PLANTWISE

Sugar Snaps & Strawberries: Simple Solutions for Creating Your Own Small-Space Edible Garden

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Nov 29, 2010 at 08:30AM 4 Comments

If you’re looking for a stylish yet substantial introduction to growing edibles in small spaces, you’re in luck: the perfect book has arrived. Sugar Snaps & Strawberries would make a fantastic gift for a brand-new gardener launching into his or her first garden, as well as for anyone seeking for inspiration and ideas to help them garden in a smaller space or wanting to maximize the space they have.

And while the book seems well-aimed toward the younger set, with delicious and enticing photos, beautiful production, smaller fonts (grammy here says, keep your reading glasses close!) and the author’s own quirky descriptions (“Heirloom vegetables… are often incredibly flavorful and weirdly beautiful”), it is in fact a thoroughly grown-up and sophisticated book. I was thrilled to discover that author Andrea Bellamy is serious about soil – and digs in clearly, concisely and understandably to some of the most important issues beginning gardeners face, including soil-building and compost, soil microorganisms, potting blends for containers, crop rotation and other sometimes neglected or sticky-to-explain topics.

I like her voice: it’s sparkly, bright, and experienced – like a best friend who happens to be a kick-ass gardener, explaining the important issues, practices and techniques to you as you move through the seasons. (Read more of her writing on her Vancouver, BC-based gardening blog, Heavy Petal.) I was impressed with her light-handed but meaningful coverage of some of the political issues involved in gardening: the politics of peat, open pollinated seed, and guerrilla gardening, for instance. The book’s ten chapters address topics including style; finding, assessing and building your space; planning and planting; maintenance; growing techniques including succession planting, interplanting and winter gardening; and harvest and propagation. Basically, that’s all the stuff you need to know to create and maintain a productive organic garden from absolutely nothing.

The book is intended for gardeners in any temperate climate but since the author is from Vancouver, BC – a similar climate to ours – her suggestions and ideas are spot-on perfect for our region. (It’s great to see her weeds… they are identical to the weeds growing in my own Portland, OR back garden.)

As mentioned before, the book’s design is super-spiffy and photographer Jackie Connelly has beautiful captured the beauty and fecundity of the vegetable and fruit plot. And the creative, stylish containers and small-space gardens presented are inspiring even to me, and I have a back yard!

Sugar Snaps and Strawberries: Simple Solutions for Creating Your Own Small-Space Edible Garden is due out December 15. Timber Press will notify you when the books arrive if you click here.

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Tags: Edible Gardening,

Visit Luscher Farm

Oregon Tilth Organic demonstration gardens, a clematis vine collection, community gardens, Three Rivers Land Conservancy trails and more

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Jun 30, 2010 at 06:00PM 0 Comments

Photo: Kate Bryant

There is a huge City of Lake Oswego community garden on the property – I’ve never seen so many creative and beautifully-maintained plots!

View Slideshow » Photo: Kate Bryant

There is a huge City of Lake Oswego community garden on the property – I’ve never seen so many creative and beautifully-maintained plots!

View Slideshow » Photo: Kate Bryant

A luscious clump of red Oswego tea (Monarda didyma) grew in one of the community garden plots. You can taste the sweet and spicy-floral nectar by pulling out the individual red tepals – the nectar collects at the base. Just make sure you have the right plant! (Thanks, Josh, for introducing me to this delicious treat.) Monarda is a fantastic hummingbird, butterfly and bee plant – but spreads a bit too fast in damp soil.

View Slideshow » Photo: Kate Bryant

Oregon Tilth’s Organic Education Center is at Luscher Farm. There are many demonstration plots showing food crops being grown using different methods. I gleaned some interesting ideas.

View Slideshow » Photo: Kate Bryant

One new thing I learned about my all time favorite food: potatoes can be grown in partial shade and within a bale of straw. Nice idea! Let me know if you want more info on doing this.

View Slideshow » Illustration: Clematis florida Sieboldii – a fussy customer but that’s never stopped clematis lovers from trying… this was in a greenhouse at the Rogerson Clematis Collection at Luscher Farm. View Slideshow » Illustration:

In flower now at the Rogerson Clematis Collection garden at Luscher Farm – Clematis crispa.

View Slideshow » Photo: Kate Bryant

Twining delicately around a bird bath, this pink clematis (Adagio) only grows a few feet tall – perfect for the small garden.

View Slideshow » Photo: Kate Bryant

The farmhouse is surrounded by blowsy cottage gardens stuffed with clematis vines, interplanted with shrubs and perennials. It’s a great place to see the versatility of clematis in the garden – they can twine up the trunk of a tree or into a shrub, wind up a trellis or tuteur in the traditional style, drape over a bird bath, or just twine through perennials, depending on the size and type.

Looking for inspiration or want to learn more about organic vegetable gardening? Interested in seeing a diversity of clematis vines in a lovely, cottage-garden setting? Or perhaps you’d just like to take a walk on one of the metro area’s Three Rivers Land Conservancy trails.

There’s a lot to do and see at Luscher Farm in West Linn. It’s a great field trip, including with kids – there is a historic bird house with cavorting chickens, pigeons, and small game birds, and plenty of room for kids to run and play.

During my visit with photographer friend Josh McCullough of Phytophoto, I took in the Oregon Tilth Organic Education Center and demonstration garden, the Lake Oswego Community Gardens and the Rogerson Clematis Collection. The Hazelia Field Dog Park is also on the property, as well as an athletic field and several CSA farms.

Click on the slide show (above) to get a little taste of what’s there – and do visit Luscher Farm soon. It’s a remarkable site, with sweeping views in all directions and so much inspiring vitality and diversity in the food gardens. There’s a fantastic story to the place posted on the wall of the historic bird house. Apparently, the property (including house, barn and outbuildings) was donated to the City of Lake Oswego by a retired farmer. It seems to me it’s being put to the best possible use by its current caretakers. You’ll leave feeling inspired.

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Tags: Slideshow, Flowers, Vegetables, Edible Gardening, Vines

Grafted Tomatoes

An old-fashioned technique with a new use for home vegetable gardeners

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Jun 21, 2010 at 09:22AM 3 Comments

There’s a new craze in grafted tomato plants this spring: – read about it here.

Grafting is an old-fashioned horticultural technique: it’s basically splicing plants, just like audio tape used to be spliced. It allows you to grow the desirable plant you want on a more vigorous root stock so you get faster (or slower) growth, disease resistance, and better or more fruit or flowers.

Fruit trees are often grafted to keep the tree height in check or improve vigor or adaptability. Wine grapes are nearly always grafted onto tough Vitus labrusca rootstock. Some roses are grafted, as well as witch hazels and many other ornamental plants.

Grafting tomatoes is a great idea for gardeners with tiny spaces or just room for one or two containers but who want more than one type of fruit (for example, a red cherry tomato and a yellow pear tomato): you can get more than one variety on a single plant. It’s also said to increase productivity so it could be nice for people who want lots of, say, Brandywine tomatoes, not just three per plant per summer (typical for this sometimes touchy but exquisitely desirable heirloom tomato).

The rootstocks used on grafted tomatoes are also disease resistant so should you have disease issues in your soil, the grafted plants might do better for you.

Apparently, vegetable grafting has been going on in commercial settings for years, both in the US and Europe. Eggplants and peppers are probably coming up next – stay tuned. Meantime, grafted tomatoes are available now at retail nurseries where Log House Plants are sold. They cost several times more than regular plants but you’ll be in the vanguard this spring and will definitely have bragging rights! I’m dying to see photos of producing plants so be sure to send me a photo if you try these grafted plants.

And here’s a video showing how tomatoes are grafted, courtesy of Johnny’s Seeds via Log House Plants:

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Tags: Vegetables, Gardening Tips, Container Gardening, Edible Gardening

Top Tomato Tip

Posted by: Kate Bryant on May 23, 2010 at 11:56AM 0 Comments

Kozy Kotes in action!

Doesn’t that title just sound like it belongs in an English gardening magazine? But usually it’s “Ten Top Tomato Tips”.

Today, however, there’s just one major tip on the agenda, and it relates to tomatoes and temperature.

Tomatoes are tropical plants and require warmth.

Yet as of today, the soil temperature in the area of my garden where my tomatoes will go barely exceeds the minimum for tomatoes: 50-55 F a full 2 inches deep. (Soil temps are still in the low 60s in that part of my garden.) Tomatoes survive at those temperatures, but don’t thrive. Why bother planting when the tomato plant will just sit and sulk? (Especially when the tomatoes in my warm windowsill indoors are growing like gangbusters.)

Here are some things you can do to evaluate the temperature and warm the soil for your tender crops:

Buy a soil thermometer, if you don’t already have one. (I saw them yesterday at Cornell Farm for $10.) Test the temperature of the soil in your vegetable garden first thing in the morning, two inches deep. For tomatoes to survive, soil temperatures should be 50-55 F (some varieties are more cold-tolerant than others). For tomatoes to really thrive, soil temperatures should be well into the 60s. Soil temperatures over 70 really spark growth.

To speed up the process of warming the soil, set up plastic “tents” – Kozy Kotes or Wall-’O-Water products – available at most retail nurseries – or use red or black plastic. This will help raise the soil temperature by a few meaningful degrees. The Kozy Kotes and similar products also keep the air around the plants warmer – especially important when temperatures have been dropping in to the low to mid 40s at night lately.

I haven’t planted my tomatoes out yet in my home garden. (Although some of my clients have extra-warm spots against the side of a building or in pots.) And my peppers and eggplant are probably a week or more away from being planted. Why? Because neither the soil nor the air are warm enough. My house heat, set at 55F, has been coming on for the past few days – a sure sign that it’s not warm enough to plant tomatoes without an extra-warm spot or a Kozy Kote. Surviving and thriving are two different things.

FYI: The optimum growing temperature (for air) for tomatoes is between 75ºF and 95ºF. Air temperatures below 57ºF delay growth and encourage tomato disease. If you wait just a bit longer and take steps to warm the soil, your plants will likely surpass those planted too early.

More tomato tips:

Rotate your tomatoes so that you aren’t planting them where they – or their close relatives (pepper, eggplant, and potato) – have been planted in recent years. This helps discourage disease.

Give your tomato plants room. Space typical staked tomatoes an absolute minimum of two feet apart to allow for air circulation and better light and to discourage disease. Three feet is a lot better.

When planting, bury your tomato up to the first set up leaves. The plants will root along the stem, helping to support strong, healthy growth, as well as deepening the root system – useful in our dry summer climate.

Pinching side shoots is a matter of preference. It hasn’t been shown to make a difference in productivity either way, although it can neaten a plant. And side shoots can produce fruit and flowers, contrary to what some people claim. However, you can speed fruit production in indeterminate tomatoes by pinching the terminal growth (top) towards the season’s end.

Water consistently – deeply and every few days. If the plants go dry in mid-summer, don’t go crazy compensating if the plant is loaded with fruit – this is what leads to fruit cracking. Instead, provide steady, regular moisture every few days, as the weather dictates.

Mulch the plants with mulch, straw, or shredded leaves after the soil has warmed up in early July. Mulch will help with splash-back from the soil, which could carry disease, especially if tomatoes have been grown there in the past. It also helps retain soil moisture during the dry summer months.

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Tags: Vegetables, Edible Gardening

Mushroom Hunting

Forage for delicious edible mushrooms right here in Portland

Posted by: Emma Hall on Apr 27, 2010 at 04:00AM 1 Comments

Photo: Emma Hall

A morel I found in Portland this past weekend

Gardeners know that there isn’t anything more satisfying than growing your own plants, caring for them and raising them, and then harvesting the fruits of your labor to eat or cook with.

A similar experience can be had with foraging for mushrooms, minus the months of growing, watering, and caring for your plants. Luckily Portland is the perfect place to find these delicious edibles.

Location: There are plenty of areas near—and even in—Portland to go mushroom hunting, but don’t expect to find any specific directions. Mushroom hunters like to guard their sources, but half the fun is the hunt anyway, so don’t be discouraged. Simply go to a local wooded area (not someone’s private property though!) and walk around slowly looking at the ground. Don’t worry if you don’t find a big haul on your first try!

One piece of advice on location is to make sure where you are going you have the right permits: either for simply parking in the area or even a mushroom gathering permit which is required in some areas. For more information, you can call the local Forest Service.

What to bring: Make sure you wear long pants and long sleeves, since you’ll be climbing around amidst briars and—ouch—stinging nettles. Comfortable walking shoes are a given. Bring something to protect your finds, such as paper bags (plastic bags will create a mushy mess by the end of the day) or wax paper, and a basket to put the mushrooms in so they don’t get crushed. A pocket knife can be handy for slicing your mushrooms in half to study them. And don’t forget to bring a mushroom identification guide! All That the Rain Promises and More by David Arora, is a great pocket-sized one that’s easy for beginners to use.

What to look out for right now: Two common spring mushrooms to find in the area are oyster and morel mushrooms.

Oyster mushrooms are found growing in clusters on trees, stumps, and logs. They are primarily white/tan with firm flesh and white gills. There are no lookalikes to worry about, though some people think they look vaguely similar to Crepidotus mollis, an unedible mushroom. These mushrooms are so delicious that they are commonly grown commercially now, but why spend money at the grocery store when you can go forage your own for free?

Another ‘shroom to be on the lookout for right now is a morel. This one is a little trickier for beginners to identify, but don’t worry, as there are clear differences between morels and the similar looking “false morels.” False morels are “uglier” than morels, but the clearest difference is seen by slicing the mushroom in half: an edible morel will be hollow, with the stem attached all the way along the cap, while a false morel has a solid stem that is only attached to the cap at a few points. For much more information on identifying morels, check out The Great Morel.

You can find morels growing out of damp ground—often you’ll have to get down on your hands and knees and brush away dead leaves, since they are very good at blending in with the leaves. While walking around looking at the ground, make sure to look up sometimes too: morels tend to grow near elm, sycamore, and ash trees (though they can be found almost anywhere: this last weekend I found one growing just a couple inches away from a paved pathway, right out in the open!)

If you are interested in learning more, I’ve found the Oregon Mycological Society to be very helpful (and friendly!) They have monthly meetings where you can learn more about local mushroom hunting, and you are encouraged to bring in your specimens to have others help you identify them. While I have to warn you not to eat a mushroom you cannot identify, bring along a friend that knows what they’re doing or your reference books and stick to the basic mushrooms for your first time, and you’ll be just fine. Just get out there and search for delicious local mushrooms, I can guarantee you’ll become addicted to the hunt.

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Tags: Edible Gardening

Purple-Sprouting Broccoli

Nearly nine months from sowing to eating – it’s almost like having a baby!

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Apr 24, 2010 at 10:14AM 2 Comments

There are a few florets left on this plant – I’ve eaten most of it already!

So did you see the segment on mâche on KPTV the other day? ‘Cause I sure didn’t. Maybe they axed the piece or will air it another day.

In any case, my vegetable garden’s fabulous tv debut is on hold. And I was so excited about showing off my mâche on tv! The mâche is finished now (it’s bolting, along with the mustard, arugula and kale) but there’s plenty more that’s looking great, including one of my all-time favorite winter vegetables: purple-sprouting broccoli.

This vegetable is indeed slow – you sow the seed in July, grow it to a decent size in the garden, and then cold weather sets in and it just sits and endures. Come spring, it kicks into action again and in March and April, it forms large, leafy plants that produce an abundance of gorgeous little purple florets.

Purple-sprouting broccoli is one of the most delicious of all cruciferous vegetables, with an intense, rich, nutty broccoli flavor. Of course it’s incredibly nutritious ‘cause it’s a crucifer. It’s delicious with pasta (turns green when cooked), in baked dishes, and eaten fresh in salads or just snapped off the stalk in the garden. The florets are bite-sized so they are beautiful as they are – you don’t have to mangle their lovely form with a knife.

It’s a time investment – nine months’ worth of valuable real estate in the garden, from August, when you set the seedlings out in the garden to April – but it’s worth it. And it takes care of itself all winter – it’s cold hardy to below 10F.

As a side-note: I used ten year-old seed purple sprouting broccoli seed last year. The germination rate was fine and the plants grew beautifully. The Rudolf broccoli germination rate wasn’t as good, though that could have been a storage issue.

So mark your calendar for mid- to late July – that’s when to start the seed. Or just wait til I remind you. ’Cause I will. (Here is what I wrote about it last July.)

Buy purple-sprouting broccoli – or any overwintering vegetables – from local sources, as they are more likely to be cold-hardy strains. Try Victory Seeds, Territorial Seeds.

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Tags: Vegetables, Edible Gardening

My Vegetable Garden’s TV Debut

featuring mâche – a fantastic early spring green

Posted by: Kate Bryant on Apr 21, 2010 at 11:51PM 4 Comments

Chef, cooking instructor, event organizer, owner of Keuken and amazing bundle of energy Blake Van Roekel

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Chef, cooking instructor, event organizer, owner of Keuken and amazing bundle of energy Blake Van Roekel

View Slideshow » Illustration:

I can’t remember if it was reporter Brooke Carlson (here) or photographer Eric Patterson (fiddling with camera) who started joking about the “mache-pit”…

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Brooke watching Blake snipping the greens

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Jeez, the least I could have done is taken down my laundry line for the shoot…

View Slideshow » Illustration:

All done! (And ready to go eat!)

So a little patch of mâche growing in my vegetable garden will be on KPTV Fox 12’s Better Portland on Thursday April 22 at 1:45 pm!

What’s the story, you ask? Well, last month, I was chatting about my favorite early spring green, mâche, with Blake Van Roekel, chef and owner of Keuken. Blake has a monthly cooking segment on KPTV Fox 12’s Better Portland and she’s quite the hot chef. Blake decided it would be fun to harvest the mâche from my garden and try some of her culinary magic on it – on TV! So to my little vegetable patch came super-cool Lifestyle Reporter Brooke Carlson and ultra-suave photographer Eric Patterson – plus lovely Miss Blake, of course – and the photo fiesta began. (Click on that Slideshow for behind-the-scenes photos.)

After harvesting the mâche, Blake and the team toodled off to her kitchen where she prepared a delicious yet simple meal, with easy instructions on how to make it at home. I won’t spoil the story by telling you what she made – you’ll just have to follow the Better Portland link to see if they put up a video of it on line after it airs. The program runs from 1-2 pm – Blake’s segment (with me and my mâche in it) starts at 1:45 pm.

For more information on growing mâche, read this.

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Tags: Gardening Events, Vegetables, Edible Gardening