A few timely reminders for the garden
To prepare plants’ root systems for a long, hot summer, water long and deeply
Here we stand on the threshold of June, summer, and the year’s longest days. The thick, heady scent of lilacs filling the garden has begun to give way to the sweet perfume of roses. Big, juicy sun-warmed strawberries, so early this year, will be a continuing delight.
Amid the season’s many pleasures, here are a few timely reminders for keeping the garden healthy, bountiful, and lovely.
Watering. Everything is pointing to another long, hot summer. To encourage the strongest, deepest, most drought-proof root systems possible, water long and deeply. Then wait for the soil’s upper layers to dry before watering again. Frequent, brief waterings promote shallow, drought-vulnerable root systems.
Weeding. Clean seeded vegetable and flower beds of weeds before the desired plants disappear in a jungle of weedy overgrowth. Following a weeding session, water deeply and mulch with a nourishing compost.
Compost. Turn or aerate compost heaps frequently and maintain a moderate dampness in them for speedy decomposition.
Lawns. Mow lawns high, at six to seven centimetres, to help promote strong root growth, protect plant crowns and roots from burning, and to shade out weeds. Shrub sipping. In the spring, the freezer often remains stocked with some garden fruit from the previous year’s harvest. I still have raspberries, blueberries and plums to use.
That’s why an article one of my brothers gave me piqued my interest. It was about using fruits like strawberries, rhubarb, peaches, cherries and so on to make a refreshing sweet-sour fruit syrup called a “shrub.”
As I read the article I immediately thought of the Fall Gold raspberries I needed to use. Altering the instructions considerably in my usual sugarreducing manner, I’ve made a golden raspberry shrub twice now with absolutely delectable results and am now ready to move on to the blueberries.
It’s easy. Simply thaw three to four cups of fruit (cut up larger berries and fruits) and mix in about one-half cup sugar. Adjust the sugar for the sweetness of the fruit. Leave the mixture for about one hour and add one-half cup vinegar. I used apple cider vinegar.
Simmer the blend for a halfhour or until the fruit is very soft and has released its juices. Cool and strain through a fine, non-metallic sieve. The juice can be refrigerated for use at that point, but I chose to simmer the strained liquid to reduce it to a thicker syrup.
The fruit juice concentrate has many uses — as a syrup over plain yoghurt, as a drink mixed with ginger ale, soda water, plain water or coconut water, or in a cocktail with gin or vodka and a chosen mixer.
My favourite use for the raspberry shrub so far is to mix one or two tablespoons into a small glass of kefir, a probiotic fermented milk product. The blend is refreshing and healthful.
Earliest lettuce. This spring has delivered the earliest lettuce ever in my garden. I took a chance and transplanted a flat of Tom Thumb miniature butterhead lettuce plants into the open garden in early April. The warm weather and natural, speedy growth of Tom Thumb (West Coast Seeds) had small, fully packed heads ready to cut in the fourth week of April. At the time of planting, the weather could still have turned cold with heavy rainfall to rot the new lettuce roots. But this time a calculated gamble paid off. I’m just using the last of the tasty little lettuces now.
GARDEN EVENTS
Ladysmith tour. The Rotary Club of Ladysmith will host its annual Garden Tour Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aggie Hall, First Ave. and Symonds St., will be open 8:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for sales of tour tickets with map at $15. Breakfast ($5) will be served to 11:30. Consultations with Master Gardeners, products for sale, and raffle tickets will be available. Local artists will be at work in most of the ten gardens on the tour.
VHS meeting. The Victoria Horticultural Society will meet on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Garth Homer Centre, 813 Darwin Ave. Barrie Agar, head gardener at Hatley Park National Historic Site, will explore effective botanical pairings in Plant Pairs Fit for a Castle. The pre-meeting workshop at 6:30 p.m. will feature Bill McMillan of the Victoria Rhododendron Society on Time for Rhododendron Care. Bill will focus on pruning for improving a shrub’s health and appearance. He will also consider how to handle out-of-control plants. vichortsociety.org.