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Dear <<First Name>>,
The birds are ready, we’re ready, but Mother Nature is replenishing moisture in the soil and so we have to wait to get in the garden.
In the meantime, hopefully you are having some fun with growing seedlings indoors or learning more about food growing either online or in a workshop. Check out the following tips and opportunities.
Tuesday, May 2 - Extending the Season for Longer Harvest
Learn to plan and implement techniques to have a longer harvest; row covers, cold frames, containers, fall planting and more. This session includes tips, challenges and opportunities related to a short growing season.
Time and Location: 7-9 pm, St. Augustine's Anglican Church, 6110 Fulton Rd, Edmonton
Register
Please share the facebook and the Eventbrite posts.
Groundnut – an unusual food plant
I’m very excited to try a new food plant this year. It is called Groundnut or Hopniss (Apios americana) and it was an important food for Native Americans. This plant is a nitrogen fixer, a climbing perennial that produces a network of underground tubers, generally about 1x4 inches thick and long. The roots can be dug up for food and some of them left behind or replanted to grow more plants. The tubers have to be cooked and may taste somewhat like a potato or peanut.
A couple of days ago, I received a small package of these roots in the mail from Fiddlehead Nursery with a personal note from owner Ben. The roots seem ready to grow so I planted them in pots to start growing indoors until the soil is warmed up outside.
I have never tasted this plant, so this year will be an experiment both in growing, harvesting, cooking and storing this interesting plant. I’ll keep you posted!
Parsnips - Spring Treat
Another ground dweller is the mighty parsnip. While you don’t get to eat anything for a long time, these plants are low maintenance, make it through our cold winters and are sweet and delicious roasted in the oven in March or April. I recently dug out a batch. The ground was still partially frozen, so I’m waiting to get the rest out when it warms up. 
Parsnip seeds do not keep, so it’s best to purchase new seeds each year. Plant them like carrot seeds in May, but make sure to space the seeds properly for these fairly large roots. Parsnips do like deep soil, 14 – 18 inches is good – the deeper, the longer the roots can grow. The leaves are larger and coarser than carrots and also require deep watering twice a week. In the fall before snow arrives, I place a large bag with leaves on top of the plants to protect them from the worst cold.
In the spring, they need to be dug up before they start growing again, otherwise the lovely flavor is lost when the plant wants to become a flowering plant and produce seed, since it is a biennial.
If you have a bit of extra space, give this tough root a try and enjoy digging a sweet treat next spring.
Pest Control in the Garden – Black-capped Chickadees
Chickadees are very useful predators around our trees and shrubs in the yard. Check out this blog post with info and a link to a nest box plan. A pair of chickadees seems to like my new nest box I bought a while ago and I hope they are successful raising a family!
Have a lovely May!
Claudia Bolli, Wild Green Garden Consulting, www.wildgreen.ca
If you would like help with your plans, please contact me for a consultation or design, claudia@wildgreen.ca.
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