July Harvest Totals

Asterisk denotes foraged items.

• Beets (mixed): 970g
• Calendula: 7g
• Carrots (rainbow): 339g
• Chamomile: 28g
• Garlic Scapes: 12g
• Hyssop: 39g
• Kale (Red Russian): 54g
• Pansies: 10g
• Peas (Amish Snap): 131g
• Peas (Green Arrow): 118g
• Raspberries: 587g
• Rhubarb: 128g
• Strawberries: 19g
• Tomato (Italian Golden Love Apple): 11g
• Tomato (Uptown Funk): 57g
• Zucchini: 84g

Total: 2.6kg

At first I was disappointed to see my harvest totals were so low for this month, but then when I looked back I found I actually did about the same - if not slightly better - than this month last year. We tend to do a lot of travelling in July, so there isn't a lot of time around the house to garden or forage. It's also been rather smoky out with the wildfire conditions, so we haven't been making a whole lot of trips out to gather anything wild. 

Normally my peas do better than this, but I messed up on trellising the Green Arrow ones that normally do quite well for me, and the Amish Snap I was growing out mainly to replenish my seed for upcoming seasons, so I was leaving the best looking pods on the vines to fully mature. It was a good year for berries (although Little Forager gets to the few strawberry plants I have before I can get most of them to the scale) and I am sure this was the most raspberries I've ever picked. We even missed out on the last few due to the timing of our vacations. It was also a sad year for the rhubarb. I'm not sure why but if it does this poorly next year I'm going to try it in a new location and see what happens.

June Harvest Totals

Asterisk denotes foraged item.

• Basil (purple): 2 g
• Beets (mixed): 57 g
• Calendula: 14 g
• Carrots (mixed): 91 g
• Chamomile: 50 g
• Dill: 36 g
• Haskap Berries: 160 g
• Hyssop: 39 g
• Kale (Red Russian): 76 g
• Lemon Balm: 7 g
• Mint (Mojito): 5 g
• Mint (Peppermint): 11 g
• Mint (Pineapple): 11 g
• *Orach: 115 g
• Orach: 96 g
• Pansies: 2 g
• Peas (Amish Snap): 84 g
• Raspberries: 15 g
• Rhubarb: 37 g
• Sage: 4 g
• Saskatoon Berries: 3147 g
• Spinach: 43 g
• Strawberries: 21 g
• Tarragon: 14 g
• Thyme: 2 g

Total: 4.2 kg

This June seemed to have less going on in the garden for some reason. Last year I got more peas, more rhubarb, I remembered to pick the wild asparagus, and just overall I got about two kilos more from the garden and the wild. I'm not sure what's going on with my rhubarb - I guess it's having an off year. Last year I harvested nearly a kilogram from it in June, but this year just a a few little stalks! I'm going to give it more fertilizer in the fall this year and see if that helps kickstart it for the spring. It also got pretty choked in with weeds, so maybe I didn't get to those in time.

I suspected the peas would be a smaller harvest this year, because I was very picky about the seed I was saving from the Amish Snap Peas I've been planting and saving for over 5 seasons now. They were starting to look quite a bit different from what I remember receiving from Seed Savers Exchange almost six years ago. I kept only 15 seeds from last year because I only wanted seeds from pods that produced at least three seeds per pod, and looked smooth and round - identical to what I received when I purchased them. I also held off on harvesting some of the most beautiful pods growing from them because I want to make sure that my seed is excellent for the years to come. I can't save seeds from many things because my garden is too small, but legumes, and a few other things are possible so I want to do the best job I can with stewarding those varieties.

Despite the lack of rhubarb, the berries this month have been fantastic. I've never seen saskatoons, or raspberries the size I've been picking this month. Raspberries were just beginning to ripen, but they were all enormous and so heavy the branches on my little bushes were all falling over! The wild saskatoons this here were also gigantic. Our bowl full of them looked more like cranberries or grapes. I have some cultivated saskatoons in my freezer from last year, and these are almost double their size, when it's usually the other way around!

There is also a lot of promise still out there in the garden. My tomato plants are getting big, and many have already set quite a bit of fruit which I wait for with great anticipation! I've got loads of sun chokes, the quinoa is about to flower, and the beans are climbing high! I also have a bed of the healthiest looking brassicas I've ever grown, so those are making me pretty happy each time I step out into the garden. All in all it's been a decent month for harvesting, but I look forward to the major bounty that is to come as summer reaches its fullness.

Growing Up - Trellises and Other Garden Structures

I don't have a whole lot of space to garden, so I try my best to make the most of my vertical space using trellises and other structures. We're also renting our space, so nothing can be too permanent. I've designed my whole garden to be able to be taken apart if we need to move - we'll undo the raised beds, and the grass that is seeded there will be so healthy from my lovely garden soil. I say that as a preface because there are other great options out there, but for us it is most important that they work well, are cheap, and are easy to remove when needed.

We work with bamboo poles and twine, for the most part. This year we wanted to do some low tunnels over our raised beds, so we bought some PVC pipe and rebar stakes. We cut them too big last year, but that worked in our favour because I am enjoying using their length for trellising. In the above photos you can see my twine and PVC archway (left) that I have peas growing up one side, and cucumbers and squash on the other. In the photo on the right is a square trellis for peas that I made by weaving thinner bamboo stakes (6 ft. length) and leaning it against the wall. You can see it more fully in the photo below.

The above photo is a bit cluttered, but it does show what the garden actually looks like on a day to day basis - not just when I take a beautiful photo for Instagram! You can see my potato tower here, which I am still enjoying using. I've actually added another bin to grow potatoes in this way since it worked so well. I've got some chicken wire for things to grow up, and the long line of poles and twine is something I am trying for tomato supports. I've seen a lot of people use farm fencing for this, so I sort of made my own thing using six foot hardwood stakes, bamboo poles, and twine. The stakes are drilled into the raised beds, and the poles are keeping each tomato plant upright. The twine running between them keeps everything together and strong. 

We're also using plants as trellises - I put in a lot of sunchokes this year, and I've got beans planted below to climb them. I've done the same elsewhere with sunflowers. I'm hoping the corn will grow tall enough to help some of my beans out as well, but I've got some other supports ready in case it fails me again this year.

What are some of your favourite ways to use the vertical space in your garden? I'd love to hear all about it in the comment section!

May Harvest Totals

Asterisk Denotes Foraged Item

• Chamomile: 9 g
• *Dandelion Greens: 394 g
• *Dandelion Petals: 120 g
• Douglas Fir Cones: 120 g
• Green Garlic: 12 g
• Lemon Balm: 7 g
• Lettuce (Volunteer): 6 g
• *Lilac Flowers: 482 g
• Mint (Mojito): 8 g
• Mixed Greens: 145 g
• Pansies: 3 g
• Pea Shoots: 10 g
• Rhubarb: 151 g
• Sage: 1 g
• Strawberries: 11 g
• Tarragon: 2 g
• Thyme: 1 g
• *Wild Lettuce: 180 g

Total: 1.662 kg

This month was an interesting one for me, because usually the bulk of what I harvest in May is wild Asparagus, and this time for some reason I never made it out to my spot to gather any.  Initially the smaller harvest total was a bit discouraging, because ideally I'd like my self sufficiency to increase over time.  However, when I looked at last year's harvest total and subtracted what was asparagus, I found that this year I'd quadrupled my non-asparagus harvest!  The other thing that amazed me was that last year my "May" totals were actually April and May combined.  This year we were able to gather enough earlier that I tallied everything up for March and April's harvest so this year is already bringing in a more plentiful and diverse harvest.

One of the most interesting new things added to my spring harvest totals are these Douglas fir cones (pictured below).  I picked these while they were still green, and they have the most beautiful aroma.  I'd seen a few people posting on Instagram that they were using them for flavouring, so I decided to blend them up into a flavoured sugar.  They have the most beautiful aroma and a bright citrus/crabapple taste with forest notes that is really hard to describe.  I'm imagining making Christmas cookies this winter from sugar flavoured with a Christmas tree!  I also think these would make an incredible sorbet flavour too so I'm hoping to get out before they mature too much and gather some more to experiment with.

What are you harvesting these days?  Leave me a note in the comments and I'd love to hear how this spring of gardening and/or foraging is going for you!

Growing Pea Shoots and a Couple Ways to Eat Them

They are rising in popularity these days - and have long been popular with some cultures outside North America - but pea shoots still aren't something you find on your average grocery store shelf.  I've snipped a few here and there from the peas I've grown, but this year I tried growing them in flats kind of like you would with micro greens and I'm not sure why I didn't start doing this earlier!  

Growing pea shoots this way you have all the deliciousness of fresh peas without waiting until the pods are ready to harvest.  I can't believe I didn't start doing this earlier!  

The variety I used (linked above) is an heirloom pea that actually has beautiful red flowers if you let it grow longer.  It is known for its' strong, succulent tendrils which is why it is a great candidate for growing in this way. All you need to do is fill a flat tray like the seed starting tray in the photo below (linked above) almost to the top with a good quality potting soil suitable for growing vegetables (I used promix and I've linked it above as well although I will say I've seen it cheaper elsewhere).  Scatter the pea seeds on top.  You can crowd them in pretty closely because you're going to cut them when they are only a few inches high so you don't have to really worry about them competing for nutrients.  Cover them with a bit more soil, and then water thoroughly, but not to the point of creating a swamp.  

After you've got them planted the upkeep is really simple.  Just make sure to keep it moist without letting it get waterlogged.  You really won't need to water much as there is no drainage, but you do need to keep the seeds moist so that they actually sprout.  Once they are around six inches tall you can harvest them at any time, but don't let them get too much longer or they will be a bit tough.  Use these as you would use any other spring green - in salads, as part of a sandwich filling, in a frittata - you name it!  Here are a few things that I've been making recently to give you a few ideas.

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Pea Shoot Green Sauce

Ingredients

• Pea Shoots
• Green Garlic, or 1 Garlic Clove
• Lemon Juice
• Salt
• Olive Oil

Takes 15 min, serves 6.

Instructions

1. Put pea shoots, green garlic, juice of half a lemon (go easy here as it can be overpowering and you'll have a chance to add more later), teaspoon of salt (again, you'll have the chance to add more later if you need to), and enough olive oil to make it liquid enough to blend in a blender or food processor. Pea shoots are soft enough that a mortar and pestle would work as well, but it would take longer.
2. Blend until you like the consistency. I keep mine chunkier because I like to spread it on toast (adding a fried egg on top is an incredible idea as well).
3. Taste and add more salt, lemon juice, or olive oil until you like the taste and texture. Spread it on toast, use it as a dip, or put it on a burger - the options are endless!

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Ginger Miso Sautéed Pea Shoots

Ingredients

• Large Bunch of Pea Shoots (overesimate as they shrink down quite a bit with cooking)
• Small thumb of Ginger, minced
• 1 tsp Miso Paste
• Butter or Olive Oil for Sautéing

Takes 15 min, serves 2-4 Depending on the amount of pea shoots. Estimate 1 large handful per person..

Instructions

1. Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan on medium-low heat.
2. Whisk the ginger and miso into the butter until it blends into a sauce.
3. Arange sliced mozzarella and tomato on flatbread. Place back in oven until cheese is melted and bubbly.
4. Add the pea shoots and sauté until wilted, but not mushy.

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