On Saturday I attended my first Master Gardeners Technical Update, held at the Toronto Botanical Garden. It was my first time visiting the TBG and I admit that I was hoping very much for at the very least, a brief walk through a greenhouse. I’ve been craving that greenhouse smell, the green and earthy aroma that is ever present inside a greenhouse. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

Under the umbrella of “The Practical Gardener,” the topics of discussion presented were:

The Importance of Soil: Getting it Right – Darrell Bley, Instructor and Curator of Woody Plants at Niagara Parks Commission talked about soil texture, soil composition, soil amendments and touched briefly on soil testing, as well. I took a lot of notes during this talk and I’m planning to expand upon what I learned here on the blog in a future post. To sum up, soil is really, really cool, and there are some practices I need to change in our own garden beds.

Durham Master Gardeners puzzle over identifying a selection of twigs.

Sonia Day gives her entertaining and controversial talk, "Perennials: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

One of the other highlights of the day was seeing the name Helen Battersby on the name tag of another attendee and recognizing Helen before running over to introduce myself. Helen is a fellow garden blogger and writer who has always been so lovely and kind to me on Twitter, where we’ve exchanged words, and I was really pleased to meet her. Helen and her sister Sarah write a terrific garden blog called simply, Toronto Gardens. I didn’t know that Helen was also a Master Gardener, although I should’ve suspected it, so bumping into her was a real treat.

Botanist, naturally.

Durham Integrated Growers (“D.I.G.”) is hosting and promoting an open day for the community gardens in Durham Region!

The self-guided open garden day will take place on Saturday, July 16 from 10:00 to 2:00.

Participating gardens include:

Maple Tree Garden in Cannington

Valley Plentiful Garden in Pickering

St. Andrew’s Park Garden in Ajax

Whitby Ajax Garden Project

Mary Street Community Garden in Oshawa

Windfields Community Garden in Oshawa

Ecology Garden in Bowmanville

All gardens will have community gardeners on hand to answer questions or provide a little commentary on what is happening in the garden plots. Some gardens will have other events taking place, such as demonstrations or a bake sale.

This is a really great opportunity to check out what local gardeners are doing in the community gardens in Durham Region!

For more details, including the addresses and locations of the participating community gardens, please visit D.I.G.’s website.

The Peony Festival in Oshawa over the weekend was, in a word, lovely.

I attended on Sunday and sat with two other gardeners at the Master Gardeners tent and talked with the visitors to the garden as they wandered through the peony beds.

The Canadian Peony Society had a tent set up beside ours, and they were selling beautiful stems of peony blooms for two dollars each. Aren’t the yellow peonies especially gorgeous?

There was a silent auction and peony show inside Children’s Arena. At the end of the show, the stems that were entered into the show were brought outside and sold by the Peony Society, too. I managed to get one especially beautiful coral bloom to take home. I gave it to my neighbour who has recently discovered how amazing peonies are.

There were over 300 varieties of peonies on display. A few, like the tree peonies, had already bloomed, but for the most part, the festival seemed very well timed this year. There were hundreds of varieties in bloom, and a few yet to burst. It’s not too late to go and see the peonies in all their traditional glory.

Some of the blooms were as big as (or even bigger than) my hand.

A few more photographs of the peony festival are available for viewing here, or check my Twitter stream for more photos of several varieties of peonies, including ‘Coral Charm‘, ‘Firebelle‘, ‘Do Tell‘ and ‘America‘.

I first joined the forums at You Grow Girl about seven years ago. The site was younger then, a little less established, and in those early days of my membership I was a very active member of the forums. I chatted with a lot of gardeners in different parts of the world and over time, developed some wonderful friendships.

Today I’m not a very active member anymore, but I do step in from time to time to say hello to my garden buddies and see what’s new. If it weren’t for Mel and the tweet she sent out, I’d have missed out on this year’s annual plant swap. Several of us in the Greater Toronto Area get together each spring to share our extra plants…seedlings that we don’t have space for in the garden or divisions of perennials.

The swap has taken place at the Harbourfront Herb Festival some years, before it was discontinued, and after that, Mel graciously offered to host us at her house in the Beach neighbourhood of Toronto.

I met up with Sarah at her community plot before we headed over to the swap together. I brought a couple of raspberries, some rudbeckia, catnip and some volunteer sunflowers, called ‘Cinnamon Sun’ to share. Sarah brought heirloom tomatoes that she’d been growing along with her mom.

As usual, the food was lovely (I guiltily arrived without any potluck item in hand, so sorry about that) and the company was even lovelier. Among us were Mel, of course, and Sarah, Brenda, Gayla and Julianna. We talked about plants and seeds over a spread of vegetables and dip, a wonderful apricot walnut loaf that Sarah baked, cheese and bread and Magners cider. Oh, to eat like that every day!

Over the years we have become much more controlled in our stashing away of plants, recognizing that there may not, in fact, be space in the garden for more than twelve heirloom tomato plants. As a result, I took only two heirloom tomatoes, a golden oregano and a Mexican torch flower, all of which I have yet to tuck into the garden.

There were a lot of plants left behind, and Mel and Sarah decided they would find homes for them all in local community gardens. We collectively decided that next year we would circulate a list of plants beforehand so we could be more organized. I certainly hope it isn’t another full year before we are all able to get together again…Julianna assures us that she is planning a tomato tasting party at her place in August.

Last Saturday Nate and I went into Toronto together for a get-together of gardening buddies. The annual You Grow Girl plant swap was hosted by the lovely and gracious Melanie again this year. Last year I was pregnant and too tired to do anything resembling a trip into the city, so I was very happy to reconnect with this group over some yummy homemade snacks and amid the homegrown greenery.

Gardening buddies Julianna, Sarah and Gayla getting in on the plant swap action.

I didn’t start any vegetables from seed this year, so I dug up a few plants in the back yard Saturday morning to give away. I brought lemon balm, raspberries, anise hyssop, feverfew and chocolate mint for Mel. In return, I took home a TON of new plants for the vegetable garden!

All my new plants, grown by friends, waiting patiently in the kitchen to be planted outside.

Bloody dock
Broadleaf thyme
Tomatoes: Uncle Charlie’s, Zapotec Pink Pleated, Moonglow, Cherokee Purple, Ditmarsher, Red Pear, Tie Dye, Sungold F1 and Black Seaman
Giant Red Mustard
Kale
Peppers: Buran Sweet, Joe E. Parker, Numex Big Jim
Eggplant
White violets
Seed potatoes: Banana, Russian Blue

Eighteen plants in all! The forecast is looking good over the next few days, so I hope to get these all hardened off and into the garden soon.

The Durham Organic Gardeners‘ annual plant auction is coming up very soon! This is a really fun gardening event to attend. I’m sorry I missed it last year…I was pregnant and tired. This year I’m planning to attend, though. You can get lots of great, healthy plants and seedlings at bargain prices. You don’t have to be a member of COG to attend; everyone is welcome!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010, 7:30 pm.

Durham District School Board Administration Building

400 Taunton Road East, Whitby, Atrium

In 2008, I brought plants from my garden to auction off.

For further information, contact Dianne Pazaratz at 905-433-7875 or Peggy Clark at 905-623-5278.

I came home with quite a haul, too!

It’s the event many people in Durham Region are anxious to hear about every year…free compost day!

Fresh compost in my back yard.

Based on the number of people who are led to this website by a search for “free compost”, the residents of Durham Region, Ontario are looking forward to finding out the dates that free compost will be given away in and around the region this year.

Click on the image below to see a larger version.

Last week I ventured into Toronto with my step-mom and Nate for Canada Blooms. We had a nice time getting away from home for the day getting into the city, but generally speaking we found the show to be a little bit disappointing this year.

The event switched venues from the Metro Toronto Convention Centre which is located within walking distance from Union Station, to the Direct Energy Centre (DEC) at Exhibition Place. Although the GO Train does run to both locations, it’s a lot farther from the Exhibition GO station to Direct Energy Centre than it is to walk from Union Station to the Convention Centre, and the walk is all indoors. Admission this year was $18, which I assume had something to do with the change in location. It’s a shame that the increased expense was passed onto the patrons, though. Parking at DEC was $12, inside or out. We parked indoors because we had Nate with us. There was only one elevator from the parking garage up to the main level of DEC, and finding it at the end of the far end of the garage was a bit of a challenge.

Most of the usual exhibitors were there…Home Depot, Lee Valley, moss and Scott’s. There were a lot fewer vendors in the market place that sold actual plants this year, which was disappointing. One of my favourite vendors, Richters Herbs, has been missing in action for a couple of years, unfortunately. There were a lot of vendors there that seemed really out of place. There were several high-end clothing vendors, and at one of them we saw for sale a blouse that was priced at $144. I was really at a loss as to what they were doing there.

The feature gardens displayed their usual blend of complex and rather expensive-looking stone work and landscaping, designed to showcase trends in outdoor living. This year’s popular feature seemed to be the outdoor flame, including fireplaces and wall sconces. Nate liked the brightly coloured daffodils on the Canadian Cancer Society’s Yellow Beacon garden.

We also had fun with Nate in the children’s garden, called the Magical World of Tinker Bell.

On the plus side, it was nice having everything on one level in the new venue. At the Convention Centre the marketplace, some of the exhibitors and the speakers’ rooms were all on different levels. This venue is much more wheelchair and stroller-friendly.

I’ll continue to go to Canada Blooms because it IS nice to look forward to the gardening season here in Ontario in early March, but if I had to pay full price to attend (full disclosure, here: I was admitted with a media pass), I’d have been disappointed. In any case, Nate had a great time!

Uxbridge Farm Tour
Sunday, July 12, 2009, 2:00 pm

This afternoon tour will begin with a visit to Farmhouse Garden, just north of Uxbridge, where we will participate in Mike Lanigan’s annual organized farm tour starting at approximately 2 pm. We’ll load up onto horse drawn wagons for a leisurely tour of this 200 acre mixed farm.

Farmhouse Garden has been chemical free since the mid-1970’s and certified organic since the early 1990’s, with ten acres also certified biodynamic. We will have the opportunity to learn about Mike Lanigan’s extensive vegetable gardens and how he cultivates them using antique tractors and draft horse technology. We will also view pastures full of beef cattle, an ingenious irrigation system and possibly some newly hatched baby chicks – and if you are really daring, Mike welcomes you to take a dip in his pond!

To get to Farmhouse Garden, head north on Lakeridge Rd. (Durham Rd. 23), less than a couple kilometres north of Uxbridge you will reach Scugog Line 12. Turn right onto Scugog Line 12, Farmhouse Garden is the first house on the right (#30 Scugog Line 12).

We will then travel to Willowwind Farm (about twenty minutes away) for our second tour of the afternoon, which will begin at about 4:30 pm. Willowwind Farm is a beautiful property home to the Stocking family. Here, Adrian and Deana will show us around their small but productive market garden vegetable patch and introduce us to their animal menagerie consisting of goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and more! We will also have the opportunity to view their strawbale home and learn about its construction just a few years ago.

Willowwind Farm uses organic principles, but is currently not certified, and also runs a bed and breakfast on the property. At the end of the tour we will have the opportunity to purchase some of their heirloom vegetables and to taste test some of their famous pickled eggs – yummm!

To get from Farmhouse Garden to Willowwind Farm: return to Lakeridge Rd. (Durham Rd. 23) and continue north to Regional Road 13. Turn left onto Regional Road 13 and head west toward Leaskdale. Where Regional Road 13 ends in Leaskdale, turn right onto Regional Road 1 and head north. Take the next left onto Zephyr Road and head west to Concession 5 (Regional Road 2). Turn left onto Concession 5 (Regional Road 2) and head south Willowwind Farm is #12740 on the right hand side.

To register for this outing contact Dana Smith at 905-668-6528 by July 8th.

For the summer tour: You are not required to bring lunch as this is an afternoon tour only, however, you may wish to bring a snack. Please bring substantial footwear, sunscreen and a hat. We recommend that people carpool to limit the number of cars at the site, but if you have problems finding a ride please advise. In the event of poor weather, contact a member of the executive for an update.

My friend Amie, writer of Mamma Loves, will be hosting a live text chat today at noon (EST) with a Burpee Seed Co. horticultural expert at The Motherhood.  If you have questions about growing your own vegetables or gardening with your kids, jump right in!  There are also some seed giveaways planned, and this means super-economical gardening this spring for the winners.