This year’s Calendula Flowers blooming in my garden.

I must admit that I’m a girl who loves her bling, which is probably why I am so stoked that the calendula flowers in my veggie garden are finally starting to bloom. They don’t have any particular fragrance and their flavour is nothing to speak of, but their clipped petals scattered over a soon to be consumed menu item provide a confetti of vibrant orange and yellow that thrills me to no end.

A member of the daisy family, the name Calendula stems from the Latin word kalendae, meaning first day of the month, presumably because pot marigolds are in bloom at the start of most months of the year. This is uncanny, as this year’s bumper crop began to sport its blossoms last Saturday, the 5th of June.

As for its medicinal effects, calendula extracts have been found to have anti-viral, anti-genotoxic and anti-inflammatory properties. It is also used topically in tinctures to treat acne, reduce inflammation, control bleeding and to sooth irritated tissue and dermatitis.

Thus far, I have enjoying this dynamic daisy strictly for its garnish factor. The Casesar Salad photo below is of a recipe from Day 95 of my 100 Day Raw Challenge last summer. See how much fun a salad can be? Other edible flowers that I enjoy are chive blossoms, nasturtiums and lavender blossoms….. but none quite so much as the calendula.

Zingy Caesar Salad

One of the biggest perks to come from having my own veggie garden this summer has been the plentiful supply of edible flowers. Both nasturtium and calendula petals have been decorating many of my creations, providing a cheery, colourful, confetti like effect. Their flavours are mild and their textures delicate. In short….. they make one’s food look really pretty.

This hummus recipe was my first attempt at actually using flowers in a dish, rather than on top. The combination of nasturtiums and arugula leaves create an earthy, very peppery taste and vibrant green colour that really amp up an otherwise predictable chick pea dip.

Girlie Hummus (with Arugula and Nasturtium Blossoms)

1 can of chick peas (540 ml), rinsed and drained
2 c arugula, lightly packed
7 nasturtium flowers (6 for hummus + 1 for garnish)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 c tahini paste
1/2 t salt
juice of 1 lemon
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2-3 T water

Add all ingredients to the food processor, except for the water. Whirl to combine. Add the water, continuing to process until smooth (about 1 minute). Add extra water if needed. Garnish with a small drizzle of olive oil + 1 nasturtium blossom.

I’ve been waiting for this moment since mid February…. the experience of eating food grown with my own two hands. Ironically, the seedlings started last winter were not the first to yield sustenance. It was the radishes and salad greens planted outdoors, straight from seed some 5 weeks ago, that grew most rapidly. So far, the harvest tastes as you would expect: fresh, crisp and gloriously flavourful.

Tomatoes growing in the sun room.

It seems like forever since mid February, when the tomato seeds were first planted into their tiny little peat filled trays. Gardener’s Delight, Black Krim, Kootenai and Green Zebra are the 4 varieties that are growing almost right under my eyes. Nurturing duties include daily watering, trimming back the leaves (to build hardy stalks and encourage a higher yield of fruit) and multiple transplants. Last night’s upgrade was to roomier 8″ pots plus heaps of extra (and super stinky) amending soil….. and they still have a long way to go. They will not be planted outside until sometime in June. Just when will be determined by how chilly the nights are. But lookie there! That yellow blossom holds the promise of good things to come. I can hardly wait…..

Tomatoes and parsley transplants started from seed only 7 weeks ago.

I know, I know…..I’ve been a lame ass blogger lately. Truth is, I’ve been spending more time toiling in the dirt than cookin’ in the cucina. Since planting the first seedlings back in mid February, a lot has happened. The broccoli and cabbage had to be culled, as they grew too ‘leggy’ and were apparently destined to produce puny amounts of food- simply not worth the real estate available come planting time. Otherwise, it has so far been a smashing success (leeks, parsley, kale, fennel, eggplant and 4 varieties of tomatoes to date….. all thriving, with heaps more to follow). Keep in mind that I am not going this alone, but am operating under the careful watch of my fabulous gardening advisor, Sylvia Pendl (we have been sharing costs and will be dividing all transplants equally come planting time). These days, I am simply following ongoing instructions and am as surprised as anyone when witnessing each phase of this great mystery unfold.

Currently, most of the action is taking place in my little south facing sun room. What started as 3oo little seedlings taking up less than one square metre of surface area has exploded into a full blown nursery. Since mid March, I have been gradually transplanting the various seedlings, each into their own 4″ round pot, and not always alone. Sometimes Sylvia drops by to inspect their progress and also to partake in the transplanting. Now the sun room is so packed with pots, I’ve been outfitting makeshift tables from old doors and pieces of dry wall propped up on cinder blocks and improvising ’side tables’ by turning wooden crates on their sides. I’m telling you- it’s a jungle in there.

At the same time all of this has been happening, I have also been slowly chipping away at prepping what will soon become the next home for this village of transplants. I am fortunate enough to have a juicy, south facing plot to work with (5 feet deep x 30 feet long), though it has required a Herculean effort of weeding and aerating. I had foolishly estimated this task to take an afternoon or two. Not! I’ve been chipping away at it for well over a week now, despite the generous assistance I received from a couple of pals. After hauling over one hundred pounds of clumpy weeds, vines and gnarly root systems to the back alley compost, the plot is finally ready for the 3 raised beds plus 4 cubic yards of amending soil that shall make up the next phase.

Stay tuned for more dirty talk and heavy lifting.

While perusing Wednesday’s New York Times, I happened upon this informative little gem from Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International…..a Maine-based nonprofit network of 10,000 gardeners from 100 countries who are inspiring and teaching more people to grow some of their own food. They are also the coordinators of Eat the View- a campaign to plant high-impact food gardens in high-profile places. They collected over 100,000 signatures on a petition asking the Obamas to lead the way by replanting a kitchen garden on the First Lawn. Michelle Obama recently announced that she would be planting a vegetable garden on the South Lawn. Digging began last Friday. This will be the first vegetable garden at the White House in over 60 years, since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden during World War II.

The film is by Eliot Morrison of yiggs.com.

Sylvia Pendl’s garden journal illustration of ‘The Month of June’.

For the past 5 years I have been renting in a house with heaps of yard space and a healthy serving of southern exposure. On the downside, the soil quality is about as fertile as Saturn. It’s dusty, powdery and grey and I’m sure to blame for my garden’s mediocrity to date, despite my occasional yet optimistic additions of top soil and compost. But this year things are going to be different. It’s time to take the plunge…. but not without supervision.

As luck would have it, my good friend, Sylvia Pendl, just so happens to be a horticultural goddess. Not only is she an uber talented landscape architect, but also a very accomplished home gardener, ceramic artist, home renovator and, in my case, patient educator. I hope that she does not live to regret the day she decided to team up with yours truly, to assist me in realizing my dream of creating a real live producing vegetable garden all my own, while at the same time preparing her own garden for another year of bounty. There is a whole heap of prep to do if my project is to stand a chance of suc-seeding. So here is the plan:

1-Transforming my un-insulated sunroom into a greenhouse and using it to grow all our seedlings. Seeds and seedling trays and soil have already been purchased. A table for the trays was created by putting an old door on a fold out card table (my parent’s first table from their first apartment some 44 years ago) and covering the horizontal surface with a plastic sheet. The first round of seeds were put in on February 14, as follows: broccoli, cabbage, 3 kinds of eggplant, fennel, kale, leeks, parsley and 4 kinds of tomatoes. So far, encouraging growth has been demonstrated by the broccoli, cabbage, kale and leeks. Word is, it is normal for the other seedlings to take a little longer to sprout. The seedlings require a very delicate irrigation technique. Each morning I mist water on them (with one of those spray bottles some of us used to use for cooling ourselves off during especially hot afternoons of sun tanning) and then turn them ¼ rotation. As instructed, I also place their lids slightly ajar for the day, so they don’t get all drippy with condensation and turn rotten and moldy on us. Then I put their lids down for the night, just like tucking in a toddler at bedtime.

2-Building 3 raised beds totaling 60 square feet of new food growing land and gathering various garden pots from secondhand stores in preparation for additional container gardening.

3-Filling new beds and containers with 3 cubic yards of soon-to-be-delivered amendment soil which will one day fortify and nurture the seedlings, so they may grow and prosper.

4- Learning how to water, weed and maintain all of this wonder, so it will one day grow up and become beautiful, gorgeous food.

5-Saving our seed, so that the whole miraculous cycle can be repeated again next year.

Shopping for seeds.

Feb. 22- Our broccoli seedlings are growing fast!

So far so good. In typical form, I am both excited and impatient. I want to be plucking salad from the raised beds yesterday, but the yard is still hard with frost. I know this year will bring a wealth of learning as well as immense joy and satisfaction…..All in good time, for you can’t rush nature. Stay tuned for the next installment of our gardening project, as we continue on our adventures….. from dirt to dish…..

A Vancouver backyard bursting with bounty…..planted (and tended) by City Farm Boy.

“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens.”- Thomas Jefferson

I find it more than a little surprising (and embarrassing) that, at the ripe old age of 40, I have never grown a vegetable garden of my own. Sure, I love to visit farms and farmers any chance I get…..and I am always keen to experience just about anything grown locally, yet I remain hopeless at doing for myself. And I’m not the only one. Last spring Nicholas Read (age 51), columnist for The Vancouver Sun, was ashamed to find himself still unable to grow a carrot. Driven by his resolve to do something about it, he offered up his volunteer services to Ward Teulon, owner and operator of City Farm Boy, in exchange for some good, old fashioned, hands on learning. As a companion to his experience, he has written a series of blog entries documenting his weekly gardening sessions.

Beets fresh from the soil in downtown Vancouver.

Clearly, there is a growing interest within our society around what we eat and where it is from. And my spidey senses are telling me that there are many adults in our communities who have never learned how to grow their own food, but are keen to learn how. I believe there is a strong need (and potential small business opportunity) for workshops and courses. Imagine knowledgeable, passionate teachers who could empower us with the skills, resources and ability to build raised beds, assemble pots, prepare soil and compost, plant seeds, grow seedlings, irrigate, harvest and, finally, save our seeds for the next planting season. Whether in our own backyards, balconies or community and school gardens…..we have so much space, so much potential to be growing (at least some of) our own food. I’d sign up. In fact, I did.

My own new found success this past summer, growing my own planters of tomatoes, peppers and basil, had me down right giddy…..and wanting more. As luck would have it, last August brought an answer to my prayers. A professional agrologist since 1989, Ward of ‘City Farm Boy’ was offering an all day workshop on how to grow food in your backyard, your neighbours backyard and even on a downtown rooftop. Count me in.

Ward started ‘City Farm Boy’ in 2007, growing vegetables in 4 Vancouver private backyards (all within a five kilometer bicycle ride from his East Vancouver home) and selling his produce to the public at both the Riley Park and West End Farmers Markets. Though he is not certified organic, all of his food is grown using only organic methods. The media is fond of Ward’s growing business…..and not only does it make for a great story, it has gotten the word out. He has received literally 100’s of offers from homeowners wanting him to cultivate their properties. At last count, he was up to 14 gardens, including a rooftop garden in Yaletown (the only exception to his 5 km rule).

His one day workshop was developed to teach anyone interested not only how to grow food in their own backyard, but also how to emulate his model of growing on other people’s properties and organizing to sell at local Farmers Markets. I wasn’t that ambitious…..but I did learn a great deal during our day together, as we toured through 4 of his gardens and received oooodles of useful information and resources. Six hours later I left with a clear and ambitious vision of my (spring 2009) project. As I am blessed to live in a house with a south facing backyard that is simply begging for TLC (Tender Loving Cultivation), my edible garden will include 3 raised beds, heaps of new soil and a timer-set irrigation system. Totaling about 60 sq feet, it will be a big project; one that will probably cost me more in time and money than if I were to buy my produce from Farmers Markets throughout the entire growing season. But that’s simply not the point. I already have a ‘night before Christmas’ excitement for next year’s garden. I can’t wait to find out what I will (successfully) grow and, most important of all, what I will learn. Ward’s next workshop will take place on Saturday, October 4 and he still, at the time of this post, has a few Farmers Market dates left.

What you are looking at is my very first successful attempt at growing food. Two months ago I brought home 3 little tomato plants and plopped them into a container along with some potting soil and a large heaping of hope. Despite the fact that I had (unknowingly) crammed them into far too small a space for the amount of real estate that they would eventually require, they have grown beautifully. Each time I walk by them I am as pleased and proud as a new parent, feeling a sense of awe and wonder for their progress and for the miracle of life. Tonight I plucked the first few ripe ones, to eat with a simple salad. They were so incredibly sweet and flavourful, as if someone had taken a syringe and injected a fantastic salad dressing right into their centres. To say that I am encouraged would be an understatement.

“The best fertilizer is the gardener’s shadow.” -Author Unknown

Just as a kitchen is often the heart of a home, a vegetable garden can also bring people together…..family, friends, neighbours and sometimes even strangers. Though my pal, Heather is an urban gal like myself, she is fortunate enough to have direct access to the farm experience through her own immediate family. And because she is my pal, last weekend I was fortunate enough to see it for myself, as she had kindly invited me to join her in visiting her sister, Moira and brother-in-law, Brent. For the past 18 years, they have been living on a picturesque 14.5 acre spread in the equally picturesque area of Courtenay / Comox. Located about half way up the east coast of Vancouver Island, the journey from Vancouver involves a 1.5 hour ferry ride to Nanaimo, followed by a 112 km drive up island….making for a total travel time of about 5 hours, door to door.

When approaching their property, it is a garden that is the first to greet visitors. When first meeting Moira and Brent, their connection to the land and its rhythms become immediately apparent, in their pace and in their communication style. Somehow, they seem graciously direct, more thoughtful than your average urbanite in their (un)natural setting. On the second day of our visit, Brent led Sunday afternoon’s lunch guests on a walking tour of the land. As we made our way through the beautifully scenic wooded trails towards the Tsolum River and the family swimming hole, I asked him when he had last been on this particular walk. After an unhurried pause to recollect, his response was charming and typical of someone so in harmony with their environment, “During the last full moon”.

Occupying some 1/4 acre (about 10,000 plus sq. ft.), they have created 2 separate gardens mostly to grow food for themselves. They supplement their diet with other foods such as eggs from the neighbours and venison salami (yum), which is processed locally from deer that Brent has hunted. Trade within the community is practiced simply for good will, friendliness and enjoyment. As I walked around the garden to make note of all that they grew, I realized that there were far too many items for me to list them all: A= arugula, B= blueberries, C= Carrots, D= Dill, E= Echinacea, F= Fennel, G=Green Onion…..all the way to Z= Zucchini. Because the garden yields far more than they could ever eat fresh, much of it is preserved for later use through freezing, canning (relish, chutney, fruit and tomato sauce), pickling and some drying. Other food, such as root vegetables and apples, are kept over the winter months in dry storage. While processing some food is neccessary, Brent says that the focus is still very much about eating fresh and extending the harvest. With proper planning and plant selection, fresh food can be made available from the garden almost year round. They have also developed a tea to sell; a blend of their own grown echinacea, ginger and mint. It is available at The Tea Centre in Courtenay (where it is sold as ‘Glacier Blend’) and also at Teaz in Vancouver (where it is sold as ‘Echinacea Blend’). For the last 15 years, they have run a large scale fish composting business which has not only provided an income, but has also greatly supporting their soil fertility and food production. Today, they continue to make compost on a smaller scale.

When I asked Moira how all this began, she said that before she and Brent had ever met, each of them already held a keen interest in owning their own land, growing their own food and feeding their (eventual) children well. When they finally did meet, their individual dreams became a collective one which they naturally incorporated into their new lives; first as a couple and, eventually, as a family with two boys. She chose to home school their children, which proved conducive to maintaining a large garden. This lifestyle was a commitment that required a great deal of time and hard work, void of financial reward. However, the experience worked out well, having provided a different kind of wealth, one without job burnout and poor eating habits, and one where teaching their children how to grow and appreciate good, healthy, fresh food has been just as important as any course in mathematics or chemistry.

According to Moira, as long as you grow food, you will never be lonely. I believe that she is right, and look forward to a return visit at the end of this summer, just as the garden’s bounty is ready for harvest. It will be exciting to see such growth, especially after witnessing its June beginnings. I also look forward to visiting my new friends…..and eating some more of that venison salami.

As a side bar, we were joined by another visitor that weekend. Third sister, Hornby Island based painter Coral Barclay, was in town to attend the Saturday night opening of her show of paintings at the Comox Valley Art Gallery. That evening we all joined her in celebrating her latest body of work, later going out for a glass of wine and….something to eat!