Fresh Carrots

After the killing frost of January we decided to replant some of our garden. We were discouraged but thought we would give it a try. With the cooler than average temperatures the root crops flourished and our little garden is giving us a great harvest. The carrots are the best but the garlic, lettuce, and beans are fine and we should manage to eat all of it before the May deadline. You are not permitted to take vegetables over the border and as a matter of fact many states have the same rule.

Talking to the nursery people at the market , they say that everything is 4 to 6 weeks later than usual. The citrus crop will be off schedule and the other seasonal crops will meet the same fate. The frosty weather was a boon for the producers of replacement products like ornamental palms and bushes. For every negative there is a positive in the agriculture industry.

We have to replace at least a dozen palms and we will be able to do a better job of choosing proper trees because of our experience. The added rain this year has filled the ponds and lakes and even the drainage ditches are filled to capacity. Water birds are having a bumper crop of babies and the wood storks are building their numbers after three years of dismal production. Nature left to itself would do a good job of balancing the numbers but like it or not man has to have a place to live too and that causes the clash with the natural order.

I am looking forward to my garden in Ontario in another month and can visualize the pleasure of working with nature to our organic vegetables.

APPLE PICKING TIME

We have two apple trees and they flourish in this climate of good soil, hot days and cool nights.Our oldest apple tree is a Northern Spy and the best for baking and pies. A large apple which cooks well with a yellowish colour and a tangy taste. Years ago it was prized as a winter apple because of its ability to stay fresh for months. Today with controlled atmosphere storage this is not a problem.

We picked a couple of bushels on the weekend and made apple sauce for the winter. Apple picking is not just about apples but the time of the year. For us it signals the late Indian Summer days which tells us winter is just around the corner. We have been experiencing an exceptional weather forecast for the past month and we needed this to make up for the less than friendly summer.

We could go to the local u.pick orchard and gather in our needs for a small price. We choose to grow our own and prune, spray and fertilize our beauties as a labour of love. Theresa and I often talk of downsizing and doing a little less in the field of growing but we never get around to it. Getting your hands dirty in your own soil keeps us in touch with what made this country great,the farmers who feed the world and work very hard to keep their land healthy.

We look at this lifestyle as a reality check and hope to continue growing our own produce as long as our health permits. Most of my friends agree and continue their quest for organic food.

Gardens Make and Keep Friends Together

Doug and I have been friends for about 40 years. We have much in common as we worked together, played several sports on the same team and had gardens. Doug comes from a Scottish background as his parents came to Canada when times were tough and nurtured a fruit orchard in the St Lawrence lowlands. Life had to be tough for all Canadians at that time but with conversations with Doug times were really tough for new Canadians.

When we worked together I found that Doug had knowledge about fruit trees. I often asked him for help but he seemed to be a little reluctant to share his secrets. He became more forthcoming when he had his large garden along the Madawaska River near the Prior. He became very attentive with his growing of trees, flowers and vegetables.

When I phone him I always know that we have something in common. We both love nature and anything that grows. He has a large half acre and I envy him but live in reflected glory of the trees he had planted. He takes great pride in his beautiful arbour and I know he knows every tree by name .

I love to visit he and his wife at least once a year.We talk of old times, gardens, play pool and have a game of golf. Who wins is not important but the time I share with him is. Doug and his wife were married the year I moved to Pembroke she was a girl from the country, Beachburg Country actually so it was easy to see how Doug became a green gardener. We hope to get up there in a week or two and have a visit and maybe a boat ride on the Mighty Madawaska.

I will bring up some surplus strawberry plants and a few chestnuts to add to his already flourishing forest. People who garden always have something in common and close to the earth but it does not have much in common with our politics as Doug is still in a growing stage.We banter about federal politics but I bet we would agree one hundred percent on everything GREEN.

Organic Gardening

My daughter Lyn has the ability the write blogs that take the newness from mine. It is like a reporter who files a story just before you and winning the news of the day.I planned to write about organic gardening as many of my friends practise this hobby to great ends.

I personally have been using this method for about 50 years and found it to be a little more difficult to get the same results but there is satisfaction to know you are helping the environment and your health. We have 4 composters and right now they are full. My neighbour has given up the practise because like my daughter, has not seen any magnificent results.

We receive as many as 15 wheel barrows of good black, fine soil each year.We supplement this with many barrels of compost from the Halton land fill site. Our vegetable garden now has about 15 inches of soft, black topsoil in place of the red clay which is what we started with. It took 10 years years but the yields have multiplied and the produce is beautiful.

One has to be prepared to have problems with insects and mildew but remedies are available. My friend John from Pembroke just plants enough for himself and the other. I do the same but still use homegrown recipes for protection from the other (pests and mildew) and they are partially effective.

I never heard of organic when I was growing up and still look at the produce in the supermarket and ask myself, " what is the difference?". The difference to me is you are not ingesting the multitude of chemicals and pollutants used by corporate farms to get the product faster and larger than nature planned. The difference is in the taste and all you have to do is taste a Florida tomato and compare it to an organic tomato from Ontario or anywhere in Canada.

As I look at my garden this year I am thankful for the years that I did the right thing without knowing it and am trying to educate more people in the art and fun of organic gardening. And thank you Lyn for your lead on my blog.