Hits & Misses: Diversity & Mother Nature
Question of the Week: Can I reuse the soil from a container that used to have a houseplant in it?
Science & Technology: An Artichoke by Any Other Name

Apparently, Ginger, our Havanese ‘wonder’ dog must have a latent desire to be an interior decorator. I assume this is the case because she has decided that the decorative peat moss covering the soil of our indoor plants would look much better scattered on the floors throughout our house. Can’t say I agree. However, since Ginger doesn’t seem to share my wife’s preference for keeping the moss in the pots, we have resorted to stretch wrapping the surface of the pots in an attempt to keep the dog’s snout out of the moss. So far so good, but knowing the tunneling expertise of the Havanese breed, I’m not declaring the stretch wrap barrier a success just yet. Did I mention that the dog is giving lessons to my son? Sigh…

Gardening starts early in Jim’s household.

Hits & Misses
Hit: Diversity
I don’t know how deep the begonia genetic pool is, but I find it amazing that breeders seem to be able to pull out every possible colour permutation and combination from these plants. This year’s shipment is a testament to that. In fact, I’ve never seen so many outstanding varieties of begonias with multicoloured foliage as I have this year. And because there is such a great diversity in begonia varieties, there is likely to be an ideal begonia to suit almost every taste. Of course, begonia’s intrinsic ability to grow well without a lot of sun also makes them the perfect plants for brightening up the shade.

Miss: Mother Nature
The one thing a January cold snap does is make one realize that although greenhouses are great for letting light in, they aren’t exactly hermetically sealed from the cold winter winds. Regardless of how well we think we have sealed up all of the nooks and crannies, Mother Nature has a knack for pointing out our flaws. During the worst of the snowy and windy weather, tiny snowdrifts show up around door and vent seals in spots I had assumed were pretty airtight. Fortunately, the one thing you do learn in the greenhouse business is to always keep the caulking and weather stripping close at hand.

Question of the Week
Can I reuse the soil from a container that used to have a houseplant in it?
Reusing soil from the pots of dearly departed plants is never a good idea. If the plant died because of pests or disease, the soil may contain some of these pests. Even if the plant died because you dried it out, chances are the soil has too few pore spaces (pockets of open spaces that can be filled with water) to sustain a new plant. As the soil decomposes, it starts to lose pore space and becomes too dense for air to infiltrate easily and for roots to grow properly. Pots can, however, can be reused—just be sure to scrub them clean and then soak them in a solution of 10% bleach and water.

Science & Technology
An Artichoke by Any Other Name
If you are planning on planting a few Jerusalem artichokes in your garden this year, there are two important things to remember. The first is that these plants are not from Jerusalem. The second is that they aren’t artichokes. Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus) are actually cold-hardy, wild relatives of the sunflower and were spread from Saskatchewan to Ontario and down into Arkansas and Georgia by the Native Americans. The tubers contain high levels of a carbohydrate called inulin, which is currently being researched as a ‘bulking agent’ in sweeteners.

This old photo shows Kate, Bill and Mike in front of their Jerusalem artichokes. As you can see they bear little resemblance to the traditional vegetable.

Did You Know?
U.S. federal law forbids concentrations of more than 5 parts per billion nitrosamine in cured meats, but chewing tobacco contains 9,600 to 289,000 parts per billion nitrosamine.

“Don’t knock the weather. If it didn’t change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn’t start a conversation.”
–Kin Hubbard