Helen Chesnut
Happy faces throng the farmers’ market on first hot days
The Victoria Day long weekend ushered in the warmth and sunshine we’d all been longing for. Happy faces thronged that weekend’s Saturday morning farmers’ market. Home gardeners shared thoughts on the late season and their attempts to catch up. The weather had been hard on local growers; customers flocked to support them.
After the market, I went to the post office to mail a parcel to my son. Like everyone else I met that sunny morning, the clerk was cheerful. We exchanged brief comments on the beautiful day. Her enthusiasm was more than evident as she thrust her arms high in the air and exclaimed, “At last! Into the garden!”
Not tonight deer. It serves home gardeners well to become familiar with several different local garden centres and to know where a desired plant is most likely to be found.
I know which of my local centres is most likely to have the best selection of pansies and violas in the spring and fall, and the best place to find zonal geraniums. Earlier this spring, when I needed a few heathers to fill in a bed, I knew where to find the sort I wanted.
There is only one outlet near me that sells heathers in small (nine-cm wide) pots. Larger, onegallon heathers seldom settle in well for me. At my chosen centre, I selected four small, affordable plants that will give me bloom for most of the year.
The table holding the heather plants was marked with a large sign: Not Tonight Deer, to let gardeners know that deer don’t usually eat heathers. The same sign was installed with the ornamental grasses, lavenders, and other deer, resistant plants as a helpful guide to people whose gardens host browsing Bambis.
Gifts from the freezer. Not long ago, before the weather turned warm, I defrosted and cleaned my chest freezer, organized its contents and made a corresponding mapped guide with enumerated items. Left from last year’s garden were two packages of peas, and a few of zucchini and broad beans to use soon.
I pulled out the last two containers holding about four cups of strawberries and made them into a jam that was fresher tasting and brighter in colour than any I’d made with fresh berries and canned.
I use a slow-cook, low-sugar method that requires little work besides regular stirring. I choose times when I’m in the house anyway, working in the office or occupied with household things. Here’s the method:
Mix together, cover, and bring to a boil the chosen fruit, sugar, lemon juice and zest, and water. I start out with a small amount of sugar and add more later only if necessary.
To four cups fruit start with 1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, zest of one lemon, and 1/4 cup water.
Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about two hours or until the jam has reached the desired thickness. Stir frequently. I let my latest batch of strawberry jam thicken enough for double duty as a cheesecake topping. I keep small batches of jam like this refrigerated in a glass jar.
GARDEN EVENTS
VHS meeting. The Victoria Horticultural Society meets Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Garth Homer Centre, 813 Darwin Ave. Lise-Lotte Loomer will describe how to make a greenhouse your own in Greenhouse Hygge. Pronounced Heug gha, this Danish word means a cosy, charming or special moment. The premeeting workshop at 6:30 will feature Tyler Danylchuk demonstrating the creation of an alpine garden in a hypertufa trough.
Denman tour. The biennial Denman Island Home and Garden Tour will take place Saturday and Sunday, June 10 and 11, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tour, including 100-year old St. Saviour’s Anglican Church, the home and garden of Des and Sandy Kennedy, and wine tasting at Corlan Vineyard, is a fundraiser for the Denman Conservancy Association. Tickets for $20 are available at denmanconservancy.org. Information, including a list of participating properties, can be found at homeandgardentour.blogspot.ca.
Willow chair. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is offering a Willow Chair workshop on Sunday, June 11, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Make and take home a bent willow rustic chair. All tools provided. HCP members $250, others $275. to register call 250-479-6162 hcp.ca.