Around mid-month I was immersed in the reshaping of some vegetable plots as the sun shone brilliantly and emitted enough warmth to draw clouds of steam from the soil. I felt delight, and suspicion.
I was remembering the same time of year in 2019, when a wonderfully warm January lulled local growers and keen home gardeners into thoughts of extra-early planting as we worked on preparing plots for seeding.
Then, with February, came snow, freezing temperatures and the impossibility of accomplishing anything useful in gardens. It wasn鈥檛 until mid-March that the soil thawed and the snow melted where I live, though not all parts of the Island or even Greater Victoria were similarly affected.
Perhaps February this year will be mild enough for an early start to the growing season. All being well, I鈥檒l soon be preparing plots for early seedings of broad beans, peas, carrots and hardy green leafy vegetables like spinach, corn salad, mizuna and chrysanthemum greens (shungiku, chop suey greens).
Indoors, some of the seed catalogues remain to be scoured through and inspired by. Here is one of my favourites.
Johnny鈥檚 Selected Seeds. Rob Johnston Jr. started this now employee-owned enterprise in 1973. Over the years, the company鈥檚 breeding program has become famous for developing award-winning vegetable varieties. Examples are Carmen, a sweet 鈥渂ull鈥檚 horn鈥� (elongated) Italian pepper, and Butterscotch, a small, tasty butternut squash.
Seeds from this source have produced two of the most remarkably pleasing and successful plantings from outdoor sowings made last year. I鈥檓 still enjoying them.
Daikon. Growing daikon radishes for fall and winter use can be a hit-and-miss affair. It takes a bit of experimenting, and luck, to find varieties that produce well in your garden鈥檚 conditions. Seeding times can be tricky, too.
I hadn鈥檛 grown these radishes for a while when I noticed a variety called Alpine, a white Korean radish, in Johnny鈥檚 2019 catalogue. Alpine produced so well that I had plenty to share with friends. They all enjoyed the crisp, tasty white flesh of the elongated radishes.
Encouraged, in the third week of June last year I seeded Alpine again, along with a new radish called KN-Bravo, a 10-centimetre-long purple root with white and purple flesh. For around three months now, I鈥檝e been relishing the sweet, juicy flesh of KN-Bravo, which I consider one of the luckiest choices I鈥檝e ever made in vegetable varieties. The beauty of the sparkling slices is a bonus.
I shred and dice daikons into green salads, and make salads of mixed grated daikon, carrot and beet or daikon, carrot and apple, in an oil and vinegar dressing.
Calendula. Orange Button is the most vividly coloured calendula I鈥檝e ever grown. The blooms are brilliant 鈥� a ruff of deep orange petals around a broad, fluffy, orange and dark purple centre.
Early in the spring I seeded Orange Button along a short vegetable plot edge, where the plants grew and flowered nicely. As summer ended, the weather cooled and bloom gradually faded from the garden, I began to notice some of the Orange Button plants bearing unusual numbers of flowers that seemed more brilliantly hued than before.
I picked some of the flowers for the house in November, and again through December and January as the plants rebloomed in waves. They have provided cheery little bouquets for my kitchen. Another real 鈥渇ind.鈥�
Growers on some of the farms around where I live are big fans of Johnny鈥檚 lettuces and lettuce blends, and of their fine selection of cut flowers. Another specialty is pumpkins. Among the catalogue鈥檚 extensive pumpkin listings are several developed in the company鈥檚 breeding program. One of them, Cinnamon Girl, is the most fragrant and flavourful pumpkin I鈥檝e grown.
Bird鈥檚 Nest Basket. The Horticulture Centre of the 91原创, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is offering a workshop with Joan Carrigan on creating a Random Bird鈥檚 Nest Basket on Saturday, Feb. 6, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. These strong, beautiful, 鈥渞andom weave鈥� baskets will be constructed of pre-selected vines and branches and possibly other materials found on a group tour of the garden.
Cost is $120 for HCP members, others $140. For further details and online registration, go to to find a calendar. The site鈥檚 home page also lists courses. For safety regulations during the pandemic, type 鈥淗orticulture Centre of the 91原创 + COVID rules鈥� into a search engine. Register online or by phone: 250-479-6162.
