The Egret Article

By Jennifer Nantais

After a year of unprecedented change in our lives, our city is preparing to resume normal activity in the near future. Case numbers are going down, many students are back in school, businesses are beginning to reopen, and people will soon be reconnecting with those they care about.

Despite how difficult the past year has been, some of the sacrifices that people have been forced to make during the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in less traffic, a decrease in industrial activity, reduced emissions, and a forced slowing down of our hectic lifestyles. While this has cut us off from the pleasures of recreation and spending time with friends and family, many have also noted cleaner air, less noise and light pollution, life returning to areas of reduced human activity, the ability to see and hear wildlife like never before, and people spending more time outdoors. As we prepare to once again embrace what we have been missing, let us try not to lose what we have gained.

Nature is uniquely situated to capitalize on the head start that it has been given. We are resilient, adaptable, and able to make sacrifices when the future depends on it. Keep up the great work; keep pressure on institutions and policy makers; keep working toward a healthy, sustainable community; and keep enjoying all that nature has to offer.

Happy Spring Everyone!

By Jeremy Hatt

Since 2015, birders in Essex County have kept a list of all the species found in our area during the month of February, a challenge we call the “Depths of Winter”. It is conducted each year on WEPBirds, an online forum created by ECFNC Vice President Kory Renaud for reporting and discussing bird sightings in the Windsor, Essex, and Pelee areas. WEPBirds is open to all levels of birding expertise and interest. Visit www.wepbirds.com to learn more. Each year the Depths of Winter list is tallied from reports to WEPBirds, eBird, and other birding listservs.

2020 and 2021 were the sixth and seventh years birders have taken part in the Depths of Winter challenge. The total number of species tallied in 2020 was 95. The only new addition last year to the all-time list was Gyrfalcon. This was the second lowest count since the challenge began. 2019 saw the lowest number of species at 83, which isn’t surprising considering it was an exceptionally cold winter with a higher amount of ice cover than other recent years.

Despite not publicizing the challenge this year due to the pandemic, in 2021 birders broke the previous record high of 116 species set in 2017 by 2 birds. The record high for the number of species seen during February now stands at 118 species. Since it has been a mild winter, several species that would normally have moved out of the area due to ice cover were able to overwinter. It was also an irruption year for winter finches and quite a few early spring migrants also showed up at the end of February with the onset of warmer weather.

Highlights this year included Greater White-fronted Goose, Long-tailed Duck, King Eider, Double-crested Cormorant, Virginia Rail, Gyrfalcon, Common Redpoll, Savannah Sparrow, and five new additions to the Depths of Winter list: Black Scoter, Bonaparte’s Gull, Great Egret, Varied Thrush, and Hoary Redpoll. Gyrfalcon, Hoary Redpoll, and Varied Thrush were new species for many birders’ Essex County lists.

Notable misses this year included Snow Goose, Ross’s Goose, Horned Grebe, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Marsh Wren, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Since its inception in 2015, the Depths of Winter list now stands at a total of 139 species. A complete list of species seen during the Depths of Winter challenge from 2015 to 2021 can be found at http://www.wepbirds.com/depths-of-winter—february-sightings.

By Chris Hart

One of the many things that this past year has taught me, is that there is no such thing as a simple trip to the grocery store anymore. Whether you’re strategically booking a pick-up time, or waiting in a long line, it has become quite the ordeal. While a full pantry can cut down on trips for certain products, the need for fresh produce will always bring you back. With spring just around the corner, a vegetable garden may just be the perfect solution (it’s a hobby that comes with food!).

I started my first garden a few years ago as a way to use up a small patch of soil in my backyard. Since then, it has grown quite a bit, not just in size, but in variety and procedures. I went from buying random seedlings from the store, to systematically planting different plants and seeds throughout the spring and summer. While my early advancement as a gardener came from trial and error, and Google searches, a lot of my recent growth came with joining Ground Culture’s garden club. Not only did they deliver seeds to my door, they also provided detailed information on when and how to plant and care for different types of vegetables and plants.

When preparing to write a gardening article for the spring Egret, I found myself using a lot of their material as research. So, I decided to cut out the middle man, and I reached out to Brandi and Vanessa of Ground Culture to see if they could provide our members with some information on transforming your own yard into “a lush space that is both productive and beautiful.” I wanted to know about what grows well in our area, as well as any potential benefits that a vegetable garden might have on our environment (besides just providing “us” with food). Their responses are italicized.

• What are the main things people need to consider when starting up a garden?

It’s all about the soil.

Growing healthy plants begins by growing healthy soil. Learning these basic concepts will help you understand the complex underworkings of what lies (alive!) beneath our feet. Whether you are growing annual vegetable plants in a kitchen garden, or ornamental perennials throughout a landscape, following these principles will help you build healthy soil over time:

Add organic matter. Adding organic matter to your garden adds nutrients to the soil, improves the physical structure, helps with moisture retention, and creates habitat for insects, bacteria, and the microscopic workhorses below the surface. Compost, aged manure, and shredded leaf litter are all examples of organic matter that can be added to your garden which will feed this beautifully intricate food web. Spread 2-3 inches of locally sourced compost to your preexisting garden each spring and use your fallen leaves to cover the soil at the end of the growing season.

Practice low or no dig. Soil is teaming with life made up of microbes, bacteria, fungi, worms, etc. These living organisms create complex systems in the soil, while breaking down organic matter and releasing plant nutrients. When we disturb the soil, we disrupt these systems. When we dig as minimally as possible and build fertility on top of the soil through compost application, mulching, etc., we are allowing the living soil to do its thing (and hey, it’s a great excuse to skip the back breaking work of turning over or tilling your soil each spring). 

Keep it covered. To maintain a healthy soil structure, avoid leaving your soil bare. Mulch the top layer and around your plants with wood chips, compost, straw, or shredded leaves. This practice will help keep the weeds down and the moisture in.

• How do you know/decide which vegetables will grow best in your garden?

Growing food isn’t just limited to your vegetable garden! You can incorporate all sorts of edible plants into your landscape, and in places you might not expect. 

Vegetable Gardens: The most obvious way to grow your own food is to plant annual vegetables either in-ground or in raised beds. If you have well-draining soil that is rich in organic matter, you might want to consider in-ground beds. If you have poor soils or accessibility requirements, you might opt for raised beds. For sunny locations, try growing heat loving crops like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, or zucchini. For shadier gardens, you can get away with growing leafy crops like lettuce and spinach, and root crops like radishes, beets, and carrots. 

Perennial Food Plants: Perennial plants come back year after year. You can incorporate edible perennial plants into your existing landscape, or swap out ornamental shrubs and trees for food producing species. A few great examples of incorporating perennials into your existing landscape is to plant a berry hedge along a fence, a row of asparagus along a ditch, or a few rhubarb plants amongst your ornamental plants; the edible plants will blend in beautifully with the ornamental ones, as edible plants also offer lush foliage and beautiful flowers. You can also consider swapping out an unhealthy or undesired tree or shrub with a native food bearing species that will feed both you and the local wildlife. Elderberry, Serviceberry, and Pawpaw are a few of our favourites. 

• What are some tips to get the most out of my garden?

Grow flowers! Incorporating flowers into your garden should be synonymous with growing food and increasing the ecological value of your yard. Not only are they attractive (and sometimes edible!), they also attract both pollinators and beneficial insects. Flowering plants provide a habitat for pollinating insects, such as bees, butterflies, beetles, ants, moths, and wasps. A diversity of these species will help to pollinate all of your fruiting crops, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash. Attracting beneficial insects to the garden is helpful because they have predatory and parasitic behaviours that control many common garden pests. This type of natural pest management encourages us to think about the importance of native ecosystems by reintroducing perennial wildflowers and grasses into our landscapes. Planting an array of flower shapes, colours, and bloom times will help attract a diversity of insect and wildlife species throughout the growing season.

Stick to natural practices. Avoid the use of chemicals or synthetic pesticides and herbicides in your yard. These products are harmful to the environment as they can pollute waterways, poison the native wildlife, and make plants dangerous to consume by you or your pets. By following ecological practices like natural pest management, manual weeding, mulching, and planting lots of biodiversity, you can create a well-balanced, self-sustaining backyard habitat that welcomes all forms of life. 

So, if you’re looking to reduce your time spent in grocery stores, and spend more time enjoying (and helping) the natural beauty of your yard, an edible garden seems like the way to go. I’d like to thank Brandi Bechard and Vanessa Carducci of Ground Culture for taking the time answer my questions and provide our members with some useful information. For more tips, check them out @ground.culture.gardens on social media.