Veggie Garden Info

perfect parsnips

Original post from sustainable garden

A story needs a happy ending.
And my search for perfect parsnips has reached that point.

You may remember that I was struggling to get my favourite vegetable to germinate. Parsnips take an age to germinate and this leaves them vulnerable to fluctuations in soil temperature and soil water content.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Fruiting and nutting trees for Ottawa

Original post from Veggie Patch Re-Imagined

So what if nutting is not a word, I'm using it anyhow. And yes this article is way later than I intended. My excuse is that there was a minor event outside of the internet world that I had to attend to. Now I wired back in so hopefully all future articles will be on time ;-)

Here is a list of plants that bear edible fruit and nuts for the Ottawa area:

Short plants

Cranberry - A native north American species that needs a moist, acidic soil rich in organic matter for best production. Vaccinium macrocarpon is the large fruited variety grown commercially and Vaccinium oxycoccus is a dwarf variety sometimes called moss cranberry.

Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) - Another north american. This creeping dogwood likes to live in the understory of a deciduous forest with lots of cool, humusy leaf litter. Generally, I've heard that the taste is 'okay.'

Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) - The fruit of this understory plant is also edible but as it has so many warnings attached to it, I'd prefer just to grow it for its attractive appearance and the fact that it is a native rather than as food. But if the fruit is RIPE you can eat it according to most sources. Like I said, doesn't make you run out and grab a handful.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

From seed to seedlings

Original post from The Inadvertent Gardener.

On Sunday afternoon, I returned to the scene of my planting back in December. Although I’d seen pictures that demonstrated actual seedling growth, I did have some trepidation, imagining the bed that I planted to be barren (again, I had seen pictures of radish seedlings, but they were up close and, well, PhotoShop is a powerful program), while the bed Cameron planted to be lush and filled with vegetables.

Luckily, I was wrong. Of course, I was standing on Anita and Cam’s upstairs deck, pointing out seedlings like a cartographer, and from there, it appeared there was a Very Large Hole in the center of the bed I worked on.

“Down there are the radishes,” I told a friend who was patiently taking the aerial tour.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Where Your Garden Seeds Come From

Original post from Bifurcated Carrots

98% of the worlds seeds come from one of six companies:

Monsanto
Syngenta
DuPont
Mitsui
Aventis
Dow

If you don’t make a concious decision to buy your seed from somewhere else, they will almost certainly come one of these companies.

There are two kinds of seed retailers.  The first kind simply resells seeds from these companies, a commercial seed retailer.  While it’s not impossible that some of your seeds may come from somewhere else, these retailers enter into very restrictive marketing agreements and promise never to clearly label their seeds for what they are.  Instead they use marketing terms like ‘old style’ or ‘like what your grand mother grew’ or even ‘heirloom’ (because this is not a legally defined term).

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Make a worm bin out of a bath tub

Original post from The Cheap Vegetable Gardener.

Over at LifeBoat Farm they have created this great DIY Worm Farm out of an old bathtub.  What I like about this build is they could have easily taken the bathtub propped it up on some cinder blocks and have been done with it.  They took the extra effort with the wood enclosure (with bonus storage shelf) and proper drainage making use of the actual drain it almost appears that this is the true use for this bath tub.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

27/1/2009: Garden Log January 2009

Original post from Mas Du Diable

Another spell away from home, and the January garden is lagging behind. When family are not close by it does impact more when you are needed. Otherwise a few things did get done in the garden this month and there's some lovely vegetables and fruit are ready to pick.


The Lemon tree, I bought in Italy last winter, has been overwintering in the potting shed to protect it from freezing temperatures and has started to produce its first crop this month.

PLANTS & HARVESTING JANUARY
Plants are incredibly resilient and after a few days under snow most sprang back to life unharmed to provide a tasty harvest, as the snow melted away.

Images Leek (Bleu de Solaise) ready to start harvesting, Black Tuscan Kale ready to pick, last of the bell peppers from the polytunnel, rocket leaves still fresh and ready to pick after the snow and a harvest of Turnips (Rave D'Auvergne)

See many pictures and read the rest of this post HERE.

First Signs of Spring?

Original post from Down on the Allotment

The days are surely getting longer now. The first shoots of my rhubarb have started to show their heads above ground. My main rhubarb patch is now 3 years old and is growing bigger and stronger day by day. I have mulched my main rhubarb patch with 4 or 5 inches of well matured horse manure compost. This little chap below is a second patch that I am trying to get rid of at the moment. I think I will try forcing this crown of rhubarb. You can only really force rhubarb crowns after they are well established because it puts quite a strain on the plant. The trick is to exclude all light from the growing sticks so that they are sweeter and more tender. I have a large flowerpot I think I will use, unless I can find an unwanted black dustbin!

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Time to Chit This Year’s Potatoes

Original post from My Tiny Plot.

Yey! After a long, long wait it’s time to start chitting Potatoes. The garden centres and seed merchants are selling or delivering seed potatoes as from now so why not get stuck in and start yours off. I headed to the garden centre last weekend to buy mine. I went for Winston (First Earlies or New Potatoes to you and I) because the label said they had good blight resistance. 

I didn’t have any trouble with blight on my Potatoes last year but (as with everyone’s) my Tomatoes were ruined by blight and so I’m taking no chances this year. I’ll be opting for resistant varieties of everything capable of catching even the slightest bit of blight.

Read the rest of this post HERE.