It’s easy to feel absurdly virtuous when a particularly arduous and daunting early autumn project has actually been accomplished.
In my garden, the lawns are too often neglected. I regard their care as monumentally uninteresting. Still, it was worrisome to view their sad, parched state in late summer.
As the weather began cooling and a bit of rain had fallen, I somehow mustered the drive to clean up the lawns. First came a mowing. Then I brought out a rarely used Lee Valley “Power Rake” — an unusual rake with a 60-cm-wide head bearing pointed teeth along one edge and a curved shield to keep material from escaping over the top. The 150-cm handle with a rotating D-shaped hand-grip helps to reduce strain on the back and hands.
The rake’s sharp edge bites into the ground to clear out moss and debris, and a followup brisk cleaning with a wire rake clears up the rest. That done, I overseeded the lawns and top-dressed with soil blends I’d saved from emptying large containers of summer flowers and potatoes.
Then, the gentle rains of early October came, along with mild temperatures perfect for grass seed germination. With the rain, the time was right also for applying lime to the lawns.
Big pruning. It was some years ago that a heavy snowfall broke away a significant number of main branches on a wide-spreading Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree) at the top of the driveway, close to my office window.
The damage that winter turned out to be an inspiring stroke of good fortune, for it gave me the idea to drastically reduce congestion in the tree and prune it bonsai style, leaving the attractive lower limb structure bare and exposed, and creating a flattish, slightly undulating upper level of foliage and (autumn) flowers.
The tree, gone a little unruly, had been calling out for another pruning this year. Tall spires had arisen above the tidily trimmed upper regions of the plant. Removing a few limbs bearing the tallest growth and much ladder-top snipping restored the desired neat appearance.
My strawberry tree is a potent reminder that the home gardener is entirely free to indulge in creative experimentation.
150 Best Spiralizer Recipes, by Marilyn Haugen and Jennifer Williams (Robert Rose, 208 pages, soft cover, $19.95). Just published is this inspiring book, designed to arouse a reader’s zest for culinary pleasures.
A spiralizer is a kitchen aid that cuts vegetables and fruits into long strands that can be thin, medium or wide. My spiralizer is a hand-cranked, counter-top tool with three blades. Some have four.
The book provides an Apples to Zucchini directory of the best edibles to use. Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, parsnips and potatoes are commonly used to make a vegetable substitute for conventional flour pastas.
Recipes are separated into four sections: gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian and vegan, raw food. The recipe I’ll be trying first is One-Pot Tomato Basil Zucchini Pasta. My kind of dish — quick, easy, minimal mess. It involves simply a herb-spiced tomato sauce with spiralized zucchini strands added and cooked in the sauce. Roasted Beets and Carrots with Rosemary Garlic Butter looks good, too.
Among the paleo diet recipes are Spicy Shrimp and Parsnip Noodles and Garlic and Herb Lemon Chicken with Roasted Spiral Squash. In the vegetarian section are a festive spinach, quinoa and apple salad with pecans and cranberries and Lazy Sunday Fettuccine with Peas and Sage Sauce. And there’s a Sweet Potato Pizza.
The raw food section holds such delights as a spiralized zucchini and apple salad, Carrot Pasta and Coconut Lime Dressing, and Spiralized Fruit Tarts.
Stunningly colourful are photographs of the recipes and two pages of spiralized vegetables and fruits.
My little machine is out and ready to go.
GARDEN EVENTS
Hardy plant meeting. Hardy Plant Group meets Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Knox Presbyterian Church, 2964 Richmond Rd. Jeff de Jong will speak on Beauty and the Feast. $5 drop-in fee.
Rose meeting. Mid Island Rose Society meets Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Nanaimo North Library meeting room.
Pruning workshop. Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd., offers Advanced Pruning with Ryan Senechel on Saturday, Oct. 24 and 31, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Cost is $90 for members, $125 for non-members. Call 250-479-6162 or email [email protected].
