SHOWERS TO FLOWERSThe presence of rain this past week and continuing into this one has been welcome. The vitamin D and pleasantness of the sun was not lost on me, however the tree pollen counts were up to excruciating levels and it was becoming difficult to really push through the day with such intense allergies. All those trees out there making babies...
This week was one of measure, one of just taking in things as they come and watching the slow but steady growth of things. I watched my Nasturtiums peep out of the sandy soil and grow into little adolescents. The Napa Cabbage is coming into its own, with brilliant green leaves stretching and looking crispier than ever. Lost three sprouting onions, but gained two sweet potato slips. Speaking of which, it's this weeks DIY for gardening, which requires no soil (yet) and a sunny spot on your window. Just carefully slice off the bidding slips and place them into water so the potato part is wet, but not so deep it's completely submerged (it will rot). Once your slip's leaves open up and get nice and big, it'll be time to plant! DIY no.2: apple seeds in the freezer: My little three year old eats apples nonstop. I was the same at her age. I did some research and realized we could have a little learning moment and propagate some of them! Now, apples have been in cold storage for a long time at this point in the year. From what I have read it's far easier to start them from seed when the seeds are from fresher fruit. But, for the cost of an apple and the enjoyment of a snack you can try it out. Place the apple seeds on a dampened paper or cloth towel (we have a paperless kitchen, so ours is a scrap of an old towel, either will work). Place your seeds on the towel and place into a plastic bag and close it nearly all the way. You need a small opening for air circulation. I check ours once a week, and it may be ready by mid June if all goes well. I have also ordered strawberry seeds and once they arrive I will try to propagate those as well. It's a similar process, and though it can seem tricky, I've been told that following instructions closely will help. I am truly excited- I bought a some lesser known/less common varieties. One is an alpine strawberry, which looks like a very pale yellow when it is a mature fruit. The other is a bitty little french variety called mignonette (basically french for "cutie"). Tiny and sweet. This week will be a shorter post. In truth, the lapping waves of anxiety and discomfort have been a little higher in the past seven days. The rain has felt like a cleansing wash for the soul, and the need for things like naps has been higher. These weeks are so precious even though they are steeped in the sea of an uncertain time. It can and sometimes does feel difficult to care about the things we have been dreaming of before Covid-19. There is an alternate state our brains are operating within, trying desperately to keep up and casting off the things that, at a neurological level, seem like a hinderance. We're all running at a lower level, regardless of how much sleep we are able to get. But this slowed down state, affecting my abilities to take on more or do all of the things I would like in a day, is something I'm coming to accept. I hope you may as well, in your own way, find it possible to accept this slow down. There are several things in my garden I look at and somewhat impatiently think they should be farther along. Perhaps it's true. Maybe they aren't growing the way they ought to. There could be many reasons for that. Sometimes things just won't grow where you plant them. Raising this many living things is certainly like hopping into the fast lane of "the highway of zero control". But the Napa Cabbage taught me a lesson in the steadfast way it grew in just ten days. That's how it can be with plants. Blink and suddenly they've done something unexpected and it delights. As my focus shifts from control to letting go, these delights seem to pop up all around me. Even though this state of lockdown has no clear end, there is so much to look forward to. And not just the end of the lockdown. The hummingbird, who was conspicuously absent for over a week and had me checking like a worried mother to see if it was at the feeder throughout the day, has returned and it sped all around the balcony, checking to see if it was safe to stay. I was just glad to see it again. The days of watching and waiting instantly forgotten.
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LET'S GET RIGHT TO IT!Tools, tips, plans of action and dirty hands. That's what I promise you'll find here every week. No soil? No problem. I am here to offer ideas about how to grow something even if all you have is your pantry or leftover produce. I'll start with what I have been doing, show some examples and share my shortcomings and the successes. What you may need to give these ideas a try at home: CONTAINERS: mason jars, ceramic containers, aluminum baking containers, leftover cartons, hanging baskets.. things you may have in your kitchen already but ready to be repurposed to grow things A SUNNY SPOT: Unless you live in a very shaded area (lots of surrounding trees for example) you will probably have at least one spot in your house that has enough sunlight to help things grow. At least 3-6 hours of direct sunlight is the sweet spot for most preferred plants. I have a few things that have been somewhat successful in our partial shade setting even though they're full sun plants. We get a max of six hours (which I was once told is the minimum for "full sun) and most things will grow. And some things love partial shade or full shade, hence sun needs are less. TAKE INVENTORY OF WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE:: Do you have romaine or celery in the fridge that's almost used up down to a stump? How are your onions and potatoes? Are they getting over eager and sprouting? Do you have anything in your pantry that may sprout? Lentils, chickpeas, flax seeds and chia are all pantry fare we usually keep around. All good places to start if you haven't placed or don't want to place an order for seeds. SOIL: Even though many things can and will sprout without soil (my cousin once sprouted arugula in a ziplock bag!) a little soil for those kitchen herbs is nice, or if you have the space, getting the good soil for your plants (except nasturtium, more on that later) is the base of a garden. Organic container soil is awesome for just about everything. and a few things you may not have, but I recommend without pressure- these things enhance but do not limit the definition of a healthy garden: WORM CASTINGS: I did my research on fertilizers this year. I had purchased an organic fish bone meal fertilizer but I have since had second thoughts about using it (primarily, my garden was and remains so small, it's not convenient because it's meant to be added to a large amount of water and dispersed). I did my searching and I found worm castings. I am familiar with worm bins, and though I don't have one (on my garden wish list) I found a "worm guy" here in Vancouver and I purchased five gallons of poop. This stuff is premium. It enriches soil and feeds plants well, and you can make worm tea (just what it sounds like: the poop + water in a 1:10 ratio) to distribute it to the plants. I took the route of mixing it into my soil from last year at the start of the season back in February to revitalize soil that had already fed plants for a season. Thus far, I am seeing good results with my broccoli in particular showing vibrancy. SEA SOIL: basically a magic potion, but wait, nope it's compost. actually, yeah. the same thing. Here's the quote from the Sea Soil website (which I will link): "SEA SOIL is a complete soil that organically fertilizes your garden by adding nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, micro-macro nutrients and trace elements. Our SEA SOIL bags clearly display our only two ingredients: fish and forest fines. Both are the finest ingredients available for composting today. Fish are nature's finest natural source of nitrogen and "forest fines" (an industry term for bark, forest soils, needles etc.) bring to SEA SOIL all the "good bugs" and richness from the forest." Yum. ORGANIC SEED: Full disclosure first, and permission as well- I don't buy ALL organic seeds. Flower seeds are less of a concern for me organic wise (unless they're edible). You don't have to buy organic seeds. But, they do make better food. And if you're starting off with organic soil, growing organic seed for food makes the most sense. If you can't get organic seed, or just bought seeds and they aren't, don't panic. Just plant and enjoy this season. And next year if you're feeling feisty, pick up a seed catalogue (West Coast seeds is my go to) and go organic. Truth be told, if you have no access to soil or even a sunny spot, you can still grow something. What a "garden" is don'ts look like one thing. You can even germinate seeds in your fridge during this time and plant them later (strawberries take at minimum six weeks and apples eight or sometimes more). You can put the potato that was neglected and sprouted in the dark of the cupboard in a little bowl of water, put googly eyes on it and name it Stanley. It's still a garden. Room for raised beds? Winning. Room for one pot? Minimalist winning. Obsessed with one plant? I currently have no fewer than four nasturtium containers and three chamomile containers. Grow just salad. Or maybe a little barber shop quartet of little glass containers with resprouted lettuce. Perhaps you just want to watch something grow; a wildflower mix tossed into soil will prove to be a gift come June. Here are a few illustrations of the experiments I've been trying, and I will continue to create more examples of these while also sharing how the raised bed garden is going. Remember, I'm ten stories up, get limited sunlight that I time nearly down to the minute and even though this is a bounty, I still dream of more. It's ok to dream right now. I often find youtube videos of birdsong in a forest that last for up to three hours and I pretend I'm in the garden that only exists in my dreams. Wherever yours is, may you find a way to make it feel precious, even sacred.
Lettuce and onion I have tried, but this chia sprouting may be our next "garden school" activity for our three year old. I will always address kids in the garden, since we have one. First tip I have learned- give them a job. For our daughter, it's watering. She gets to water the plants. You can help fill the watering can, and even do it in increments so nothing drowns. She has come to be very serious about it and also feels important doing it. Bonus- lockdown at home means pants in the garden are optional (and the rest of the house too). I go with pjs, but no one, but no one rocks the Donald Duck look like a toddler, especially when they make sure to put on a coat or sweater to make sure they're "not cold".
I leave you with a few things to try- mostly resprouting things, this week. Most seed suppliers are backed up with their orders right now. It seems we all are looking for a hobby, and also gravitating towards that soothing practice of growing things. It is a massively successful tool to manage mental health. I confess a shaky track record with my own. Many periods of stability, but some times in my life where the dips were deep. And now, collectively, we are all there in one way or another, trying not too dip too deeply as we cross this strange plateau of isolation. The cliché would be to point out that none of us are alone, and I do believe that to my core. Yet, on the other side, I can equally believe that aloneness is not a threat. Solitude can be a place of comfort too. Forced as we are to endure this current strange season, it may be hard to swallow that every day. There is no pressure or need to do so. Perhaps in the right dose, it is medicine. For me, this is the garden- the pleasureful solitude found in the focus on small green life, allowing the heaviness of the world to fall away. I wish this for you. A GARDEN SUPPORT BLOG FOR COVID 19The events of COVID 19 swirl around us. We all scramble to find the new and ever-changing normal as each day brings a deluge of new information... Meanwhile, on the tenth storey of a building somewhere near Dowtown Vancouver, a woman begins to write... I am an introvert and cozy homebody. Even so, this lockdown has been a lot. For all of us. What do we do faced with so much- suddenly unstructured time, more bodies at home than usual (for many), and no solace to be had in Provincial Parks or the seasonal activities we generally delight in (no Easter gathering and the cancellation of the Chilliwack Tulip Festival were a huge blow- thus missing the second most instagrammable floral event in BC, in my personal opinion, and second to the Sunflower Festival in the same location). Even though entertaining is fairly rare for us, it's weird to not see anyone. Our little one had just started preschool and thrived there for just a month before things changed. No more walks to school in the fresh morning. No more giddy pickups and mini adventures in the stroller. I have turned to the garden in a way that is far different than any other time of planting for me in my life. What has been a hobby and a true joy in the past is now very much a lifeboat on a spiritual level. The magnitude of peace that comes from taking care of tiny green shoots and coaxing them into mature plants over painfully slow time has made me see the hours as they pass and savour them more. And failures in the garden feel like on point lessons for the spirit as well. My radishes failed to bulb up an it knocked me down much harder than I expected. It felt childish but here I am telling you anyway, and concluding the story with a lesson learned in letting go. To myself: "this isn't really about radishes..." The shortcomings of pouring too much worth into radishes is just one lesson learned thus far in the very infancy of the gardening season. I began planting in February and here we are in April and I am learning to have more patience even as I struggle to. This is a good thing when your time is spent with a three year old and the man you love and are married to. But beyond the lessons of the garden, the greatest benefit is the pure joy and childlike delight of planting something, watering it, and waiting. The delight of those first two little leaves on a seedling, or the single bent shoot of an onion that gradually rises to be straight, as a ballerina at the barre would rise from cambré forward. The eagerness of the leaning little leaves of lettuce stretching to the sun in search of life. The drops of dew on the uniquely textured broccoli leaves. Shy little sprouted onions presenting a single green shoot in the promise of more to come. Simply endless treasures abound. Perhaps there is a yard stretched before you causing intimidation or overwhelm. Maybe all you have is a sunny spot on the windowsill. Or yet, like me, you have a patio sitting empty and awaiting some purpose. Ours was transformed into a garden primarily because, at ten stories up and being near downtown, yes the view is amazing but the atmosphere is not quite right for a table and chairs for alfresco dining. Furthermore, a husband who hates heights just won't venture out and feel comfortable in that setting deters the setup of a sitting area. In its saddest hour, the patio was storage for a bike. No, a garden is the only true fit.
I struggled to keep up with gardening initially when I first started doing planting outside. Having been previously invested in an inground garden before moving to this apartment, I was a little lacklustre in my enthusiasm. But after a successful season last year with containers and a helpful two year old, I caught the bug again. The off season was spent scouring Craigslist for raised planter beds and creating Pinterest boards. West coast seeds catalogue in hand of January 2020, I made a really big plan for this year. Naturally, I could never have imagined where we are now. That rekindled enthusiasm is something I feel immensely grateful for as we walk slowly through this isolation season. So, here I am at my computer, looking out at the garden, and considering how to share the things I'm learning. Being a creative person, the blog era of the early 2000s was something I have already jumped on in the past. Since there is no where for us to meet right now beyond meeting at the screen, come here for little lessons of the heart, small creative gardening experiments (I'm going to be doing these right alongside anyone who chooses to join, no "leg up" here)and I will share how the things I've planted are doing. I will share my failures too. I will post every Tuesday night (except today, which is Thursday) Hold me to it. I'll do my very best. with humility and dirty fingernails, -n see below- highlights from gardening in 2019 |
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NinaNoot- Christina (Nina) Wonglong time illustrator of whimsical things and a woman with a green thumb. Compassion and a desire to do something helpful compels me to write and share about gardening in hopes it may bring healing and delight to the souls of others as it has to mine. Check in every week on Tuesday for the unfolding story of my own garden alongside small growing project ideas, my successes and failures, and a sincere dose of hope in this moment of covid-19. Archives
August 2020
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