Ellorie McKnight's Curated Garden

Name: Ellorie McKnight's Curated Garden
Price: 40 CAD
Availability: InStock

$CAD 40.00

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Artist Showcase: Ellorie McKnight

Artist Showcase: Curated Gardens features curated seed collections by select Canadian artist gardeners. Meet the artist in their garden.

The purchase of Ellorie McKnight's seed collection comes with a download code for their newest album: Equinox. Thank you Ellorie McKnight, for your art and your love of nature.

ELLORIE MCKNIGHT'S CURATED GARDEN

Siberian Kale

Arugula (roquette)

Red giant mustard greens

Blue Coco Pole Bean

Homesteader Peas (aka Lincoln)

Red Cored Chantenay carrots

Pacific Beauty Calendula

Australian Yellow Lettuce

Apricot Strawflowers

Ellorie McKnight is a folk musician, singer-song writer, two-stepping burgeoning square dance caller. She is a hoot, an intentional person, and a real gem to listen to. When she's not two-stepping, fiddling for square dancers, touring or playing festivals, you can find her minding her work as an avid environmentalist. Dr. Ellorie McKnight is also a climate change researcher, educator, advocate and activist, and currently holds the title of Yukon University's Outreach Climatologist.

Listen to Ellorie's album here. With the purchase of this seed collection, you receive a download code for this beautiful digital album.

A word from Ellorie

As I write this, we're nearing mid-April. In most parts of populated Canada, the ground is thawing, maybe even snow-free. In Yukon, it's still cold, freezing at night. The buds on the trees won't make themselves seen until late May. The shoulder seasons are long here, the growing season is short.

I'm a musician, and a renter. This means I'm away much of the summer performing, and it also means I can't really establish permanent gardening infrastructure. Years ago I built a few garden beds on pallets. When I was renovicted, some friends and I moved the beds to a generous friend (and homeowner)'s front lawn, where they would have more stability. I don't live in the same neighbourhood, so can't visit and tend to the beds everyday. I also don't have a greenhouse. BUT I DEARLY LOVE TO GROW FOOD. So, I adapt by planting species that require little care and bring me great joy. I also choose species that I can plant and harvest continuously during our short growing season, and species that are most satisfying to have fresh or that aren't locally grown here in Yukon. Greens are a big hit: the greens that get trucked up the Alaska Highway are often soft and soggy by the time I can buy them in the store. Summer - despite being short- is the best, when I can have fresh crispy greens every day. Because we get up to 21 hours of daylight here in summer, I have to watch out for bolting greens, but it's something I've learned to manage with staggered planting and harvesting.

I've planted nearly all of the seeds chosen for this collaboration in my Yukon garden, and they've thrived beautifully. Last year I even let some of the varieties go to seed so I could collect some seeds and practice the circularity of it all.

While we find ourselves with busy lives and challenges to gardening, let this blurb be a little encouragement that its possible to grow even a tiny bit of your own food, which is incredibly grounding and stabilizing. The time I spend planting, weeding, harvesting and eating these grown foods is deeply cherished, a reminder of what sustains me, and how to be a better steward for the earth. Knowing where these seeds come from - Junco Seeds - and the love that goes into them makes the experience that much more special.

Here's a look into Dr. Ellorie's climate research

Ellorie's song Woods on Fire live at Propel Studios