First Spring garden bike tour explores Old Goodwood

When I thought of how I wanted to spend my birthday, I could only think of the two things I love to do the most - gardening and riding bikes. Smash the two together and you end up with the first Spring Garden Bike Tour! 

The ride started the day after my birthday, actually, on Saturday, April 23. We met at the Botanic Gardens located at the main library on Independence Blvd. If you’ve never been, do yourself a favor and go very soon. All the roses are in bloom and the fragrance is delightful. 

From there we set out by bike to visit four homes within the Old Goodwood area. The first stop was on Evans Street off S. Ardenwood Drive to visit Jennifer Torkkola’s garden. 

Her primary garden bed runs the length of her front yard and is located close to the street to encourage passersby to pick what they need. In fact, she has a sign that says “Feel free to take what you need.”

The bed is sectioned off from the grass with cinder blocks. This was the cheaper option, but has proven to be very useful. She plants marigolds in the open slots of the blocks because marigolds are a natural pest repellent. 

While we were there, Jennifer talked about her satsuma tree, which she got for free from Baton Rouge Green thanks to its citrus program. 

The real question grabber was her kaffir lime tree. I have one, too, thanks to Jennifer. 

Kaffir lime leaves are a regular ingredient in Thai cooking. Although they are trees, they are dwarfs that only grow to about three feet and they tend to be very happy in pots. They do fruit, but the limes they produce are often very tart, so they are primarily only used in beauty products. 

The leaves, however, are the star of the show. 

Just a short distance down the road to Fairfax drive was the home of Jen Bernard, our second official stop for the day. I say official because we had a bonus garden at the home of Katie Boudreau, one of Jenn’s neighbors! She allowed us all to take clippings of her beautiful Jade plant, which was one of the stars of her succulent collection. 

At Jen Bernard’s we got to learn about beekeeping! 

According to Jen, Louisiana is a great place for bees because there is food for so much of the year. In fact, Jen was gathering food for her bee babies when we arrived. 

RELATED: 53 Louisiana plants that serve as nectar sources for honeybees

Bees will only stick around if they are happy, so that means keeping a nice ecosystem around them. Having a water source is among those elements, alongside the flowering plants for nectar. 

Jen’s yard is covered with all kinds of flowering beauties, two of which are commonly viewed as weeds, but are super beautiful and serve as great ground cover. 

The first is straggler daisy or horseherb (Calyptocarpus vialis). Some see it as an invasive weed, but I now see it as a beautiful wildflower. I have it all over my yard, as does Jen. That’s because this flower grows as ground cover and blooms between March and November. 

Many believe straggler daisy is the solution to lawns. As you may or may not know, traditional grasses used for lawns are high maintenance and require a lot of watering and fertilizer. The straggler daisy, however, loves to take over a lawn and it requires little to no watering or fertilizer. It’s beautiful and lasts nearly year round. It’s also sun and shade tolerant, so it will thrive wherever it lands. 

I have a little patch of straggler daisy growing in an area where I’m trying to get rid of grass. I’m going to try and help it spread across the entire area. I’ll let you know how that turns out. 

The second ground cover beauty occupying Jen’s yard is dwarf chenille. Unlike the straggler daisy, this one likes to spend some time in the shade. It has bright red blooms that look a little like a bottle brush flower. 

We left Jen’s house and headed over to LaSalle Street to visit… MY PARENTS! Having lived in the same home for 44 years, they have had gardens all over their property. Today, my mom has a small space in the front yard that still gets sunlight. The sunlight to the rest of the area is blocked by the many, many, many trees. 

How many trees are there? You can’t begin to count. The entire backyard is a forest, and I’m not joking. That’s my dad’s space. Walking through the backyard is like taking a hike at the Bluebonnet Swamp. 

My mom’s garden, however, is primarily full of herbs she uses in her cooking. And her favorites are her green onions. They work perfectly in her raised garden bed, which my dad built for her so she wouldn’t have to bend over so much. He even put wheels on it so it can be moved if needed.

If you can’t tell, I have pretty awesome parents. In fact, they had an entire party waiting for us, complete with a birthday cake, coffee, tea, and some peanut butter cup candies, which are my favorite.

Our final stop of the day was to Ian Richardson’s house, which is becoming a legit nursery with plants for sale and everything! 

Along with a food forest, Ian has traditional crops and a variety of native plants. The native plants are really his specialty. Also, he’s brewing up his own fertilizer, complete with nutrient rich chicken poop! 

The chickens are the best! They got the egg-laying hens for, well, their eggs.. Little did they know they got a couple roosters in the bunch. And the rooster, whose name is Adele because they thought he was a she, is now his lovely wife’s favorite bird. 

Adele loves the attention, apparently. In fact, he’s a real ladies man. He took pictures with most of the girls on the ride! He was thanked with some watermelon. 

If you’d like to visit Ian’s garden and purchase some of his plants, look him up on Instagram at @beaversabundance, send him an email at iricha1@gmail.com, or go the old school way and pick up the phone and call him at (225) 610-4220. 

During the tour I also mentioned the Howell Park Community Farm run by Baton Roots. They have a monthly event called Sow Good Saturday! The next one will be held on Saturday, May 7. Come join me! I’ll be out there. It’s a fantastic way to spend a Saturday morning.

If you like this newsletter, share it with your friends! If you have a garden that we should tour sometime, send me a message!