The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Pandemic projects to get you growing
It’s no secret that gardening is good for you with many physical and mental benefits. And with Nova Scotia currently under another lockdown, there is no better time to flex your green thumb and get growing.
Here are six pandemic projects to keep you busy this May:
PLANT A POT OF HERBS
I love using fresh herbs in my cooking but buying bundles of parsley, cilantro, and oregano from the grocery store adds up. It’s far easier to grow your own in a container outdoors wherever you can find at least six hours of sun.
Mix and match your favourite herbs in a container filled with a lightweight potting mix. My go-to’s include Genovese basil, Greek oregano, rosemary, Italian parsley, and cilantro. Don’t be shy about harvesting from your herbs as clipping sprigs for the kitchen prompts the plants to push out fresh growth.
GROW A GARDENER
If you’ve got kids and want to give them a lesson in food production, consider starting a family food garden. You don’t need any skills to start a small vegetable garden; a raised bed can be made from untreated lumber, rocks, logs, or garden pavers. Fill the middle with garden soil and start planting.
No space for a garden? Give each child their own container or window box and let them grow something they like to eat; alpine strawberries, leaf lettuce, Tiny Tim tomatoes, or bush beans.
GROW BOUQUETS
Flowers make people happy and one of the biggest trends in gardening is growing cut flowers. Many annual and perennial flowers, as well as trees, shrubs, bulbs and herbs, can be grown as cut flowers.
However, annual flowers like cosmos, sunflowers, zinnias, and dahlias are easy to grow in a sunny garden bed or large container. Get a head start by buying seedling from your local garden centre, or direct sow flower seeds (or plant dahlia tubers) in late May.
If you’ve got kids and want to give them a lesson in food production, consider starting a family food garden. You don’t need any skills to start a small vegetable garden.
GROW TEA OR BEVERAGE HERBS
As noted above, I love growing culinary herbs. I also plant several containers with tea herbs like chamomile, mint and lemon balm for soothing pots of fragrant tea. Mint and lemon balm are enthusiastic growers and should only be planted in pots where their spread can be controlled.
You’ll find many types of mint at local greenhouses including peppermint, spearmint, apple mint, strawberry mint, and Mojito mint. There are also several lemon-flavoured herbs like lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon basil and lemongrass. All are delicious in teas or cocktails.
PLANT A CONTAINER
I’m keeping this one super simple and suggesting that you plant your own container. Sure, you can buy a pre-planted container for your deck from a local garden centre, but it’s so much fun to choose your own plants and pot it up yourself. I love mixing and matching colours and textures to create a container customized to my own style.
Start with a pot (make sure it has drainage holes) and fill it with potting mix. Water and mix to moisten all the soil. Then tuck in your plants, move it to your deck or patio and enjoy all summer long. (Bonus points for adding some slow release organic fertilizer to the container).
GROW A BLUEBERRY BONANZA
Blueberries are summer staple in Nova Scotia and while it’s difficult to grow wild blueberries in a home garden, it’s super easy to grow high bush blueberry plants. Here’s what you need to know: 1) You need at least two different cultivars (Blue Crop, Jersey, and Patriot for example) for cross pollination to occur. 2) Most high bush blueberry plants grow four to six feet tall (make sure you have space).
Pick a site with at least six to eight hours of sun each day and plant each blueberry five feet apart. Feed the shrubs annually with an organic fruit fertilizer and top dress the soil with compost.