Perserverance Wins Out

Some people might say I'm stubborn as a mule.  I might even agree to that.  But there's something to be said for refusing to take no for an answer.

Five years ago we were living in Gibsons, British Columbia.  Renting someone else's home and tending someone else's garden.  During our time there I got hooked on some local salad greens that included a rather unusual looking plant.  I wasn't sure what it was but I remember thinking - one day I'm going to grow that in my own garden.

It wasn't long after when dreams became reality and we moved across the country to Canoe Cove, Prince Edward Island.  I had found my garden at last.  That first summer I decided to put in a vegetable garden and that salad green was on my mind.  It had an unusual leaf, looking something like a fused four leaf clover.  I assumed it wouldn't be hard to figure out what it was and added it to the list of things I wanted to grow.

But when I began seed shopping I ran into a problem.  I looked and looked and nowhere could I find the leaf I so vividly recalled.  I combed through the seed catalogues, searched google and in desperation finally called the produce company long distance in Gibsons.  I felt like a bit of a mad fool asking for the secret ingredient to the Colonel's recipe.  Was it poor etiquette to demand what was in their salad mix?  Perhaps it was but the teenage boy who answered the phone told me the plant I was looking for was Calendula and that was all I cared about.  I had the secret ingredient and no one could stop me now!

Except that wasn't the ingredient.  Not even close.  It didn't look remotely like the plant I was looking for.  What now?  Did I try calling again?  Should I just accept fate and give up?

I procrastinated instead.

Then one day my dear spouse brought me home a book on vegetable gardening.  The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith.  An out of the blue purchase for no reason at all.  Not a book I was thinking of buying, not even one I had heard of before.  The world works in mysterious ways.  As I flipped through the pages of my new book I found it ..... and started yelling.

Needless to say my reaction left Jody somewhat surprised.  There among the vegetable descriptions was one for Claytonia perfoliata, also known as Miner's Lettuce.  It was the plant I had been searching for all this time.  The common name refers to the fact that this west coast native plant was eaten by California gold rush miners for it's Vitamin C content which prevented scurvy.  It has an unusual leaf pattern as the leaves unite together around the stem as the plant grows and appear as one circular leaf.  It was this distinct leaf shape I remembered.

Thrilled I immediately went online to look for seeds.  AND FOUND  NOTHING.  I searched every seed company I could think of and Claytonia wasn't for sale at any of them.  Little wonder I had so much trouble identifying it.  I wasn't going to be dissuaded though.  Someone somewhere had to have those seeds.  Eventually, after a very thorough search, seeds were found and we were in business!

Come spring, seeds went into the ground and I waited patiently for my salad greens to become a reality.  I thought I saw a hint of green at one point, but then it disappeared.  I kept waiting.  I really am stubborn.  But nothing ever happened.

The following spring I wondered what to do.  I still had half the packet of seeds and I wanted to try again but didn't know where I had previously gone wrong.  Lucky for me fellow blogger Niki Jabour had just written her book The Year Round Veggie Gardener and I attended the release party.  Amazingly, Niki also talks about Claytonia in her book so I accosted her on the spot and demanded to know what I was doing wrong.  Niki was a good sport and told me Claytonia prefers cool conditions - her advice was to plant as soon as the snow was gone in April.

Once again I headed back to the garden, determined this was the year I would get my way.  Come April I tucked the seeds into the ground and happy day - we had seedlings!

Smaller than a thumbnail and rather yellow looking

Tiny sickly looking seedlings though.  How could I have gone wrong this time?

A normal person might have thrown in the towel at that point but not me.  Back to the books I went.  Re-reading the plant description I noticed that Claytonia is a spring plant that prefers cool damp conditions.  It is often found in sandy peaty soil in the shade.  Shade, of course.  My veggie garden is in full sun.  Try again.

This spring I had a tiny amount of seed left.  One last chance.  I decided in order to have optimum conditions a container would be the best choice.  A plastic laundry sink that had been basking in the garage was called into duty.  Large, with good drainage it could be filled with loose peaty soil and moved to a shady spot.

My stubbornness perserverance finally paid off.  Little seedlings popped up and grew tall and happy.  Flowers bloomed and we ate as much as we could stand.  Then when we couldn't eat any more the heat struck and the plants faded.

There'll be more next year though.  My seed rack is sitting next to me as I type and I occasionally hear the pop of seed capsules releasing.  Little black seeds dropping onto the newspaper, waiting to be collected and planted next spring so we can do it all over again.

Hundreds of tiny seed pods formed once the heat set in.

If I haven't completely scared you off with this ridiculous tale and you're interested in trying Claytonia for yourself there are a couple places you can find seed.  For those in the US Claytonia is available from Johnny's Seeds in Maine.  Canadian residents will find it at William Dam Seeds.  With the right conditions it grows really easily (I'm laughing as I say this now!) and is a tasty addition to spring salads.

Triumphs and Tragedies

It's been too long since I've posted and there's so much to cover!  Things both good and bad so.... triumphs and tragedies seems like the right kind of post.

There's been a lot of stress lately.  I came down with a miserable cold right before my first exam.  I forgot how stressful school is for me, and what that does to my immune system.  Add in some tight deadlines at work and a garden neglected... a few tears have been shed these last weeks.

Despite a few setbacks there is always a positive to be found.  Flowers have begun to bloom in earnest.

It's a relief to come home at the end of the day and spend a few minutes walking around my garden.  I haven't always got the time to do the garden work I would like (sadly my vegetable garden still isn't fully planted) but walking through and watching the trees leaf out and the flowers bloom makes me feel so much better.

New trees were added to the garden this year including this Copper Beech

Tragically some blooms that I normally look forward to each year have been a huge disappointment.  I'm talking about apples.

This photo is from last year when blooms were abundant

The buds were visible last week and I was expecting the annual explosion of blooms this week but nothing happened?  A closer inspection revealed blooms on the lower branches but all the buds on the tops of the trees are dead.  I hadn't inspected the higher buds previously so I'm not sure if there were problems to start.  The first reason off the top of my head was frost but we haven't had a hard frost recently that would do this kind of damage.  The other option is the drought we had last summer could possibly still be affecting the trees.  It certainly put a strain on the apples and it's entirely possible this could be the result.  Either way, our apple crop will be a poor one again this year.

On a positive note, you might recall our community hosted it's annual Plant Sale on May 25 (was it really just 2 weeks ago?).  Despite heavy rain, resilient gardeners donned their best raingear and came out in droves to gather up as many garden goodies as they could fit in their cars.

Luckily the venue has plenty of space undercover so there were dry spots to congregate, socialize and shop for plants.  I swore this year that I wouldn't take home any plants as I haven't the time to plant anything.  However, despite my best intentions I started gathering up new plants for the garden before the sale even began!  The week before several of us gathered at a neighbour's house to help dig out some plants for the sale.

It was a beautiful afternoon to do some digging

A couple hours digging, a plant sale later and now I have numerous pots sitting in a shady spot next to the garage waiting for me to plant them.  Culver's root, native purple iris, siberian iris, false solomon's seal, and delphinium are all new additions for the flower garden.

Another positive to keep my spirits up came in the form of an email from Jennifer @ Three Dogs in a Garden.  I was the lucky winner of Jennifer's contest for the book, Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener by Joseph Tychonievich.  It's the perfect gift as my columbines are starting to bloom and I have spent more than a little time analyzing how this permiscuous plant has cross bred to produce an array of different sized and coloured blossoms.  The only downside is that I haven't time to read it right now.  I've set it aside to read in July when my course is finished.

One last bit of great news came this week.  Walking through the grocery store I spied this on the shelf.

Saltscapes magazine is published in the Canadian maritime provinces and features the musings of fellow garden blogger Jodi Delong.  Jodi asked me to participate in a garden series regarding young gardeners a few months ago.  I'm happy to say the May/June issue is on stands now and features yours truly in the article "Growing a Green Thumb".  I'm incredibly flattered to be in a magazine but even more flattered that Jodi thinks of me as young!

Here's hoping this post finds you all enjoying a bit of sunshine, covered in dirt and smelling of lilacs.  take care ~M

Confessions of a Book Lover

When we moved away from British Columbia we had to let a lot of things go.  Furniture, tools, dishes, plants, keepsakes.  The list of items that we had to part with was endless.  Some things were easy and it was a good excuse to clean out our closets.  Some things were difficult.  There was an antique jug that I still regret selling, even though it's been three years.

One of my coveted items is books.  I read a lot.  I always have.  Beginning in elementary school I always had a library card, I received books as presents and then as an adult I progressed to purchasing my own books.

My shelves are filled with books that I love to look at, remember, read again, and sigh over.  Some reference books provide invaluable daily use.  Our shelves are filled with everything from novels to gardening, plays, philosophy, furniture design, and house repair.

The first time we purged of our household pre-move it was mostly novels that were dispatched.  But there were several more purges after that first one and each one got harder.  When push came to shove and the truck was full there were still boxes of books that needed to be culled.  I had to say goodbye.

You can't move to Prince Edward Island and not keep a collection of Anne books

There were trade offs.  The entire Harry Potter set went to the moving sale in lieu of my hardcopy edition of Little Women.  That was a gift from my father when I was just a girl and there was no way to part with it.

Garden books were kept with the promise of my very own garden to come.

I whittled away until only a box or two was left behind.  Even so when we moved into this house it took no time to fill the existing shelving.

Now books are piled in every available corner.

and on every surface

My love borders on addiction some days.  I've re-purchased books that I used to own, taken bags of books from second hand sales and keep adding to the stacks.  Unfortunately I don't read as fast or as much as I would like.  So those stacks seem to consistently increase.  I see a lot more bookshelves in our future.

If you had to move and could take only a few of your most treasured books with you, what titles would you choose?

Versatile Blogger

A bloggie award has been going around lately (gosh that sounds like a flu bug you might catch) and over the past month I've been nominated four times for the Versatile Blogger award! (thank goodness this is much nicer than the flu)  A big thank you to

Jean  @ Jean's Garden - one of the most organized gardeners I know
Karin @ Southern Meadows - who inspires with the many horticultural classes she is undertaking
Kevin @ Nitty Gritty Dirt Man - fellow seed addict
Norah @ Aagaard Farms - who raises some of the darn cutest pigs I've ever laid eyes on

Blog awards have rules so here goes (following them is another matter):

1. Include the Versatile Blogger Award logo in the post.
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you with a link back to their blog.
3. Share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
4. Include this set of rules.
5. Forward this award to 15 fellow bloggers, and inform them with a comment on each of their blogs.

Next step is the random pieces of information bit.  Sounded like something you might do on a first date so with that thought in mind I figured I would go for some classic getting to know you information.

1.  My Favourite Book.  I'm a reader and have been as long as I can remember.  In fact this photo below is of my current pile of books waiting to be read.  

It doesn't even include the books downloaded to my Kobo!  As you can see there's garden books, victorian novels, biography, fiction and non-fiction.  Fiction is by far my favourite and Jeanette Winterson is a favourite writer.  I read her novel The Passion when I was in college and it's stuck with me over the years.

2.  Favourite Movie.  I'm not picky.  Science fiction, drama, comedy, documentaries.  I'll watch pretty much anything and if I like it I will watch it over and over again.  One of my favourite activities when we lived in the city was attending the annual International Film Festival.  A few movies on my over and over again list are Dumb and Dumber; Harvey; Harold and Maude; The Others and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

3.  Favourite Colour.  Well that would depend on what it's being used for.  I love red and own a number of red jackets and sweaters.  I even painted the piano room floor red.  In the garden I love yellow, bright and vibrant it glows in the late summer sun.  Green is calming to me.  New green in spring on the trees, shady green spots on a hot summer day, bright green peridot earings, green t-shirts and green glass vases lined up in my bay window.

4.  Favourite Music.  Despite the fact that I grew up listening to 80's pop music I prefer folk music to anything else.  Musicians who can write and play and sing have all of my respect.  My itunes playlist heavily features Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens and John Denver.

5.  Favourite Food.  Grilled kebabs in summer, anything that features cilantro, home made tomato soup, and my weakness, good chocolate.

6.  Favourite Flower in the Garden.  Well it is a garden blog so I couldn't not tell you about my favourite flowers.  Dahlias are like candy to me.  I can't have just one.  So many sizes and colours and shapes.

Just when I think I have no more room in my house to store the tubers I buy another one.  

And now for my reading list of fellow bloggers.  This is a list of blogs I frequent on a regular basis for their good sense, their candid writing and their ability to share their gardens and their lives in such a delightful manner.  Please take a moment to visit their blogs.

1.  Wind and the Wellies

2.  GardeningBren

3.  Muddy Boot Dreams

4.  Casa Mariposa

5.  Curbstone Valley

6.  The Sage Butterfly

7.  My Weeds are Very Sorry

8.  Plantaliscious

9.  Last Frontier Garden

10.  Three Dogs in a Garden

11.  BloomingWriter

12.  Children of the Corm

Earth Day Reading Project

This past week I was invited (twice!) to participate in a meme called the Earth Day Reading Project.  This meme was created by The Sage Butterfly in honor of Earth Day (Friday, April 22).  We are asked to share books that have inspired us to live sustainably or participate in a green act. 

Many things have inspired me to try and garden in a more natural way but of the books I have read these are the ones that stand out.

The Rodale Book of Composting: Easy Methods for Every Gardener
Some years ago we rented a house that came with a compost bin.  Although I fully supported the idea of compost I had no experience in creating or using it.  That black plastic bin was a bit intimidating when I first saw it and I needed to learn what to do with it.  I purchased this book and brought it home only to read it all in one sitting.  This book was an exceptional introduction to composting as it discusses so many different aspects of compost.  It begins by talking about what compost is and how it is produced naturally in forests.  Then it moves on to composting throughout history and discusses the different methods that have been used in agriculture at different times.  From there it talks about composting today.  How to build a compost bin, the materials you can use to create compost, the differences between hot and cold compost, and how to use the finished product.  Since reading this book composting has become one of my most basic tools in gardening.  By understanding this very fundamental process I gained knowledge of the natural world as a whole and the life cycle of plants and insects came together in my mind.

Northwest Coastal Wildflowers (Northwest Wildflower)
There was a provincial park that we visited regularly when we lived in British Columbia and one visit I wandered through the general store and came across this field guide.  It's relatively small as pocket guides are.  Each page contains several pictures of flowers and some basic identification information.  I never paid a lot of attention to wildflowers before but this book contained pretty pictures of flowers and I became interested in trying to see if I could find them on my walks.  Then I realized that some of the flowers in my book were actually in my yard and I began identifying plants within the confines of my garden area.  Suddenly a whole new world opened up.  Plants that I had virtually ignored previously had a name and a purpose.  Once I realized how many weeds were wildflowers the world around me was a whole lot more interesting and native plants became just as beautiful as garden ornamentals.

The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed
I have already written a detailed review of this book here but it deserves another mention as it so thoroughly affected my perception of forests.  It made me consider their place in history.  Large trees that you see today may have been standing when European settlers first touched the shores of North America.  It also made me consider their value.  From economic value through tourism and logging to ecological values of air quality and wildlife habitat.  After reading this book I could no longer see a tree as just a tree.  I was thinking about it's growth, the conditions required to cultivate it, the animals it fed and sheltered, the spiritual significance and beauty it presents to humans and the monetary value it presents to our communities. 

           

I would like to thank Karin at Southern Meadows and Debbie at A Garden of Possibilities who both asked me to participate in this meme.  Bloggers like Karin and Debbie have inspired me and continue to inspire me to consider how my garden affects the world around me. 

I would like to invite the following bloggers to join in this meme and tell us about books that have inspired them this Earth Day.


• Blush and Bees

• My Weeds Are Very Sorry

• Casa Mariposa

Beyond Grass

There have been some new readers joining us recently and with the upcoming gardening season soon approaching I thought this would be a good time to elaborate on what sort of garden plans lay ahead for us here on the Corner this season.

When we purchased this home one of its positive and negative attributes was it's blank condition.  The house sits on close to 3 acres and the bulk of the property was made up of lawn.  Plain old grass that required excessive amounts of mowing.  The benefit to this was the property was a blank canvas.  We could plant anything we wanted, do anything we wanted, virtually unencumbered by someone else's previous designs.  That blank canvass is both a hindrance and a blessing.  There's a lot of work required to landscape such a large property but I'm excited by the possibilities before me.  We moved into the house in late fall 2009 and last spring was our first gardening season.  The first thing we did, or didn't do rather, was mow the lawn.  We were horrified by the amount of gas and time that it took to mow the entire property and there was no reason to do it.  I don't need a lawn to do cartwheels on.  What I want are flowers.  So we left the 'back' section grow wild and were delighted with the results.  What I hadn't realized was that our 'lawn' was really just an old farm field and when let go it became a beautiful wild meadow.

By allowing the field to regenerate we have become a haven of wildflowers and grasses.  I'm thrilled and hope to expand on this.  Currently I'm reading The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn and it's giving me all sorts of ideas on how to encourage native plants and flowers and create a meadow that both encourages wildlife and is a beautiful garden.

As much as I love the meadow I do find the property is very open to the elements.  In all seasons the wind sweeps across our yard, shaking the house and sending snow and dirt flying.  To combat these issues and provide some privacy I decided we needed trees.  Trees will provide wind resistance, screen out the road and neighbours, provide food and shelter to wildlife and beauty.  Last spring I visited our local native nursery, MacPhail Woods, and purchased and planted 25 native trees and shrubs.  Unfortunately, as seen in my last post, not all of these have survived.  A frustrating setback but I am determined to visit MacPhail nursery again this spring and continue with my plan to add some woody plants to this property.

Yellow birch is native to PEI and suited to the local conditions

The bulk of the trees and shrubs I have planted thus far have been native ones because I think it's important to maintain some natural spaces.  These plants will support local wildlife and have a higher probability of survival as they are already adapted to the climate conditions and the soil. 

As much as I love native plants I also love exotic flowers as well.  In addition to the meadow I'm also planning a garden area that is it's exact opposite.  I'm hoping to create a small oasis behind the garage where hollyhocks can intermingle with plume poppy, hostas and catalpa.  In my mind's eye I see big leaves and bright colours.  It will be a spot for the plant collector in me.

As these plantings are done and begin to grow I'm hoping that wildlife will move in and enjoy the hidden spaces that will be created.  Already I can see some positive transitions taking place.  Yesterday while I was walking around and enjoying the spring sunshine I came across this guy.

I knew the feral cats were occupying the upstairs portion of the garage but I have long suspected we had residents downstairs as well.  Turns out I was right.  I wasn't the only one who decided to get a dose of sunshine.  Two skunks were wandering about the yard, digging in the grass looking for a tasty meal.  

Digging next to an old tree trunk for grubs

The skunks have been in hibernation and are likely quite hungry after a long winter.  They certainly looked quite skinny and were very busy digging.  Too busy to notice me snapping their photo.

Skunks are often regarded as pests and certainly their smell can be offensive but they are also great garden assistants.  They have a big appetite for insects, including june bugs, slugs, ants and grasshoppers.  With these guys on patrol the insect population in my garden should be kept in check and maintain a healthy balance.

This Old House

Carolyn from Carolyn's Shade Gardens visited and let me know that Les at A Tidewater Gardener is currently hosting a meme called Winter Walk Off and encouraged me to add this post to the challenge.  After viewing Les' blog I was very happy to do so.  Les is encouraging people to get outside and go for a walk, documenting their journey on the way.  What could be better as spring approaches to get outside and take in some fresh air after a long winter inside.  Now obviously some of the photos below weren't taken recently but I'm hoping Les will forgive me as the snowy photos at the end were taken just last weekend.  Although I will admit that day the wind was so biting cold that our walk ended sooner than expected and we found ourselves instead lounging at a local pub.  


If you would like to join the Winter Walk Off Challenge you can find more details here.


p.s.  I would highly suggest trying the bread pudding with rum sauce at Rum Runners in Charlottetown. just saying

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This Old House magazine recently chose Charlottetown, PEI, as one of Canada's best Old House Neighbourhoods for 2011.  To celebrate this achievement I thought I would post a few pictures of some of the homes you can see around the city.  One of my favourite past times is walking around some of the neighbourhoods on my lunch hours and ogling the beautiful homes.  Here are some of my favourites.

That's me drooling over this house while Jody takes a picture from across the street.

Just as beautiful in winter

No gaps between these old houses, they're using each other to keep warm

Some of these historical homes are public spaces and open for touring.  Beaconsfield, seen below, is one of them.

This home is just as beautiful inside as it is outside.  Chock full of intricate details from exotic wood paneling to tiled floor there's enough to see here to keep you occupied for hours.

 Even the door hinges were beautiful.

If you're interested in seeing more photos of historic houses located in Prince Edward Island or learning about their history I would highly recommend the following books:  Inside Island Heritage Homes: Two hundred years of domestic architecture on Prince Edward Island and Heritage Houses of Prince Edward Island: Two hundred years of domestic architectureBoth are written by local author James W. Macnutt  and are beautifully photographed.  We own both of these books and often refer back to them when thinking about the work we are doing renovating our own historic home.


Clicking on the images will take you to Amazon where you can purchase these volumes for your own library.