I once had the pleasure, somewhat dubious in retrospect, of writing a profile on an award-winning Calgary garden. What a piece of work that yard was. That thing had it all.
It displayed English country garden traits, but that was just the beginning. There was also an alpine rockery, tiered perennial beds, a robust vegetable patch with starter greenhouses, cobbled pathways and roughly several hundred other desirable features.
As I understood it, however, the husband-and-wife team could only keep up with its punishing demands by foregoing sleep for four months a year. Deadheading alone took up most of the sunlit hours. The four-bin compost system – who knew about that one? – is a process that appeared to require a graduate degree.
There was also careful xeriscaping, as I recall, and just in case their terrestrial make-work program wasn’t gruelling enough, they had a koi pond.
No wonder people give up before they start. Who can hope to emulate that level of diligence?
Still, they try. I seem to have numerous friends in their mid-life who suddenly feel compelled to get in the slug-herding game. As someone who has raised a few tasty crops in recent years, they often ask me how to get started.
“First of all,” I used to say, “ask someone who’s an expert, not me.” But that wasn’t terribly helpful, so now I actually dispense advice, but only advice tailored to the greenest of greenhorns.
If you’re one of those, allow me make a few recommendations. Yes, I know we’ve passed the magic date of May 24, but if you have even a small but sunny patch of loamy yard, I’m here to tell you that you can still achieve stellar results this season with a minimum of fuss.
Since it’s June 3 and you’ve done nothing, I’m going to presume you’re lazy like me. And like me, you’re probably not rich, either. So what can you sow that yields produce of maximum value with limited tending?
Two words: mesclun lettuce. The blend of tender baby greens (mesclun being simply a word from Provence that means mixture) has become a gourmet staple at restaurants and produce aisles, yet many Calgarians seem unaware of how readily it grows here.
This is in stark contrast to, say, carrots, which can be finicky and, even if you get decent ones, it’s only at a time when delicious, gigantic Hutterite carrots are 49 cents a pound. Organic baby greens, you will notice, are always $10 a pound.
Planted in rows, they tend to choke out weeds, and can yield a dozen haircuts before they turn bitter. Cleverly, you’ll sow a new row every two weeks until the end of Stampede, to ensure youthful salads all summer long.
Other dead-easy crops to cultivate from seed include spinach, of course, plus sexy arugula and kale. (I recommend the lacinato variety, sometimes called dinosaur kale.) Also, mustard greens, Asian greens mixes and rapini, because the brassicas are superfoods. If you like broccoli, it’s too late for seeding, but buy some plants; frost-tolerant, I’ve had them yield continuously until Halloween.
Other long-season champs include green onions and rainbow Swiss chard, a close relative of beets. If you’re leery of those, I’d recommend golden beets – best served as babies, sauteed with their leaves in garlic, olive oil, white wine and balsamic vinegar. Lay that over freshly shorn mesclun with a sprinkling of feta cheese and you’ve got the wilted salad they want 20 bucks for downtown.
Consider a row or two of herbs with lots of parsley (both curly and Italian), cilantro and oregano. Start a perennial mint patch in preparation for many mojito seasons to come.
Meanwhile, learn how to use these ingredients in a chimichurri, the Argentine parsley salsa that will make you a hit at every barbecue you attend this year.
None of this is labour intensive. So why not let this be the year you discover that growing amazing food, even in tempestuous Calgary, is a lot easier than people make it look.
Kevin Brooker’s column appears
every second Monday
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