Homegrown Holidays

There are few things I love more than decorating for the Christmas season.  That said, it's been tough to get into the spirit so far, but last week I set my mind to creating a welcoming entrance.  Call it peer pressure, because my neighbours spare no expense or effort in offering a carnival of lights, glowing deer and garland!  I decided to skip the fanfare and focus on what I love most - the understated beauty of natural materials.

I built arrangements for my cast-iron urns using birch poles, banded willow branches, greens, some dried accents from the garden centre and cuts of dried 'Limelight' Hydrangea, plumes from my ornamental grasses and Sedum heads from the garden.  I'm truly thrilled with the result.

I searched high and low for a wreath that I liked enough to spend money on, but found nothing!  Instead, leftover greens from the arrangements, a few pine cones and a re-purposed ornament that I bought for my tree made a perfect alternative.  Tied together with some jute twine from the shed, it makes me smile every time I come home.

How are you decorating for the holidays?

Bountiful Fall

Farewell, Sweet Summer...

I kissed the summer goodbye with a hike in beautiful Shorthills Provincial Park last weekend. Sigh.

Bonus Berries

The surprise (and delight!) of my summer has been provided by a plant I didn't know I had.  When I moved into my house in January, the garden was a mystery.  Discovering perennials and shrubs as they emerged from winter's sleep was a horticultural treasure hunt!  So, when this cluster of hollow woody canes popped up beside the fence, I trimmed them and shaped them as I would any other plant.  Imagine my surprise when hundreds of berries began to form in June!  It took a while, but they've ripened into the most delicious blackberries I've ever had.  Bonus!

My Sisters (A Bit Corny)

High as an elephant's eye?

This season marked the first time I've ever tried growing corn.  With a wet, cool and muddy spring, I chose to hold off on planting until well into June, so I wasn't sure how successful I'd be. That said, like most of my gardening endeavours, for me it's more the experience of trying than the success of the harvest that matters most. With that in mind, my husband and I dug a 10' x 10' bed and plunked seeds into the soil.

More turf bites the dust - this yard's for growin!

Within two weeks of planting, corn was looking like corn. Sweet!

 Reading about how other people grow things inspires and empowers me.  This past winter and spring, I was really interested in learning more about companion planting, and I came across many mentions of the 'Three Sisters', a method of growing long used by the native Americans.  Corn, squash and beans grow symbiotically together, so that's what I decided to do. I interplanted corn with my 'Costata Romanesco' zucchini and golden hubbard squash, the theory being that the rough, spiky stems and leaves of the squash plants deter hungry critters like raccoons and squirrels from climbing or knocking over the corn stalks.

My 'Three Sisters' garden begins to take shape in July, as viewed from the deck.

Zucchini growing happily in the shade of the corn.

In the next phase of planting, pole beans are sown amid the corn.  Beans fix nitrogen from the air into the soil, supplying the hungry, rapidly-growing corn with nutrition.  In exchange, the corn provides structure for the beans to climb upon.  It's a pretty good arrangement!

The ornamental qualities of the corn at all stages of growth was a pleasant surprise. She's a looker!

 So, the big question... did it work?  Well, yes and no.  Nothing is perfect, as I'm always reminded by my garden.  The zucchini produced beautifully throughout late July, but then suffered in the heat and humidity, afflicted with terrible powdery mildew and all but halting flowering and fruiting.  The corn is still growing, and has in fact produced cobs.  

The first cobs of corn begin to form in late July - success?

 Success! (I think.) I'm unsure of when to pick them, as they're quite small, and I'm not confident they'll fully ripen.  The beans were planted very late, but are climbing happily and beginning to form flowers.  I think I'll get some before summers' end, which is approaching much more quickly than I'd prefer!  Overall, I'm proud of my Three Sisters experiment, and I'm looking forward to modifying and repeating the process next season.  Homegrown corn may not be in my kitchen as of yet this summer, but thankfully, there's plenty of local gold to enjoy, courtesy of Ontario farmers much more talented than I!

Corny.