HELEN CHESNUT,
One of the finest things my father did for me — apart from providing me with an education and a kindly tolerance of my life missteps — was to keep me supplied through my childhood with books that he found in Victoria’s second-hand book stores. I still have Anne of Green Gables and Helen’s Babies.
What has this to do with gardening? Everything. Anyone delving even semi-seriously into gardening will be a seeker of information, and the ability to quickly pick up, from a piece of writing, essential nuggets of advice on a topic at hand is just one of the happy byproducts of an ingrained reading habit.
I also have a few of my father’s tools, still in good condition after use by two generations of my family. There’s a wonderful old brass hose-end nozzle, a steel rake, a hoe and a digging shovel. They are among essential tools, worthy of considering as gifts for a father embarking on tending a garden.
A digging shovel with a long (back-saving) handle and a sharp, rounded blade has many uses. I use mine, blade inserted deeply into the ground at 90 degrees (not at a slant), to dig out tree roots in certain areas of the garden prior to planting. I use it to mix compost and fertilizer into the soil and to dig kitchen fruit and vegetable waste into deep holes in the garden for on-site composting.
I prefer using my father’s shovel over his half-moon edger for creating a clean edge where lawn meets garden bed. I push along the side of the blade to cut a clean edge and create a V-shaped channel that helps to keep the grass from creeping rapidly into the bed. A shovel is essential for emptying finished compost into a wheelbarrow for transporting to planting sites.
My father’s flat-edged “draw” hoe has many uses — chopping and uprooting weeds, hilling up earth around plants, making furrows for seeding and drawing soil back over the seeds. The flat of a hoe is perfect for tamping down seeded rows and the sharp corners make a draw hoe handy for weeding around plants.
Hand pruners (secateurs), trowel, rake, comfortable gloves, hand-weeding tools and a lightweight bin, for receiving compostable weeds and debris, are more needed tools, ones that I use at every gardening session.
My father loved cooking. He was liberal in his use of herbs. Like him, I have a special fondness for thyme with vegetables. Sprinkling thyme flowers and/or leaves over carrot or parsnip sticks topped with butter and baking the vegetables tender is quick, easy and delicious. So is a baked vegetable “pie” that is simply layers of root vegetables with butter and thyme between each layer.
The many varieties of thyme are low-maintenance plants that are attractive, fragrant, beautiful in flower and beloved by bees.
Garden Events
Rose meeting. The Mid Island Rose Society will meet on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. in North Nanaimo Library on Hammond Bay Road. Information at 250-390-2805.
Government House nursery. The plant nursery at Government House, 1401 Rockland Ave. in Victoria, is now open for public sales from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays through to Aug. 30. The nursery is opposite the Tea Room.
Quilt and garden tour. The Quadra Island Quilt and Garden Tour will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday June 23 and Sunday June 24. The tour will feature 12 gardens, from suburban style to small farms with large vegetable gardens and animals, as well as the island’s community garden. Quilts will hang in most gardens, with some for sale. Tickets will be available on the island at the tourist information booth at the top of the hill, above the dock at Quathiaski Cove. The $15 tickets are good for both days.
Cut flower workshop. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is offering a Grow your Own Cut Flower Garden Workshop: Summer on Sunday June 24, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The summer workshop is one of a series, with fall and winter sessions to follow. In this workshop, participants will learn about what can be cut now from gardens. It will also focus on what can be started now for blooms next year. Cost per session is $55 for HCP members, others $60. To register, call 250-479-6162. hcp.ca.