The Year-Round Gardener, Don Rampone is out and about this summer enjoying some garden tours!  IL GIARNIERE ITALIANO (The Italian Gardener) Series has begun.  Don visits local gardeners in their gardens to learn more about traditional gardening techniques, stories past down from the generations, gardening tips and how we garden today. 
​
We start this series with a tour of Don & Jane Rampone’s SPRING garden. 
​

During the last few years I have witnessed Emma and Elmo bringing large bowls of fresh salads to many Kelowna Canadian Italian Club events. I had heard they tended a garden at their former acreage, now owned by their son.  I recently had an opportunity to spend a morning at their garden, and what a beautiful morning it turned out to be.  

I picked up Emma from her home in their retirement community and stopped by the farm where we found Elmo, already tending their garden.  I was led through a tour of where I saw: tomatoes, garlic, onions, beets, cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, zucchini, peppers, broccoli, eggplants and basil.  There are numerous varieties of lettuce and radicchio.  Newly seeded fall endive was lovingly covered with burlap sacking to ensure a good germination.  We talked about both the successful and less than successful crops this year, pondering the why’s of nature.  It was great to see the use of some tried and true gardening techniques.  Of special note were the bean poles.  These were harvested from the local forests, just like our pioneer farming families did in the 40s and 50s when acres of beans were grown in Kelowna for the local canneries.

Their garden plot is next to an old shed that seemed to be a treasure trove of “old things.”  Included are several tools that came from Italy with Emma and Elmo’s parents.  They are still being used to tend their garden.  An old hoe, made from Austrian forged steel, is well worn on one corner from repeated use.

Our talk, as we walked through the garden, was interesting and informative.  But, what followed was even more special.  Emma had set up some chairs under a cherry tree, overlooking the garden.  We were sitting in the shade, there was a slight breeze, we had coffees in hand and we chatted about gardens, old Italian families and memories of family events.  We talked about how so many of Kelowna’s early Italian families are interconnected. We relished in the telling of stories that show we are really one big family.
​
This was a very special morning… but one that is in everyone’s reach, at almost any time… all we need to do is take the time to be with each other and enjoy some of life’s simpler events.

​The spring tradition of foraging for dandelions, then chicory is replaced in May and June by the search for ‘asparago selvatico’, wild asparagus.  Many of the country roads were lined with asparagus that were wildly sought after by our ancestors.  Sadly, as roadsides were developed, most of the secret hot spots have disappeared.  This week I was able to find a couple of straggling clumps that gave me a few to add to my dinner.  My grandparents, as well as many others, established their own plots of asparagus that were still producing fifty years later.  In Northern Italy, ‘bruscandoli’ (wild hops) are also known as wild asparagus. The new  shoots look very similar to our asparagus.  Broccoli is also known as Italian Asparagus.  Broccoli was derived from the Italian word ‘Braccio’, which means arm. Italian Broccoli spears resemble arms or asparagus.  Whatever their name, when brought to a boil and drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with pepper and covered with fresh dill, they are another spring favourite.

Gardens, teaming with birds and bees, can also be the home to more than plants.  Adding year round interest to our garden, are  statuary and pottery.  Unlike many Italian gardens, that make use of terracotta pots, our garden is home to many colourful ceramic pots, that are filled with geraniums, some of which are still being propagated from my Nonna’s  original plants.  In the winter, these pots are filled with Christmas greens.  Our “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” and basilico, too, are grown in hypertuffa pots that we made.  Hypertuffa is a mixture of concrete, peat moss and perlite, that when mixed together, gives concrete a very malleable form.  It can be used for sculpturing, forming into pots or making stepping stones, using rhubarb leaves for imprints.

Jane’s numerous hand crafted ceramic art pieces are treasured.  Many of them tell stories as well as providing decoration. Some are fossil art, made by embedding plant material from our garden into  the clay.  One can spend a lot of time studying Jane’s fairy gardens… they tell many stories.  Our garden is also home to numerous whimsical garden art items, many of them gifts from fellow gardeners.  Of special note are the many hedgehog and porcupine  art items hiding among the plants.  One night, on a scavenger hunt, we had over forty recorded. 

Some garden items involve movement, which adds interest to what sometimes may be an uninteresting spot.  Some of these weather vanes, mobiles and whirly-gigs have been made by family and friends.  Others are equipped with solar panels and light up as they turn.  Fountains and falling water also provide movement. They also provide pleasant sounds erwhich can be used to block out unwanted traffic or air conditioner sounds. 

Our most pleasant sounds come from the numerous chimes we have hanging around the house.  The front door has welcoming light tinkling chimes, while those by the hot tub are deep and very melodic.  Whether they are metal, wood, sea shell, ceramic or glass chimes, they are all very welcome in our garden.

Cicoria, the first greens of the season in many gardens, was a mainstay of our spring diet.  At our house, it was referred to as Mattioda Lettuce, first given to us by the Mattioda family. It was seeded at the edge of our playground, under our hazelnut trees.   Mom made sure a few plants were always left to go to seed, thus ensuring a new crop every spring.  This lettuce was often mixed with dandelion greens in our salad bowl.  Cicoria is a good example of a xeriscape plant.  It can be found growing along roadsides  and other marginal areas.  It has a blue daisy like flower that if sometimes referred to as a  blue daisy.


Another hardy green, that does well in the spring or fall cool weather, is radicchio.  Raddichio can be covered in the fall and harvested during the winter.  Escarole and Endives complete the picture of the Chicory family.  Both these plants are fall and winter storage greens for many families.  Endive usually refers to the lacy leaved plants and  Escarole to the broad leafed curled chicories.
​

The Birds and the Bees are both welcome guests in our garden.  Each morning the finches, nut hatches, chickadees  and sparrows give us much joy as they start their day at our feeders.  We have switched to squirrel proof feeders and use fine grade sunflower chips as a food source.  This has changed our bird visitors to the smaller birds, kept the squirrels at bay and left less mess in the garden.  It is always a pleasure to watch birds at the bird bath.  But, there is nothing more enjoyable than to watch the antics of larger birds, like our neighbourhood robins, while doing their bath routine.    
 
Our Mason Bee hotel started out as a single house and has been growing every year.  Mason Bees are great pollinators.  Unlike honey bees, they do not have stingers, so they make great garden visitors. Also, they do not move on to new sources of food.  They stay in ones garden in close proximity from where they were hatched.  They are considered solitary bees. They do not live in hives or colonies.  Rather, they lay their eggs in cracks and crevices and remain there until next spring, when they hatch at the first sign of spring heat.


We have ours next to our blueberry bushes, and rely on them to pollinate the berries.  To ensure they are around at bloom time, it is suggested that the pupae are harvested in the fall, and stored in a refrigerator.  At the appropriate time the pupae can be placed back in the hotel.  Once the pupae have hatched they spend their time collecting nectar and laying eggs in cracks, crevices or tubes we  have supplied in the hotel.  These tubes make it easy to harvest the pupae in the fall.  Separating each egg in the paper tube, the mason bees add a layer of mud.  To facilitate this a small bird bath, filled with mud, is kept near at hand.

(Italian Version Follows)

After a long winter of eating endive, cabbage and pickles of all sorts, it was always a   sure sign of Easter, when a bowlful of dandelion salad was placed on the dinner table.  In family gatherings there was always discussion of where to find the best dandelions.  Foraging from the native lands, was an activity that was very natural for our ancestors.  They brought the foraging custom here with them.  The First Nations people, already here, were great foragers, so the early Italian immigrants fit in very well with them.  After the depression years, this foraging from nature began to be frowned upon by local authorities.

Living with nature has always been a guiding principle in my life.  But, growing up on an active farm, I was taught to segregate the crops, grow them in rows and maximize the yield. Since leaving our own farm in 1999, I am now being driven by the ‘living with nature’ concept.  No longer are the vegetables grown in rows apart from the flowers.  No longer are we trying to maximize the crop.  Instead I am trying to integrate all aspects of gardening to be closer to nature.

Composting, in many forms, is an underlying aspect of our entire garden. I no longer need to purchase soil amendments, fertilizers or insecticides.  Each year many containers of the neighbour’s leaves are added to our own.  These are turned into mulches and composts that are all added back into the garden.  In our garden we have three types of compost bins.   

A two compartment, open box type composter, is used for leaves and plant trimmings.  I made our current one, a “His and Hers” affair, as a gift for our 33rd romantic? anniversary.  A closed, rat proof barrel type, is used for our vegetable peelings.  Our third composter, is a worm bin.  Our worms get the choicest selection of fruit and vegetable trimmings.  Each spring, a couple of trays of super rich worm castings (and a bunch of worms) are added to the leaf compost bin to work their magic.  By the fall there is a whole bin full of dark, rich compost, that is used as a top dressing in our garden.  To speed up the process, I run the leaves through a shredder before they are composted. 

Similarly, each fall, I shred leaves to add as a top mulch throughout the garden.  I no longer need to purchase additional organic matter for our garden.  No longer are bags of leaves set out for the recyclers.  Since leaving the farm, I have given up our chipper, so branches and pruning do go to the mulching program undertaken by our Regional District.  The end result, is that I feel better about my living with nature, I do not need to purchase garden amendments, the garden is doing well, and I think looks a little more natural… this is something I cherish.
 
Italian Version 
Translation by Pietro Arrigoni

Dopo un lungo inverno passato a mangiare indivia, cavoli e sottaceti di ogni sorta, era sempre un segno sicuro della Pasqua quando una ciotola piena di insalata di tarassaco veniva messa in tavola e nelle riunioni di famiglia si discuteva sempre su dove trovare i migliori denti di leone. Il fare provviste dei prodotti della terra era un'attività molto naturale per i nostri antenati che hanno portato anche qui l'usanza del foraggiamento. I popoli Nativi di queste terre, già qui, erano grandi raccoglitori di provviste, quindi i primi immigrati italiani si adattarono molto bene. Dopo gli anni della depressione, questo foraggiamento dei prodotti della terra cominciò ad essere disapprovato dalle autorità locali.

Vivere con la natura è sempre stato un principio guida nella mia vita.  Crescendo in una fattoria attiva, mi è stato insegnato a separare le colture, coltivarle in file per massimizzarne il racconto. Da quando ho lasciato la nostra fattoria nel 1999, sono stato guidato dal concetto di "vivere con la natura". Non c’è più l’idea delle verdure coltivate in file, a parte i fiori. Non sto più cercando di massimizzare il raccolto. Sto invece cercando di integrare tutti gli aspetti del giardinaggio per essere più vicino alla natura.

Il compostaggio, in molte forme, è un aspetto fondamentale di tutto il nostro giardino. Non ho più bisogno di acquistare ammendanti, fertilizzanti o insetticidi. Ogni anno molti contenitori delle foglie dei vicini vengono aggiunti alla nostra. Questi vengono trasformati in pacciame e compost che vengono aggiunti di nuovo alla terra del nostro giardino, nel quale abbiamo tre tipi di contenitori per il compost.

Un compost a due scomparti, a forma di scatola aperta, viene utilizzata per le foglie e le potature delle piante. Quello attuale è stato un affare "per lui e per lei", come regalo per il nostro 33 ° (romantico?) anniversario. Un tipo di barile chiuso, a prova di topo, viene invece utilizzato per gli scarti delle bucce delle verdure. Il nostro terzo compost è un contenitore per i vermi. I nostri vermi mangiano la migliore selezione degli scarti di frutta e verdura. Ogni primavera, un paio di vassoi di vermi vengono aggiunti al bidone del compost di foglie per fare la loro magia. Entro l'autunno c'è un intero bidone pieno di composto scuro e ricco, che viene utilizzato come ottimo fertilizzante nel nostro giardino. Per accelerare il processo, trituro le foglie prima che vengano compostate.

Allo stesso modo, ogni autunno, taglio le foglie per aggiungerle come pacciame in tutto il giardino. Non ho più bisogno di acquistare ulteriore materia organica per il nostro orto e non ci sono più sacchi di foglie da dover riciclare. Da quando ho lasciato l'azienda ho rinunciato alla cippatrice, quindi rami e potature vanno al programma di pacciamatura intrapreso dal nostro Distretto Regionale. Il risultato finale è che mi sento meglio rispetto alla mia convivenza con la natura e non ho bisogno di acquistare altri prodotti per il giardino! Il nostro giardino sta andando bene e penso che sembri un po’ più naturale ... e questa è una cosa che adoro!!

What better way to honour San Valentino than with a freshly picked basket of basil and tomatoes? I can not think of a more perfect Valentine’ Day gift. I hope my spouse agrees.
​
My small greenhouse becomes a very comfortable spot during the winter months. A chair, a small waterfall and a few blooming geraniums give me a perfect retreat to have my morning cup of coffee/tea and complete my daily crossword puzzle.

In my greenhouse I have a couple of pots of basil and a tomato plant that gives us a a few special treats during the winter. I also have several planter boxes, on wheels, under one of the shelves. Equipped with a grow light this cool spot is the perfect place to grow fresh salad greens all winter. Since this lettuce is grown solely with the grow lights, it is also the perfect crop for any inside venue, that is not below freezing.

Inside activities for February also include shelling dried Romano beans. These beans were a mainstay of many of my family. In autumn, many were shelled and then canned. The remainder were left to dry in their pods for shelling during the winter months. My preferred way of consuming them is to add the beans to a pepper and tomato “stew” that I prepare in the fall. Extra containers are added to my freezer. A perfect winter comfort food.

Saving favourite or heritage seeds is a family tradition. Romano beans, lettuce/chicory and tomatoes were part of my family’s seed saving. They bore names such as Mattioda Lettuce, named after the Mattioda family that first gave us some seed. Seed saving and heritage seeds are coming back in fad these days. Groups such as the Kelowna Master Gardeners operate a Seedy Sunday each year. This year, they are holding a free drive-through operation on March 14.

​If you are looking for some seeds, or have extra seeds you want to contribute, go their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/KelownaSeedySunday/ 
or email: kelownaseedysunday@gmail.com

A most important outdoor gardening activities for February is pruning trees. Fruit trees are pruned to increase production and to make the harvesting easier. It is also a perfect time to prune ornamental, deciduous trees. Without the leaves, it is easy to see the structure of the tree. Weak or overlapping branches are easy to spot during the winter months. Well pruned trees make a great visual impact in the winter landscape.
​
Our main February bloomer in the garden is Witch hazel. This small bush is available in yellows and reds. We have ours located along the front side walk, where it provides our winter travellers a hope for an early spring.