Category: gardening

5 Steps to Warding off Backyard Bloodsuckers
Vampires are so last year; zombies are king now, consequently I might be a year behind in my attempt to ward off the bloodsuckers of west Toronto. I am an Ontario garlic fiend; I buy a heap of it in the late summer and fall to stockpile for the winter. Ontario garlic is expensive, from $1.50 – 2.50 per bulb, so I thought – maybe it’s time to grow my own. Garlic is best planted in the fall, before the first frost.
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Pickled Garlic Scapes |
bumper crop & punk rock bakeries
I have only one zucchini plant in my backyard. One is enough. Mammoth zucchini appear overnight, forcing me to use them at a pace that I would never voluntarily eat zucchini at. I made a delicious zucchini relish earlier in the Summer, we have been grilling it and eating it ribboned in salads.
This past week, inspired by an amazing bakery I visited in Chicago, I made zucchini cupcakes. The bakery, Bleeding Heart Bakery, was everything a bakery should be, fun, quirky, delicious and hot-pink!
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zucchini explosion. |
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gurthy. |
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At the bakery I had a wonderful peach cupcake topped with tiny corn kernels. Very tasty. |
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I loved the wire whisk light fixtures, tin roof and hot pink walls. |

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I thought the cupcakes needed some colour on top, so I candied finely julienned zucchini skin. |
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Zucchini Spice Cupcakes with Candied Walnut & Zucchini |
Doctor, Doctor, we have a case of bottom end rot.
Bottom/Blossom end rot. Powdery mildew. Early summer blight. Late summer blight. Bacterial speck.
These diseases strike terror straight into my tomato growing soul. Almost all of my tomato plants have a case of powdery mildew. The days have been so humid and wet, it has been almost impossible to keep my tomato plants well ventilated and dry. When I saw the tell-tale white powdery specks on the leaves I knew I needed to break out the milk. Yes, the milk. Apparently, a solution of 1 part milk to 9 parts water will help in the fight against powdery mildew. Why? Scientists are not sure (says the internet). My friend, an actual Doctor of Plant Genetics (fancy!) had never heard of this before, but thought it would have something to do with pH levels. She also suggested that I grow roses in my tomato gardens next year as an indicator species. The roses will get the powdery mildew first and I will be able to safeguard my tomato plants before they too get sick. Great suggestion, Doctor, great suggestion. In vineyards, at the end of each row you will see a rosebush for this very same reason.
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Small bit of powdery mildew. I trimmed the plants before I could get a photo of really bad mildew. |
Now, the case of bottom end rot. What can I do? This disease is caused by a deficiency of calcium in the soil when the plant was developing. I have been saving my eggshells all summer to add to the soil of my plants and have fortified the soil with a calcium rich green fertilizer. I think I might have to just give up, let those bottoms rot and hope for the best.
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Blossom End Rot. Sigh. |
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Feuerwerk, Lemon Boy & Eva’s Purple Ball Tomatoes |
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Greens, greens, greens. |
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Very trimmed tomato plants. |
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Delicious cherry tomatoes. |
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Tastiest tomato of the garden to date: tiny little coyote yellow tomatoes from matchbox garden and seed co. |
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Broccoli gone to seed, all the pretty yellow flowers. |
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Mixed spicy greens. |
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Mixed italian greens. |
La Primavera!
You don’t win friends with salad.