Chard and the Creeper

Every year, I plant Swiss chard from seed in a large-ish pot along the front walkway.

Some Virginia creeper volunteered in the spot, and I love the way it rambles. I cut the creeper back every now and again but allow it to cool the space.

May, 2021

The young Swiss chard leaves always get munched by leaf miners but I don’t do much other than squish them. I figure that the leaf miner season is short and the chard is indestructible. Maybe one year I’ll cover the newly planted chard with a row cover…

June, 2021

August 2021

But for the past few years, the chard has flourished with almost no care, and the creeper has done its thing. Generosity!

Tending to Place and Community

I was delighted this year when Kim Jackson, a wonderful person I got to know a bit through work they were involved with at the Humber 2-Spirit garden and at Our Space in High Park, invited me to join a very active Friends group at Watkinson Parkette in the Junction area of Toronto. Every two weeks, a group of us gathers in the parkette where, along with a Trans Youth group from a local community centre, we plant and tend to tobacco, sage, sweetgrass and native pollinator plants. Elders share teachings, 2-Spirit community members lead ceremony, we share food and stories, and we basically spend time with each other and with this space, caring. Harvesting of plant medicines, to distirbute to community, is a very special time. All time in this space is special medicine.

We added some grow-bags with native pollinator plants beside the park benches. The monarda and smooth ox-eye bloomed just a few weeks after planting.

Harvesting sweetgrass for braiding.

Harvesting sage.

Harvesting tobacco.

A small planting for pollinators in the parkette.

Paw Paws and the Urge to Grow

I'm very familiar with the feeling that comes from growing plants with great intentions to do things properly, only to find that circumstances lead to neglect. Often, the plants surprise me by responding well anyway.

Case in point: the paw paw seeds I planted in pots last autumn and then promptly and totally ignored through drought, squirrels and every other hardship thrown their way.

Last week, after 10 months of neglect, I happened to notice that not only had the seeds sprouted, but the young paw paws were flourishing.

Care is always best, but it's good to know that sometimes the urge to grow is unstoppable.

Walkway Veggies

At the beginning of the pandemic, I was anxious to maximize food production in every available space not already growing native plant habitat. That meant bumping up production in the walkway between our house and the neighbour’s.

Tomatoes, peppers and basil in the sunny walkway beside the house.

Herbs also do well in pots in this spot.

Next year, more kale!