When I awake in the night and fail to fall back asleep, I often turn on the radio to CBC overnight programs from public radio services around the world.
As I await the return to slumber, I’m treated to choice bits of information on scientific discoveries, human health, philosophy, religion, politics and history. I’ve also heard interviews with famous world thinkers on these programs. I wake up with the pleasing sense of having learned something new.
It was in this way that I stumbled, on two successive nights, onto a subject of great importance to life on Earth: Soil.
Ecoacoustics. The first night, on PRX (Public Radio Exchange, an international news magazine out of Boston), the program in progress was describing a new scientific discipline called soil ecoacoustics, the science of listening to the soil for gauging its health using specialized microphones and recorders to capture the acoustic vibrations produced by organisms living underground.
Apparently, noisy is good. Noisy indicates an abundance and diversity of active soil-dwelling creatures and micro-creatures. One study described the sound of healthy soil as “like an underground rave concert of bubbles and clicks.”
No-till growing. On the following night, I heard a portion of a program on Living Planet from Deutsche Welle radio in Germany. It told stories of farmers making the switch to “no-till” practices.
That jungle of life whose vibrations can be detected with soil ecoacoustics flourishes, nurtures life, and most efficiently pulls carbon out of the atmosphere when left undisturbed by regular tilling, unharmed by applications of chemically processed products, and protected by a winter blanket — a soil mulch cover to help prevent erosion.
One of the commentators was so enthused over no-till growing and the resulting thriving community of health-promoting soil organisms that she felt it a shame that they couldn’t shrink David Attenborough enough to send him underground to report on all the vibrant life forms and their activities.
Winter comfort. The dark and cold of winter draws me powerfully to the warmth of comfort foods including hearty winter root vegetables and other foods from the garden. Who doesn’t relish tucking into a soft mound of creamy, buttery mashed potatoes?
Old-fashioned pot pie is a favourite warming, comforting meal that is easily made. I start with frying onion and garlic and then add vegetables and bits of meat or poultry that I have on hand. Usually my pot pies include lamb or chicken, carrots, parsnips, white- and purple-fleshed potatoes, mushrooms, bok choy, and garden peas from the freezer.
Broth is added, the mixture heated and thickened slightly before dumplings are dropped on the bubbling blend to cook in the covered pot. Most cook books have recipes for stove top dumplings. Mine has flour, baking powder, milk and oil. Sometimes I’ll top the pot pie with mashed potatoes instead of dumplings.
I use a similar combination of ingredients, except with the addition of pineapple chunks, to make a sweet and sour mixture to serve over rice. Small amounts of honey and apple cider vinegar can create the sweet-and-sour flavouring. Or use a purchased sweet and sour sauce.
GARDEN EVENTS
Abkhazi Garden holiday season. Abkhazi Garden, 1964 Fairfield Rd. in Victoria, is hosting two Festive Weekend Markets on Dec. 14 and15, 21 and 22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be festive swags, table centres, culinary wreaths, birdseed teacups, wooden bowls, and trees. Until Dec. 29 the Teahouse is offering a Festive High Tea. Reserve at 778-265-6466. Find menus and other details at abkhaziteahouse.com. Abkhazi Garden is open along with the Teahouse and Gift Shop from Wednesday through Sunday, 11.a.m. to 4 p.m. Last entry to the garden and last reservation for the Teahouse is at 3 p.m. The garden and teahouse will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, and from Dec. 30 to Jan. 14.
Mixing it Up 2025. The Victoria Master Gardeners are hosting their biennial Mixing it Up Conference on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney. The theme is “Beyond Beauty.” The conference will include five speakers who will share how adding biodiversity creates healthy and beautiful gardens. Topics include urban trees, designing with native plants, and “Mind What You Sow.” For more information on the talks and the speakers, and to register, please go to mixingitup.org or mgabc.org. Consider a gift registration for a gardening friend.
