Dear Helen: Years ago, I noticed some simple, halfcircle plant supports in a garden I was visiting. Other supports I've purchased and tried since are either tediously fiddly and/or rather ineffective. Are you familiar with the supports I saw, and are they available?
Dear P.T.: I have a few of them, purchased long ago.
Mine are in two sizes: one shorter with broader halfhoop on two legs, the taller one with a narrower halfcirlce suitable for plants such as delphiniums and tall lilies.
I was surprised to see this style of support, made locally, at the Seedy Saturday event in Qualicum Beach early in the year, and Veseys Seeds added them to its catalogue this year.
Called "Jardin Half Round Supports" in the catalogue, they are offered in two sizes and are described as "a simple way to tidy up leaning plants along the edge of your border. They also help keep pathways open."
The Vesey supports are not inexpensive at roughly $10 each, but mine have lasted in good condition for many years and they are easier to use than all other types I have tried.
Dear Helen: I have a dreadful problem with the common weed called portulaca, or purslane, in my garden. You have written about purslane as a pleasant summer green vegetable. Is it the same as the weed?
P.E.
Dear P.E.: The purslane I grow is a cultivated form of the weed, common purslane (Portulaca oleracea), a prostrate, spreading, succulent annual that reproduces rapidly from seeds and from stem fragments. Like another common weed, chickweed, it is a fine salad plant. The descriptive term "oleracea" means of the vegetable garden.
I have not seeded purslane for several years. It keeps coming up from self-sown seeds with the warm weather each year. I originally planted both green and golden kinds, and it is the golden form that appears on its own every summer, in the same place.
This year it is mixed with the melon vines.
The plants have thick and juicy pad-like leaves that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E. The golden form has a crisp, lemony flavour. The plants thrive in hot weather.
Both forms of cultivated purslane are available from William Dam Seeds, 279 Highway 8, Dundas, Ont., L9H 5E1. damseeds.com.
Dear Helen: I see from your column that you like mint. I'm wondering whether you have a method for making mint sauce.
L.M.
Dear L.M.: The recipe I have is my father's. I haven't made it for a while, but I do remember it as quite delicious with lamb.
To make the sauce, slowly boil one pound sugar with one litre vinegar for about 10 minutes. Then add washed, finely chopped mint leaves from one big bunch of mint. Simmer briefly and bottle the sauce. It will keep quite well in the fridge, but I usually can a few small jars, processing them in a boiling water bath for about five minutes.
My father regarded the sauce as a concentrate, mixing it with a little water before use. But I prefer it as is, spooned over lamb chops or roast slices. I baste lamb roasts with the sauce blended with a little cooking oil, and briefly marinate chops in the sauce blended with oil and Dijon mustard before cooking them under the broiler.
Dear Helen: What are the black eggs on our nasturtiums? We suspect the white cabbage butterflies we see around the patio.
H.E.
Dear H.E.: The cabbage butterfly lays yellow eggs. They hatch to produce velvety green caterpillars that munch ragged holes in the leaves of cabbage family plants.
Common on nasturtiums are black aphids - tiny, soft insects that live in colonies on leaf undersides and young shoot tips. They feed by sucking sap from plant tissues. Aphids can be washed or hosed off affected leaves, with the washing repeated every two days until the plants stay clean. Growing nectarand pollen-rich flowers nearby attracts and nurtures aphid predators.
Sweet alyssum is one of the best plants for this, along with dill and cilantro.
GARDEN EVENT
Learn about birds. Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary, 3873 Swan Lake Rd., is hosting Birds of a Feather on Thursday from noon to 3 p.m. This drop-in program is designed to explore the different shapes, sizes and colours in local birds through bird-watching, hands-on exploration, crafts, songs and games.
Admission is by donation. Cost of doing crafts is $3. All ages.
