All Decked Out

Mike, the girls, and I finally finished the deck today. It seemed to take all of August, although we rarely worked on it. It was actually only three days, but we needed several dry days in a row to paint and we couldn't get them. I'm delighted with the deck, which integrates well with the yard now that it is the browns of the house.

Leora help slowly and carefully. Anwyn, like her mother, is a fast, motivated and somewhat imprecise painter. Mike helped them paint the deck yesterday while I was at work, and I did the touch ups today. I really like the combination of the darker and lighter browns.

Today we picked 3 more pumpkins and our weird yellow squash. Our raspberries are finally finished and I completed freezing the last of the 15 gallon pail of basil. We are still eating beets, kohlrabi, beans, strawberries, rhubarb, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, tomotillos, zucchini, eggplant and chard. Our peas finished a few days ago but I have left the roots in the ground to keep fixing nitrogen. I think lettuce is done too, but will plan fall spinach and garlic soon.

I got my box of bulbs from Mom and they look beautiful. I'll be putting them in after the first frost in September. Mike also picked up and put together our reel mower today. I'll be sure to rant about that soon.

Today I spent most of the day in the yard and loved it. Here's a gallery of pictures with my comments about them.

Starting Harvest

It has been a really busy week. We were gone Thursday to Monday camping in Alberta and James looked after the cats and yard for us while we were gone. Mike got to climb Bow Peak, the girls had their first horse back ride and we even had a tourist day at West Edmonton Mall Waterpark. When we got home, we found a a delightful harvest waiting for us.

The fall crops are starting to be ripe and we picked 3 pumpkins, lots of potatoes and carrots, tomatoes, beans, 20 liters of apples, cucumbers, peas and kohlrabi. We had so much zucchini that Mike made cake and 4 loaves of bread with it and we still had to freeze 12 cups. I am pleased to see the raspberries still producing (that alone shows how behind our whole gardening year has been) and the fall crop of strawberries has been bountiful. We are at seven spaghetti squash and counting. The best part is that we have been eating meal after meal of fresh produce and haven't even gone for groceries this week.

Unfortunately, my watermelon prediction has been accurate. The watermelon never made it past fist sized. Mike was sad to discover his potatoes in his special box have done no better that his garden potatoes. he is pretty sad. Our online reading doesn't really tell us why, but I have a guess. According to much of what we read, too much of the green stuff peaked over our dirt (it is supposed to be less than an inch). We'll see if Mike tries it again next year.

Our pumpkin vine on the south side got the same white mold that the peas do and we pulled it - the one in the garden is still doing well. I am really pleased with the purple beans as they have a great flavor. I am also really excited by the shear volume of peppers we have this year!

Rainy days

Nearly 7 cm of rain, much of it over the last 4 days, have left us pretty water logged. I was able to get out briefly with the camera yesterday, but otherwise am feeling pretty house bound. I pity Anna and Ian, who had a cabin at Waskesiu this weekend.

Garden Aug 18 2009

I am excited that my new shade bed has taken so well, and we are eating so many veggies and fruits that I have little to by at the store. We are headed camping Thursday, and I think lots will ripen while I am gone. Tomatoes are producing at the rate of 3 a day even in the rain, and beans are plentiful.

I have been starting to look over varieties of tulips I might be interested in. It's fun to browse the various types. I'd like some pink and white in the back and yellow and orange in the front.

Next week I head back to school. I was in yesterday for a bit, but my boss' stuff is still all over my shared cubical so I was only able to do some things. I'm feeling like summer is almost gone and want to spend every possible moment in the yard.

Mike and I have experimented twice with Pat's reel mower (no motor). We'd like to go that direction for environmental reasons (note link has an agenda, but stats are similar elsewhere) and our mower is starting to die. I don't like the cutting job because it isn't as uniform, but I feel a lot better about the emissions. We are thinking about it now because fall is sale time for mowers.

So much summer

Mike and I have been trying to polish off some of our summer projects now that summer is drawing to a close. We've been rained/blown out of the beach with Anna and Jodi and Brad have kept us happily occupied during their visit. As a result, we have gotten some work done but have more to do. Mike rebuilt the gate two days ago, and we've replaced the rotted boards on the deck.

Currently eating:

• tomatoes (just starting)
• ground cherries (tomatillos)
• apples
• green and yellow beans
• peas
• zucchini
• spaghetti squash
• spices
• cucumber
• lettuce
• potatoes
• beets
• chard
• kohlrabi
• peppers

Using the square foot gardening technique, I get a meal portion for every couple of days rather than the huge amount I get in a row. I think I'll do even more next year.

I have not been please with the amount of edamame beans (soy) for the space they take, so I don't think I'll plant them again. I am also thinking about moving where I put various things next year. The tomatoes are doing really well in the front, so I'll put more there. I'll also put chard, spicy peppers (they are faster than bell peppers) and beans. In the green house, I'll grow basil and bell peppers over the summer. I think I'll use back trellis for peas and climbing beans, and move the cucumbers to the south square foot beds. Boy, you know you are a gardener when you are planning next year in the middle of this one. . .

Newly blooming includes sun flowers, columbine, obedient plant and stems on my gladiolus (they aren't open yet). A number of new day lilies, including a peach colored one, are blooming. I'd like to get some more pinks and maroons in both types of lilies.

My mom emailed me that my bulbs are in the mail. She'd sending narcissus, daffodils and hyacinth. I'm going to buy myself a few more types of tulips - I'm pretty boring with the bulbs and basically have red tulips.

Purple Haze

I've been enjoying so many things in the yard lately. I've expanded my front bed by transplanting some orange oriental lilies from the back (in addition to a few other incidental flowers). I think it is as far as I'd like to take it this year for beds in the front. If we have time, Mike and I want to dig up grass for the front garden bed next year, but I suspect that will be next spring.



In the back, there is little of the garish orange, yellow and red. Instead, it's dominated by purple, with hints of pinks and whites. Here's a few in a collage.







A number of the annuals we started from seed are in full bloom including the morning glory and sweat peas. Lots of the perennials are going too, including:

• hostas


• lupins


• roses (5 types)


• columbine


• bell flowers (4 types)


• clematis (white one)


• 6 types of day lilies


• 4 types of oriental lilies


• yarrow (4 colours)


• sedum (5 types)


• succulents (8 types)

Lilies are the big hit at the moment, and the white is my favorite. Perennials just went on sale at my local greenhouse and were 2 dollars a plant so I bought 4 new varieties. The one I am most excited about is Obedient plant, which I have heard great things about but never grown.

I moved many of my part sun plants out from under the apple tree in the back and expended the north fern bed so I could transplant into it. Mike added three wheelbarrows of compost and the girls and stripped the grass, but otherwise we made few amendments to the soil. Mike also brought some feature rocks to add to the beds in the back and the girls used some to make a path under the apple tree for easy picking.

We are currently in the main summer harvest of the garden, and our grocery bills are feeling the impact (excellent). Mike also added the second rain barrel, so the water use is down too. We rarely eat a meal now that doesn't feature garden produce and had my in-laws, Bob and Gale, over for a birthday supper for Bob that featured all garden produce. I made a vegetable tray with beans, baby carrots, peas, zucchini, kohlrabi, and pepper. Mike made a spaghetti squash and roasted onion, potatoes and beets. We'd have had swish chard also, but we forgot it in the microwave, so we had to eat it the next morning. For desert we had a raspberry cheesecake. When that all comes out of the garden, it feels great. We sent the left-overs to Mike's grandma, Min, and she called to say they were yummy.

We are also eating snow peas, cucumber, edame beans, lettuce, beat leaves, all our spices and strawberries. I think we'll start corn, a few tomatoes, and apples next next week.

Your own organic fruit and veggies and fresh cut flowers are such a luxury. Mike and I often comment on how fresh picked food tastes - today the girls are having a sleep over and their friends just roamed through the yard tasting things and commenting how yummy everything was. Leora and Anwyn were super proud and named all the plants and pulled thing off for taste testing. Reminds me of Mike and I, but less obsessed. . .