"There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling." Mirabel Osler
Hiya followers! If you live anywhere close to Georgetown, Ontario, make sure to check out my website and sign up to one of my cooking demonstrations! You can either come out to The Carter Farm Market located in Norval, Ontario, or I will come out to your house for a private demo!
Jean loves to 'graze off her garden'! Yum!
This blog is about our family friend Jean Ikeson, her vast garden and her greenhouse full of orchids! That being said, today I will focus on the garden and my next blog will be about her flowers. You see, I have SO many photos, that having a part one and part two only makes sense! Ha! So, let's get started...
Part One
Jean owns and lives on a large piece of property along the Niagara escarpment, in Dundas, Ontario. She has a lovely house, many fruit trees (including a fig tree that she stores in the greenhouse over winter), a large vegetable garden and a collection of several different varieties of berry bushes. Last weekend my sweetie and I went for a visit and had a fabulous time, while learning a lot from our host! Jean is originally from Texas, lived in Oklahoma and has lived in several parts of Canada over the years, including different parts of Ontario and Nova Scotia. Jean has also had many different careers and has a lot of interests, but will tell you that gardening and growing orchids are her passions! Enough said for now, let's head out on a tour!
Jean first took us to her apple trees. She grows several varieties, some of which I had never heard of! As Jean put it, "Your Grandmother would know some of these varieties." In other words, good old fashioned apples that are not so easily found these days. All of Jean's apple trees are 'no spray' trees, which are chemical free and instead are treated with dorment oil and copper sulfate (the same method my Dad uses on our fruit trees on our 10 acres in Norfolk County, Ontario).
Liberty Apple
Bramley Apple
Next, Angus the dog joined us as we walked down to the garden. Jean does not use chemicals to spray her garden, though she does use fertilizer. Her many years of farming has taught here a thing or two and she told us that she uses fertilizer cause "The plants need to feed and we need to feed on the plants." Makes sense!
Being from Oklahoma has helped shape Jean's garden and she has a collection of vegetables that I am not that familiar with. Tomatillos, ground cherries, okra and many different peppers (hot and mild) are all present. Definitely everyday ingredients in Southern cooking and maybe not so popular around here. I told you we learned a lot on our stroll around the garden! Besides the unique veggies, Jean also grows tomatoes, greens and onions among many other things.
Being from Oklahoma has helped shape Jean's garden and she has a collection of vegetables that I am not that familiar with. Tomatillos, ground cherries, okra and many different peppers (hot and mild) are all present. Definitely everyday ingredients in Southern cooking and maybe not so popular around here. I told you we learned a lot on our stroll around the garden! Besides the unique veggies, Jean also grows tomatoes, greens and onions among many other things.
Okra (related to the hibiscus plant, Jean says never to boil this vegetable, always fry or roast first before adding it to jambalaya, for instance!)
Purple Tomatillo Plant
Green Tomatillo
Green tomatillos (use when green and citrusy in flavour, overripe when yellow and tastes like pineapple)
Physalis or Ground Cherries (sweet flavor, ripe when the husk is brown and the fruit is orange)
Lot's o' peppers!
Sweet Heat Peppers
Hot Lemon Peppers (they will turn yellow when ripe)
Old German Tomato
Jean starts her tomato transplants early in May out in the garden, in tomato cages lined with 'kitchen catcher' bags, in turn making mini green houses around the plants. Doing so allows Jean to begin harvesting ripe tomatoes in early July. She also uses a slow release fertilizer.
Valencia Tomato (Jean's favourite!)
Curly Kale Patch
Curly Kale
Tuscan Kale
Shallots (they're HUGE!)
Red Onions
Berries are some of Jean's favourite fruit and she grows quite a few different types. While looking through the bushes and sampling freshly picked berries, Jean told us about picking dewberries in Texas as a child. She told us that to pick dewberries you need a bowl tied on a string around your neck, one free hand and a stick in the other. "What is the stick for, Jean?" I asked. "To left up the bottom branches to search for snakes. If there aren't any, you use your free hand to pick the berries and use the other to keeping checking for snakes." Wow, remind me not to go to Texas to pick dewberries anytime soon! Ha!
Blackberries
Red Currants
Alrighty followers, I hope that you have enjoyed 'Part One' of our trip to Jean's farm! I'll be back early next week and hopefully have a recipe or two made from the dozens of tomatillos that Jean so graciously given to us! I'll also tell you all about Jean's orchids and post a lot more beautiful pics! Thank you again, Jean and bye for now!
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