Great Advice From a Garden Designer

A big thank you to Lorene Edwards Forkner who was the guest speaker this month at the Multnomah County Master Gardener meeting (open to the public and free!).  She delivered an entertaining presentation Plotting the Garden Year (or possibly alternately titled, Getting More Out of Less).

Lorene is a fellow Pacific Northwest gardener who cautions us that PNW gardens are just like a toad's metabolism - slow to get going in the cold, but really ramps up for those moments of sun and heat (about 3 months worth here).  Thus it is better to plant more plants earlier in the year when each one isn't giving you much opportunity to harvest, which you can then thin to fewer, larger plants as the season progresses and each needs more space to achieve ultimate abundance in the "space time continuum". Lorene was full of great garden sayings, three of which I have joined together for the following little gem:

"Gardeners adapt, that's what we do, we adapt - and we throw the dice, because there is always next year."

She was full of great advice too - grow up (vertically that is), chose crops that you can eat one plant all season long such as kale and chard, and save your repeat sowing for tender things such as salad greens and herbs. Forgo waiting 3 months for a "speedy" cabbage, and instead choose a fast-growing flavor mimic like kale or mustard greens.

And speaking of mustard greens, Lorene posits, "I bet you'd save enough money to buy a car by the time you're done filling your yard with heucheras, if you plant red mustard instead". Now that's a design plan I'd like to try!  I've been a big fan of red mustard for years, and I think it's about time it leapt out of the barrel and into the "ornamental" garden, not that there much of a distinction at the best of times in my yard.

She's big on herbs too - and why not! They are fantastic to eat, beautiful to look at, and great food for the bees too.  And speaking of bees, check out next month's speaker, Dr. Ramesh Sagili, delivering a talk on the importance of honey bees, and their current plight. Hint: planting a diversity of flowing plants and avoiding the use of pesticides (even organic ones), especially in the middle of the day when bees are most likely to be out foraging for nectar, are two of the many things you can do to help out.

Now you may have guessed from the numerous post I have devoted to fava beans that I am a fan. (This post has even given me the excuse to set them up with their own label). Well I am in good company in this regard - and now Lorene has turned us all on to crimson favas!  The splendor!  I am on the hunt but everywhere I go online seems to be out of stock... oh the humanity! Time for a dash to Garden Fever...

Lorene also has a really big soft spot for pole beans - she must have mentioned them at least a half-dozen times throughout the talk.  I have largely kept to bush beans, as I'm growing in containers and they can really take over, but she points out too that pole varieties fall into the "one plant, continual harvest category" and so that does make sense for small spaces. These also come in beautiful purple and magenta varieties that make them all the more becoming.  And she points out that with the darling hues they are easier to find and pick!

Other veggies that are great for the "cut back and renew" treatment, or the "continual picking from

one plant" scenario are kale, chard, and beet tops for the former, and in addition to the pole beans (I'm sure Lorene would be happier if I mentioned them again) are cherry tomatoes and tromboncino summer squash for the latter.  She enjoys these especially because they are a firmer type, and can even be eaten when large if left and treated like a winter squash.  Talk about double duty! This variety is especially fun because it can grow into all sorts of fun and twisted shapes (though probably less fun when trying to dispatch them in the kitchen with the veggie peeler...).

This double use of the vegetable that is open to the home gardener is but one of the great examples of "nose to tail eating" as Lorene puts it.  Don't fret when the radishes bolt at the first sign of heat.  Let them feed the bees, and after pollination will follow delectable juicy-spicy seed pods.  I have encountered these myself, and decided that I need to try some to pickled this year.  The radish variety 'Rat Tail', while unfortunately named, has been chosen specifically for this purpose.  Hardneck garlic scapes, nasturtium seed pods, and kale flower buds are all good eats too!  Thus, it is best to let go a little, and make room for serendipity.  For, as my friend Tricia is woe to behold, "you can't control everything in the garden" - though it probably won't keep her from trying, for a couple more years at least.

Some parting words from our engaging speaker: feed the soil, be gentle with it, because we all don't have the luxury of geological time.

Enjoy the Hopeful Signs of Spring!