Sunflower Lust (Helianthus Annuus)

There is something so purely delightful about the sunflower. The symbol of warmth, happiness and the mirror image of the personified sun. Native sunflowers were originally cultivated by the indigenous people of North America as a food source, but they also held a strong spiritual value. Today modern sunflowers have been bred for not only seed, but show-stopping looks. A bouquet of sunflowers represents loyalty and longevity, they are a cheery uplifting flower, the muse for many countless artists of yester-year like; Monet, Van Gogh, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo. Sunflowers continue to inspire florists, hobby artists, and notable modern artists, such as Ai Weiwei.

"Moulin Rouge" "Coconut Ice" and "Indian Blanket"

None the less inspired are gardeners, farmers, urban farmers and myself the suburban farmer. Sunflowers are easy to grow no matter the cultivar or size. Giant record break heights require some special care, but cut flower varieties and large seeded heads just need plenty of sun, wind protection and light watering, in my experience sunflowers can be rather drought tolerant. 

Dark sunflower seedlings sprouting in a row. I like to start in small pots and plant in groupings
to protect the young plants from strong winds and heavy rain, it also gives a fuller look to plantings.

In some areas pests can be an issue with small seedlings or developing seed heads, this can be avoided by using scarecrows, netting and other barriers before an attack occurs. Gardeners with consistent pest problems may want to consider more native varieties, like perennial sunflower, not as nice for bouquets, but stunning in large tall clumps in the garden, they also attract goldfinches in the winter months.

Here on my suburban micro-farm I've experimented with a dozen sunflower cultivars. Mostly packets from local garden sections of hardware stores, I've grown some tall and seeded varieties and they were a blast. The garden at F.A Hamilton grew an impressive sunflower forest in three raised beds. They were all in full bloom as school started up.

Last season I grew "Incredible" and "Moulin Rouge", like most of the plants I grow, I wanted to expand and grow more exotic colouration and have an impressive collection for cutting and decorating. Sunflowers are very showy and a great annual addition to any property as they invite positive pollinators. Ideally I would love a forest of 15 varieties (or more) of sunflowers to take up my boulevard and fill in trouble areas. My narrow minded neighbors who loath my "lifestyle" seem to dislike my flowers, it's 2013 if I want to grow 16ft sunflowers against my ugly city fence and block out my view of your yard, I will.

I'm very excited for "Sunspots" a variegated sunflower, a great add to my 'varigated' collection of edibles, which focuses more on foliage. I think it's going to be a great mix-in with the more exuberant flower-types. I might even grow them as filler in my limited perennial spaces.

Gardening Gone Wild has some great photos... and seem to be the only
other website-growers of these plants.

Check out these Wow-Factor Sunflowers

Keep in mind I'm looking at color and cut-flower quality, 

not height and seed bearing ability.

Italian White

Jade Green Sunflower

Ruby Eclipse

Ms. Mars

Velvet Queen

Florenza

Indian Blanket

Cappucino

Chianti

Double Dandy

Chocolate

Bashful

Double Quick Orange

Earthwalker

Black Magic

Double Shine

Moon Shadow

Pastiche

Prado Red

Peach Passion

Starburst Lemon Aura

Cherry Rose

Moulin Rouge

Vanilla Ice

Terracotta

Joker

Floristan

Starburst Panache

If you don't care about the name-sake or specific varieties, buy some mixed packs of seeds, many in-store racks should have a few decent variety packs of sunflowers and there are also some available online. Park Seeds has a great variety of mix packs, as well as Burpee and many others. I particularly like the Seeds of Change's "Tiger Eye Mix". Spring cannot come any sooner. 

Last Minute Gift Ideas for Vegetable Gardeners

With only 7 days before Christmas, the window for shopping is closing in and it's the last push before it too late to get a nice gift without the rush and pressure. Wither you're into vegetable gardening yourself or know someone who is, I have a great list of inspired vegetable-gardener gifts. Most of the items are available in-stores so you wont have to worry about late shipping (Otherwise just pay for fast shipping).

Ergonomic Garden Tools by Radius - I know lots of people think the perfect gardener's gift basket isn't complete without the staple crappy garden tool, so give them something high-quality. The whole set might be something perfect as a big gift, or just two or three for under $30.00. They also have larger tools, like spades, forks and edgers.

Interchangeable Garden Hose Head - Give them an upgrade with a great quality garden hose head piece, there are many styles on the market, ask a department expert for help finding the perfect attachment based on the watering needs of your giftee.

Seed Starting Kit - The talented vegetable gardener could always use another seed starting kit. There are kit models available for both the veteran and beginner.

Gardening Books - Head over to your local book shop and check out the newest gardening books, they are often modestly priced and a great book is always the best resource for the vegetable gardener.

Gardening Boots - Only if you know the gardener's foot size. Hunter Boots has some great styles and designs that most people, let alone gardeners would love to wear.

Magazine Subscription - There are plenty of gardening magazines to pick-from and there are usually deals online for gift subscriptions. A whole year of the gift that keeps on giving! Just find the right niche of gardening; organic, hobby farm, cottage, Martha etc.

Garden Hod or Tote - Great for harvesting that amazing produce, can also make a great gardener's gift basket base. I like them with a mesh setting for rinsing off the hole harvest in the sink or with the hose.

Mushroom Growing Kit - Let them take the growing indoors, with this amazing gourmet mushroom kit from Back to the Roots. A great Eco-friendly option!

Gift Cards - If you don't know that much about your giftee, gift cards can be great, it's often said gift cards lack heart, but you'll never see a gardener complain if they get a gift card to the right place. Somewhere like Home Depot has seeds, plants, tools and hardware.

App Store Gift Card or iTunes Card - Seems like an odd choice? Well there are plenty of apps for gardeners too! I love to listen to music and audio-books while I work outside. They even have apps for vegetable garden planning on the iPad.

Small Books on Gardening - On Guerrilla Gardening by Richard Reynolds (Great choice for the urban gardener or experimental one!)

Gardening Gloves - Nice ones, that look and feel tough, shapely enough for detailed tasks. Can be washed and used for more then one season.

Fiskars Tools - Small tools and scissors, the perfect size for stockings, just make sure the sharp end won't cut the stocking opener or damage the stocking!

Lush Cosmetics - Eco-friendly, packaging free, great smelling! Tiny Hands; hand lotion is perfect for the working hands of a gardener, but be careful, they melt in hot weather.

Seed Bomb Kits - Include seed bombs and tools for a great unique gift, perfect for the rebellious gardener in your family. Another great choice for the urban gardener. You can also get plantable paper and cheeky kits like the "Matchstick Garden".

Seeds - Seeds are great for all and any gardeners, there are thousands to choose from. Even if they already have seeds, you can never have enough. More carrots anyone? You can also buy gift packages or hand select from online catalogs.

Bird ID Info-deck - Fun tool for learning about your local backyard birds.

Glass Water Bottle with fruit infuser - You can also infuse herbs, citrus, veggies and more. Overall a great gift for the well-hydrated gardener.

Garden Centre Gift Card - Grab a gift card for your local garden centre, give them something to look forward to spending in the upcoming gardening season. many nurseries offer vegetable and fruit plants too.

I hope this helps you find some great gifts for the gardeners in your life! Happy shopping and happy holidays! These also work as great gifts for birthdays too!

Sunday Seed Spotlight: Cubit's Organics

This Sunday's spotlight is on Cubits based out of Toronto, ON.

You can learn more about Cubit's by clicking here (They have a great "about us" page, as best told by them). They are based out of Toronto and sell a delicate collection of ethical and organic seeds via etsy (view the shop here). The business is very much a hand-made and custom experience, seeds are collected and packaged by hand and with care. I first discovered Cubit's when I searched "seeds" on etsy. Etsy is a great place to go looking for that special handmade gift and I really appreciate a homegrown small business. Each seed type is packaged within a brown paper seed envelope with one of the best seed package logos I've ever seen. A yellow lab holding a carrot, simple, cute, sleek, I'm sold! They have great customer reviews and just hit 10,000 sales on etsy.

They have a great selection of vegetables and herbs to choose from, there is something available for each level of gardener, including discount deals on packs of seeds, great for the beginner gardener. I bought a few interesting veggies for my collection including the crazy Reisetomate heirloom tomato, Zapotec Pleated tomato and White Queen tomato. I also picked up a Black Futsu Futzu edible pumpkin.

They also have a great idea, where you can buy
a subscription to "The  Organic Seed of the Month Club",
or the double seed of the month club! What a great gift idea
(That an a gardening magazine subscription)!

The final thing that has me sold and in love with cubit's is the great photography linked to each product.   They are modern, high-quality and realistic. The photographer certainly has the right eye, and these photos are a great marketing strategy. It's also really nice to support a more local seed source. I can't wait to test out my seeds, and see where Cubit's goes in the future!

Sunday Seed Spotlight: Wild Boar Farms

Welcome to the first installment of Sunday Seed Spotlight! 

This Sunday's spotlight is on Wild Boar Farms! 

Illustration of Wild Boar Farms by Melissa Garden

Located in sunny Napa Valley, St. Helena, California. There they grow 10,000 tomato plants in the famous wine capitol of the US, headed by tomato master Brad Gates. Wild Boar grow some of the most fabulous tomatoes, concentrating on stripes, bi-colours and great flavour. I have a "thing" for all the odd-ball plants out there, and I fell in love with almost the entire Wild Boar catalog.

Wild Boar tomatoes are so great in fact, that many other seed companies have stocked their varieties for many seasons. Probably most famously stocking the "boar" tomatoes, such as; Blond Boar, Red Boar and others. Tomato genetics is very complex, so it simply wonderful to have someone out their so passionately bringing new varieties to gardeners all over the world.

Amazing illustrator Melissa Garden made a fantastic poster, made up of tomatoes from Wild Boar! She was very inspired by there astounding beauty and just had to get the pencils and brushes out! I'm going to the same thing once my tomatoes ripen-up! Inspiration is the greatest form of flattery! I personally love when the vegetable garden is reflected in art, especially when its executed so darn well!

Wild Boar tomato seeds can make a wonderful Holiday gift for a loved one or friend who grows tomatoes from scratch. Grab them now before the January-March seed rush! I plan on growing some in my School garden with the kids, I can't wait to see their faces when they see these fruit! Forever and always, I'm a step behind Martha Stewart (shaking fists to the sky)... Wild Boar Tomatoes have even graced the cover of Martha Stewart Living, once Martha likes you, everything is great. They deserve any and all praise for their amazing tomatoes. I feel so overjoyed to be growing my own slice of tomato-fame.

August 2013 - Martha Stewart Living

My Tomato Collection for the 2014 Season!

There is no hiding that tomatoes are my all-time favourite home-grown vegetable. I love that they come in an amazing range of colours, shapes and flavours. Twisting my fingers on the deeply aromatic and piney leaves. Grown successfully they can offer pounds of gourmet fruit; fresh, frozen, cooked, preserved, and sun-dried, the possibilities are endless. Heirloom tomatoes makes me weak at the knees, and as many vegetable growing gardeners know seeds are crack and your "collection" is soon a hoard of variations. This photo-collage below is a collection of (almost) all my tomato seeds. I just ordered a big batch online to fill my stocking... Santa knows me so well.

I recently ordered seeds from a few sources. I strongly recommend you go visit them and take a look, not just for tomatoes but for other seeds as well. I bought some other vegetables too, but I'll share those in later postings.

After seeing the name "Wild Boar" or "Boar" on some new tomato introductions at many of my go-to seed companies, I started to fall in love with all the beautiful striped and jewel toned fruits. I then wandered onto The Wild Boar Farms website, the origin of these amazingly unique tomatoes. Located in Napa Vally, CA, tomato breeder extraordinaire Bradley Gates offers some of the most amazing tomatoes on the market. The Wild Boar Shop has some 50 varieties and 6 new introductions. I look forward to doing some customer reviews next fall. I'll write more about Wild Boar in my new blog segment "Sunday Seed Spotlight".

The next stop on my tomato seed tour is Trade Wind Fruits. Another great California source, based out of Santa Rosa, CA, Trade Wind Fruits do not carry any known GMO seeds and stock an amazing variety of tropical fruit, vegetables, peppers, tomatoes and herbs. I came to Trade Winds so that I could buy the bizarre "Varigated Tomato" and I expanded my shopping from there. Wow! Do they ever stock the most colourful selection of tomatoes!

I then moved onto Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. (more on them in upcoming posts). They are the go to stop for all seeds rare and heirloom. I've had my cart full for a few weeks and I took advantage of my seed shopping spree and finally purchased a mixed collection of seeds, including these amazing purple dwarf peas.

My final stop was closer to home; Toronto's Cubits Rare Heirloom & Organic Seeds. They are a homegrown small company with adorable brown paper seed packages with a black line drawing picture of a yellow lab all sold through Etsy. They don't have a huge range of seeds, but they have a great reputation for quality and I found a few great tomatoes to add to my collection.

I'm very excited for the 2014 season, I'll have upwards of 35 tomato plants, and plans to expand my raised bed space for an optimum harvest, and possible cross breeding of my own new varieties. There are a few other varieties I'd like... but I don't think I'll have room. Expect the list to grow.

"Fig"uring it out...

I discovered (maybe) three years ago, that figs can be grown on a small scale in Ontario. It started with the garden flyer from President's Choice and a quick visit to their website, where I saw a little video on "Chicago" hardy figs. I have mixed feelings about Loblaws and PC, but more often then not I'm excited when their garden centres open-up. They certainly seem to have an eye for unique garden introductions and the latest gardening trend by the tail. I did some more research and found people all across zone 5 and colder, who grow some amazing figs!

They offer the "Chicago" hardy fig. This cultivar has a unique history in that Italian immigrants brought the first plants to Chicago and bred for hardiness. They are a medium sized plant with dark purple fruit, with a sweet sticky pink-orange centre. They aren't exactly "hardy" per-say but they can be grown in pots outdoors and moved indoors after the first frost.

"Fig Jam" on Etsy

Their are dozens of fig varieties, and many different colours and forms with each its own distinct flavor. I think I'll start with 2-3 plants to see how large they can get. My hope is to expand to 4 varieties. One fig I have my eye on is the Panache "Tiger", a variety that grows large varigated striped fruits. There is also the "Jolly Tiger" that varigates in both the foliage and fruit. (I love varigated fruits and vegetables)

Panache "Tiger" Fig. You can see the contrasting stripes on each fruit.

 Right now my "fig space" looks like it's going to be a low raised bed with a symmetrical placement of patio stones. Between the stones a carpet of creeping thyme will be planted to act as both mulch and pollinator attraction (not to mention beautiful). There will be 8 patio stones, so I can start adding dwarf citrus, and pomegranates to the mix during the summer months depending on the spacing and growth.

"Les Figs" on Etsy

2014 will be an interesting season for the garden because of the introduction of tropical fruits, exotic herbs and increased infrastructure. With the chickens established, I'm excited to concentrate on more of the garden next season. Below is a design for my fig garden area, you might also notice hops, but that's another story.

Farm to School Workshop at Everdale Farm

On Thursday, November 14th, I attended the Farm to School Workshop at Everdale Farm in Hillsburg Ontario. The workshop was organized by the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public health and developed in part with the Upper Grand District School Board and the Wellington Catholic District School Board.

This was an amazing workshop, and I look-forward to attending in the spring 2014. I'm a bit of a stray-pup when it comes to joining the champions of local food, school policy change, curriculum developers and farm directors, but it's nice to see what happening around me. In this field, I sometimes find myself floating around being rejected based on my age and experience, but I came away from the workshop both deeply inspired and rejuvenated. The speakers were excellent and each participant had a great deal to add. The room was buzzing with positivity, ideas, sharing and praise.

Everdale Farm was an excellent host, unlike any other conference venue. We picked carrots on a hillside, we played in a greenhouse, caught chickens and fed gorgeous calico sheep in the pasture. If that isn't a physical metaphor for bringing the humanity back into the culture of food production and consumption, I don't know what else is. We can't all be farmers, but we can all take a step to observe and appreciate the hard work and efforts of those who are.

I brought my camera with me, so I could share my experience. Enjoy!
(Click the photos to enlarge)