Gardener's Notebook: The desire to garden new things

YORKTON -  Now, the mysterious and wonderful of gardening!  Or, gardeners just never stop wanting to try new things! 

A while back I saw a very short video about starting seeds, and though the last thing that needed doing at this time of year was starting seeds, I thought this experiment would be fun to try.  The video went like this.  Someone was cutting a pepper, probably for supper, and cut cutting around the stem at the top as if they were cutting a pumpkin.  They saved the top part with the seeds intact

Next step:  the chef/gardener got a small flowerpot filled with soil, dug a hollow deep enough to place the pepper top, seeds up and stem down, in the container then covered it with soil, watered it very lightly then covered the whole pot with a small plastic bag to create a mini greenhouse.  In a few weeks, the peppers were up, seedlings close together! 

(This fun experiment would be something to try in early spring, so that the peppers could be separated and planted individually.) 

As mentioned, this is a fun experiment… we have no guarantee that the pepper will produce the peppers we are expecting, or, in fact, any peppers at all.  But it is very interesting to see what these little mystery peppers will give us.  They are beautiful plants, regardless! 

It’s good for us to look at plants in new ways. I like the idea of foodscaping, an exciting way of landscaping.  So let’s jot down some ideas in our garden notebooks so that we remember for next spring! 

For example, vegetables don’t belong just in a regular garden.  Mom always used to plant lettuce along the edge of the garden path, and once it was established, what a beautiful (and handy!) border it made!  She had several lettuce favorites that made the border fascinating with color and texture.  “Red Sails” was at the top of the list, followed by “Oak Leaf” and “Boston”.  The interesting mix in “Mesclun” added more color,  and the ruffles of “Looseleaf” was amazing texture. 

Just behind the border of lettuce, we could try a row of “Bright Lights” Swiss chard.  The stems can look almost neon, they are so attractive, as beautiful as blooms. 

Tuck in onion bulbs among your flowers, you will be surprised how well they do—and the spiky onions emerging from  a mound of flower foliage is very interesting. 

Herbs do so well in pots, they can be lovely containers all on their own.  Or, we can set them among an existing flowerbed for a change in height that makes the spot more interesting.  This year we planted parsley in a large pot, and it is stunning because it is so lush, and the leaves are lacy and appealing.  We have another container with two kinds of basil, green and purple, and delicate marjoram.  All good garden-conversation-starters! 

If you want an exotic look in a flowerbed, hoping for a large plant with lush, tropical-looking leaves, consider rhubarb!  The leaves are beautiful like gunnera.  (FYI—rhubarb is considered a vegetable, part of the buckwheat family!). 

And of course, why not plant a row of flowers between the veggies.  Companion planting may or may not keep insects at bay, but it certainly makes the garden look nice.   

So that’s our task now: make notes for next year, and continue to do so as the garden season moves along.  Thank you to our friends at YTW for their fine work.  Gardeners, visit the hort society at www.yorktonhort.ca and have a nice week!