Blessed with the Beauty of the Small

Look what creatures are popping up all over my garden again this year... Grove Snails!

Grove snails are a common garden snail, also known as Cepaea nemoralis, introduced to North America from Europe (once upon a time). Why or when is unclear to me.  However, this makes them an invasive species - and this is only a problem if they are threatening native snail species. I wonder if they already have though because all I ever see snail-wise in my garden ARE Grove Snails! 


So the question of the day is: Are Grove Snails good or bad for the garden? 


They are good in that they are a sign that your garden environment is a healthy one as snails, slugs and frogs/toads are the first to disappear in the presence of chemicals and toxins. Bad in the sense they eat your plants!


I've read that they mainly like to feed on decaying matter and fungi; but I've also read that they will devour your foliage (be it produce or bedding plants). Yet, I typically find snails on the trees (bark), raspberry canes, and wooden items - not leaves. Maybe they are on-route? Maybe they know I am coming, and move away from the 'merchandise' (plant leaves, produce) to fool me? 


Last year we generally picked them off what they were stuck to and fed them to the chickens! They loved that! But this year we don't have the chickens and we're not planning to get them this year. So I am wondering what to do with the snails this year - as I don't like killing things. 


An organic suggestion given is to set out beer traps for them: they go in and don't come out. But I don't like the idea of plastic beer traps all over my garden. And it's still killing them:(


Some interesting facts about Grove Snails:


They are hermaphrodites and must mate with another snail to produce a fertile eggs. Mating is typically in late spring through early summer.  It takes a snail a year to mature, and three years to develop from an egg to a breeding adult! (Good to know they don't breed like bunnies!) And they can live up to 8 years! Wow...I can't believe some snails in the garden have lived on this property longer than I! That kind of gives things a new perspective!


In the winter, snails hibernate. They come out during warm spells. (That's why I find them in the dirt).  (Wonder if they eat more of your garden goodies in the fall so they can pack on the pounds for a long winter sleep? :)


Finally, the Grove Snail is actually an edible snail! So for those of you who like escargot - here's a 0-mile diet delicatessen for you!  Maybe this is what Jason and I should try this year? Perhaps I can get around the 'killing' aspect if I think of it "for a higher cause?" Higher up the food chain, more like it! I'm not entirely convinced about eating them just yet. But it sparks my curiosity. 


What about a snail aquarium? I've come across several people online who put Grove Snails in their aquariums and keep them as pets. Um, not really my thing.  Then again, they could be a food source for other pets like hedgehogs, turtles, ???


Some things to think about.

 
 

A Good Day for Gardening

A beautiful day to be in the garden!  Finally, a sunny break after all the crazy weather (snow, sleet, down pours) we've been having here!  It's also spring break and we have our friend Grant over for a couple of days to lend a hand. And "Oh Boy" the boys have been busy!

  

We laid down newspaper before spreading the mulch to help kill the weeds below. 

Looking good!

8 more raised beds (small squares) were added to the garden today.  Each bed works out to be around $16 to build (boards, soil, screws). (Load of soil = $45; all the boards (cedar 1 inch X 6 inches, 4ft long) = $70).  Jason will come build these beds for you in your garden! He'll bring the dirt and do the labor for $30 a bed. I'll post more about this soon.

* * *

Today, I transplanted lemon balm and chamomile into two of the raised beds, and cut wire to cover the dirt from the many cats that like to visit and poop in them!  I also dug up some rhubarb plants and potted them, ready for sale.

* * *

Grant did an amazing job unloading the dirt and bark mulch to go around the beds. How many wheel barrow loads did he do? He's going to have some sore muscles tomorrow!

Next, Jason finally got around to putting the door on the greenhouse! Yeah...no more ducking under and lifting heavy wet plastic!  (Just the other side to go for circulation before the weather warms).

And look, my hardy greens are sprouting. So are the knight and sugar peas I planted a couple weeks ago!

The irises and snow drops are in full bloom. The daffodils are about to bud.  My mother told me the other day that you are NOT to put other flowers in the same vase as daffodils, because their slimness you can feel when you cut them is actually poisonous to other flowers. She also said it makes no sense that stores sell tulips and daffodils in the same pots because the daffodils will even kill the tulips.  Who knew!?  

***

My favorite moment of the day was watching the bees (honeybees and mason bees) go into the irises, and come out all covered with pollen. Very cool! 

***

After being outdoors for most of the day, a BBQ was the way to end the fun!  BBQ steak & pork chops, with a Greek and faux-spinach salad (actually made with pea shoots and leaves) on the side, and a squash casserole.  Yum, yum!

***

Tomorrow we got more beds to make and another trailer full of dirt to fill them. I'm going to get started on tying the raspberry canes up and transplant the strawberry plants into a raised bed in the next week. Currently the strawberries are where there is a lot of buttercup growing and that's no good considering their leaves look very similar - and they are NOT edible (poisonous)!   Next, I don't want to pull out the old raspberry canes (when tying up the canes tomorrow), until I know the weather is going to stay warm enough for the bees. Old raspberry canes make great homes for wild bees and if you remove them too soon, you might be destroying bee homes :(    If you are someone who likes to remove your old canes at the end of the growing season... next year, I suggest tying them into bundles and placing them somewhere for the bees to move in over the winter. Finally, if this weather stays nice, it's also time to start my bee-happy flowers in the wild space. 


Happy gardening everyone!

Let's Spring into the Growing Season!

Jason and I are super excited for this year's growing season! Already Spring is showing its bright shiny face all around our garden. Our herbs& teas are awakening from their winter sleep, and already it's time to start planting!

Garden Goodies beginning to appear. Wasabi & Chives.

We have much to do this year to get it ready for our GARDEN GABBERS endeavor!   The outside of the house needs painting to start!  There is also more raised beds to be built and filled with dirt, so we can increase our food growing capacity.  We filled many of our raised beds with garlic this year, so we need to replace those occupied beds with new ones. We managed to get two new beds done this week, and already they have been filled with seeds.

 


It's the perfect time to start your Asian greens and any other hardy green like Kale and Chard. One new bed is stuffed full of all this goodness, and the second is full of Sugar Peas. In the week ahead I will be planting a couple more beds of Knight Peas and then to find a place for the Fava Beans.

This year Jason will be working on getting the door, and flaps finished on the greenhouse (before we start most of the planting inside: tomatoes, peppers, cukes). There's also the completion of the 'cold house' that needs to be tended to. Just the walls are up. They need a couple more layers of rock, and then to figure out the roof and the staircase (pathway) for an entrance.


This year we will be welcoming a BEE community! Our friends Rachel & Banning blessed us with a home-made bee hive as a wedding present. I am looking forward to learning more about beekeeping and have much to prepare to create a bee-happy-home-environment for them. I have found a spot that I am going to transform into a 'wild space' of sorts - where I will move over the herbs & teas that come back annually - and where I can add Borage, Bee balm, and Bergamot, and all sorts of wild flowers.


Next, we added a 'conversational piece' to our garden - our Christmas tree.  We decided to buy a potted tree this year - we'll have to see how "Chris" likes his new outdoor home, and if he's interested in joining us for next year's Christmas celebration.

So much to look forward to this year:


1) Garden Gabbers official launch will be in May!

2) Jason, Rachel and Dayna are spearheading a new CSA (Community Shared Agrigulture) garden this year they are naming S.O.L. Farms. This year is the test & learning run - they will only be selling 15 shares for fresh produce this year. Already there are 5 committed. If you want in, better let us know very quick.  Shares are 20$/week for a harvest box... the total weeks of which bring it to $400 for the growing season.  If they can not meet the value of $20/week for the harvest box, (due to poor crop yields) they will be offering refunds.

And oooo the garlic has started to sprout!  And speaking of sprouts... We just ordered a sprouting container from West Coast Seeds that's amazing!  Mmmm fresh sprouts every three days! Jason's school lunches are going to have extra pizazz now! 

A Garden of Love

I was taking a look at our garden blog today and was wondering why no 'garden in full bloom' photos were added this past summer. Then I remembered the best pictures taken in 2011 - our wedding photos!  What a treat it was to have our pictures taken in a truly meaningful location for us both, a backdrop we created with much love, sweat and dirt. Here are some of our photos we will treasure for a lifetime:

New Year's Eve 0 Mile Salad

Can't believe we've picked a 0 mile salad from our garden on New Year's Eve! The weather is so warm outside that things are still growing from last season (parsley, chard, kale, chives) and/or starting to grow again (arugula, lettuce).  The frost usually kills off the former by now and the latter doesn't usually become visible until at least March.  What's with this unusually warm winter?  We don't mind so much considering we are still benefiting from our garden goodies - all the same I worry about short growing season in 2012, from a dry and hot summer. Only Mother Nature knows.  

Our New Year's Eve salad: kale, chard, lettuce, arugula, wasabi, parsley, carrots, leeks, celery, calendula flowers. 

Time Flies By

Oh my goodness, where do I begin? I haven't blogged since May 2011!  


We've been ridiculously busy here - the garden had to compete with the completion of my master's thesis in July, our wedding and honeymoon in August, and  much catch up to do when we returned in September - and that's only the beginning!


Here's some highlights from the season:   



We are in the process of getting all our garlic cloves into the ground. We've had a late start planting it this year - we were looking into securing land to plant it ALL (~7000 cloves) this year, but didn't find any. Even though we've sold some of our garlic, given some away, reserved a large stash for eating...there's still 3000+ cloves to stick in the ground this year. So far we've planted 6 raised beds full of it and are still looking for space.

I learned that those pretty white butterflies in the garden are not 'butterflies' but cabbage moths, that turn into nasty green caterpillars that eat everything!!!  All our cabbage and any thick leafy green produce near the cabbage got eaten (broccoli, chard, etc.); and what's still out there is covered with holes!   I learned a tip this year that will be a definite MUST for next year... DILL everywhere! The cabbage moths don't like the smell of it :)

We did well with chard this year which seemed to grow everywhere in our garden where it had previously grown, and where compost was spread - Definitely one of those super foods that are well worth planting - hardy, long harvest season and so good for you!  However, now the cabbage moths seem to be eating up what remains.

Despite the fact that it was a terrible season for growing tomatoes (late start of warmth in the summer), that many of our tomato plants got blight, and some never ripened - we ended up with plenty of tomatoes! I made and froze four bags of spaghetti sauce, sliced up and froze 12 bags of just tomatoes ready to make sauce or soup over the winter; and we had plenty to eat in salads and sandwiches. Another plant that did amazingly well, and always seems to each year, is the tomatillo (in the tomato family), a green sweeter fruit that is great for salsa!  We canned about 20 jars of tomatillo salsa (w/ onions, chillis and garlic all from our garden), and made a great chilli/tomatillo stew one night.

Not a great year for squash - although we have enough to get through the winter season for just us two. We enjoyed squash over the thanksgiving weekend and later, we have an amazing thai curry squash soup recipe we look forward to trying out. Here's this year's largest hubbard squashes:

Lots of teas (red clover, chamomile (below), mint, spearmint, lemon balm...), herbs (oregano, parsley, dill, cilantro, basil...), and saving seeds this year (carrot & artichokes (below), arugula, choy, lettuce, kale...)

Lots of potatoes!

We even had enough apples this year to make apple sauce! (About 12 jars).  Along with, we did 12 jars of pear sauce (pears from my Dad's place).  And made two servings of Asian pear crumble (dessert). 

Plenty of hot peppers for salsa, arugula, anis root, celery, beets, carrots, turnips, water cress, japanese red mustard, leeks, onions (red, Spanish, white, yellow) ...

We enjoyed plenty of eggs over the summer - Jason brought 5 more chickens home from his trip to Alberta in June from his brother's ranch.  However, today they went on a 

'permanent holiday' to our 'winter wonderland' (freezer)... It was just too expensive feeding the mice for the small amount of eggs they were producing - we need to solve the mice issue before getting more in the spring. These birds were fed really good (organic grain), so we know we are getting good roasting (soup stock) birds at a low cost ($5/each to process). All the same, we felt a little guilty about sending the birds 'bye bye'.

Finally, something new we tried this year was growing and harvesting Chickory - a healthy substitute for coffee!  Now that we know what it looks like we can find it and harvest it from the wild (it grows along the highway!), as it takes up too much space in our garden to harvest enough for a pot of 'coffee'. For Chickory you roast the roots for hours, until they get nice and crisp & brown...then you grind them up (using a mortar and pestle). (Or you can buy it already roasted at the health food store for about $5/ small bag.) 

Now We're Talking "Spring"!

Tonight's Salad 

19 fresh ingredients picked just before eating!

Italian Parsley
Sorrel
Chives
Green Onions
Cilantro
Dill
Wasabi (greens)
Swiss chard (bright lights)
Choy (3 types)
Pea leaves (and shoots)
Kale (and Kale flowers)
Lettuce (buttercrunch)
Leeks
Lilac (flowers)
Rose (petals)
Radicio
Arugula
Tarragon
Mint

Mucky May, But the Garden is still on its Way.

Nothing much has changed in regards to this wet and cold weather we have been having, since my last post over a month ago, April 5th.  Although, the yard isn't as mucky now that the grass has grown in.   

I can't believe at this time last year, we had everything in the ground, and were already eating our peas among other treats!  This year, the plants that do well in wet and cooler temperatures are doing fine, but we haven't been able to get the rest planted.  And it hasn't been warm enough for peppers, basil, etc.  We got several seedling trays to stick in the ground, if only the sun would come out and stay around. 

Here's what we have been up to.  

Collecting Nettle to dry for tea. Great detox tea! 

Jason put the plastic on the green house, now just the doors are needed.  The house is still warmer all the same, and is ready for planting.  I love our beautiful archway that Jason created along with, and raised planters on the side for the climbing plants to grow and take over the arch one day.

Our chicken are back to laying now that the daylight has increased and the weather has somewhat warmed. 

Wasabi loves this weather! We are hoping to save seeds this year from the plants (a new learning experience for us). 

Of course the hops has taken off!  Anyone want some for making beer this year?  We harvest way to much to use!  

Sadly, I don't think there will be any fruit this year.  All  our fruit trees blossomed, during that short sunny break we had two weeks ago, then it rained hard, for weeks to follow, knocking off the blossoms.  And I didn't see any bees during that short lived sunny break. :(

The potatoes and peas are looking good. 

The broad beans are taking off. 

Here is our kale, from last year.  We've been eating it since February.  We are letting the one big one (with all the yellow flowers) to go to seed this year. 

 Waiting for the new grass to grow...

The raspberries are filling out. 

This is one of my sad garden stories (below).  My poor lavender bush died!  But weirdest thing, the one next to it survived.  I think I will try a bush or two in the green house this year. 

My sweet peas have come out to say hello (I usually put seeds in the ground during the fall, and they naturally come up in the spring, same with the snap dragons). 

We've made raised beds on our front lawn.  Great way to educate others.  The front of our house is on a busy street (cars, pedestrians, etc.) so we get many viewers.  In one bed is our Grow a Row bed, growing food for the food bank and other agencies in need of fresh local foods, through Food Matters Chilliwack (citizen-led non-profit we volunteer for).  And two beds for our tenants, to learn about growing their own food.  Next weekend we all plant these beds together  (let's hope for sun!)

Now, we are just waiting for the sunshine so we can finish our planting!   Then on to finishing the root cellar. 

Meanwhile, we are helping to create a community garden here in Chilliwack - if anyone lives out this way and is interested in learning more, find Food Matters Chilliwack on Facebook and send a message :)