Climate Made-to-Order

I carry one hard and fast rule in my pocket whenever I am shopping for new plants, and that is "Right plant for the right place". If need be, I'll repeat the maxim to any others seeking plant advice too. That's because so many issues related to plant health can be traced back to microclimate. That being said, I make a big exception to the rule when it comes to growing fruits and vegetables.

Tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, and so many other edibles come with a list of growing requirements that would be impossible to fill by the maxim "Right plant for the right place". Hybridized for generations by gardeners who would go to any measure for the most plentiful, succulent harvest, most modern fruits and vegetables come with the need for pampering built right into their DNA. The astute gardener knows just how to tweak the growing environment to fit the requirements of each plant, starting with temperature.

Being from the west coast where the growing season begins weeks earlier, I was the first one at my community garden this year to have my vegetable plots weeded, amended and planted. I fussed over the vegetables to make them comfortable, but temperature weighed heavily on my mind. Aside from me being a little early to plant, it was an unusually cold start to spring. I put the three best tips I know for regulating heat to the test. These are them:

1) Water walls for the heat-loving tomatoes. Tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, squash, peas, beans are all products of pollinated flowers. Only once the plant has been coaxed into blooming and is then pollinated can it transform those flowers into the parts that we eat. All flower buds need a certain amount of warmth to open and for the pollen to ripen. That's where these ingenious water walls come in. I filled the inflatable parts with water and stuck them around three of my tomato plants. The water captures heat when the sun is shining, and retains the heat even after temperatures drop, creating nicely insulated air for the plants.

2) Rocks on the side. Just like the water walls, rocks soak up heat from the sun and that makes the air around them a little warmer. They release the heat so slowly that the air stays warm long after the sun is gone. This helps hasten cell division needed for shoot growth and blossoms, among other things. That's why the plants I grow around the gravel and cement areas of my yard are some of the first to pop up and flower.  I extended this idea to my veggie plots and placed rocks (all the ones I found when turning the soil over earlier this season) on the surface of the soil between the rows.

3) Wall flowers. My great uncle always kept a peach tree on the south side of his house. It was stuffed in a small patch of soil between the driveway and the chimney, but somehow it seemed to thrive. He became known through the neighbourhood for handing out large fuzzy peaches at the end of summer, and certainly climbed the list of my favourite relatives for this reason. For a sun-loving plant like peaches, there is no better place to gather heat than a south-facing wall, especially one that is light in colour to reflect the sunlight. If you are in zone denial and want to grow plants that don't usually thrive in your region, get access to one of these walls and you might be pleasantly surprised.

I always knew that water, rock, and southern exposure were great sources of retaining heat, but it's my first season putting that to the test with water walls and rock piles in the veggie patch. I was encouraged by posts from other bloggers like Cohocton River Rock Micro Farm. So far, I have been very pleased with the results! Besides the chard seeds that volunteered to grow between the gravel patio and the concrete pad, my tomatoes are flowering and fruiting prolifically, and my jalepenos came early.

Of course, there are times when too much heat is retained around vegetable plants. Even with the heat-loving plants, it takes some vigilance to make sure that high temperatures are not drying out the soil. Veggies like salad greens, braising greens, radishes and broccoli are getting too much heat when they begin to wilt or flower. Flowering takes nutrients away from radish roots and it's too late to harvest greens or broccoli when they have flowered. Since I planted a whole row of broccoli (my husband is a fan) and I wanted to preserve the flower buds (one of the parts we eat) for as long as it took the plants to become stalky, I shaded them with a row cover made of Reemay cloth. This also helps some of the pests stay off of the plants.

At the end of the day, pampering my vegetable plants with extra shade or heat, extra water, extra food, snipping and tying reminds me of how lovely it is to have other plants that don't need all of this. It's a thought to keep in mind whenever I'm tempted to make new additions to the garden.

Wordless Wednesday: Strawberry Blush

Easter Maple Candy

 Maple sugaring season may have ended in the first half of April, but the second half of April is a perfect time to drum up new maple recipes and give them a try. For Easter, I made maple candy eggs with this easy recipe:

1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
1/2 cup butter

It was a good year for sugaring at NCOF. Volunteers collected over 8000 gallons of sap from donated sugar maples, which was boiled into over 200 gallons of maple syrup!

You'll also need:
-A candy thermometer
-A deviled-eggs serving tray or other candy mold (see picture)
-Parchment paper

Candy thermometer and (Easter-themed)deviled-egg serving tray, both available at kitchen supply stores.

Pour the maple syrup into a medium-size, heavy-bottom pot. Attach the candy thermometer to the pot so that it will read the temperature of the syrup. Add butter put on medium-high heat until the temperature reaches 240 degrees F. (It will be boiling rapidly.)

Pour the 240 degree mixture into a pan with high sides, like a bread pan, to cool. In the meantime, cut out parchment paper to match the size and shape of each candy mold, then place the paper on the molds. When the syrup mixture has cooled to 110 degrees F, stir it rapidly. The color should be lighter and the consistency should be slightly plasticy.

After stirring, quickly fill each candy mold on top of the parchment paper with the syrup mixture. When it has cooled completely (about 10-15 min), remove the candy from the molds and enjoy!

Note: If you don't want all the fuss making of egg-shaped candy, but still want an Easter treat, you may also pour the syrup mixture when it is 110 degrees into a brownie pan lined with parchment paper and cut it into small 1/2" squares.

Tangy, Fibrous and Slightly Sweet

The leaves on this Japanese Knotweed are just beginning to unfurl.

If you've ever gardened on the margins of a boggy area, major roadway or forest, chances are you've come across this infamous weed. It grows in large, dense stands of hollow stalks which somewhat resemble bamboo, and can reach up to 10 feet in height.

The first time I saw it, I'll admit, I was somewhat taken with what seemed to be a wonderfully elegant perennial. It's leaves were large green hearts, it's blossoms were held in pendant, creamy sprays at the tip of each stalk, and the stalks curved ever so slightly with the weight of the blossoms. In the forest garden where they stood, next to black bamboo and framing the ocean just so,  it seemed as though they had been planted with an expert eye. I marveled at how I had never noticed them there, and how it was almost as if they had appeared out of nowhere. It wasn't long before I started noticing the same creamy sprays of flowers in a lot of other places, even on roadsides. I thought it must be a really popular plant, and was surprised that I hadn't already known about it. The nurseries I frequented didn't sell it, though I thought they should. How wrong I was.

It came upon me how wrong I was while I was listening to CBC radio one day as I weeded the garden (a staple for many Canadians who work with their hands, I think). I was listening very closely as the votes were coming in for Canada's most invasive weeds. Listener after listener called in to tell stories about weeds growing through pavement, weeds resisting all kinds of sharp tools, and weeds that have caused tough gardeners to ultimately surrender. As I listened, I realized many of the callers voted for a weed that was a dead ringer for the "elegant perennial" I had noticed. It was commonly called Japanese Knotweed, and it came out on top as Canada's most hated weed that day, over crabgrass, thistle and dandelions.

Needless to say, I began chipping away at that patch of knotweed in the woods, but my efforts to dig it up were only matched by the speediness of the smallest rhizomes to put on a spurt of growth. Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) is tolerant of most any soil or growing conditions. It grows fast, and can colonize abandoned spaces and fragile ecosystems alike. Since its introduction to the United States as an ornamental plant in 1910, it has made its way out of cultivation and onto invasive species lists of many states. My attitude toward the plant has changed in the same way.

I guess that's how I ended up with the asparagus-like weed on my dinner plate last night. After conversations with friends who had eaten the plant, plus a little bit of research, I was relishing the thought of snipping back tender new shoots and cooking them up! The patch where I foraged them is just beginning to sprout green shoots here and there, and the shoots are already starting to grow leaves. The shoots are most tender and flavorful before leaves come out, so I made sure to cut the youngest ones I could find.

Seeing as the stalks resembled asparagus so much in the way they looked, I steamed them to serve with fresh pasta, trout and peas. To my surprise, the taste was not at all like asparagus. They're the most similar thing to rhubarb I've ever tasted. They're tangy, fibrous, and slightly sweet, and the leftovers I have would be a great addition to quickbread or muffins. (New England wild edibles guru Russ Cohen recommends combining them with seasonal strawberries to make pie, and The Three Foragers tried using it to make wine.) Eating this weed is all in all a pleasant experience. Not only is knotweed pleasant to taste, but it's chalk-full of resveratrol, the antioxidant in grapes and wine that is becoming quite favorable. (For this reason, the knotweed is now being cultivated in China.)

Other invasive species I'd like to relish this season? Yes, plenty! I've got my eye out for garlic mustard, dandelion greens, European barberries, ramp, chickweed, and any other delectable edibles that dare to cross me.