OUR OBJECTIVES

Photo Denise Motard

The Garden Club of PEI has the following OBJECTIVES:

-     Promote the enjoyment of gardening in Prince Edward Island;

-     Represent and act as a spokesperson for gardeners;

-     Foster and participate in national and provincial

organizations having similar objectives;

-     Make available to growers information and other material concerning gardening and other related activities.

Photo Denise Motard

Corn, raccoons, and crows

Courtesy University of Minnesota Extension

I love eating fresh, raw sweet corn immediately after I take the cobs off the stalk, when the kernels are full of sweet milk and contain the least amount of starch. For decades I’ve been growing some corn in my garden. The only serious problem I encountered over the years was with crows and raccoons. Raccoons were a serious problem in my community garden when I was living in Toronto, where their population is notoriously abundant.

Crows are smart. We all know that. They also love corn kernels. I didn’t know that, until six years ago when I planted my first corn patch here on the island. After a few days, I found out that the corn seed that had started sprouting had disappeared. I was seeing crows foraging and digging in the area, but since they’re also over other areas of the garden and neighbor’s lawns I didn’t pay attention to what they were doing. When I checked closer however, I saw that little holes had been dug out, and each of them was corresponding to the planted seed.

Photo by Shirley Gallant

So now I had four rows of little holes, and no more corn seed. All gone, without any exception. And there were no holes dug out in-between the rows. Some crow(s) figured out the seed arrangement in a row and just went from row to row. I’m not sure if these crows had previous ‘experience’ in other gardens or fields of planted corn, but they seemed to know exactly what to look for. I replanted the rows with new seed but this time I put some bird netting on top of the rows as a crow protection. It worked, and now every year when I plant corn I use this method. It’s worth the extra work for me.

Photo by Heidi Riley

The first time six years ago when I planted corn in my current garden, the raccoons discovered the patch towards the end of the harvest, so it was not a big problem.

For those who don’t know what type of damage a raccoon makes in a corn patch, here’s a description: raccoons tear out the cob layers in tiny stripes and eat the kernels, then throw the cobs on the ground. They don’t always eat all the kernels, so there’s a lot of waste. They also break the stalks when they climb over them to reach the cobs.

Then I found an effective protection against raccoons. It’s a Native American method of growing corn. (See my photo below) I now grow a cucurbit (such as pumpkin, squash, or cucumber) and let the trailing stems run all around the corn patch. This way if any raccoon wants to reach the cobs (they know when they’re ripe from the smell the cobs emit), they’ll have to cross a barrier of spiky stems and under-leaves first. They don’t like to do this, as it hurts their paws and muzzle, so they’ll stay away. Apparently they also don’t like the smell of cucumbers. This method works for me.

In order to do this you need to reserve some space around the corn patch for the cucurbit running around it. You need to plant a trailing variety, not a compact one. You want as much trailing as possible. Growing corn this way gives you two crops, keeps weeds at a minimum, and retains soil moisture.

I’ve also tried another Native American method of growing corn, by growing pole beans in-between. That didn’t work for me. Everything got too tangled, the beans were smothering the corn stalks and some broke down, and it was very difficult to harvest the beans.

Photo by Denise Motard

Christmas decor

The Garden Club of PEI held its monthly meeting on December 14, 2012.  About 50 members and visitors attended to watch Mike Robison from Flower Buds in Charlottetown show us ways to decorate for the holidays. 
Mike made it look so easy.  Using twigs, cedar and fir boughs, salal and magnolia leaves, he transformed grapevine wreaths and blocks of oasis into beautiful living works of art.  He added glittery balls, shiny ribbon, artificial flowers and berries to complete the look.


Mike Robison, Flower Buds

 Mike was happy to answer our questions, and let us in on some of the colour trends popular this season.



Shades of brown harmonize beautifully on this wreath.  Starting with a grapevine base, Mike added pine twigs and magnolia leaves.  He topped it off with glittery balls and a velvet ribbon.



Mike says that burlap is big this year - even for weddings!  this is a simple looped bow trimmed with faux berries and salal leaves that would look great on a natural wreath.

This is another beautiful wreath made by Mike. It includes spruce, cedar, salal, eucalyptus twigs complete with small green flowers.  Faux red berries add contrast. 

We want to thank Mike for taking the time to come in and show us his ideas.  He is truly a talented artist.  We also want to thank him for donating his finished creations as door prizes to some of the lucky people in the audience.

Contact information
Flower Buds
417 University Avenue, Charlottetown
626-2250
www.flowerbudspei.com

Flea beetles, nasturtium, alyssum & marigold



climbing nasturtium

FLEA BEETLES, NASTURTIUM, ALYSSUM AND MARIGOLD

by Denise Motard

What is the link between all of the above you may wonder?

Here’s one I believe I found the hard way this past summer.

Every year I grow lots of climbing nasturtium (among other climbing annuals) to cover my green chain link fence. It’s not only beautiful till the first hard freeze, but the whole plant is edible. The flowers add a bright color to salads, contain as much Vitamin C as parsley, and the green seed will add a peppery taste to dishes. They can also be pickled as a caper substitute. Nasturtium would also have some medicinal properties and stimulate hair growth.

I never had any problem with pests or diseases in my nasturtium (I’m growing them since 2006). Until last summer.

It’s hard to find a garden without alyssum – usually the standard white variety. It’s very useful for borders and blends well with flowers of various colors. It attracts small pollinators and is nicely fragrant. They bloom all summer till the first hard freeze, sometimes even beyond (for those on the south side of my house).

I never had any problem with pests or diseases in my alyssum for the last 6 years. Until last summer.

Marigold (tagetes) are also a standard annual in gardens. Blooming with a profusion of rich yellow, orange, or dark red-orange flowers, they’re available in various sizes and will keep blooming till the first hard freeze as well. They can also be used as a companion plant to repel some pests in the veggie garden thanks to their aromatic scent, especially the foliage. 

I always grow marigolds, some in the veggie garden as a pest repellent and some in flower beds. Except last summer when I didn’t grow any.

Flea beetles are small, shiny black coleopters that jump from leaf to leaf when eating or disturbed. Yes, they eat leaves. Lots of them. They like young, tender leaves, and specialize in particular families of plants, like the cabbage or radish family. If you see tiny holes in your young radish or cabbage leaves they’re most likely the culprits. Their attacks are most severe during dry weather, and sunny days.

Every year I grow some radish, arugula, and either red cabbage, broccoli or Brussels sprouts. I always had some young leaves with holes in them from flea beetles, but the plants were able to keep growing and the damage was minimal. Until last summer.

Since I never had any significant damage before from flea beetles in my nasturtium and alyssum, it took me quite a while before realizing what was going on. By then there were zillions of them, so many that I could hear the noise they were making when jumping on the nasturtium leaves!! I had to pull out all of the now flowerless alyssums, the mustard (which had more holes than leaf left) & all of the nasturtiums except three plants around a post. I was able to ‘save’ those from total annihilation by inserting thyme, peppermint & flowering tobacco stems into the plants as a repellent, and hand wiping the leaves early in the morning or late at night when the beetles were less active. It worked, and those plants were able to recover and bloom till the first hard freeze as usual. And the wet September must have helped too.

Climate change? – Last summer was especially dry on the island – June had three times less precipitation than normal, and July too was very dry. From what a researcher on climate change said at the last Nature PEI conference, we should expect dry summers and wet falls as the new trend on the island and plan accordingly for farming and gardening. Did last summer dry weather trigger a flea beetle invasion?

I also found the following – nasturtium and alyssum are both part of the same plant group as radish, mustard and cabbage.

Will I include marigold as a pest repellent in my future garden plans? You bet!! As for the weather, we can partly mitigate the effects of drought bouts by using mulches for example.

Any comments and/or suggestions are welcome.