Episode 147: How Raised Garden Beds Boost Early Harvests And Save Your Knees

A good garden doesn’t start with a miracle fertilizer. It starts with smarter structure, better soil, and a few hard-earned lessons from people who grow things for real.

We’re recording from the Lindsay Thursday Market at Wilson Fields and talking raised garden beds with Master Gardener extraordinaire Bev Delonardo. We dig into the advantages that actually matter: raised beds warming up earlier for early crops, less strain on hips and knees, and easier weeding and harvesting. Bev shares practical sizing guidance (including why four feet wide is a sweet spot), what to consider with bed height, and the real differences between metal beds and wooden beds, especially when you’re growing edible crops.

Then we get into the part most gardeners overlook: the raised bed soil mix. We talk about using a light, sterile growing medium with peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite, and how to add nutrients with mushroom compost, manure, or your own compost without turning the bed into a compacted brick. We also touch on drainage, why roots need oxygen, and how small choices like leaving a few inches at the top of the bed can make watering easier.

On the market walk, we pivot to plant talk with plenty of herb inspiration, shade-garden picks, hummingbird-friendly perennials, blueberry soil acidity tips, and even the allure of chocolate mint and giant pumpkins. If you like practical Ontario gardening advice, farmers market finds, and a little wild food curiosity like spruce tip tea, this one’s for you.

Transcript

Podcast Launch And Big Promise

SPEAKER_03 0:01

Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola. And I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favorite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast. That's right. Every Thursday, Ans and I will be right here in your ears, bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. Hmm. Now what are we going to talk about for two hours every week? Well, you know there's going to be a lot of fishing.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.

SPEAKER_03 0:27

Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors. From athletes.

SPEAKER_08 0:34

All the other guys would go golfing. Me and Garchomp Turk, and all the Russians would go fishing.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

To scientists. So now that we're reforesting and letting things, it's the perfect transmission environment for lime disease. To chefs. If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated for you will taste it.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

And whoever else will pick up the phone. Wherever you are, Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside.

SPEAKER_08 1:02

Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jerry’s Chaga Path Under The Canopy

SPEAKER_13 1:15

As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Olette, and I was honored to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as Chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal applications used by indigenous peoples all over the globe. After nearly a decade of harvest, use, testimonials, and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession. And I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of this strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people that will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. So join me today for another great episode, and hopefully, we can inspire a few more people to live their lives under the canopy.

Market Life Dogs And A Tea Giveaway

SPEAKER_13 2:49

Okay, first of all, as always, we want to thank all our listeners across Canada, the states, all throughout the world, really appreciate it. Our friends in Ghana. And you know, just a little update. So Gunner. And before I forget, anybody wants to show up at the Halliburton market on Tuesdays for uh what the heck, for the rest of the season this year, 2026, and the Thursday market at Lindsay at Wilson Fields, and mentions Gunner's name, I will give them a free bag of tea, free uh package of tea. And I'll even go so that you can, so long as I have lots in, whatever I can make available, I will provide not just a straight regular but any of the other teas as well. Now poor Gunner, it's that's I got three dogs in the house, and and of course I'm definitely allergic to cats, but uh with with Garrett and his wife Britney there, and congratulations to them with their son Britton. The cat sneaks around and I start wheezing and crazy. But poor Gunnar's got three dogs in the house, Gunner and their dog, Garrett and Brittany have moved in while they're back from Calgary and looking for a place out this way. So we have the great pleasure of having them with us, which is great. And Belle, uh, she's a dope and she's moved in now. She's uh not a cranky anymore because she was pretty cranky with Gunner. Gunner, uh, kind of all right, you're a guest in the house, I'll let you be all right, you know. But still, he's the only one that wants his teeth brushed. He asks him who wants his teeth brushed. Off we go to the washroom, or else if he wants to, I say, You want a bath? And he looks and he'll go jump in the tub. But you mentioned Gunner's name at any of those two markets on Tuesdays in Halliburton or Thursdays at the Wilson Fields in Lindsay. I will give you a free cup of tea. But Benny now. So we had the dobe of Garrett and Brittany's Belle, and Benny, which is Josh's dog. Now they were doing some filming around, and and Casey, uh Josh's fiance, she's flying out to PEI, and they're filming out there for her business. She's doing very well at, but so we get the pleasure.

Spruce Tips Foraging And Food Safety

SPEAKER_13 5:20

So this is the time of year now to pick spruce sprigs. Okay, so you'll get new light-colored green extensions of growth on spruce trees and spruce sprigs. And I use spruce sprigs in a lot of different ways. You can actually just take the sprigs off and put them in a like a bottle of water and let it sit overnight, and it really gives it a kind of a citrusy kind of flavor. But also, I've made spruce honey, uh, which uh a German friend of mine showed me what to do. You you fill a pot with spruce sprigs, and then once it's filled, then you fill it with water and then boil it for 40-45 minutes, and then you strain out the sprigs, and then you add a sugary. You can either use honey or maple syrup or even sugar if you wanted to, about one to one, and then boil that down till you get the consistency of a honey, and it makes a rather unique honey that is actually very good and high in vitamin C. So spruce sprigs this time of year is a good thing. And uh there's a lot of other stuff coming up now. Fiddleheads are done, wild leeks are pretty much done, although I'm gonna try and pick some this week if I can, because I want to jar some. I haven't jarred any this year, but I want to, so I'll see what I can do. I know I yesterday I grabbed a couple of leaves and just consumed the leaves, but left the bulbs in. And uh, there will be some other stuff like cattails will be coming up, bulrushes very shortly as well. So, spruce sprigs now are something that people can try. Just make sure there's not a lot of toxins in the soil where it goes in, because if you pray chemicides and pesticides and things like that, it'll get into the system. They find some good spruce sprigs, and it doesn't matter. I've I use bruise uh blue, uh black, and white spruce, and they've all been very, very tasty.

Raised Beds Benefits Frost And Access

SPEAKER_13 7:14

But today we're talking with Bev Delonardo, again the Master Gardener Extraordinaire, and about raised gardens and some other issues. All right, we're with Master Gardener Extraordinaire Bev again, who's great to be out there and get all our information. How's it going, Bev?

SPEAKER_11 7:36

Very good this morning. We've got sun shining, a little bit of wind, and there'll be good crowds today.

SPEAKER_13 7:42

Yes, and the Thursday market is something that a lot of people can come out to. Uh give us a bit of a rundown on the Thursday market and where it's at, where you're at there.

SPEAKER_11 7:52

So the Lindsay Thursday Market uh is uh every Thursday up behind La Blaz um at the corner of St. Joseph and Colburn Street. Um it runs from 10 till 3. We have um 12 to 14 vendors. Um we're not quite done. We have room for two more vendors. Um and we have a couple of new vendors this year. We have uh a girl that's selling bagels, and they're very close to the Montreal bagel. I'm sorry to say that I'm I am addicted to it. And then we have another uh fella, uh Andrew, he has uh the lemonarium and he does like specialty um lemonade.

SPEAKER_13 8:33

Oh yeah, well, very interesting. So that's good, and that's Wilson Fields, right?

SPEAKER_11 8:36

Wilson Fields.

SPEAKER_13 8:37

Yeah, okay. So Bev, I wanted to ask you and brought you on the program again to talk about raised gardens. So uh tell us about raised gardens and like what's the advantage, disadvantage. I guess uh a lot of people don't want to bend over. Is that the some of the key reasons why people use a raised garden?

SPEAKER_11 8:53

Well, the baby boob uh um boom uh generation is aging, and we are all at that point where you start to have trouble with your hips and your knees, and the raised gardens give you that alternative because with knee replacement, from what I've heard, you're not able to get down on your knees anymore. So you'll be able to garden from either a sitting position or standing. Uh raised beds can any be anywhere from one to three feet tall.

SPEAKER_13 9:20

Okay, so that's the kind of like the thickness of the the garden, or you mean three feet tall from the ground?

SPEAKER_11 9:26

The sides, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Um, but it like the definition of a raised bed can be just earth piled up in the garden. Oh, I see. Like a foot high. Oh, okay. You bathe beds or elevate it from your pathways.

SPEAKER_13 9:39

Right, right. So um when you have um a raised garden, so is there is there an advantage to being uh um above the ground, like when it's above?

SPEAKER_11 9:51

Yep, there is an advantage to being above the ground, and the main one is your beds will war warm up a lot earlier so you can get earlier crops in. Um if there's a chance of frost, the the cold air is heavier, so it settles down into the low pockets on your your site. So uh it does keep protect your plants somewhat from from the chance of frost as well.

SPEAKER_13 10:15

So with the soil inside the the um the raised bed, and and I'm talking mostly about these uh the ones that you see. Um how close to the top do you come with that? Did do you leave space uh between the top of the soil and the top of it, or do you have it right at the top?

SPEAKER_11 10:31

Um no, I like to see them about four inches down from the top because when you water, you want to be sure that the water is not going to spill over the sides of your bed and has a chance up against the walls of your bed to soak in. Right. But every year you should be adding two to three inches of soil because every year those beds will settle somewhat.

SPEAKER_13 10:52

Okay. So now is there a difference between the metal beds and the wood beds?

SPEAKER_11 10:57

Uh the main difference is expense. Your metal beds are are much more expensive. They will last longer.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

Right.

SPEAKER_11 11:05

Um but for convenience and and for most people, the the wooden beds are nice because you can move them. Okay. A lot of them, the sides just fold right up.

unknown 11:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_13 11:17

So the so the metal actually lasts longer, but it doesn't do anything to the material. Like I think I see a lot of the metals as galvanized. Yeah. That's not it's not a problem with plants at all.

SPEAKER_11 11:28

Uh not that I'm aware of. If you have any concerns about the metal with your food crops, I would go with like a raw wood in instead. But just if if there's any you know concerns at all. Yeah, go with not pressure treated? Not pressure treated, with a raw wood, like a cedar, or uh, which can be expensive, the cedar, but there's also um other raw woods you can choose from.

SPEAKER_13 11:55

Right.

SPEAKER_11 11:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 11:56

So and how big are a lot of these beds, like how wide, how long does it matter?

SPEAKER_11 12:00

The best size is either like four feet wide and eight feet long.

Bed Materials Depth And Drainage

SPEAKER_11 12:05

If you have them two continuous lengths, you have to walk so far to get around the other side. Um and four feet is a nice width because you can you can weed and harvest from either side of the bed without uh you know, not being and that's another benefit of it is the the harp the harvest right, yeah. It's easier to harvest than if you're harvesting from the ground.

SPEAKER_13 12:29

Yeah. So now is there you can you plant earlier with a raised bed because of the frost? Yeah, yeah. And so what goes well in them is like your your garlic extraordinaire?

SPEAKER_11 12:44

Yeah. Um, I looked into that because I knew you'd be asking, and you can you can grow garlic in your raised bed. I think if you have a three or a four-foot bed that high off the ground, yeah, it might not winter as well as if you were dealing with a one or two feet.

SPEAKER_13 13:02

Okay. Yeah, okay. So, and what other crops are are usually good, like uh lettuce or good.

SPEAKER_11 13:08

The popular choices for container growing is like tomatoes, carrots, turnips, cucumbers, lettuce, and radishes. Right. Um, and you can also do strawberries, melons, and herbs. Um, some people who are just small time gardeners, they'll um may not have as many options with how much sun. So they'll a lot of these raised beds, they'll put them on casters so they can chase the sunlight. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_13 13:34

I never thought about that. Huh, interesting.

SPEAKER_11 13:36

Just that's a small time. I we you wouldn't want to be doing it if you were growing large volumes.

SPEAKER_13 13:41

Right. So um with it, I I know because I have a a number of really large pots um where we we fill the bottom of the pots with like styrofoam or empty pop bottles uh in order to take up space. Can you do the same with that or is it necessary? Yeah. And how deep, how deep does the soil need to be?

SPEAKER_11 14:01

The actual soil that the medium that you're gonna be growing in should be like 12 to 8 inches, 18 inches deep. Okay. Um and that's to accommodate your root crops because you you might want to try potatoes in your raised beds as well. Right. Um, but the bottom part, um, what I've seen recommended is like old wood branches, twigs, oh yeah, any any kind of wood. Okay. Throw that in there.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 14:24

I don't know whether there's any safety to be concerned about the you know, the plastic bottles or styrofoam.

SPEAKER_13 14:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 14:31

Uh my choice would be the wood.

SPEAKER_13 14:33

Right. Yeah. So um the the um um so you put the filler in and then uh the what about drainage for it? So how do you worry about drainage? Like you need good drainage, or you have to drill holes in the bottom, or if you're using wood, just most people do these raised beds right on whatever the base of the soil it is.

SPEAKER_11 14:55

There's no bottoms in them.

SPEAKER_13 14:56

Okay. Oh, there's it's gotta be a bottom to hold the the like a raised one off the ground, right?

SPEAKER_11 15:04

So there's gotta be a bottom of some kind of pastures on it, but a lot of people just have the raised beds, there's no bottoms in them. Oh, yeah. They have them raised. Main main reason is to keep grass out.

SPEAKER_13 15:14

Right.

SPEAKER_11 15:14

Um and and for to some a certain degree, your your pasts are the varmits, the rodents that are like your crops as well, you know.

SPEAKER_13 15:23

Yeah, some of the the raised gardens I was looking at was um um were the uh community gardens that I just drove by. And I guess this is a great way for people uh in communities to to get out and to do some gardening, is have their own uh community garden. Yeah, but the the actual bed was like two feet off the ground, yeah. And then they have the uh the unit, uh like a wood unit with a a base on it. So there was a big space between the ground and the the bottom of the so the air could blow right through them.

SPEAKER_11 15:53

So it was almost like it was on legs. Yes, exactly. I have seen that. Um most of the ones that that I've actually seen used in in just a home garden art don't have the legs, but but that is an option as well. Okay. Um again, hard to winter things over in that when you've got all that cool air underneath your crop.

SPEAKER_13 16:14

So, oh, so on the one, the race gardens that are on the ground, um, you can winter over with a lot of stuff, but you can't with the other ones, right? Yeah, okay. Because I know my um I've got uh uh like potted um peppermint, spearmint, sage, basil. Is it basil or basil?

SPEAKER_11 16:34

Either good as long as I know what you're talking about. Okay, sounds good.

SPEAKER_07 16:44

Back

Podcast Promos And Chaga Testimonial

SPEAKER_07 16:45

in 2016, Frank and I had a vision to amass the single largest database of musky angling education material anywhere in the world.

SPEAKER_06 16:53

Our dream was to harness the knowledge of this amazing community and share it with passionate anglers just like you.

SPEAKER_07 17:00

Thus, the Ugly Pike Podcast was born and quickly grew to become one of the top fishing podcasts in North America.

SPEAKER_06 17:07

Step into the world of angling adventures and embrace the thrill of the catch with the Ugly Pike Podcast. Join us on our quest to understand what makes us different as anglers and to uncover what it takes to go after the infamous fish of 10,000 casts.

SPEAKER_07 17:21

The Ugly Pike Podcast isn't just about fishing, it's about creating a tight-knit community of passionate anglers who share the same love for the sport. Through laughter, through camaraderie, and an unwavering spirit of adventure, this podcast will bring people together. Subscribe now and never miss a moment of our angling adventures. Tight lines, everyone. Find Ugly Pike now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts.

SPEAKER_13 17:53

And now it's time for another testimonial for Chaga Health and Wellness. Hi, it's Jerry from Chaga Health and Wellness. We're here in Lindsay with Tula, who is actually from Finland and uses Chaga. Tula, you've had some good experiences with Chaga. Can you just tell us what that experience is?

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Yes, I got sick with fibra, and uh one weekend my husband came here alone. I was home, and uh he brought your um your leaflet, right? And I read it, and I said, next weekend when we go to a market, we're gonna buy it. Some and so we started putting it in our morning smoothie. Right, and um among a few other things that I was doing because of that, the chaka has been the steady one. Right, I would not want to live without it. Oh, good, yeah. So it's been working for me very good lots of ways, and you had uh some good luck with blood pressure as well. All right, yeah. Thanks for remembering that. That's uh yeah, I had a little bit of high elevated blood pressure, and within the two weeks of starting that every day, every morning, uh it went to normal.

SPEAKER_13 19:10

And you think the chaga was the reason why?

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Well, I didn't do anything else in that that time fruit.

SPEAKER_13 19:17

Very good. And so how much chaga did you have and how did you have it?

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Well, we just put that powder in the smoothie. Right? Yeah, and uh it's about tablespoon. Yeah. No, it's less than a tablespoon for both of us. Yeah, so you don't need that much.

SPEAKER_13 19:33

Right. About a teaspoon, yeah. Yeah, very good. Well, thanks for very much for sharing that. We really appreciate that and wish you all the best with the Chaga. Oh, you're from Finland as well, and Chaga is pretty popular in Finland, is it not?

SPEAKER_01 19:46

I think it probably is because there's some professors in a university that uh that's uh teaching it and uh talking about it, and of course it's big in Russia, right? Uh because that's where you know the northern woods that came comes from. Yep, yeah, and of course, Finland has lots of bird trees.

SPEAKER_13 20:07

Right, yeah, and it's the only mushroom that you can't forage in Finland. Oh, very good. Well, thanks very much for sharing that. Okay, have a great day. We interrupt this program to bring you a special offer from Chaga Health and Wellness. If you've listened this far and you're still wondering about this strange mushroom that I keep talking about and whether you would benefit from it or not, I may have something of interest to you. To thank you for listening to the show, I'm going to make trying Chaga that much easier by giving you a dollar off all our Chaga products at checkout. All you have to do is head over to our website, Chaga Health and Wellness.com, place a few items in the cart, and check out with the code CANAPY. C-A-N-O-P-Y. If you're new to Chaga, I'd highly recommend the regular Chaga tea. This comes with 15 tea bags per package, and each bag gives you around five or six cups of tea. Hey, thanks for listening. Back to the episode.

Soil Mix Compost And Root Oxygen

SPEAKER_13 21:25

Okay, so we're talking about mixture.

SPEAKER_11 21:27

So we they recommend for your raised gardens um to have a medium that's sterile, uh, a pro-mix um potting soil that you can buy. You don't really want the soil. You want a um a medium that has pearlite, vermiculite, and peat moss in it. And to give it some nutrients, we'll mix in some mushroom compost if you can get a hold of it. If you can't, you can get bagged sheep manure or cow manure or nothing wrong with your own compost.

SPEAKER_13 22:00

Right. Okay. Okay, so and so that way because it doesn't pack down. Um right. And any idea on how long uh you can expect uh like a a cedar one to to last?

SPEAKER_11 22:14

I've never used them, but I would think with the cedar is there's a natural component in the wood that that saves it from rotting.

SPEAKER_13 22:24

Right.

SPEAKER_11 22:25

I would say you'd get 10 to 20 years out of it.

SPEAKER_13 22:28

Okay, so but you don't treat the wood at all with any kind of stuff at all.

SPEAKER_11 22:31

I don't want to. No, you want it everything as natural as possible because you're you're eating, unless it's an ornamental bed. If it's ornamental and you're not eating anything out of it, then that's a different story. But for your edible crops, you should be free of any uh Okay.

SPEAKER_13 22:50

Okay, so one of the things you mentioned was about oxygen getting into the roots. Um have you ever seen those watering ronds, wands that oxygenate the um uh the water?

SPEAKER_11 23:04

Oh, uh prior to it entering the hose, or is it oxygenated as it comes out?

SPEAKER_13 23:10

As it comes out?

SPEAKER_11 23:11

No, I haven't, but I have heard about them.

SPEAKER_13 23:13

Yeah, a friend of mine, uh Greg, was the one that uh has the rights to those and gets all those uh produced. And actually what it is is uh small yeah, so so Greg was the one that kind of uh developed this this oxygenating thing. And essentially what it does do is is and I've got a prototype of uh at uh uh at my place where if you had a cup of water and it was three-quarters full and you ran it through this thing, it injects air at a nano bubble uh bubble at a nano level, and it would fill the cup of water up to a full. But it it oxygenates it, and that was one of the ways that it was promoted by one of the um hardware companies was selling these these watering wands that oxygenated your plants. Yeah. So I guess it's I didn't really realize it was important to get oxygen to the roots.

SPEAKER_11 24:05

A lot of people aren't aware that the all plants need oxygen in their root

Shade Garden Plants And Hummingbirds

SPEAKER_11 24:10

system, just like we need oxygen.

SPEAKER_13 24:12

Right. Yeah, yeah. So your your plants here on a on a Thursday, uh uh what kind of plants who have you got here, uh Bev that people I see you got some hostas.

SPEAKER_11 24:20

Uh hostas are still popular.

SPEAKER_13 24:23

So I've got a question on hosts.

SPEAKER_11 24:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_13 24:25

Are they toxic, the leaves?

SPEAKER_11 24:27

Uh the deer eat them, so no.

SPEAKER_13 24:30

Okay, because uh uh my son's dog that is living with us is eating the hosta leaves. And so Diane, uh I haven't told her yet, but uh she's gonna ask how come all these leaves are off this hosta plant that she just got. Oh my gosh. Okay. So you got some hostas and some what type of it's a fern of some type?

SPEAKER_11 24:50

That's a Japanese painted fern.

SPEAKER_13 24:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_11 24:52

Um, so it is uh what we're looking at here now, Jerry, is a lot of plants for the shady garden.

SPEAKER_13 24:59

Oh, shady garden. So okay, that's good.

SPEAKER_11 25:01

So we have uh Simasa Fuga, and this one is uh chocolate. And it's uh uh late blooming one for first part of September, but it has a wonderful uh like a bottle brush bloom on it.

SPEAKER_13 25:15

Okay. Uh so when you say chocolate, is this something that's consumed?

SPEAKER_11 25:18

Just the name of it.

SPEAKER_13 25:19

Oh, okay. I understand.

SPEAKER_11 25:20

Yeah. Yeah. Chocoholic. So chocolate.

SPEAKER_13 25:25

Okay. Not chagaholic. No, chaga, okay. Not the chaga, right?

SPEAKER_11 25:30

Not yet, anyways.

SPEAKER_13 25:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_11 25:32

And uh some coral bells, which is really good for your uh hummingbirds. They love that tiny flower and it's full of nectar every day, so they will visit a plant like that every day.

SPEAKER_13 25:43

Oh, really? So that's a good one to plant.

SPEAKER_11 25:44

Maybe that's that's a really good one for the for the and how long do the blooms last? Um if you if you keep taking off the the old bloom as they finish, like the earlier spikes that come up, it'll encourage it to throw up more. But you usually get uh six to eight weeks bloom out of that one. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_13 26:03

Yeah, very good.

SPEAKER_11 26:04

Which is pretty good for a perennial.

SPEAKER_13 26:06

Okay, yeah, it might be something because we get a lot of hummingbirds and we love seeing them at the at the cottage at the camp.

SPEAKER_11 26:10

Yes. Okay. Um and we have some primroses here, the side boldy.

SPEAKER_13 26:15

Okay, so have you ever heard of an evening primrose, a night bloom a night blooming primrose? No, a night blooming one.

SPEAKER_12 26:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_13 26:23

Because so I don't know if I I I got invited to uh um a blooming party in Thunder Bay. I was doing a speech in Thunder Bay. Uh and so this uh the the chief administrating officer he says, uh, what are you doing tonight? I said, nothing. He says, Oh, well, we're having a blooming tonight. I said, What do you mean you're having a blooming? What are you talking about? Look at this blooming onion thing that uh people eat. No, no, no. He says, uh, no, no, we're having a blooming tonight. Um, my flower is gonna bloom tonight. I said, How do you know that? I said, What? Anyway, so he invited me over and it just kind of opened up right in front of us. It was kind of cool to see.

SPEAKER_11 26:55

Yeah, very low-growing. Um, yes. Yes, yeah, yeah. So it's not a primrose. Again, that's when you use common names, that's where confusion can can uh get in there. And I did have that plant, but I think it's disappeared now. That's it's a beautiful plant.

SPEAKER_13 27:12

It's almost like a it looks like a dandelion leaf, I guess. Right.

SPEAKER_11 27:14

The leaf is very much like a dandelion.

SPEAKER_13 27:16

Yeah, and I was quite surprised because it was it was actually pretty good. And and so I remember I was at a car show. I said, You guys uh where you guys so come on over, Jerry, we're going over. It's this is all right. So uh I go to the car show and I knew a my my prim was gonna bloom that night, so I brought it with me. And there's all these car guys, right? With muscle cars and and uh antique cars, et cetera, et cetera. And I bring, what are you bringing this here for, Jerry? I said, Oh, I want to show you something. Anyway, so the guys to this day, like 20 years later, still talk about oh, when you brought that over, that was so cool. My wife couldn't believe me. Yeah, sure. I was going to see a plant bloom.

SPEAKER_11 27:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 27:54

So okay, what other ones? You got this this one here, it's like a vine?

SPEAKER_11 27:58

Uh the clematis or clematis. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 28:01

It's um and then you have some tomato plants?

SPEAKER_11 28:04

We have tomato plants today, yep. And we've got some heirlooms, we've got pepper plants, sweet and hot. Um peonies. Peonies. We've got the wonderful Bartzilla. It's a yellow peony, very desirable and does really well in our area.

SPEAKER_13 28:21

And I see you have some rhubarb. Rhubarb? Rhubarb requires direct sunlight?

SPEAKER_11 28:27

Full sun, yeah. And it's a heavy feeder, so you can't over-fertilize a rhubarb.

SPEAKER_13 28:32

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_11 28:32

And you know, the more it grows, the more you harvest. So I always say don't it, don't if you think you forgot to fertilize your your rhubarb, fertilize it because it'll it'll take everything that you put to it.

SPEAKER_13 28:44

Okay, and the one over there that almost looks like uh what uh rosemary plant.

SPEAKER_11 28:49

Yeah, it's a lavender.

SPEAKER_13 28:50

Lavender, oh okay, lavender, yeah.

SPEAKER_11 28:52

Lavandula. And uh we've got sold out of these, but uh this is for our customer. Yeah. The hellabores again for the shady garden.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_11 29:04

And we have daylilies. Hostas and daylilies are still the top perennials for your home garden. Right. And the main reason is is because they're low maintenance.

SPEAKER_13 29:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_11 29:14

You literally throw them in and walk away. You don't have to fertilize.

SPEAKER_13 29:18

Low maintenance is good. So

Blueberries Garlic Timing And Tree Moves

SPEAKER_13 29:20

what other what have you got at the other end? Uh because you've got a big display of a lot of plants.

SPEAKER_11 29:24

I've got blueberries this year.

SPEAKER_13 29:26

Blueberries? Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_10 29:29

Good morning.

SPEAKER_13 29:30

Well they will your blueberries produce this year? Uh they all bloomed. Oh, they bloomed, okay.

SPEAKER_11 29:36

Yeah. So as long as they got pollinated, I think I should have these ones had a heavier bloom on it.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_11 29:43

So I have uh North Country and I have Sweetheart. Oh, you need two different uh blueberries as well.

SPEAKER_13 29:51

So do you know if you can you can actually uh because uh I tried picking wild blueberries to have a a wild blueberry chaga and uh it worked out, but it was really, really hard to figure out. So the the hard part with the blueberries was you couldn't um so first of all to try to try and dehydrate them so that you can get them down to moisture content that'll go into a tea. So I had to figure out these special things because you had to how do you dehydrate them? I had to get these special or the smoking mats for you know when you smoke meats or smoke uh cheese or whatever. So I had to use those which were hard to find. And then once I got them, um I would put the blueberries in the tea and nothing. So then it took me the longest time, but I figured out if I grind them and break the whole of them, then it comes up blue and you get the uh blueberry flavor. Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 30:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_13 30:46

So but it was too hard and and it's not gonna be a product I'll have with the Jagga.

SPEAKER_11 30:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 30:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_11 30:53

Well, and so the thing with growing blueberries too is people don't realize they like the uh acidic, they like the peat moss. So I tell everybody when you're when you're planting, dig a big hole, get rid of all that dirt, and backfill with pure peat moss, and you'll have a great crop.

SPEAKER_13 31:08

Right. So can you can you actually um take wild blueberry plants and and put them in relocate them?

SPEAKER_11 31:17

I I would definitely try. Okay. I've I've never done it.

SPEAKER_13 31:21

I neither have I.

SPEAKER_11 31:22

No, but I I think I think you can.

SPEAKER_13 31:24

Okay, because it would just be somebody that is something that our our listeners would ask.

SPEAKER_11 31:28

And I would do it in uh September. Okay. Yeah, when the plants are they're they're not trying to bloom. Right. They're starting to shut down, and so preserving their root system is a good that's a good time.

SPEAKER_13 31:42

Okay. I've got a couple of uh spruce trees that are about three feet off the ground now. And I want to move them from where they are. Do I just when is the time to do that? And do we need to cut the roots or how does it work?

SPEAKER_11 31:57

Yeah, you want to root prune first, so a month or two before you actually move them. Right. Go around with your square headed shovel and and like wherever your drip line is, you're gonna cut all the way around. Yep. And that'll trigger the tree into producing small fine hair roots.

SPEAKER_13 32:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_11 32:16

To set it up for the transplant.

SPEAKER_13 32:17

Oh, okay, good. So you do that a month in advance. Yeah. Okay, so I've got a couple of them that yeah, okay. So what I'll do is I'll I'll uh when I get back um from uh this Thursday market here, I will uh get a chance and then I'll trim those roots to see it for a couple months from now. Very good. All right, well, I appreciate that, Bev. And once again, Bev, kind of give everybody a breakdown of where uh the Thursday market is and where they can come and see uh the uh the uh Master Garden Extraordinaire and all her garlic. When's the garlic gonna be ready?

SPEAKER_11 32:52

Oh, yes, garlic. Don't forget about the garlic.

SPEAKER_13 32:55

When's the garlic gonna be ready?

SPEAKER_11 32:56

Well, hopefully it'll be ready the middle of July, Tuesday around the 15th, we start pulling.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_11 33:03

Uh last year was an incredibly weird year because I ended up pulling my full field.

SPEAKER_02 33:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 33:10

Um, all all at the same time, rather than over a period of three to four weeks. Oh, okay. Yeah, it all ripened, and that was the drought.

SPEAKER_13 33:18

And what type of uh garlic do you have? Because there's like 36 different strains in Ontario.

SPEAKER_11 33:24

My main crop is music, but I have uh Newfoundland, I've got some hot garlic, and I have oh, there's another, I've got two types of hot garlic.

SPEAKER_13 33:35

Oh, okay, good.

SPEAKER_11 33:36

Yeah. All right. People like the hot stuff.

SPEAKER_13 33:38

Yes, they do. Yeah. All right, and tell us again, okay, Thursdays, uh give a breakdown of work people come and see you at the Thursday market.

SPEAKER_11 33:46

We're at on the west side of uh Lindsay, so if you're Kent Street West, you go on to St. Joseph's Road and go north up to Wilson Fields, and it's at the corner of St. Joseph's Road and Colburn Street, and uh we operate from 10 till 3 every Thursday, and uh we have a lot of local people producing crops and other interesting things.

SPEAKER_13 34:12

Okay, thanks, Beth. I hope you have a great day.

SPEAKER_11 34:15

Thanks, Jerry.

Herbs Mint Aromas And Giant Pumpkins

SPEAKER_13 34:20

Okay, so we're with Barb Fisher here, who's uh another vendor at the Thursday Markets and has Mary working it for you at Thursdays, right? Yes, we do. Yeah, and Barb, um, I'm looking at all your plants here, and you've got all kind of stuff like lemongrass, lemon balm, lavender, lemon verbena? Yes. Okay, what's lemon verbena?

SPEAKER_10 34:42

Oh just smell it. It's a very strong lemon scent. Okay, and uh, it's just nice, even people like it to keep mosquitoes away, but you can use it in different things that you cook and that or drink. Right? And coriander? Oh, it's a it's kind of a staple with some people, they love it. Yep. Coriander cilantro.

SPEAKER_13 35:03

Yep, cilantro uh we use quite uh uh my wife Diane really likes it. And in there's so many different um, like so lemongrass. Um where would you how do you what do you use a lot of them for? Lemon balm is now you use these in different uh drinks or that. Really? Okay.

SPEAKER_10 35:22

I said one time a fellow told me about his rosemary. He just has a potter by his barbecue and just takes a bit off whatever he's cute and putting in the lemon.

SPEAKER_13 35:31

Yeah, I use uh I have rosemary that grows in now. Now, rosemary, most of these are perennials or annuals?

SPEAKER_10 35:36

Uh half and half.

SPEAKER_13 35:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_10 35:39

Rosemary is a perennial, but up here you'd want to bring it in in the winter. Okay. And that but uh your vervena lemon balm is a perennial. Vervena is a lemon grass is gone. Okay.

SPEAKER_13 35:52

Yeah, I've got lemon balm growing at uh my place. Um plus I've got uh rosemary, I've got sage, I've got um what have I got? Uh uh plus a lot of mints, uh peppermint, spearmint. I'm just trying to go through everything. I've got uh no, I don't have any chocolate mint. Now, do they call it chocolate mint because it kind of okay? Let's have a look at this chocolate, these mint you got down here. Okay, now do you call it basil or basil? I say basil. Okay, basil.

SPEAKER_10 36:23

We have these are our four sweet ones that we have, and we have spicy and thai, they've got a bit of zip to them. Really?

SPEAKER_13 36:30

They even look well, they looked a bit Thai basil.

SPEAKER_10 36:34

You love the spicy, it's just really scent.

SPEAKER_13 36:38

Oh yeah, I just brushed my hand on it and you can really smell it. Okay.

SPEAKER_10 36:44

And we have chives, we have garlic and regular chives, right? And that and their parsleys, yeah, Italian and curly.

SPEAKER_13 36:52

So, okay, so and Italian and curly parsley. What's the difference?

SPEAKER_10 36:59

A lot of people use the Italian for cooking, right? Uh, and the curly for decorative. Okay, but to each their own.

SPEAKER_13 37:08

Oh yeah, and I see you've got sage as well.

SPEAKER_10 37:10

Mm-hmm. We have a pineapple sage back here too. It's great for pork or chicken.

SPEAKER_13 37:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_10 37:16

And that oregano is the Greek and Italian.

SPEAKER_13 37:22

Well, and the leaves look substantially different though, right?

SPEAKER_10 37:24

Oh, this is more low-growing, or this will grow into a bit of a bush. Right, okay. And not. And over here, well, we have the times there, then the time and regular time.

SPEAKER_02 37:36

Right.

SPEAKER_10 37:37

But here are our mints. This is the chocolate mint. If you just rub the leaf, you'll get a good sense of what it is.

SPEAKER_13 37:44

Oh, yeah, it even smells chocolatey, right? Yeah, it does. Chocolate mint.

SPEAKER_10 37:48

And then your spearmint and peppermints.

SPEAKER_13 37:50

Spearmints, peppermints, um, and then you've got uh berries and cream mint and what's this? Oh yeah. That's the one they use in the drinks, right? I guess so. I don't know. I just I I've heard of mojitos and I didn't know, but and you've got all your other plants as well.

SPEAKER_10 38:08

So you've got your different vegetables over there.

SPEAKER_13 38:11

And you've got uh Atlantic giant pumpkins? Yes. So they produce giant pumpkins. These are the ones you see at the competing at the fairs? Yes. Really? So when uh how long do they take to grow one of those giant pumpkins?

SPEAKER_10 38:25

Every one is different, right? You know, it depends on the type of soil, the fertilizer. Everybody has their own little hitch, what they do to them.

SPEAKER_13 38:35

Oh, a little secret thing.

SPEAKER_10 38:37

Right? If you Google it, you'll get a different answer every time.

SPEAKER_13 38:41

Right. So so some of these things at the fairs, they probably have night lights, uh growing lights on them and stuff like that. I don't know. I don't know. Okay, and then your your regular vegetable plants to say you've got some lettuce and some tomatoes and a whole bunch of other peppers.

SPEAKER_10 38:56

Yeah, some of these are different varieties that we put in the field ourselves. Right? I do extra just to bring cheese markets. Okay. Good.

SPEAKER_13 39:05

So now you do quite a few markets, do you not?

SPEAKER_09 39:08

Yes, I do a few.

SPEAKER_13 39:09

So, what other markets do you do beside the Thursday one uh here at Wilson Fields?

SPEAKER_09 39:14

We do the Saturday Lindsay one here.

SPEAKER_13 39:16

Okay, yeah. And I know you're in Halliburton where I'm at as well.

SPEAKER_09 39:19

Yeah, we do Bob Cages.

SPEAKER_13 39:21

Okay. What day is Bob Caging?

SPEAKER_09 39:23

Saturday.

SPEAKER_13 39:24

Saturday, okay. Very good.

SPEAKER_10 39:27

Oh no, it's uh we have a stand here in Lindsay, too.

SPEAKER_13 39:32

Okay, so you have a stand? And when you say I have a stand, what does that mean? Oh where is the stand?

SPEAKER_10 39:39

Once strawberries start, we uh we're up on Antilles North at the coffee shop there. Okay, yeah. So Thanksgiving usually. Oh, okay. As long as the weather permits.

SPEAKER_13 39:50

Oh, very good. All right, Barb. Well, I just thought I'd let people know some of the things. And asparagus, how much longer will asparagus be?

SPEAKER_10 39:57

Uh, one to two weeks. Okay. The weather is a big factor for everything. And rhubarb yet? No, we don't do rhubarb. Oh, you don't do rhubarb. Okay.

SPEAKER_13 40:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_10 40:11

You can only do so much.

SPEAKER_13 40:12

Yeah. Well, uh you do a great job there in producing a lot of different things, and I was quite surprised, like you said, when the the chocolate meant there and you you brush off with and same with some of the other ones. Boy, you can really notice the difference in the really enhance, and I know that a lot of them have a medicinal application, whether it's basil, as you said. But the holy basil, is there a difference with holy basil?

SPEAKER_10 40:32

Oh, sure. That's one I've never told us. Okay.

SPEAKER_13 40:36

I just see that in a lot of the uh uh books that I use, the Rosemary Gladstars, or some of the others. They mentioned holy basil, and I didn't know if it was a difference.

SPEAKER_09 40:44

Oh, there is. Even even the sweet basils and ones we have, you can even smell or taste a little difference, too. That's right.

SPEAKER_13 40:52

All right. Well, thanks very much, Barb. We appreciate that, and uh, hope you have a great day at the market today.

SPEAKER_09 40:57

Well, thank you, and too.

More Outdoor Podcasts To Queue Up

SPEAKER_05 41:36

But this podcast will be more than that. Every week on Diaries of a Lodge Owner, I'm going to introduce you to a ton of great people. Share their stories of our trials, tribulations, and inspirations. Learn and have plenty of laughs along the way.

SPEAKER_04 41:52

Meanwhile, we're sitting there bobbing along trying to figure out how to catch a bass. And we both decided one day we were going to be on television doing a fishing jump.

SPEAKER_08 42:02

My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in all those bass in the summertime, but that's might be more fishing than it was punchy.

SPEAKER_05 42:09

You so confidently you said, Hey Pat, have you ever eaten a drink? Find diaries of a lodge owner now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.