Garden Faerie Botanicals

10/15/2026

An amazing comparison of Yantar ground Cherries and Schöenbrunn ground cherries!

Send a message to learn more

10/14/2026

No Bloom, All Boom! 🌱💜

Violet de Rennes is an old French heirloom sunchoke known for its distinctive violet-toned skin and excellent culinary quality.

It’s mid-October, and these plants still haven’t flowered, yet look at the beautiful tubers growing underground! A reminder that flowering isn’t the only way to judge a sunchoke harvest.

Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus) are perennial root vegetables with edible tubers that can be roasted, fried, added to soups or made into gratins.

10/13/2026

Please read this article about Cynthia Proudlove, a fellow grower at sncəcəməlqtn Agricultural Park. What happened to her is happening to me too.

When I applied for a plot at the park, I went through Young Agrarians and the BC Land Matching Program. In my interview I was told it was a 5 year lease and that I could extend it. When I met with RDNO's Parks Manager on site, I was again told 5 years. No one at any time said it would be less than a year. I relied on what I was told.

I submitted a multi year business plan, 2026 to 2029, showing perennials and the expansion of my sunchoke collection. RDNO had that plan before accepting me. Based on 5 years, I bought a $2,400 shipping container, paid for insurance, poles, hoses and plants, paid RDNO $1,550 in fees and deposit, and put in months of labour. I spent over a week trying to acquire the requirements of 5 million in insurance that also underwrote the RDNO.

I planted my full acre as though I would be there 5 years or more. I now have over 500 sunchoke plants and other perennials in the ground. They must be lifted in spring, not fall, or they will be lost. I have no cold storage to hold them over winter.

On September 28, RDNO sent me a Notice of Non-Renewal. I am being "evicted" as of December 31, 2026, after one season.

The 5 year lease that is promoted is misrepresentation, hidden in the licence. The licence sets a one year term and only allows up to five years if RDNO agrees. A study done for the park advised that no farmer would come in for a one year term. RDNO knew this, and still promoted five years to farmers.

The park was also marketed as spray free, and the sign at the entrance says spraying is prohibited. Yet on June 5 a neighbouring licensee sprayed herbicide, and the Province found that farm out of compliance. You can read what that did to Cynthia's garden in the article.

Like Cynthia, I have filed freedom of information requests and received pages of redacted records. Like Cynthia, I am not being given straight answers.

Being on public land under a legal contract, I expected security. Instead, two growers have been pushed out after one season. If you care about local farming and seed preservation in the North Okanagan, please share this.

She though leasing from the municipal government would offer more security, not less.

10/13/2026

Please read this article about Cynthia Proudlove, a fellow grower at sncəcəməlqtn Agricultural Park. What happened to her is happening to me too.

When I applied for a plot at the park, I went through Young Agrarians and the BC Land Matching Program. In my interview I was told it was a 5 year lease and that I could extend it. When I met with RDNO's Parks Manager on site, I was again told 5 years. No one at any time said it would be less than a year. I relied on what I was told.

I submitted a multi year business plan, 2026 to 2029, showing perennials and the expansion of my sunchoke collection. RDNO had that plan before accepting me. Based on 5 years, I bought a $2,400 shipping container, paid for insurance, poles, hoses and plants, paid RDNO $1,550 in fees and deposit, and put in months of labour. I spent over a week trying to acquire the requirements of 5 million in insurance that also underwrote the RDNO.

I planted my full acre as though I would be there 5 years or more. I now have over 500 sunchoke plants and other perennials in the ground. They must be lifted in spring, not fall, or they will be lost. I have no cold storage to hold them over winter.

On September 28, RDNO sent me a Notice of Non-Renewal. I am being "evicted" as of December 31, 2026, after one season.

The 5 year lease that is promoted is misrepresentation, hidden in the licence. The licence sets a one year term and only allows up to five years if RDNO agrees. A study done for the park advised that no farmer would come in for a one year term. RDNO knew this, and still promoted five years to farmers.

The park was also marketed as spray free, and the sign at the entrance says spraying is prohibited. Yet on June 5 a neighbouring licensee sprayed herbicide, and the Province found that farm out of compliance. You can read what that did to Cynthia's garden in the article.

Like Cynthia, I have filed freedom of information requests and received pages of redacted records. Like Cynthia, I am not being given straight answers.

Being on public land under a legal contract, I expected security. Instead, two growers have been pushed out after one season. If you care about local farming and seed preservation in the North Okanagan, please share this.

https://infonews.ca/news/7947821/completely-unfair-vernon-woman-stonewalled-after-regional-district-wont-renew-commercial-garden-lease/

10/08/2026

Richmond River Longkeeper

These big brown cucumbers may look like they’ve gone way past their prime, but that’s exactly what makes this Australian heirloom so interesting.

Richmond River Longkeeper was selected for its ability to keep well after harvest. The fruits develop their characteristic brown skin as they mature and can be stored for an extended period, giving you homegrown cucumbers well beyond the summer growing season.

The garden may be finished, but the cucumbers don't have to be.

Fresh homegrown cucumbers when there is snow in the ground.

10/08/2026

Ruby Treasure 🍅 — a tomato bred to outlast the summer.

Ruby Treasure is a longkeeper developed by Tim Peters Seed & Research. The plants produce fairly large, flattened tomatoes with bright ruby-red skin and red flesh.

What makes this one interesting isn't just the name. These tomatoes are firm and hard-skinned, which is exactly what you want in a tomato meant to sit around after the growing season. Some can ripen on the vine, while the firmer fruit can be brought in for storage and allowed to ripen gradually. Older descriptions report Ruby Treasure keeping well into winter, although it isn't considered one of the very longest-lasting keepers.

And unlike some storage tomatoes that sacrifice eating quality for shelf life, Ruby Treasure is described as having a sweet, traditional tomato flavour with firm but still juicy flesh.

So what do you do with them?

Eat them fresh as they ripen, slice them for sandwiches and salads, or use them anywhere you'd normally use a good red tomato. The firm flesh also makes them useful for cooking once they have reached full colour.

This is the kind of tomato that makes a winter tomato collection interesting: instead of trying to preserve the entire summer harvest, you can have actual fresh tomatoes slowly coming ripe months after the plants are finished.

10/07/2026

I just found two Schöenbrunn ground cherries! Was taking all the fruit off some tomato plants and there they were!

Schöenbrunn Gold is a particularly interesting Physalis peruviana — the Peruvian groundcherry, also known as goldenberry or Cape gooseberry.

Unlike the tiny ground cherries that are usually sold in seed catalogues, P. peruviana produces much larger golden fruit inside its distinctive papery husks.

This species has a long history in South America and was being cultivated in England as early as the 1700s. The fruit can be eaten fresh, cooked into preserves and desserts, or dried like a raisin. Keeping the fruit in its husk also gives it considerably better storage life than most fresh berries.

10/06/2026

Ferro tomato — a little tomato from Mallorca with a very long history.

I’m growing Tomàtiga de de Ferro this year, and I grew it in my dry farming area. I didn’t stake it, so it has sprawled across the ground exactly as this variety is traditionally suited to doing under dry-farmed conditions.

And it is absolutely loaded with fruit.

Ferro comes from Son Fortuny in Sant Joan, Mallorca. It is a traditional local tomato, small, round and pink, and is specifically described by Mallorca’s local seed organization as drought resistant and suitable for winter storage.

That storage ability is the really interesting part.

Ferro belongs to the Mallorcan ramellet tradition of long-keeping tomatoes. These tomatoes were traditionally grown so fresh tomatoes could be kept through the winter, long before refrigeration.

The traditional method was to hang the tomatoes in a well-ventilated place, often threading the stems onto strings so air could circulate around the fruit. Other traditional methods included hanging them from branches or keeping individual tomatoes on ventilated racks.

And they can keep for a remarkably long time.

Studies of Mallorcan ramellet tomatoes have documented storage of 6–12 months, with almost half of the fruit still intact after six months.

So this little tomato isn't just an interesting heirloom.

It was bred by generations of farmers for a very practical purpose: growing a crop in a dry Mediterranean climate and keeping tomatoes available through the winter.

My plants were dry farmed. Unstaked. Sprawling. Loaded with fruit.

This is exactly the kind of old food-security trait worth preserving.

Storage tomatoes

10/04/2026

Pretty Hot Stuff 🌶️

Botan Kosho is a traditional Japanese pepper from the mountains of Nagano, where it has been grown for generations.

The deeply ridged fruit resembles a peony flower — “botan” means peony in Japanese. It has thick flesh, a distinctive flavour and a good amount of heat.

And the colour tells you something: the redder it gets, the hotter it gets.

This is a rare regional heirloom that deserves to stay in cultivation. It is hard to find peppers that tolerate cool growing seasons!

10/03/2026

🍒 A little taste of Pennsylvania history! 🍒

Have you heard of New Hanover Ground Cherries?

This rare and beautifully old-fashioned heirloom produces small golden fruits tucked inside delicate papery husks. When they’re ripe, they simply drop to the ground — hence the name!

They’re prized for their sweet, fruity flavour and are wonderful eaten fresh, baked into desserts, made into preserves, or just enjoyed straight from the garden.

What makes them especially interesting is their history. New Hanover Ground Cherries were preserved as a Pennsylvania heirloom and are now considered an uncommon variety among gardeners and seed savers. 🌱

Tiny fruit, big history. 💛

Would you grow these in your garden?