connecticut dining halls.

Two university dining service employees gently shook the bees, shipped in from Georgia, into 10 new hives Saturday afternoon, making UConn probably the first college in the country to make its own honey for its dining halls.

By next year, UConn hopes to produce as much as 2,000 pounds of honey from the hives, more than half the 3,800 pounds the university kitchens use a year in marinades, sauces and baked goods.Starting an apiary seemed like a logical, if novel, step in UConn's efforts to serve more locally grown food, part of a national trend in college dining services to become more environmentally conscious." ....

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Google Earth garden

deer deer go away....

Today:
Sara and Roy attached the netting to the fence posts using garden wire. :)
I sat in the Ryan Building with the heat on. :(
Jeff rototilled. :)

recent visitors to the FSRN garden

chipping sparrow













robin

the ram pump and some Google Earth images

The gardens of Heligan inspired me to want a hydraulic RAM PUMP for the FSRN garden. The Conservation Authority replied and said there is nothing preventing us from pumping water from the McIntyre River for our garden project. I have sent a proposal to engineering - there's a student project opportunity here.

Of all the possible resources for water near our garden site, the river makes most sense. I would still like to prospose something to administration about a grey water system out of the Fieldhouse (especially considering the upcoming renovations to the pool); but the ram would be a great example to communities wanting to learn - easily implemented, simple design, everyone wins.

There are three huge piles of delicious soil and manure on site. Were it not under a downpour I would have climbed it.
The fencing is in, thanks to Connie - now ...to install it. No buttons! ;)

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