Thanks Giving
Once a week, Mark’s wife volunteers at a hospital in Toronto.
This requires a trip “downtown” via the GO train and a 15-minute walk from their house to the train station.
Here is a reflection on his recent walk to and from the train station.
There is something in the air this time of year, a coolness that reminds us that summer is gone and the morning dampness that reminds me that now is a great time to sow grass seed to thicken the lawn.
Our walk to the GO station this morning was fraught with car-dodging as the high school across the street received their usual compliment of students, eager to learn no doubt, but bleary eyed and a little dopey.
Walkers beware!
This is a morning when I am reminded just how great it is to be alive. The flower barrels and baskets that line the Main Street of Markham, our home-town, are looking nearly perfect. From a distance. Up close you can see signs that the begonias and annual ivy are past their peak. A little tired round the margins of the leaves and lots of finished flowers moving into the seeding state of their life.
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If December is the month of giving and November is the month of remembrance, October is the month of thanks. The changing of the seasons reminds us that there is much to be thankful for. When you reflect on this question, you will hopefully find that the list is long. After friends, family and freedom, the low hanging fruit on most peoples’ list of things to be thankful for, what else?
I love that frost is only a few days away.
I love that I get to live where the natural cycles of life are all around me. During every season we sow, nurture, grow, cut down the weeds, harvest and put away the leftovers. That is what it is to be a gardener in Canada.
How this experience effects us is a story that varies with everyone who lives with it.
Today, I celebrate the vision of a historic Canadian town, replete with century old buildings, busy people travelling to work, school, and the barber.
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I picked some clusters of acorns from a lovely Burr Oak growing on the Main Street to bring home to Mary. She will use them to decorate the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day, when the family is over.
It is a small thing that reminds us that we live with nature, we do not control her.
When we are smart, we partner with her and learn from her lessons.
A walk to the train station has become a revelation of things that I feel thankful for.
And the best part? I get to go home.
We hope that your Thanksgiving month is a wonderful experience.
Mark and Ben Cullen
Merchants of Beans and Beauty
Markcullen.com
Cullensfoods.com
Foodandsheltergoods.com
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GARDEN THINGS TO DO IN OCTOBER |  | |
Now it is October: the last full-on gardening month on the calendar for most of us. And lots to do.
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After the first serious frost, dig up your dahlias and lay the 'bulbs' [tubers] in the sun to dry for a day or two. Store in a large, craft paper leaf bag with dry peat moss or shredded newspaper in a cool but DRY place. Plan to plant them up in March for a repeat performance next season.
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Dig and divide perennials. Hostas, peonies, daylilies: these are the top 3 but there are many others. This is a great time of year to 'clean up' your perennials by removing portions that are overgrown. Cut back the foliage of the ones that you want to keep.
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Do not cut back fall flowering ornamental grasses, coneflower, rudebeckia and all of the autumn flowering plants that produce a seed head. The birds will forage the seeds well past the first snow fall.
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Plant fall flowering mums, kale, cabbage [which looks best after a few frosts] and asters.
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Plant spring flowering bulbs like daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, crocus and the like and keep in mind that if you don't plant them they will not surprise you with colour next spring.
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Bring in your tropical plants. Now. Don't leave this until frost arrives... too late! Clean them and consider repotting the root-bound ones.
Veggies
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Dig your carrots, leeks, left over potatoes etc. and store in bushel baskets full of pure, dry sand. Put in your basement or fruit cellar.
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Pull up your remaining tomato plants and hang them in the cellar or the garage while the green fruit ripens. They do not need light to do this.
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Harvest leaf lettuce, mesclun and the like.
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Remove the spent bean plants etc. and put in your compost.
There are some vegetables that actually improve in flavour as the cold weather arrives. Parsnips, leeks, carrots, kale and cabbage would be a few of them.
Others, that are tolerant of light frost, but do not 'improve' with frost necessarily but can remain in the garden for the time being if you don't have somewhere to put them indoors just yet. These include winter squash, broccoli, cauliflower and pumpkins.
Compost and Leaves
- Put spent annual plants in your composter or compost pile.
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Remove the finished compost from your compost unit or pile and spread it over your perennial bed or veggie garden.
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Rake leaves off of your lawn and on to your garden where they will decompose and the earth worms will pull them down into the soil.
Breathe deep, be thankful [especially at Thanksgiving], celebrate the harvest and relax.
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BIRDS IN FOCUS:
Red Crossbill
By: Jody Allair
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Since I started writing this monthly column in 2017 (I actually cannot believe it was that long ago) I’ve featured many of my favourite and familiar backyard birds. For this month’s feature I thought I would do something a bit different and tell you a bit about one of Canada’s most mysterious finches – The Red Crossbill.
Red Crossbills, as the name suggests, have a very specialized crossed bill designed for prying open the stiff cones of conifers in order to get the nutritious seeds on the inside. These birds can be found year round throughout coniferous forests across Canada and the US. And, like many of their finch cousins, they tend to be irruptive—moving huge distances in order to find bumper crops of cones. Males are predominately orangey-red and the females are a stunning lime green (you can absolutely make the case that female Red Crossbills are the more attractive of the two).
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Red Crossbill
Photo credit: Yousif Attia
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There are so many fascinating elements on the life history of the Red Crossbill that you could fill a book. First, they will nest anywhere, at any time of year, provided there is an abundance of food. The second is that researchers studying populations of Red Crossbills across North America have determined that there are 12 different “types” of Red Crossbills, each with their own unique vocalizations and bill shapes. They even have preferred tree species within their ecoregions. Several years ago one of these Types (Type 9) was elevated to its own distinct species—the Cassia Crossbill.
This winter may provide an excellent opportunity to see these enigmatic birds as several Red Crossbill Types are irrupting east across the country. The jip-jip-jip flight calls of the Red Crossbill are distinctive with a bit of practice. You should also look for them in stands of conifers that have a lot of cones. Want to attract Red Crossbills to your yard? Then consider planting native pine, spruce, fir or hemlock species. For a list of conifer species that are native to your neck of the woods visit: www.birdgardens.ca
Good Birding!
Jody Allair
Director, Community Engagement
Birds Canada
Connect with me on Twitter and Instagram at: @JodyAllair
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Harrowsmith’s Harvest Sausage Traybake with Kale Pesto
This traybake combines an assortment of harvest vegetables and pork sausages for a cornucopia of flavour. Easy and delicious, this recipe lets you customize with whatever veggies are in season/in your kitchen — and you can have dinner on the table in about half an hour.
Find the instructions here: www.harrowsmithmag.com/traybake. Enjoy!
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Don’t miss an issue of Harrowsmith’s gardening, cooking, sustainable living and DIY tips. Harrowsmith’s 2024 Almanac is on newsstands now. It features easy potluck recipes, seasonal weather forecasts for the next 12 months, night sky charts, home repair tips, monthly garden to-do lists, and more than 80 top plant picks to help you create resilient and thriving gardens for the future from Mark and Ben Cullen + so much more! Subscribe now and never miss an issue www.harrowsmithmag.com/subscribe. | | | | |
