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Helen Chesnut's Garden Notes: Cold snap dashes hopes of extra-early sowings

Once again, February has expressed itself as a trickster and a tease. The month has a pattern of turning on a “green light” for gardeners, in the form of mild temperatures and sunshine.

Once again, February has expressed itself as a trickster and a tease. The month has a pattern of turning on a “green light” for gardeners, in the form of mild temperatures and sunshine. And we fall for it, horticultural fervour bubbling away as we prepare plots for first seedings and bid farewell to winter, just as it prepares for a return engagement.

I was on the verge of extra-early sowings of broad beans, peas and carrots when the snow and freezing temperatures stalled those hopes and turned my attention to pursuits inside the house. I began the indoor seedings, with onions and leeks, violas and pansies, soon followed by sweet peas, snapdragons and early cabbage — Caraflex is superb.

An Aspabroc seeding for early transplanting will yield weeks of mini-broccoli florets. An early summer indoor sowing gives me a planting that produces florets through the fall and much of the winter. Both Caraflex and Aspabroc are listed in the West Coast Seeds and several other catalogues.

The compact patio tomatoes and sweet peppers will be sown before the end of the month. I seed these into 10-cm wide pots.

At least the first wave of indoor seedings will be done when the garden becomes once again fit for working in.

The bird show. Early on the morning of Family Day, a magic show unfolded as I looked from the windows of my house. I was drawn by loud bird calls to peer out the kitchen window, where a big, beautiful Steller’s jay was industriously hunting for food items under the loose bark of a long-established Cynthia rhododendron. Throngs of smaller birds whizzed from shrub to shrub. Others pecked about on the ground as fluffy snowflakes fell softly on the garden.

I stepped outside to a chorus of whistles, twitters and chirps, and the familiar whirring of hummingbird wings in the strawberry tree.

There were hints of a warming trend coming. The snow was melting, soon to be replaced by rain. Was this feathered Family Day assembly activated by the change in weather, by spring edging closer?

Here we go again: Food prices are predicated to rise significantly again this year, by around six per cent.

Why? The pandemic continues to interrupt supply chains and climate change has caused California, our main source of imported vegetables, to be plagued by heat waves, drought, floods and fires. Cost increases over the year for bread, meat and vegetables are said to be around $700 for a family of four. Among the vegetables, price increases will be most noticeable in the more perishable foods like leafy greens, tomatoes and cucumbers.

What to do? First, conserve money by planning meals to avoid food waste. Canadian home kitchens are responsible for about 20 per cent of all the food wasted in the country.

Plan to grow what you can. Grow the more expensive vegetables among those you like best to eat. Significant amounts of leafy greens can be produced in a limited garden space and in containers, as can cucumbers and tomatoes.

Grow vegetables that are at their very best freshly picked. Crisp snow peas and crunchy lettuces come to mind. There may be vegetables that you like but are hard to find in stores. Grow them. I grow frilly endive, escarole, radicchio and diakon radishes because I can rarely find them in my local stores and even at farmers’ markets.

HCP courses. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is offering the following online classes on Zoom. For details and online registration go to hcp.ca/events. The site’s home page also lists courses. Register online or by phone: 250-479-6162.

* Watercolours with Richard Wong: Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March 6, 1 to 3 p.m. Learn how to create beautiful watercolours as you are guided each step of the way. $20 per screen.

* Cannabis for the Home Grower, Tuesday, March 9, 6 to 9 p.m. Learn the basics of growing Cannabis for personal use. HCP members $60, others $70.

* Plant Identification and Culture, Saturday, March 13, 1 to 4 p.m. Diane Pierce will introduce 25 new plants with their descriptions, cultural requirements, general maintenance and landscape uses. This is an ongoing, monthly class. Members $35, others $45.

hchesnut@bcsupernet.com