Noticing nature

There are lots of cool things in nature waiting to be noticed! Have you noticed anything today? What happens if you take the time to?

Flavouring With Cilantro

The corner of Riverside Resident's raised bed is getting filled up with cilantro, a beautiful herb used in many dishes. Cilantro has a very distinct flavour that is a little hard to explain. It's something you just have to experience for yourself. The scent and taste reminds me of my mom's cooking, as it is used in many Vietnamese soups and dishes. You might be familiar with cilantro's seed, which is known as coriander.
One of the members of Riverside Residence was kind and thoughtful enough to make hummus flavoured with cilantro for all of us to enjoy. Ellice used avocado, lemon, garlic, salt, and of course garden harvested cilantro to make this wonderful green dip. Above is Marjorie enjoying both the cilantro and chickpea hummus that Ellice made.

So after spending some time working in the Garden we were able to relax in the shade, enjoying food, and sharing memories about gardens that we've known and loved in the past.

Knit Knite

The call for thunderstorms was a false alarm, making it a lovely evening for knitting in the Garden. We enjoyed a relaxing evening listening to the Speed River as we sipped our garden harvested chamomile tea. The stresses of the day could be melted away or at least forgotten about for a little while as we knitted and purled. Who knew that if you knit the first stitch of a purl row you could get an interested edge to your project? Glenna did! And now the rest of us do too. Our next Knit Knite will be held on Wednesday July 7th at 6:30 pm. Join us whether you are an expert knitter/crocheter or just wanting to learn more.

Tin Can Papermaking

Tonight, about 15 people gathered in the Enabling Garden to learn how to make recycled paper embedded with pressed flowers and seeds. We used methods from Arnold E. Grummer's book, Tin Can Paper-making: Recycle for Earth and Art.

It's an easy way to make lovely notepaper using a couple of tin cans, window screening, a blender, and some sponges.

Each person's notepaper was so lovely and unique. We borrowed the plexi-glass covering the Garden's mosaic wall to help dry our handmade paper. Once dry, folks were able to take their creations home with them and my hope is that they will try this at home and share what they've learned with others!

Finding Treasure in the Garden!

What a fun day in the Garden today! We were blessed with beautiful weather for the first kids' public workshop of the summer. Here are little folks smelling some lemon balm. They said it smelled like candy :)

The kids collected natural treasures for an art project.

They incorporated dyes from their favourite garden plants into their water colour paintings.

There were so many interesting creations!

Here are the kids in the spiral garden, posing underneath their artwork which we hung up for folks passing through the Garden to enjoy! For a closer view of the artwork, check out 'Beautiful Art in the Garden'.

Organic Backyard Workshop

Community members were treated to a very informative Organic Backyard workshop with Cathy Hansen from the Canadian Organic Growers. We addressed a wide variety of topics including what it really means to grow organically. Organic gardening is not just simply growing without the use of pesticides. It has more to do with gardening holistically with soil health in mind.

Cathy gave us so many great tips, such as how to maintain nutritious soil using living mulches such as oil radish, red, and white clover. I'd like the kids who visit the Garden to try and add oil radish to their vegetable bed later on in the season once some of the plants have matured. This living mulch will help conserve moisture this season, and it will be left to overwinter and turned under the next spring, adding nutrients back into the soil to optimize the health of the vegetables and flowers for next year! The techniques that Cathy touched upon make so much sense and can be easily applied to any backyard garden. For more information visit: www.cogwaterloo.ca

Faux-Parchment Notecards with Pressed Flowers

What a great night in our therapeutic Enabling Garden! Our guest presenter, Marilyn Swaby, showed us how to make these wonderful faux-parchment note cards.

Using pressed garden flowers, wax paper, napkins, and our imaginations...

we were able to gather together with fellow community members to create beautiful cards that will be shared with loved ones!

Participants proudly showing what they made.

Everyone did a great job. Thanks, Marilyn, for your creative art idea!

Harvesting and Drying Lavender with Community Living

Yesterday, Ruth and her friends from Community Living (Flaherty House) visited the Garden and helped to harvest lavender. She selected stems containing deep purple, sweet smelling flowers.

A good way to dry the flowers is to tie an elastic band several times around a bunch of stems, leaving a little bit of slack in the elastic for the last loop around.

Hold the stems against a clothes hanger, stretch and twist the elastic underneath to the opposite side of the hanger, before looping the elastic around the stems a final time.
As the stems are drying, you won't have to worry about them falling to the ground, since the elastic bands will maintain a good hold on the stems, even as the girth of the stems shrink.
The lavender will be drying among other herbs in the Garden's shed. It's best to dry herbs this way in a warm place away from direct sunlight. The time it will take to dry depends on humidity levels. Ideally, you want to dry your herbs in a place with low humidity.

We'll be using the lavender to make potpourri sachets and herbal bath cleansers. Lavender is a very versatile herb. Not only does it smell wonderful, it is a very calming herb containing constituents that are great for balancing the emotional system. To learn more about how herbs such as lavender can be used, look under "Upcoming Events" to see the schedule of teaching sessions being offered on related topics.

Double Flowering Clematis

I took a picture of this beautiful clematis yesterday. It has double flowers and is looking spectacular in the Enabling Garden right now. Many folks were strolling along the meandering pathways and enjoying the newly planted beds. A lovely couple claimed a bench for the afternoon to read on. Some adorable kids visiting with their parents helped plant some tomato plants in the KidzCreate Garden. Everything's looking just great!

Big Smiles Brought by Playsense

A beautiful day in the Guelph Enabling Garden today. Not just because of the nice weather but because of the smiles that Playsense brought to the garden. The kids proudly planted rosemary, lavender, and two types of basil - 'Lemon' and 'Purple Ruffles'. The marigolds planted in the centre will also help deter bugs that might want to take substantial bites out of the yummy leaves. Throughout the summer the kids will visit and watch the progress of their plants. They will be harvesting the herbs and using them to make many things such as potpourri sachets, herbal vinegars, and lavender wands. Great job today, Playsense! For more information on Playsense visit: www.hopewellchildrenshomes.ca

Herbs Blooming

Chives and Chamomile are blooming in the Enabling Garden. These are wonderful plants that are very well-used in our Garden. We harvest Chamomile flowers (left) just before or shortly after they bloom. They can then be dried and used in a calming tea. Last night, during our first Knit Knite, we enjoyed a cup of this comforting tea as we worked on our knitting projects. Yes, it was raining, but we found shelter in our shed and it was nice listening to the rain and warming our hearts with tea and good company.

The chive flowers are used to flavor apple cider vinegar. We've steeped the flowers in a jar of vinegar and will shake it daily for a month or two to really let the flavor infuse. Riverside Glen visited to help get things started yesterday. When it is satisfactorily flavored, the vinegar can be mixed with olive oil to make a yummy salad dressing.

Guelph Independent Living - Putting Seedlings in their New Home!

Guelph Independent Living residents visited today to plant seedlings that they raised in their own apartments! I was very impressed with the care that residents put into the growth of their flowers. We also planted some edible flower seeds today which will complement the bed that Independent Living is sharing with Norfolk Manor. I can't wait to see this group visit again to see how their plants are progressing. It was a wonderful morning and I could see that residents were very happy to put their seedlings in their new home today.

One thing I love about people gathering in gardening spaces is that so many good ideas are shared. Some of the ladies talked about a good way to deter wasps. They suggested filling a clear plastic sandwich bag with water and a few pennies in it. For some reason displaying this in the garden confuses wasps (and perhaps even flies) and so they tend not to their build nests in the area.