Welcome to the second issue of The Guides for the Prairie Gardener Monthly Newsletter! Janet Melrose and I are keeping you up-to-date on everything related to our book series Guides for the Prairie Gardener, letting you know about what other Prairie gardening-related projects we’re working on, and throwing in some gardening trivia and newsy tidbits, just for fun! If you like what you see, please follow us on our social media and hit the subscribe button on Flowery Prose.
Book News and Events
The print versions of the books will be released this month!
The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Vegetables and The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Pests and Diseases were released in e-book format on April 7, and print copies will be out on May 12! We are so thrilled that our publisher TouchWood Editions has given us this opportunity to get these books out into the hands of prairie gardeners! You can order them from independent bookstores in Calgary such as Owl’s Nest Books, Shelf Life Books, and Pages in Kensington, as well as Audrey’s Books in Edmonton. They are also available from Chapters-Indigo, McNally-Robinson, and Amazon – you can use the links on our publisher’s website (click on either Janet’s bio or mine). Look for them in bookstores and garden centres near you!
*
On April 16, Janet and I were guests on CBC Radio One’s Homestretch program with Doug Dirks – we spoke a bit about our books and early planning for our favourite time of the year: spring! If you want to listen to our segment, click here.
Out and About
Sheryl:
This month may seem slow as I don’t have evidence of everything I’ve been working on – no new published articles this go-around! But I have been writing up a storm, plugging away at the next two manuscripts in the Guides for the Prairie Gardener series and a slew of articles that will be published later in the year (and one already for next summer!). I’ve researched and written about everything from dragonflies to herbal adaptogens to beardtongues to leaf mold over the past few weeks…never a dull moment!
*
In mid-April, I took in an online class through the University of Saskatchewan. It was taught by Egan Davis, the principal instructor of horticulture training at the University of British Columbia, and covered an interesting and relevant topic: Ecologically Modeled Planting Design (EMPD). To simplify the concept, it’s basically the antithesis of modern gardening, where we have tended to work with static landscapes (plants are grown and mature in place and decline fairly rapidly, usually within a couple of decades). EMPD is constructed in phases, and it is dynamic and long-lasting, taking as its inspiration the natural world and the way that plant communities evolve in the wild. The presentation left me with a lot to muse about, and ideas to delve deeper into.
*
Otherwise, I’ve been getting outdoors daily for long walks, taking in as much of spring as I can possibly soak up. The pond near my home is a favourite destination for me…and a myriad of duck species. The red-winged blackbirds arrived last week; their “rusty gate hinge” calls are a sure sign of the changing season.
Photo by Sheryl Normandeau
Janet:
April turned into a really busy month for me! Like Sheryl, I have been writing like crazy on our books for 2021, articles and new workshops too! Plus trying out all sorts of techniques indoor sowing and growing. Some worked out beautifully, such as the leeks I finally got to germinate and have a nice crop on the go, but some not so much as I have killed many a lettuce seedling pricking them out. I have lots of kale, tomatoes and cucumbers on the go and about a zillion wintersowing jugs starting to germinate now outside. Lately of course now that it has stopped snowing, it has been a delight going out into the garden to see what has bloomed overnight with crocuses, snowdrops, and other spring bulbs popping up.
Photos by Janet Melrose (l-r: crocus, wintersowing)
What really made my month busy was learning, literally overnight, how to do online workshops and Horticultural Therapy sessions! It’s quite a skill and not one I had on my bucket list for 2020 for sure, but it’s fun getting together virtually and learning gardening when we are stuck at home!
In May and early June I have a number of workshops scheduled on a range of topics and with a number of groups, all of which are open to everyone! You register either through Eventbrite or on the Calgary Horticultural Society’s website. Most are talks, but others have a hands on component either with supplies you bring in yourself and others where a kit is delivered to you. I do hope that you will be able to sign in for at least one!
May 5th – Garden On! – How to Get the Most out of Your Raised Bed
Got a raised bed? Learn how to get the very best out of it with planting strategies and practice to maximize your space to the best effect!
For more info and to register, click here.
May 6th – Beyond Kale* – Small Space Edible Gardening
Those who have limited space or access to a ‘regular’ garden can garden effectively and creatively in containers, taking advantages of all the benefits of this style of gardening and minimizing the disadvantages, and have fun too!
For more info and to register, click here.
May 7th – 2 Gals in a Garden – Fun, Frivolous and Functional 3 Season Flowering Containers –
A full hands-on Workshop on designing, planting and caring for flowering planters this season.
For more info and to register, click here.
May 12th – Calgary Horticultural Society – Native Plants for Alberta Gardens
Alberta is blessed with profuse and varied native species that are naturally suited to their particular ecological niche. By including them in plant selection, gardeners can save time, energy, money and frustration in efforts to garden wisely and successfully in our challenging environment.
Includes a demo planting…that you can do as well with materials purchased by yourself for the night!
For more info and to register, click here.
May 13th – Embrace Gardening – Garden Self-Sufficiency
Growing produce this year is never more important. To learn and know that you can grow part of your food is gardening self-sufficiency.
For more info and to register, click here.
May 14th – 2 Gals in a Garden- Mixed Edible Planters- A full hands-on Workshop
Grow Your Own Veggies, Fruit and Edible Flowers In Planters to Fit Any Space! And plant up your own container during the workshop!
For more info and to register, click here.
May 21st– Calgary Horticultural Society -Intensive Planting
How to grow more in less space! Includes a demo planting…that you can do as well with materials purchased by yourself for the night!
For more info and to register, click here.
May 28th– 2 Gals in a Garden- Mighty Herbs-A full hands-on workshop
Herbs belong in every garden, big and small! Join us to learn about culinary herbs, then plant your own container !
For more info and to register, click here.
In Our Gardens
Sheryl:
The community garden I’ve been a member of for the past few years looks like it will be shuttered due to some ongoing issues, so I’ve been scrambling to find a new garden group to work with. Fortunately, I found a plot in a garden in a community just south of where I live, and I’m looking forward to joining their membership!
My tomatoes are toodling along indoors and will be hardened off and planted out in a few weeks into large containers on my balcony. In late April, I sowed radishes, Swiss chard, and lettuce in containers outside on the balcony, and some spinach seeds went in today. And of course, there are plentiful garlic greens, pea shoots, and mustard sprouts going on indoors…it’s fun to keep these going successively so you can always have fresh fixings for sandwiches and salads.
Photo by Sheryl Normandeau
Janet:
It is amazing! Ever since Spring arrived on April 20th the garden has woken up and started blooming with spring bulbs flowering everywhere along with the Hepatica. The insects are out too to my great surprise as in the past couple of years they kept under cover until mid-May. Chives are already growing and ready to use and the rhubarb has poked its nose out to sniff the air. Perennials are sending out new growth and the robins are back along with the waxwings that eat the last of the mountain ash berries.
My bed at the Inglewood Community Garden has had its winter blanket of burlap sacks removed, and I can see garlic coming up under the floating row cover. My containers of edibles back at home are sprouting radishes, spinach, pac choi and arugula. I am so looking forward to some early greens in a few weeks!
Photos by Janet Melrose (t: Hepatica; l-r: cucumbers, chives, rhubarb)
Floral Miscellany
Sheryl:
Have you ever heard of a condition called tulip fingers? It’s an interesting – and potentially painful and itchy! – bit of plant chemistry that you can read all about here.
*
Seems like plenty of Prairie gardeners are planting raspberries this year – I’m seeing lots of mentions on social media! Did you know that the first written record of raspberries as an edible/medicinal plant was in an English herbal in 1548? It is believed that the fruit has its origins thousands of years ago in Asia. There are 200 species of raspberries worldwide – and that’s not counting all the cultivars! The Government of Alberta recommends the following varieties for Prairie gardens:
Floricane types (summer bearing):
‘Boyne’
‘Festival’
‘Killarney’
‘Honeyqueen’
‘SK Red Mammoth’
Primocane (fall bearing – mid- to late August):
‘Red River’
‘Double Delight’
‘Summit’
‘Autumn Bliss’
‘Fall Brook’
Janet:
If April brought snow showers, we are really hoping that May bring flowers! But we had better not be too hasty! May can bring lots of abrupt changes to the weather and in Calgary we have had snow on the May long weekend and just plain rain more often than not. Actual snow fell seven times since 2000, and 2016 was the second coldest May long weekend in 40 years! Though 2018 was gorgeous. As a weather geek I am already wondering about our upcoming holiday weather for 2020!
CTV News, “Snow makes long weekend appearance in Calgary and surrounding areas,” May 22, 2016.
Global News, “2016 the second coldest May long weekend in Calgary in at least 40 years,” May 23, 2016. )
But if May is iffy, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be sowing. Many vegetables should be sown well beforehand, and can weather just about whatever weather we get thrown at us this month. Here is a handy guide put out by Agriculture Alberta for the soil temperatures for many of our common vegetables, plus some historical data to help us plan our sowing!
Get social with us!
Sheryl:
Facebook: @FloweryProse
Twitter: @Flowery_Prose
Instagram: @flowery_prose
Janet:
Facebook: calgaryscottagegardener
Twitter: @calcottagegdnr
Instagram: calgaryscottagegardener
‘Til next month! ~Sheryl and Janet♥
Like this:
Like Loading...
