C -S-yAy

This summer, I'm cheating on the Good Food Box program for the Plan B CSA.

Don't get me wrong. Foodshare's Good Food Box program is amazing. Healthy, extra fresh, super-affordable and mostly local produce. Why everyone isn't jumping on this program is beyond my scope of understanding.

But in my opinion, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is one-step up, if you're interested in supporting local growers and you have a bit more money to spend. You may remenber that in 2008, I participated in the Everdale CSA program. Loved it.

My partner thought it would be a great idea to start a "CSA Collective" in our apartment building. He was right; it was a great idea. After some research, I found out that Plan B was the only CSAs that offered home delivery in Toronto. So we spread the news, and in the end, four of neighbors and friends signed up with us. We all now receive a weekly delivery of organic, local fruits and vegetables delivered to our door. Plan B even offered to waive the delivery charge since we had a sizeable order.

This week's share: strawberries, spinach, asparagus, green onions, leaf lettuce, shiitake mushrooms, and the sweetest, crunchiest little red apples I have ever eaten.

Life is a little better thanks to CSA.

Garden Update: mid-June

For the most part, the garden has never looked better. The plants continue to look healthy and strong. But for some reason, the onion seeds never sprouted. I tried several succession plantings, but nada. So I planted dill seeds in that spot. Also nada. Very strange.



















Photo (L): the left side of the balcony continues to be the most prolific area. Probably because it gets the most sun. Grown here are cilandro, basil, tomatoes, mint, dill, cucumbers and pole beans.
Photo (R): a continuation of the left side. Leafy beets and leafy nastursium. A sign that the soil is too rich is the absence of nastursium flowers. One pot shows no sign of growth, that was garlic planted last year. I have since planted sunflower seeds for sprouts in that spot.

Photo (L): the right side of the balcony. Arugula has flowered, and I've been too lazy to cut it down. Maybe I'll save the seeds. Small kale and chard plants in the rectangular planter, and large kale, mustard and chive plants in the far pot.
Photo (R): a collection of things on the patio table, including a bushy silver thyme plant, and hens-and-chicks I got from my Dad. It is the only inedible plant I'm growing.

Be Nice to Nettles

In celebration of "Be Nice To Nettles Week" (May 19-30, 2010), I thought I would treat you all to a rather lengthy (and belated) blog post on the miraculous properties of the Stinging Nettle plant.

Stinging Nettle is an edible plant that happily grows wild in Ontario. As a garden weed, it is notorious for its hair-like needles; even just lightly brushing against the plant will illicit an immediate skin rash reaction. My naturopathic doctor recommended nettle tea as a nutritive tonic, as it is high in iron, among other vitamins and minerals. But nettle tea can be used medicinally in many other ways: to relieve seasonal allergy symptoms, as a diuretic, for arthritis, etc. If you steep the tea for a few hours, it turns a gorgeous deep green colour.

But the coolest thing about this edible is that it grows wild in the city. It turns out that a coffee shop on my street has a very prolific nettle bush behind their patio.

Armed with a pair of scissors and gloves, I cut down a few stalks and stashed them in my bike basket. If you're planning on drying the leaves for long-term storage, harvest the leaves when it hasn't rained for a couple of days. This will help avoid mold from leaf moisture.

Stinging nettle is mostly commonly consumed as a tea (fresh or dried leaves), but the leaves can also be eaten cooked. In fact, if you pinch the fresh, raw leaves from the top (where there are no needles), you can fold the leaves and place them directly in your mouth for a tasty and daring snack.

Nettle should be harvested in early to mid spring. Once the weather heats up and nettles have flowered, they are inedible. However, you can still use it as a nutritive foliar fertilizer. Simply cut down the plant, place in a bucket and cover with water, steep for at least 24 hours, strain and spray directly on plant leaves.

So now you know there are other alternatives to ripping out that nettle plant from the earth. Nuture it, take only what you need, and you will be rewarded in kind.

Hello, gnome

I was in the ol' NYC this past weekend, and bought a garden gnome at a yard sale. A great find, considering I've been looking for a second-hand gnome ever since I started gardening. I bought the gnome from a New Yorker who bought it from a flea market and used it as Christmas decor for 15 years.

Garden gnomes are believed to lend a helping hand a night.

The photo shows the gnome in Jackson square, a little triangle-shaped parkette in West Village.

Garden Update

The growing season is well underway in Toronto. So far things are looking great, thanks to unseasonably warm weather. Someone even commented that the plants look better now than they did at any point last year.













Agreed.

In fact, the arugula and most of the mustard greens started going to seed, so I harvested the entire plants and made a nice salad for dinner.