The real dirt
No need to roll up the sleeves
May 13, 2011=============================================================MORE ON GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING
Lessons my garden has...
As garden education goes, I generally do not recommend that you watch TV.
Six tips to a great garden...Cullen: Looking for some...Treat your garden like a...Cullen: Let’s all go...
As garden education goes, I generally do not recommend that you watch TV.
Six tips to a great garden...Cullen: Looking for some...Treat your garden like a...Cullen: Let’s all go...
According to the American Association for Nude Recreation, May 14 is the day when we should all get outside and tend our gardens, flower boxes and yards clothed “as nature intended.”
“Nude gardening is comfortable, saves on laundry, and makes for a quick personal clean up — just hose down,” these folks say.
True.
They also claim that “besides being liberating, nude gardening is second only to swimming as an activity that people are most ready to consider doing nude.”
True again.
I’ve actually weeded in the buff myself. (Relax folks. I live out in the boonies. No neighbours around to scare). But burr what’s with the weird timing? Up here in Canada, this day of celebration would probably result in very chilly extremities, and I’m not just talking frozen fingers. Couldn’t you organize the bash at a sensible time of year, like July?
In fact, I couldn’t help noticing the palm trees in the photo this organization sent me. The model clearly lives in Florida, where legions of uninhibited ladies and gents are probably outside at this very moment, fussing over their flowers under the warmth of sunshine.
But not here, alas. However, in the spirit of World Naked Gardening Day, my buddy Jessica gamely agreed to pose au naturel with a strategically-placed potted fern. Let’s hope her selfless act — performed one recent chilly morning — persuades the long-overdue summer to warm up our sunstarved bodies.
Desperately seeking heirlooms
Forget getting naked. It’s time to get serious about our tomato plants — because now (probably) we can expose their tender little bodies to the great outdoors. Just make sure all danger of frost is past before you plant them.
Where to find heirlooms? I keep getting emails from readers who complain that these kinds of tomatoes are in short supply (or non-existent) at big garden centres. And it’s often true. The trick is to seek out smaller, owner-operated nurseries, which often start seeds themselves. However, if you lust after heirlooms (and they do taste fantastic) remember that in humid, wet summers they are prone to a horrid affliction called late blight. It turns tomatoes black, brown and yucky just as they’re ripening — a discovery can break your heart. Grow them by all means, but plant a modern hybrid too, because they're less susceptible to blight.
Two sources for heirloom tomatoes:
• Mason House Gardens, 3520 Durham Rd. #1, Uxbridge. Call 905-649-3532. Masonhousegardens.com
Owner Marjorie Mason and her son Jeff promise to have 60 kinds of tomato plants on offer — many of them heirlooms.
• Wild Things Plant Nursery: 9688 Baseline Rd., Minto Township. Mount Forest: Call 519-338-228. Toll Free: 1-877-538-3228 or email, wildthings@wightman.ca
Tomato champs Nina Aprile and John Harris valiantly start dozens of unusual heritage tomato plants every year. They’re holding a Tomato Day May 14 with more than 90 different kinds to choose from.
Sonia’s latest book is Incredible Edibles, 43 Fun Things To Grow In The City. soniaday.com
(source:.yourhome.ca)
============================================
No comments:
Post a Comment