A New Project

Hello faithful readers. A little note to let you know what the U of M edible landscape is up to this year, and where I've been lately. The edible landscape garden at the University of Minnesota is back in it's original spot, just in front of the plant growth facilities on the St. Paul campus. Quite a few edibles have been planted in other parts of the demo gardens, so if you visit, be sure to take a walk through all the gardens.

I've been a bit quiet on the blog because another project has been taking up much of my writing time. I'm in the midst of writing a book about landscaping with edibles, which is due to hit the shelves by early 2013. It has been a very fun, challenging and enlightening endeavor. Last week, a crew of us (photographers, editor, art director and me) descended upon a few homes and gardens in the Twin Cities area to capture the work of some creative and dedicated gardeners. The shots are beautiful, and I'm excited to start putting the whole thing together. 2013 seems like a long way off, but there's a lot of work to be done on the book before then, so it'll likely go very quickly.

I'll do my best to keep you updated on the project and keep up a little better with my writing here. If there are any topics you'd like to discuss, or anything that's been going on in your edible landscape this year that you'd like to discuss, leave a comment below. It would be great to hear from you and find out what you've been doing in your gardens this season.

Happy landscaping!

An Interesting Season

As many of you know, it's been a funny year for gardeners in Minnesota. Our long, cool spring really slowed things down, and the recent burst of rain and heat has caused things to flourish in an almost uncontrollable manner. It's been wild to watch how quickly plants have grown over the last several weeks. Some elements designed into the edible landscape have gone a little overboard, and not quite how I expected. We've had quite a few of the glorious chard plants bolt, which I have never seen before. A flower stalk on a chard plant is a rather impressive sight. Generally chard won't bolt in our northern region because of it's biennial nature. But with fluctuating temperatures and some dry spells, this robust plant can surprise us and send up that giant, fleshy flower stalk. The leaves are still edible after bolting, but may take on a different flavor. To keep them looking better, I plan to cut those stalks out, clean up any old, cracked or overgrown leaves, and see if I can keep them going. I'll keep harvesting from my un-bolted plants, which seems to help prevent bolting in the first place. (Just cut a few of the outer leaves without damaging the crown, and the plant will keep pushing out new leaves from the center). And maybe I'll even scatter a few seeds to get some lovely, tender new leaves before the end of the season.

If you're into seed saving and your chard has bolted you can give that a try too! This little factsheet from the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service has a list of seed-saving resources that might be helpful.

Edible Landscaping...It's Everywhere!

Looking for a little inspiration to help plan your edible landscape this year? Think outside the rows and check out this slideshow from the San Francisco Chronicle. Here's one image that reminds me...if you need a fence to keep critters out of the garden, make the fence a feature!

Image borrowed from
http://sfgate.houzz.com/ideabooks/264239/w/Unexpected-Edible-Gardens/sid=7

What do you do with all that chard?

For anyone who has heard me speak about edible landscaping lately, you've probably noticed I have a thing for Swiss chard. A big thing. A somewhat overly-enthusiastic thing. But I can explain. To me, it's just the perfect plant for the edible landscape. It's easy to grow - meaning it is easy to start from seed, grows quickly, is perfectly happy in cool or hot temps, will not send up a flower stalk like many other greens, and has virtually no issues with insect pests or diseases. The gardener can harvest the outer leaves all season long and it will just keep growing and growing...all the way through the first few frosts of fall. In fact, it responds best to regular harvests, since the outer leaves will become very large and likely crack in half if left on the plant all season. If all that weren't enough, the various colors are fabulous for designing into the landscape, and chard looks great paired with other colorful greens and backed by bright pastel zinnias (just to name a few).

But when I expound the virtues of chard to a group of gardeners, I'm often met with several crinkled brows. Inevitably the question arises, "But what do you do with all that chard?" And that is indeed a great question, because the point here really is to have food to eat, not only to grow it because it looks good in the garden. I didn't really know what to do with chard before I started growing it, but once I had baskets of chard coming out of the garden day after day I knew I had to figure it out. Google helped me find a wide range of recipes, from omeletes to stir frys and everything in between. Here are a few recipes I use regularly with chard from my garden, or from the market in the winter. If you have chard recipes you'd like to share, do so in a comment below. I'd love to hear how others use this fabulous vegetable in the kitchen.

This recipe for a Swiss Chard Tart: Pasticcio di Bietole al Forno, from Mario Batali on the Food Network has become a standby for me. It's easy to throw together, and I'll sometimes make it for a weekend breakfast treat only to eat the rest of it a few hours later at lunch. It's great hot, but also really good cold for lunch. If it's in fridge, I find myself cutting off wedge after tiny wedge as a little snack until, poof, somehow it's gone! The recipe says to cut off and discard the tough stems, then to boil the leaves for 15 mintues. No and double no! The leaves absolutely do not need to be cooked down so much. And please don't discard the stems! They add so much body and flavor. Cut them off, dice 'em up and sautee them in a little olive oil for 5-10 minutes. Then add the chopped up leaves, a little water and put a lid on it for about 5 minutes. That'll soften everything just enough, but not wilt it down to nothing. The rest of the recipe works well and the result is delicious.

Provencal Zucchini and Swiss Chard Tart. Photo borrowed
from Andrew Scrivani, The New York Times.

I also really like this recipe for a Provencal Zucchini and Swiss Chard Tart that appeared in the New York Times in 2009. This is similar to the above recipe, except this one has a crust. I made this for a summer progressive dinner with a French theme, and it garnered rave reviews. I highly recommend making your own crust. If you're not fond of whole wheat crust, use another savory crust recipe you like. It is absolutely worth the effort to make your own. I used to be scared of making my own crust, but with a pastry cutter or a couple of knives you can make a crust that is flaky, light and delicious (no food-processor required)! You just have to be good at following directions. But back to the chard...this recipe is a nice pairing of chard and zucchini, and the Gruyere gives it a wonderful richness. You could always use any cheese you have in the fridge, but the Gruyere is worth the trip to the market. The flavors balance really well. If you don't have a tart pan, just use a pie plate...it'll be just as tasty.


If you're short on time and need a quick dinner, this recipe for Penne with Swiss Chard from a 1997 issue of Gourmet magazine is for you. Again, sautee the stems first, then add the leaves. Now I know the nutmeg sounds a little strange, but don't skip it...trust me. It brings out the flavor of the chard, and along with the cream and red pepper...let me just say yum. It's quick, easy and super-delish!

Just as I was pulling these recipes from my browser bookmarks I came across this one, also from the Food Network. Haven't tried it yet, but it sounds wonderful. This'll be the next one I try.

Next time, I'll share a few of my own recipes for chard.

Fruit for the Edible Landscape, Part 2

We've talked about fruit for the edible landscape here before, but I think it warrants another mention. So often fruits seem to be forgotten when it comes to gardening, perhaps because they seem a little more difficult to grow than annual vegetable plants like lettuce and tomatoes. But with a little planning and some basic tools in your gardening knowledge toolshed, you can have great success growing delicious fruits in addition to all those veggies, herbs and flowers. I wanted to remind you of a few links that will really help you plan and maintain fruit plantings in your edible landscape. They're produced by the University of Minnesota, but will apply to gardens in many areas around the country. Oh, and I also want to point out the new page tab up above that will be devoted to fruit info. That way you won't have to search and search through the blog for it. Enjoy!

Selected fruit varieties for Minnesota gardens
Strawberries for the home garden
Apples and pears in Minnesota home gardens
Currants and gooseberries in the home garden
Blueberries for home landscapes
Raspberries for the home garden
Hardy kiwifruit in Minnesota gardens
Container gardening with fruit

Seed Catalogs: The Promise of Spring

At this time of year, it is common for those of us who live in the snowy north to start dreaming about sandy beaches, crystal blue water, flip flops and tiki bars. We sign up for email updates on airfares to warm places, to remind ourselves warm places do indeed exist, and that we might just hop on a plane for a long weekend if the price is right. We try to remember that someday soon, this frozen land will be alive again with sun and leaves and flowers and sweet smells. And though it seems impossible right now, we will once again be able to sit outside dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, pick fresh tomatoes from the garden, eat dinner on the patio…only go indoors to sleep. Ahh, I feel a little better just thinking about it.

But then again, winter isn’t really so bad if you just embrace it. Some days I feel bold and hearty, so I pull on my big boots and down parka, leave my car to rest, and go for long walks in the “muffling silence of the eternal snows” (Dylan Thomas). When I breathe in the crisp-cold air I feel refreshed, and not so afraid of the long winter. I realize I am proud to live in the north, where the people don’t let frigid temperatures keep them from enjoying outdoor fun – take for example ice fishing, pond hockey, the Holidazzle parade, the St. Paul Winter Carnival. (For those of you who do not live in the Twin Cities, you’re missing out on some true winter fun!) Ok, so maybe I do like winter. But not quite as much as I like summer. You see, when I’m on those long, brisk walks, as my eyelashes are just slightly starting to freeze together, I dream not of islands and palm trees, but of next year’s garden. I imagine how moist the soil will be after it drinks up the water from all this snow. I can almost smell the cool, wet earth…the fragrance of lavender and marigolds. I picture the faint shimmer of morning dew on leathery kale leaves. Hmmmm…is it spring yet?

No? Well....ok, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk gardens, right?

Just today the seed catalogs began arriving. In fact three of them were stuffed in my mailbox. What timing! The perfect antidote to my far-too-early-in-the-season cabin fever. They do this on purpose, of course. To get us to buy far more seeds than we could ever use, they send us these gorgeous, colorful catalogs right after the holidays, when all the sparkle and magic is starting to fade, and we’re faced with the reality of 3 (at least) more months of winter. Perfect! Hide my credit card! But truly…it is perfect timing. These enticing pages inspire us to make grand plans for our gardens. We need this time to decide how many varieties of colorful lettuces we can squeeze in. To narrow down our choice of tomato varieties to 6, no more….okay, maybe 8. To determine if there’s a spot we can devote to asparagus, even though it’ll be a year or two before it really produces much of anything. To accept, once and for all, the challenge of growing artichokes - with their spikey, menacing foliage and their finicky nature in this northern clime.

All these things and more are spinning through my mind this cold, January day. The time is here to start planning. So join me as I delight in these myriad, vibrant images of gardening promises…and dream of warmer days ahead.

Fruit for the Edible Landscape

When talking edible landscapes, vegetables are often at the front of our minds, while fruits take the back seat. Maybe it's because there are just so many vegetables we can grow here, or that they're relatively easy to grow, or that they're low commitment because they're generally only around for one season. Fruits are generally perennial, and many are in the form of trees, shrubs or vines, which makes them great to use in the landscape for structure and a sense of permanence. Fruit plants can also provide stunning color. Did you know the foliage on blueberry bushes turns a deep crimson in autumn?

Photo courtesy of University of Minnesota Extension.

You might be thinking that it's just too cold here in Minnesota to grow fruit, and for some varieties that is very true. We won't be growing bananas or peaches here any time soon. (Well, I'm keeping my hopes up on the peaches.) But...did you know we can grow grapes, plums, cherries, and even a type of kiwi? There's a great range of fruit we can grow in Minnesota, and thanks to the trusty and talented plant breeders here at the U of M, many varieties have been developed just for us. How great is that? Check out these links to learn about the best fruit varieties to grow in Minnesota. And while you're looking, click around on these sites to find tips and guidelines for growing fruit in the home landscape.

Apples
Grapes
Blueberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Stone Fruits
Hardy Kiwifruit

Edible Landscaping at the Minnesota State Fair

Coming to the State Fair this year? If so, stop by the Ag-Hort building to see the new stage called The Dirt. There are a lot of great presentations and demonstrations on the schedule. We'll be talking all about Edible Landscaping on

• Friday 8/27 at 9am and noon
• Tuesday 8/31 at 11am and 2pm
• Thursday 9/2 at 10am and 1pm

Hope to see you at the Fair!

And Now...This Year's Plants

This post has been hiding out in my drafts folder. It's about time I post it.

This year the edible landscape came together in a hurry. As some readers may know I was planning to move out of the state this summer. Well, those plans changed a bit and I discovered I would be in Minnesota for the entire summer at which moment I thought I must do another edible landscape demo garden. This was in early May, so I had to act quickly. There was no time to labor over designs and plant choices. I would not be starting flats and flats of seeds in the greenhouse. I would be designing by the seat of my pants with the plants I could find leftover from spring semester classes, herbs that survived the winter that could be transplanted, and so on. Oh, and I forgot to mention....considering the last-minute nature of this project there's also no budget. Perfect, I thought! This year will be a more real representation of what one can do with edibles in their home landscape on a budget, with little time and not a ton of space. Enter creativity...my favorite!

Armed with a few packs of seeds and a few flats of plants from the Hort. Department Floriculture Crop Production course (which also grows some edible plants) I began planting. Now that's not to say no forethought was put into this. I spent an hour or so one afternoon in the garden just walking, stopping, sitting, thinking, imagining what might go where. I stopped out at different times of the day to determine where the shade traveled from the ginkgo and Honeycrisp trees. I took a good hard look at what was already growing in certain areas, and thought what might look nice near those existing plants, what requirements they have and what edibles might share the same requirements for light, moisture, etc. All things one should ponder before sticking a trowel in the ground. By spending time with your garden before you plant, it will tell you where things should go. Well, that's a little bit of a stretch, but I think you know what I mean. The better you understand your yard, the space, the light it receives, the existing plants...the more you'll be inspired to choose plants that will work really well.

So here's a list of plants in the edible landscape this year. Throughout the season, this list will be amended as certain plants will be removed after reaching their prime and others take their place -  usually direct-seeded greens, beans, radishes, and so on.


Alyssum
Apple ‘Honeycrisp’
Basil
Bean 'Scarlet Runner'
Borage
Broccoli
Bronze fennel
Calendula
Celery
Chervil
Chinese pak choy
Chives
Cosmos
Creeping thyme
Cucumber
Currant
Eggplant ‘Calliope’, ‘Gretel’, 'Rosa Biaca', 'Hansel'
Garlic chive
Kale 'Red Russian'
Lavender ‘Munstead’
Lettuce ‘Freckled’, ‘Green Oak Leaf’’, ‘Lollo Rosa’, ‘Yugoslavian Red’, ‘Red Oak Leaf’
Marjoram
Mints: spearmint, pineapple, chocolate
Mizuna mustard
Monarda
Nasturtium
Oregano
Pattypan squash
Pepper ‘Ciliegia Piccante’, ‘Cuneo Giallo’, ‘Jumbo Sweet’, ‘Numex Sunrise’, ‘Sweet Chocolate’
Purple pak choy
Rainbow Chard ‘Neon Glow’
Rhubarb chard
Rudbeckia
Sage
Signet Marigold ‘Lemon Gem’ and ‘Orange Gem’
Snapdragon
Strawberry
Summer savory
Tomato ‘Cuora di Bue’, ‘Italian’, ‘Red Zebra’, ‘Stupice’, 'Red Currant'
Veronica
Viola
Yarrow
Zinnia
Zucchini 'Cocozelle'

Currants - The Gem of the Edible Landscape

Your experience with currants may be those shriveled little black things in the scone you buy at your neighborhood coffee shop, or in preserves so laden with sugar that you can't even discern the flavor of the currant. But have you ever plucked a string of ruby-red berries off the bush and tasted the tangy-sweet juiciness of a perfectly ripe currant. Let me just tell you...it is like sunshine in your mouth!

A 'Red Lake' Currant was planted in the 2009 edible landscape, but since it was still too young, we didn't get any fruit last year. The plant was moved early this year to the new edible landscape, and though I wasn't sure of it's fate after the move, it proved to be resilient. The plant produced an abundance of these juicy gems.

The currant (and its cousin, the gooseberry) are great additions to the edible landscape. The currant especially, for two reasons I can think of right off the top of my head. One, the currant isn't quite as vigorous as the gooseberry, and while it requires regular pruning, will not become a scary thicket of prickly canes like it's more rugged relative. Second, come mid-June brilliant strands of glistening red berries will begin peeking out from within the dark green foliage. You'll have trouble resisting picking them too early - they're almost impossible to resist. But once you taste an unripe currant you'll understand the value of patience. Best to wait until they are deep red and look like they're about to burst. Then the sweet-tart, juicy explosion of each little berry will have you feverishly plucking the tiny gems from their stems. Oh, and I thought of a third! Currants are quite hardy in zones 4 and 3, and some cultivars are hardy to zone 2. Yay for Minnesotans! Another fruit we can successfully grow!


Three species of currant run the range of color from red-pink-yellow-white. These are Ribes rubrum, R. sativum and R. petraeum. The black currant (Ribes nigrum) has not been widely grown in the US due to it's susceptibility to White Pine Blister Rust. However, some cultivars have been bred with rust resistance. The red and white species tend to have more resistance. 


There's some great info out there if you're interested in adding currants to your edible landscape. The U of M Fruit website has a nice fact sheet to get you started, and has a long list of available cultivars. When looking for plants, I always check locally first, then check online if there's a cultivar I can't find here. There are several nurseries that carry many interesting cultivars. Just do a search for the cultivar name and 'nursery' to find a source.