Kenya-ya!

Just a quick post to give everyone an update. Am now going to be using this blog to let you all know what is going on while I'm in Kenya (provided I have internet). Currently am at the airport getting ready to take off on this new adventure.

First stop: Gogar Elementary School.

Here the plan is to set up a mixed tree plantation. This project is being sponsored by the Rift Valley Tree Trust and will help educate the students (and me) about indigenous species as well as how to sustainably use the forest. The hope is it will also be a nice shady area to spend time and learn. We'll also set up a tree nursery to help maintain the forested area.

A kitchen garden will also be set up with the help of some friends to produce food for the girls and the community. Using local manure and the soil that surrounds the school we'll try to create a productive garden that is drought resistant (means some experimenting... fun!)

Next stop: ..... I'll figure that out when the time comes.

At this point nervous and excited are the feeling, but I know it will be worth it and a major learning experience. Things may change, but that's the fun part.

Keep checking for updates. I'll write and post pictures whenever I can.

Have fun friends and thanks for being so supportive!

digging, composting, and mulching

Here we are, in my last week in Toronto and there is a lot of work to be done in the garden. I'll give you a quick update before I get back outside.

Over the weekend I managed to track down some free soil. Having a vehicle definitely made the work of bringing the soil from one location to another a lot easier. I managed to get six garbage pail loads to the car before I felt like we had enough for the time being (meaning I didn't think I could carry another load at that moment without collapsing.) After a short drive I unloaded it into a pile in the backyard as I wasn't quite sure exactly where I wanted it.

I was also able to find a lumber tarp free from the Home Hardware lumber yard. Can you believe they just throw those out? They are perfect for putting over your compost pile in the yard. With the black side up they insulate well and keep the compost with just the right amount of moisture. And free!

Also people were willing to give away all their old leaves they'd raked up this spring. I scored a bag of leaves (though judging by the amount of brown bags on the side of the road I could have enough leaves to fill the backyard numerous times.)

This morning I also found a full dumpster of straw. It was being used to insulate a foundation that had been built over the winter and was about to be thrown out. If you need something to mulch* your garden you can find this bounty of straw in the alley between Spadina and Roberts, South of Harbord.

So now its off to find some free cardboard and get going with digging out some beds and turning some soil. This week I'll be in search of some heirloom seeds, some buckets (hopefully free) for hanging the tomatoes and some kelp to add to the garden to give the seeds a kick start in nutrients.

Hope you're having as much fun in your garden! Keep your eye peeled for cheap or free garden aids!

*One uses mulch to retain moisture reduce erosion, provide nutrients, and suppress weed growth. You lay a mulch over your beds once you've planted your seeds.

for the love of seeds

Food. We love it and would die without it. But how often do we take a moment to think about where it comes from. Do we consider those DNA filled capsules that have been saved and reproduced through the generations in order to feed us in the future? How is it we have so little interest in one of the most crucial aspects of our survival? We've become so accustomed to food being readily available to us, whether in a processed form or as 'fresh' produce at the grocery store, that we take it for granted. Many of us no longer value the seeds that we scoop out of the pepper. We don't have to think about where the seeds for lettuce come from. We ignore how much genetic information that chickpea holds.

Over centuries our ancestors reproduced seeds and took note of their characteristics so that we could someday be able to have hardy varieties that would grow in our own specific climates. All of this time and energy put in to ensuring that the future generations would have food and what has happened? We have become so disconnected from our food and its sources that few of us realize how endangered our seeds are. We, through our acceptance of what is offered at the grocery store allow seeds to become part of an industry that is hoping to scrap everything our ancestors have done for us, by mutating the makeup of seeds so they cannot reproduce, in order to grow profits.

We are exposed to a variety of different vegetable and fruits when we go to the grocery store, right? One can decide if they want a zucchini, a tomato or that weird green thing that no one seems to know how to cook. This seems like enough. Yet instead of having an option of hundreds of tomatoes it is dictated to us that we have five or six options that are readily available at most grocery stores. The other hundreds of flavour-filled varieties will be forgotten because they are not quite as good at growing quickly and strongly on a mass production scale.

It is near impossible to ensure that everything you consume is made from heirloom seeds and happy plants. From the bread you eat to the eggplant you buy, there is a good chance that somewhere along the way a mutated seed has made its way into your food. What I'm suggesting is that we become more aware of this phenomenon of becoming disconnected from our food.

Look at the seeds the next time you're cutting up a fruit or vegetable and think about the history behind that specific food.

Learn ways to save the seeds (though many grocery store varieties will not be able to reproduce). 

Buy your seeds from responsible seed and food lovers.

Be aware of the fact that people throughout the world are fighting a battle against multi-national seed companies to stop them from turning seed saving into a profit driven industry.

It would be lovely to think that we would all buy only heirloom seed vegetables and products, but for now knowing the challenges facing our food is a promising first step.

The canvas

what we're working with

So here we are. Spring is just around the corner and we've found our yard to turn in to a delicious, beautiful garden.

In order to have the best garden we can imagine, we have to observe and understand different aspects of the space. Some important things to recognize about your space are where the warmest spots are, what sections get the most sun and where the wet spots are.

north side of yard

Knowing this will help you make important decisions when planting.

For example, in the garden we're attempting, we know there is a lot of sunlight hitting the North side of the yard. As the yard is beside a lane it is not blocked by a building so we can expect quite a bit of sunlight. There is a tree on the South side which Jess has informed me is not too leafy and shouldn't be the cause of too much shade. Previously there has been a vegetable garden in the back of the yard (the West side). The yard seems to have good drainage. Even after all the snow melt it is not too muddy and there are no pooled areas of water. As it's a fenced yard we don't expect too much wind that could damage our plants.

Now that we've considered the aspects of the space we need to utilize that information in the mapping process. This is one of my favourite parts of the 'starting-a-garden' process. Here is when we'll make our first attempt of deciding where we want certain plants. We know there is sun on the North side so we'll want to put our fruits and vegetables that really thrive in the warmth in that area. My initial thoughts for that area is corn, berries and grapes. I have also heard of growing pole beans that climb the corn stalks, which I'd really love to see happen.

To the left is my first attempt at a map.

Now we can start to decide (if we haven't already) what type of seeds we'll use. We'll also have to decide if we want to use raised beds. This will cost more but could be beneficial considering we didn't mulch the soil in the fall to kill the grass and could be used to keep certain plants living longer in the fall (I'm thinking mini greenhouses.)


So here we go! We're one step closer to our delicious summer garden! Coming up: Raised beds, herb spirals, compost piles and much more!!!

spring, space and seeds

Spring has been teasing us as of late in Ontario. It's here for a day, then the snow flies. That means it's time to start thinking about the garden. I myself, don't have anywhere to start a garden, but am lucky enough to have a friend whose landlord is keen on growing delicious fruits and vegetables in their apartment yard. If you're in the same situation as I was and not having a space to grow food outside, fear not there are networks to help you. Have a look on sharingbackyards.com for your city. This website lets you see where people are that have yards and don't have time or interest in gardening. But would be willing to let other people like you, who don't have somewhere to garden, use their space to grow. How convenient!

Another exciting step that can be taken at the moment is looking through seed catalogues and considering what you might be interested in growing this season. This is a really fun part of the gardening experience. With numerous heirloom seed catalogues available, you will be shocked and amazed at the variety of vegetables that you may not have even know existed. Remember that in order to have a variety of species, it's important to put your money towards supporting companies that reject genetically modified seeds. Past generations have worked hard to save seeds that are nutritious, hardy and capable of reproducing seed. It's important to respect this part of our history and support the companies that are fighting to keep seeds that stay true and can reproduce to provide food for our future.

These are two of my favourite catalogues at the moment.

Salt spring seeds

Urban Harvest

Shortly you'll be mapping out your garden, starting seeds inside and testing your soil to decide what you may need to add and where you'll place different plants. In a matter of months you'll be eating delicious produce from your own garden.

Throughout the next few weeks I'll be updating you on what we're doing to achieve the most productive, efficient garden we can. Stay tuned!

worm update

I'm sure everyone is curious about how the worms are. Who wouldn't be? So here it is. There are more of them. A lot more of them. My worms have at least doubled and I recently had to move half of them over to another container. Honest Ed's supplied me with a reasonably priced tupperware which I drilled some holes in to. I'm not sure I put in enough, but it is an easy fix if not. I also noticed that the kit I bought had a small drainage type vent near the bottom. I did not add this to my new tupperware but haven't noticed a need for drainage since the first major leak. I'm glad to report there have been no more leaks of compost water since then.

To get this new kit started I layered some shredded newspaper on the bottom of the tupperware, added some compost that I hadn't been able to fit in my overly full initial compost worm haven, spooned half the worms and compost from the initial worm bin into the new one and added another layer of shredded newspaper for good measure. I plan on giving this to a friend to take care of his compost needs as I'm not sure I can provide enough vegetable scraps, egg shells and coffee grinds for this number of worms. Stay tuned for more updates on the exciting world of worms!

We all have different ideas on how we can cut down on our food waste. I thought I'd provide some hints of what I do (or try to do rather) in order to limit the diet of the compost worms under my sink.

Look in your fridge. If you're anything like me you'll be surprised at what you have in there. You may not have any idea what you had initially planned on making with that asparagus, but now it is time to experiment.

Buy what you need. While you're shopping decide what you're going to use the things you buy in. We all have the impulse buy, but don't buy that half price cauliflower unless you know what you're going to use it in. It's easy (for some) to get sidetracked in the grocery store and buy things you don't need. If it helps, make a menu ahead of time and write out a list to stick to. Having eggs, puff pastry, pitas and canned soups in the house can be really handy when you're trying to get rid of some of the near-rotting vegetables. Why not make a delicious broccoli pizza on your frozen pita breads or bulk up a canned soup for a quick meal? lovefoodhatewaste offers great ideas on storing food and making menus.

Produce bags. These are the answer to the bendy carrots in the 'not-so-crisp' crisper drawer. You put your produce in the bags in your fridge and the food lasts a week or so longer. It's genius. Schedules change and maybe you didn't get to make that broccoli casserole you bought those two heads of broccoli for. Not to worry, with produce bags there is always next week. I don't love the idea of more plastic bags, but in the battle with keeping lettuce fresh, I'll make my concessions. Brown bag your mushrooms; they won't get slimy, they'll just dry up and you can rehydrate them when you cook them.

Soups are an ideal way of cutting down on waste. Though the art of making soups was not always a skill of mine, i.e. Great depression soup of 2008, I've started to experiment with the crisper drawer remnants. When you have scraps from your veggies instead of throwing them “elsewhere” put them in a bag in the freezer for stock. This way if you ever have the urge to make a wonderful soup, boiling your scraps will lead to a tasty stock.

Eat your leftovers. You're out to eat with friends and you forgot to ask for the half order of fries because you know that you can never finish all the fries on your plate without feeling sick. Take home your leftovers (lunch tomorrow) or give your fries to the hungry guy on the street (dinner tonight). If you hate the styrofoam containers, carry around one of those handy collapsible tupperwares that can fit in your purse or manbag.

Being aware of what you're buying and keeping track of what is still left in your fridge is crucial to not wasting as much food as we do. Check your vegetables and fruits. If something is going bad before you intended to use it be flexible and change your plans. If there is a small bruise or rotten spot on some of your produce cut it out and use the rest.

If you're concerned about how long you can keep things in your fridge check out this sweet website that gives you the low-down on what is safe to eat after how long.

http://www.stilltasty.com/

Don't be afraid to use your senses. If it smells rotten, it might be. If there is a foreign shape in your fridge covered in fuzzy mold, put it in the compost. The expiry date on your yogurt says today, but it seems fine. It probably is. Give your food the benefit of the doubt. A quick wash off of the spinach at the bottom of the bag might be enough to have a delicious salad instead of a meal for the worms.

Experiment with your foods. Mix different ingredients from your fridge. If you have a mushy pear and some shrivelling zucchinis maybe its time to make zucchini-pear muffins. What is the worst that could happen?