Some people are very very smart.

Revamped, "baby-totes," stroller found at Queen and Lansdowne last week. Best new toy. Totes a bin perfectly.

Winter storm warning for Ontario/lights out!

I've started bundling all of the bins in tarps because CTV can't stop talking about a winter storm front, and many of the baby plants that came up might not be able to handle being direct pressed with snow.

The pallets are pining the tarps on the south side of the bins because the wind tears up the roof from that direction, and I wanted to make sure they stayed put. It's supposed to be snowing right now..... but we'll see? This year we are experiencing an early monarch migration, and even though I'd like to think the cold will only knock out the early gnats and mosquitos, I doubt it. Ugh. Hope for cold rain.

Chickweed rolls across town to Bellwoods Brewery

We gave Guy Rollins some greens from the roof to mess around with, and they showed up on this, what my pal called a bowl of, "calm the eff down." He is a parent to an 11 month old, so I'm inclined to trust his expertise in such matters. It was super simple and outrageously tasty. Chicken of the Woods mushrooms, rye toasts on Rye berries (i think?!) with some buttery tasting sauces and the aforementioned chickweed. So just in case excellent beer wasn't enough for you, now you have no reason not to line up at Bellwoods.

gnats get it on, on my finger.

I did not have the heart to break this up. Probably because gnats only live for a maximum of four months, and we are on top of a bar... Fortunately for their romantic objective, they like moist soil medium and we have a lot of that. The adults have no interest in eating the plants but if their is huge larvae outbreak in the soil (unlikely) the baby roots might be at risk.

For some very specific info on gnats, and a bunch of other info on natural insect control in your garden, go here. Go here to see what it looks like when countless thousands of gnats mate in mid-air. Check out the dragonflies and their mathematical hunting moves that one commenter called, "quartering the yard." On top of their obvious size and speed advantage over the gnats, dragonflies can independently move each of their four wings and fly backwards. They also mate in mid-air. The gnats never had a chance, even if they weren't completely distracted.

When I searched Dragonfly sex on youtube the results were way less weird than I thought they'd be, and this amazing video (with a homemade soundtrack?) leads you sideways into an amazing, super technical series of science links. Check out, "Solar Death Ray Water," to see why you should never build a flat roofed structure out of clear vinyl in any place you don't want to burn to the ground.



The plant behind the scene is Lovage number 2. Crow for scale.

I just don't want them to eat you.

Multiple barrier methods to keep the birds from eating the newly planted radish, carrot and lettuce seeds. Plastic crow for intimidation.

In the past few days I have planted Purple Haze and Scarlet Nante carrots, French Breakfast, Easter Egg and Watermelon radishes, and Red Deer Tongue and Frisee lettuce. Hopefully (likely!) in 4-6 weeks there will be rooftop salads in the restaurant downstairs. Because lettuce seeds are usually scratched and patted into the soil surface instead of planted (they like to germinate in light, and at temperatures in between 40-75 degrees Fahrenheit), they are most vulnerable to our avian opportunists. Background of lower photo shows multiple bins of hop vines that were established in 2011. The vines are already 1 foot high.

The tree in the chive bin is a Cedar!

Thank you for identifying this Jonas (Ecoman).The best part about this is that there are no cedar trees within sight of the roof, and the seed must have blown in from who knows where. I find it interesting that companies like Monsanto can claim that a buffer zone of 660 feet will prevent any and all cross contamination in between their GMO seeds and organic crops. Fortunately for them, they excel at ignoring science, reality, and the large series of islands known as Hawaii that were once nothing but volcanic rock.

Lots going on in the chive bin - April 09/2012

The green tangle you see at the top of the photo are baby chives. These shoots are the spring run from a chive bin that was established in 2010, but every other form of plant life you see showed up on it's own. I don't know what kind of baby conifer tree is in the lower left corner, but I do know the wee red floppy plant behind it is a variety of lettuce known as Red Deer Tongue. I looked into, "where moss comes from,?" online and apparently its 400-500 million years old. It totally must have blown in as a spore, or the spore was already in the soil when it was delivered to us. Instead of roots it has, "rhizoids," tiny hair-thin filaments that anchor the moss to the soil. And it gets everything it needs to live from the air and water. Whoa. Sharpie for scale.

Lovage 1 on April 08, 2012. established 2010

Lovage (Levisticum officinale) is a tall perennial plant, the sole species in the genus Levisticum, in the family Apiaceae. In 2010 we established two plants for Matt Demille (our sous chef at the time), who was obsessed with the plant and found it hard to find in Toronto markets. Its flavor and smell is very similar to celery, but with more depth. It has been described by staff as tasting, "fancy," and "expensive." The leaves and grated roots can be used in salads, or to make soup, and the roots can be eaten whole as a vegetable.

Lovage tea can be applied to wounds as an antiseptic, and drunk to stimulate digestion. The seeds can be used as a spice, similar to fennel seeds, and In the UK, an alcoholic lovage cordial is traditionally mixed with brandy in the ratio of 2:1 as a winter drink.

The Fundraiser/spend some time in a ground level garden to support one on a rooftop.

We are heading into our third year researching the variables that make a pop-up, for-profit rooftop farm/restaurant relationship possible, and although we have figured out how to create a job during the production season, we can still use your help to support the farm set-up. The funds will also go to development and documentation of low-cost connected irrigation systems, solar fuel experiments, plantings for pollinators, compost and seeds from Urban Harvest.

On April 09 Jamie Kennedy, Victoria Taylor, Parts and Labour Chef Matty Matheson and Rooftop Gardener Katie Mathieu will be hosting a tequila and taco fundraiser in a secret backyard location. The tickets are 50$ a person, and include beer from Bellwoods Brewery, Tequila beverages concocted by Jamie and Victoria, Pork and chicken tacos by Matty, a fire-pit and a sauna made out of a shipping container.

You can contact Katie at kjrmathieu@yahoo.com, or 416-722-6947 to reserve tickets. Thank you for supporting our research!

Hops survived their first (mild) winter in containers.

The return of the Chinook hops. Three varieties of hops were established on the roof in 2011 by Bellwoods Brewery as part of their City Hops Project. This variety was grown in a 36 litre rubbermaid container filled with lightweight potting mix and compost. We drilled drainage holes in the bottom of the bin, and around the sides one inch up from the base. All of the hop bins were insulated over the winter with a maple leaf mulch (salvaged from a neighbour pals yard), and then the bins were bundled in tarps which were weighted down with boards and bricks. We weren't sure if the vines would make it through the winter in containers, and even though this mild winter didn't really kick the stuffing out of anything, it still feels exciting to see them come back.

The next phase is choosing which of the multiple shoots (suckers?) is the strongest/most likely to succeed and cut the rest back. I'm hoping the vines will not only pass last years length of 20 feet, but will also get chubby sideways, width is a sign of a strong mature vine. Wish them luck! We are all excited to see what the small batch of P@L beer is going to taste like.

The return of the mojito mint

Wecome back mint. We'll see you in the fundraiser cocktails on the 9th!

The tenacity of chickweed...

or the freakishly mild winter of 2011? This week i went up top to make sure the tarps surrounding the bins were secure, and found dozens of bins overrun with chickweed. The brown scraps are degraded maple leaves that were salvaged in the fall, packed into green garbage bags and volleyed onto the roof from the alley. The maple leaves act as a blanket mulch, insulating the soil surface against the cold, and eventually breaking down into free mineral nutrients. If worms in the bins haven't succumbed to the freezing temperatures(?), then those invertebrate tenants will metabolize the leaves into fertilizer.

How the roof looks right now. Bundled up!

Under the hops, looking north at twilight in late September

Cascade variety of hop vine reaching the ridge (center beam) of the greenhouse frame, which marks them at more than 20 feet. The two "suns," in the back are the alley street lights.

What Parts and Labour's Chef Matty did with his roof greens.

Bins draining for winter 2011 - Compost bin absorbs clean up.

Draining the containers in the late fall served two functions. It removed extra water weight before the roof has to contend with the winter ice and snow load, and hopefully it will prevent container and root damage by removing the most likely source of expansion and contraction in the container - water. We like to over engineer, so after draining the containers we move them all up onto the flashing that caps the support walls of the building, and then wrapped the drained bins in waterproof tarps. All that debris in the foreground compost heap? Dead plant material, and compostable coffee and tea cups we keep up top for guests and work parties.

City Hops Project - Early September

Three varieties of Hops, Cascade, Centennial and Nugget, grown as part of Bellwood Brewery's city hop project. First year hop vines typically grow 8-10 feet, and rarely produce cones. These varieties shot up past 20 feet long, and produced heavily. Even though they seem to love container living, we don't know how they'll do over the winter. In the fall I let the vines die, cut them back, layered some compost on the tops of the bins, buried the whole bin cluster in maple leaves, and wrapped the whole thing up in a tarp. I'm hoping that this "dumpling," approach will prevent the freeze/thaw that damages root systems overwinter. Last year the chives made it through with less padding, but apparently it's almost impossible to kill them. Fingers crossed.

Garden's beauty relaxes staff/lures them into education zone.

Staff lounge and tool storage area just before the second overhead shade tarp was re-attached.
The discounted astroturf patch in the background gained credibility, (with us), through it's no maintenance, no problem approach. Staff report it was softer than expected.

Just a rainbow. No big deal.

Facing south, mid-summer 2011. Semi-transparent camouflage netting worked as a partial privacy screen in between us and our neighbors in the Community housing across Queen Street. Originally we put up tarps, but the high winds up top would catch in them, and tear them to shreds. The netting worked well enough in the end. I felt like I was in a private space, and the view into their windows from the main roof was obscured.

Weed takes over salad bin, and we're into it.

One of the quickest ways to lose plant saving moisture from a container is through surface evaporation. This outrageously prolific chickweed explosion (the wee, low growing green plant with star shaped leaf clusters) slowed the moisture loss of this bin down by spreading over the soil surface like a chubby, lettuce cooling blanket. Less watering equals less work, and free chickweed equals a better profit on salad green mixes for sale. Check the last blog for an article about treating ulcers with chickweed, or search Stellaria Media for plant info. If you'd like to shoot straight down the native plant, medicinal/witchcraft rabbit hole, add Susan Weed to your search.

Chickweed flips bird to containment attempts by rooting in nothing

Volunteer chickweed plants set up shop on the roof surface. Another example of native plants thriving in a harsh environment, and why I often consider abandoning high maintenance cultivated varieties. Chickweed doesn't mind the shade, is an effective natural mulch, tastes like fresh corn, is prolific and adds an interesting dimension to salads. Here's a link to an article about chickweed treating ulcers, and other city ailments. http://www.livestrong.com/article/507579-chickweed-used-for-stomach-inflammation/

Nettles, surprisingly comfortable in the bins.

A bin of Urtica Diocia, or stinging nettle that was established in 2010, and returned to take over three bins in 2011. The self defense systems of this native flowering perennial are tiny, hollow stinging hairs called Tricomes. The Tricomes, found in the leaves of the plant, act like tiny hypodermic needles, and shoot Histimines and other irritating chemicals into skin that comes in contact with the plant. This plant has an extensive medicinal and culinary history in North America, is 10% protein, and, like other wild edibles introduced to the Parts and Labour roof, it manages to thrive despite the harsh temperature fluctuations up top. It also sneak attacks the chefs fingers.

Here's a site with a great deal of nettle lore, including the benefits of being flogged with the plant?

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Nettle.html

compost bin gets a carbon boost from the Grid.

The microbes responsible for breaking down the compost pile need a balanced diet of nitrogen and carbon. Nitrogen comes from green materials such as food scraps, manure, and grass clippings. Carbon comes from brown materials such as dead leaves, hay, wood chips and shredded newspaper. A ratio that contains equal portions by weight (not volume) of both works best, and since most of what we've got up top is green plant material, this layer of abandoned weeklies helped to balance things out.
The cage was 6 plastic ties and 3$ worth of chicken wire I picked up at a Parkdale garage sale. It's 3 feet across - small enough to turn and keep air flow going, but large enough to retain the heat necessary to "cook" the compost. We started this pile mid-summer, and as of two weeks ago, it was half broken down into black black soil. Last week we cut the cage and turned the pile into a six by two foot, "compost burrito," that is wrapped in a dark tarp. It was a precaution against over-weighting any one point on the roof overwinter. We will see if the burrito is wide enough to keep the worms alive this winter.

Hops grown for Bellwoods Brewery as part of their City Hops Project. The plants were healthy until last week, and then over a period of a few days they were infested with green aphids AND cucumber beetles. I used Ed Lawrence's anti-everything spray to treat them. It's one part dish soap, two parts neem oil and 40 parts water. Step one - physically remove the bugs by spraying the vines with the hose (satisfying!) 2. mix the soap, neem and water in the water bottle and shake hard to emulsify. 3. spray on vines, top and bottom of leaves, and let sit for 10 minutes (some sat for twenty and seemed just fine). 4 rinse off with hose. All of this was done early in the morning to prevent the soap, sun and oil from combining into a plant scorching slurry. It's been a week and a half and the vines are still bug free.

Okra transplants that we are raising in the ice cream buckets never got as large as predicted, but they have started producing anyway!