Fall cleanup

I have tried to post a number of times in the last month, but I've been so sad about my dead yard that I just didn't have the heart. The last several weeks it has been so unseasonably warm that I've been able to get out in the yard again and finish up the fall tasks that got caught in the snow storm.  It's hard to believe there is no snow and it's been so warm, but my rain barrels have thawed and I'm a happy girl.

This weekend Mike drained the rain barrels, I raked the last of the leaves over my bulbs, and we dug the beets and half of the carrots. We cooked the last of our ripening tomatoes into a delicious sauce and ate fresh carrots.  Greta and I cleaned the green house and I put the gladiola bulbs in there to dry.  Unfortunately the snow storm killed off my greenhouse beans and spinach, plus the last of the chard, so Greta and I mostly moved and dumped pots.

All in all, it has been a bad year for gardening. I have less than half of my tomato jars filled and have already eaten all my pumpkins. My beets are tiny and I have only a few spaghetti squash left. However, now that the yard is clean and all the lawn furniture is stored for the winter, I find myself yearning for the next gardening season.

Blight

Well, I thought we had avoided the tomato blight on the fruit we brought indoors, but I was wrong. This week we threw out over 20 gallons of tomatoes, meaning that we won't have enough tomatoes to make the second batch of salsa we usually make. This is the first time in 7 years that we'll be short, and we usually have enough to also can tomato sauce and taco sauce.

Mike and I have been very careful to throw out all diseased plans and fruit, and we've even bleached the tomato cages. Next year I will rotate the tomatoes out of that area so that there is no easy way for the new tomatoes to get infected. I sure hope that will be enough. Only the tomatoes from the back got blight, likely from our neighbors' gardens. Our side beds and front beds were just fine, however the green tomatoes from those beds got infected when we moved all the tomatoes downstairs to ripen. I am worried that blight will flourish in their yards net year and move into mine again.

On the upside, our potatoes have been okay and we brought the rest of the harvest into the basement today. I also picked our edame beans and the girls dug a few more carrots for the week.  It was quite sunny for a lot of the day today, and we all enjoyed some sun while working in the yard. Now only my side bed has anything that is vulnerable to frost.

So far, the spinach and cilantro has not sprouted in the greenhouse, however it has been unseasonably cold and wet. I am hoping that the next few days will be sunny and some sprouting will happen. It will be nice to have something new and fresh. We are still eating basil from the greenhouse and the girls often munch a basil leaf or some fresh strawberries.

Frost

This week I was out at Elkridge for a work retreat when it started to snow and the power went out. I was in a huge outdoor pavilion and everyone was calling home on their blackberries to see their families were fine. I have no cell, but when I made it back to the cabin there was a phone. Mike called to check on me, and I had him check on the garden. He had already covered the tomatoes and I had the poor guy out at 10 pm (luckily he had power and no snow) picking the pumpkins and zucchini. Mike also picked all the tomatoes in the front.

The frost was hard enough that the top half of all the tomatoes, except those in the south bed, was killed. So yesterday I picked everything except the south bed, and we pulled up everything that isn't frost hardy. The end result was a pretty sad harvest really.  Makes me glad that I am not a farmer. Last year, the first frost was Oct. 6th and I didn't pick everything until Oct. 8th when the first hard frost happened. Based on my best estimates, my growing season was 5 weeks shorter this year than last.

Anyway, here is the crop that is now ripening in the basement:

• 3 medium pumpkins and 8 small
• 34 cups zucchini frozen and 3 in the fridge
• 3 more kohlrabi (I only had a total of 12 this year before they got hit by caterpillars)
• 2 large pails of tomatoes. This is similar to what we took downstairs last year to ripen, except we had already eaten and canned a lot. At this point I have only had about 12 cups of full sized tomatoes. That is a lot less than last year. However, many people, including both my neighbors now, lost most of their crop to blight. The bad weather had made many crops really vulnerable to disease and pests, and I am glad that I have some tomatoes.
• 8 spaghetti squash. These are the first of the year, and most are hand-sized. I am not sure what they will be like when we try to open them - same with the watermelon Mike grew.
• 3 cups chili and jalapeno peppers, 4 green peppers.

Still growing in the garden:

• chard
• carrots
• potatoes
• beets
• strawberries 
• rhubarb

I also still have tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers growing in my south side bed. I'll do a complete tally of all crops this year once I have it all in. I did really enjoy having beans right until the frost, and all the cucumbers I got this year. Mike turned the compost yesterday and I got more for my beds in the front, so that will really help next year.

Yesterday I really enjoyed doing some fall tasks. I planted some of my bulbs, although I still need to add a set of tulips and my garlic.  I also pulled up lots of annual plants, although there is still a lot growing. Mike and I bought seeds from broccoli and pea shoots. I also went to a garden architecture shop near the farmers market (Teela would have loved it) and looked around. I have a gift certificate from some former students to spend, but couldn't decide what to buy.

Happy Family Day

Mike, the girls and I spent 4 hours in the kitchen together today using up my picking of yesterday. We froze down 7 cups of beans, 6 cups of basil, 4 cups of oregano and 2 cups of mint.  We also froze a large pan of apple rhubarb bars and kept the other one up for breakfasts. In addition to that, we got a lot of canning done.

• 6 large jars pickles
• 6 500 ml jars of apple butter (using our neighbour's crab apples)
• 7 500 ml jars of chutney
• 4 small jars pesto

We also spent the day eating amazing food from the yard. We had banana "ice cream" with berries from the yard and zucchini-saskatoon loaf for breakfast. For lunch we had a fresh salsa from the garden on rice, served with some garden carrots. I made a riata to cool things down, and Anywn also made a mango-peach smoothy. For supper, we had a potato and corn soup from the garden with fresh pesto on crackers. I made us a Greek salad using garden tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and peppers. Leora used the last of the lemons from canning to make mini-souffles, actually cooked in the lemon rinds.

It was a really great day. We had some much fun with the girls, and relaxed and watched some of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy as the rain came down. It was one of those great family days where you just really enjoy each others' company.

I'd still like to make some stewed rhubarb before the end of summer, and there will be more pickles and some salsa ahead of us. We also need to plant our garlic and fall pea shoots next weekend. I can feel fall coming and have spent as much time outside as I can. Last night we had a fire in the fire pit and I thought what a great day to myself it had been. The family time today made it a spectacular weekend.

What I learned this year

Well, all that rain was pretty hard on the yard, and last night with a risk of frost in parts of Saskatchewan, it feels like fall although it is the end of August. What a short season! All in all, it has been the worst gardening year I can remember. But the year has taught me a couple of really important things.

• I have learned that we were under watering our tomatoes and our carrots. None of my tomatoes have the blossom end rot they some times get, and my carrots are more plentifully than they've ever been before.
• If I am not going to use any chemicals on things like kohlrabi and I see the white butterflies, I have to cover the rows with mesh. By the time I see the caterpillars, the plants are done.
• My squashes and melons don't do well on the back fence. Even when we take the tree out, there just won't be enough sun.  I need to save that spot for peas and beans.
• The south side of the house did really well for cucumbers - I have never had so many, even with so little sun. I think I will put in a one or two foot square foot bed up the south side of the garage to see what I do with cucumber there next year. However, I would keep them in the greenhouse much longer and acclimatize them better. They were fried once and cold-stopped once.
• The green house peppers didn't get pollinated nearly as well as the south side ones, even with doors and windows open. We need pollinate in there by hand or move all plants except basil out.  The basil, bu the way, was awesome, even with no real sun.
• My rhubarb by the clothesline is not getting enough sun. I need to move it into the front if I am hoping it will produce as well as my other plant.

Today I puttered about my yard pulling spent plants and picking for about three hours. I made myself bouquets of flower and picked a large ziploc each of beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and corn. I also picked our last apple, more Merlin-free strawberries (my nephew who even eats the white ones), lots of peppers, some zucchini, and dug some more carrots. We'll need to buy milk products next week, but not much else.

This weekend I still want to pick rhubarb and freeze more herbs, but my day reading a book in the hammock and puttering around the yard is the most relaxing time I have had in weeks.

Worse Vices than Vegetables

In the midst of chaos, the garden carries on. My flowers sustain me.Our last two weeks have seen (links are related pictures) much need for sustenance in some form. We have been dealing with

• no running water down the kitchen sink for 11 days straight because of the plumbing disaster and resulting mold
• violent illness of all family members except me (nothing like vomit and diarrhea with no sink)
• 4 house guests for 8 days (some of whom had the illness)
• re-roofing the house
• Mike's trip to a wet Alberta
• me starting a brand new job

Wendy, you say, how did you carry on in this madness?  The answer, I was watching my fruit, vegetables and flowers grow. 


Currently eating

• more cucumbers than we ever had (Mike's already made 11 jars)
• tomatoes
• beans (yellow and climbing)
• peppers
• strawberries
• potatoes
• corn
• all herbs
• chard
• zucchini (I've been able to freeze down so much zucchini that my husband has made me promise no more)
• beets
• kohlrabi (hard hit by caterpillars - I'll need a net next year)
• carrots
• apples

This week I made bruchetta, Mexican soup, roasted vegetables, salads, raita etc. entirely from our own yard. Mike will make Pizza that way Friday using our tomatoes and spices for the sauce. I've also made great food featuring our food. We used the apples and zucchini in so many things, and I'll start using rhubarb again soon too. Yes, I know it is crazy to cook so much with guests, illness, no sink and roofing.  But you have to cope somehow, and there are worse vices than vegetables.

More than a bit wet, but only inside

The last ten days have been the driest of the summer, so you may wonder why the title. Well, we had Jodi and Brad visiting, then the next day Teela came to stay. Many lovely things happen. Teela admired my flowers, adored my vegetables, and watched fondly as her children loved the yard as well. Merlin ate my berries, walked the special path under the tree and played on the play set. Teela's only complaint was that her room smelled damp. I said it had been locked up a lot while Jodi and Brad were here (we keep it clean of cat dander for them and the closed door is the only good solution). Teela said that wasn't it. I thought it might be diapers and Mike washed the bucket of rags he had been soaking. Teela said that wasn't it, and thank goodness she did.

Saturday evening after homemade pizza we were all looking at pictures on the downstairs computer when Teela called us into her bedroom. There was a huge puddle along the north wall of her room. Further investigation found the wall was wet by the main drain pipe from the kitchen. Our closet wall was also wet and had some mold. Poor Teela and her three year-old and three-month old were packed up at bed time and sent to Liz's. We cleaned out all the damp areas, then I researched how to claim the insurance and Mike pulled apart the wall to see it he could find the issue.

The long and short of it is that it looks like the insurance will cover things based on my pre-claim stuff, but I will find out more on Monday when it is actually business hours. Teela's good nose saved any furniture from damage, although I had to wash some sheets and blankets. We now have guest room renovations to add to the roof and deck (it will be a stressful last three weeks of summer).

On the upside it has been so dry outside that we watered with the sprinkler for the first time this week. I have been able to get into all my beds and am loving up the yard each day. I love sitting out at night by candlelight and eating breakfast on the deck. My backyard has clematis, yarrow, cream lilies, sweat peas and cone flower that I am admiring the most. In the front, Leora's sunflowers are my favorite.

Currently eating:

• red currants (all the extra rain really helped them)
• peas (shell and sugar snap)
• beans (yellow and green)
• chard, beet greens, romaine, rocket and spinach
• baby carrots
• green onion
• raspberries
• strawberries
• apples (4 buckets so far)
• peppers (bell, baby bell, chili and jalapeno)
• all the usual spices
• cucumber (pickling and slicer)
• cherry and patio tomatoes

I am eating something from the yard in most meals, and loving all the fresh flavor. 

Very happy being out

Like last year at this time, we are enjoying the start of eating a lot from the garden. This week we've been eating lots.

Starting:

• sugar snap peas, regular peas
• yellow beans
• kohlrabi
• yellow zucchini
• baby carrots
• apples
• cherry tomatoes (from upside down yellow pear tomato)

Eating  in full swing:

• strawberries
• raspberries
• rocket, lettuce and spinach
• cucumber
• small peppers like chili and mini bell
• edible flowers (like nasturtium)
• red currants
• basil, dill, oregano, chives, rosemary, sage, and mint

This last week we have finally started to have some serious sun, and thing are growing very quickly. Mike and I continue to pull up grass in the front yard in prep for pumpkins and zucchini up there next year, and I have been loving my clothesline. However, the biggest deal is the living space.

I love to be outside. Swimming at the river, camping, canoeing etc. are my favorite activities next to gardening. In the summer my yard is my living and dining room, and I go there to rest and relax.

This summer the girls are doing a lot of the yard work. Leora hand waters from the rain barrel and prunes. Anwyn does the mowing. Both of them help me with picking. Their work gives me more time to relax and play in the yard.  Now that the rain is less, I am out all the more. My only sad bit is that we still can't get three dry days together and Mike and I really want to get the metal roof on the house.  I also want to re-paint the deck as it bubbled where it was rained on when the paint was wet last year. We have managed to do some smaller projects. Mike, Brad and Anwyn trimmed a tree, and I have been doing lots of picking and freezing (24 cups of raspberries a few days ago).

The girls finished swimming lessons yesterday and we celebrated with a short trip to the river. I also hope to get in an overnight camping trip next week before Teela and family come to visit on Thursday. Jodi and Brad are here until Friday, so there will be no roofing anytime soon (we are still missing the supplies yet anyway).

Eating well

This week has been the beginning of starting to eat well out of the garden. In the summer months, it reduces our grocery bills between a third and a half, but the big deal is fresh and organic. This week we are finally eating both.

Yesterday we ate the remains of Thai salad and Saskatoonberry cheesecake we made when Anna and Ian were over, and started doing some serious cooking with the fruits of our labour today.  Anna came berry picking with us at a U-pick, so I added substantially to the wild Saskatoons we have been getting from the river bank and the bushes in our park. As a result, our family got the following done:

• Leora made Saskatoon/Rhubarb muffins using a jar of Mike's homemade yogurt
• Anwyn made Zuchinni/Saskatoon loaf (using last 2 cups we had of the 2009 freezing)
• Mike made 11 cups of raspberry sauce, which we freeze and mix into yogurt or serve on pancakes.  We need a pressure caner before we'll be able to can it, as it doesn't have enough sugar. He also made a red current reduction out of the berries on our bush by the deck.
• I made tabouli, a Bulgar-based (wheat berry) salad that uses our fresh cucumber and one and a half cups of fresh parsley. It also uses a half cup of fresh mint, and I added Saskatoons to that, too. It is delicious and inexpensive at this time of year.

We have also started to freeze down supplies for next year. I have frozen 52 cup worth of Saskatoons, which will likely mean we run out of them in May. So far I only have 32 cups of rhubarb, and I will keep freezing it in 8 cup increments into the fall.

Because we try to use a square foot gardening method, I rarely freeze a lot of vegetables anymore. Instead I get a bit of a variety of things all the time. This year, the constant rains will likely impact that and clump things together more, as little happened to the group in the first six weeks I was planting, and a number of the things that I pre-started died.  Having said that, we are currently eating:

• strawberries (a handful a day)
• our last cherries 
• the last Saskatoons from our yard
• sugar snap peas
• all our herbs (mint, parsley, basil, oregano, sage, dill)
• spinach
• rocket
• romaine lettuce
• chard
• cucumbers (which have done horribly the last several years, died twice this year and are now spectacular)

We cleaned out the freezer today and compared it to what is left in our cold storage. This week we ran out of our salsa and we'll run out of canned tomatoes soon. We've finished our Saskatoons, Strawberries and rhubarb much earlier. We still have about 6 cups of apples, but it is an off year for our tree and our neighbor's tree, so we won't freeze much. 

I always have some much fun seeing the yard grow and change each day (view this week in pictures). This is my favorite bloom time for the yard, as it has all of the lilies in bloom. I pick flowers for myself every few days and have them in the living room, kitchen and bathroom. I love to share plants with others and give away extra things growing in the garden (Anna and James are always great for looking at everything and taking food home). I am sure I could be a great Eastern-European grandma if only I had the pedigree. . .

Mike and I are also enjoying working on projects in the house and yard. Mike finished the piano bench he made from the wood of an old desk, and we've been covering the compost with a tarp so it is dry enough to sift.  We've have ordered the stuff for the roof but are waiting until there are a few days with no change of rain (our deck bubbled last year because it rained 4 hours after we painted it).

At Home in my Garden

After 3 weeks of being in Denver, Ottawa and Waterloo, I was worried I would miss a whole bunch of things happening in the yard. However, the near constant rain means that little happened while I was gone. I missed the peonies and the giant bell flower, and my greens all went to seed with no one cutting them. My pea shoots also turned into peas.  Other than that, I haven't missed that much.

We spent our first afternoon back weeding and mowing. The next day we cleaned house and trimmed clematis, edged the yard and did some transplanting. Now that it is all done, I have been able to get into the yard and really enjoy it. Check out the beautiful pictures of the things currently blooming.

New pink lily

Currently Blooming

• yellow lily
• orange lily
• red lily
• pink lily
• orange day lily
• mini bell flower
• pinks
• veronica
• 6 types of ground cover
• tea roses
• spirea
• theromborgia vine
• sweat peas
• morning glory
• potatoes
• tomatoes
• cucumbers

Currently eating

• all herbs (I am drying and freezing lots now)
• rocket, spinach, romaine
• saskatoons
• strawberries
• green onion
• cherries
• rhubarb
• chili peppers

While I was at my parents and Greta and Gus', I ate lots of peas, carrots, kohlrabi, raspberries, and fresh blueberries. Today Mike and I went to pick Saskatoons with the girls and I froze some and made crisp.  Now that I am eating lots of fresh things and playing in the yard, I finally feel like it is summer. My flowers are similar to last year, it is mostly my veggies that are late. But I am out in my yard, processing and eating things, so I feel great!

I am going to stop talking about rain soon, really

This week the TransCanada highway in Sask and Alberta was closed due to flooding and we had 3 days with sun. Today was one of them and it was beautiful.

Yesterday we spent the morning trying to catch up on the weeding. I also replanted the beans, and transplanted some others from where the washed away into the path. The girls did the mowing and sweeping, and Mike helped the weeding. He even refrained from complaining constantly, which was great, as he hates weeding. We spent the rest of the day out at Mike's cousin Scott's house in Harris. All the Pollards and various others were in attendance, so the girls had tons of people to play with and opted to stay the night. This left Mike and I with some early morning time to enjoy the yard before some friends came over.

We used that time well this morning. Although the mosquitoes have been unrelenting even in the heat of day, they were oddly quiet and we had morning coffee on the deck. I had some of Mike's homemade yogurt and picked salad greens for supper. We puttered around the yard picking flowers and watching bugs. Other than putting some laundry on the line, we did nothing but enjoy the sun. That set the tone for the whole day.

When the girls got home, they made brunch. They gave Mike is homemade light box to use in his photography, and then we walked downtown to see the Karate Kid remake for Father's Day. We stopped and did a little parkour in each park we came across and played games with Mike's hack sack. We also bought frozen yogurt. On the way home we played at a spray park. It was a wonderful day in the sun and we got in 10 km of walking.

We have begun eating things in the yard regularly. We have had a few strawberries (that's all we will get at a time)  and even had some peas out of the greenhouse. The rhubarb will need picking again this week, and I get a bowl of salad greens ever couple of days. Spices are all great. The things I am eating are similar to what we had two weeks earlier last year. I just finished harvesting asparagus.

The worms have eaten all the beets as they come up, and the beans are still pitiful. I am also worried the squash etc. will do nothing. Other than that, I think things are doing well, although they are far behind.

The flowers, however, are unfailingly lovely. This next week is my favorite in the yard all year. I may actually miss an number of my favorite spring flowers when we head to Ontario, even though they are spring flowers, but I have enjoyed everything much longer than usually due to the lack of sun.

Things are (looking) up

Well, the rain took a three day break (set to return tonight for a couple of days) and we, the plants, Mike and I, used the time productively. I was feeling pretty depressed about everything being destroyed, so the fact some things are alive seems really great. It is all a question of perspective. I was actually happy yesterday when I saw that 7 of 90 beans came up.

On the real upside, Mike is making productive use of all this rain. He has put up a third rain barrel in the front of the house where all the driest beds are. Mike made this barrel by reusing a grease barrel he bought for a couple dollars. I insisted on the new paint job, and the result is quite fetching.


James and Mike hauled a whole bunch of rocks to add to the bed where we took out the gout weed. We are using just rock under the eves where it is dry, then adding rocks and succulents to the part of then bed where conditions are dry but not drought. Mike has a vision of a dry stream bed with cascading plants, and I have been helping with that (see the pics).

The other main project this weekend is hanging up the upside down tomatoes. I have grown these plants from seed and in one pot, they kept snapping in the wind without support. Now that they are against the garage, the wind is less and the plants are larger, which I hope will mean success. I have planted three varieties of various sizes so I can see what is most successful. I was dubious originally about growing plants out the bottom of plant pots, but am interested to see how it will do. We often have blossom end rot due to under watering, so we'll have to be careful to water them well. I'll also add more soil as they get larger. Mike also put up the trellis I have been wanting on the side of the garage.

On the upside, the spinach appears to be recovering from the worm onslaught and we are still enjoying asparagus. The strawberries, blueberries and raspberries are all flowering and I even have a cucumber that has started. I replaced some dead cucumbers and a pumpkin and hope we will have an okay year.

Gratitude for a Second Day of Sun

I had the last of the wisdom teeth I need to get out yanked on Friday, so I was at home in bed to see the return of shafts of sunlight about 3 pm. From that point on this weekend it has been at least sunny with cloudy periods - glorious!

In a way, our experience with the sun reminds me of when the girls where babies. Even if you got 8 hours of sleep in a day, it was never more than 3 hours at a time, and those progressive bits of sleep never made you feel rested. It has been the same with the sun this spring.  Yesterday on the news they announced that they are now predicting this will be the worst crop year for Saskatchewan in all the years they have been keeping track (including the dirty thirties). We'll see - it has definitely been depressing. On the upside, this weekend I felt like I have been "sleeping through the night" for the first time in 2 months, even with the gap in my mouth screaming at me.

I don't have my usual list of stuff in the yard I got done this weekend, as I mostly lay in the hammock. However, two days have sun is starting to give me hope for parts of my garden.  At this point, my bean and acorn squash crops are not there, although I have hope for my beans in the front yard.  My spinach is starting to recover, and my peppers are doing suprisingly well for all this rain. They are small and stunted, but flowering well. I have 4 surviving cucumbers and a living pumpkin, which I am augmenting with purchased bedding plants. I did the same with 5 tomatoes. The one thing that is doing well are the flowers, although they are still about 2 weeks behind. After another few days of sun, I will have so many types it will be amazing.

My whole family (and the rest of the city as far as I can tell) is feeling more perky too. As I write, Mike and Anwyn are out doing the 5 km fun run called the Bridge City Boogie and Leora is making french toast for breakfast. I am sitting on the deck squinting happily through the sunshine and gazing at my recovering yard.

Deluge Continues

It was another rainy week last week - every day except one had rain. Luckily this weekend had a bit of sun in between the rain, and it was enough to make the weekend better.

On Saturday, Mike and the girls were out at Gale and Bob's for the morning and I dug up all the gout weed in the front bed. This was prompted by Mike commenting he really wanted the gout weed gone (I've wanted it gone for a while too). It has been invading the lawn, so it is a good thing that it has left. Here's a picture of the before on the left.

I'm pretty sad about the state of the garden. When Anna saw my tomatoes on Sunday, she thought they were pitiful (this was a generous assessment).  My beans have had a whole week and aren't up, although the peas and carrots are up. Anything that doesn't love flood and no sun hasn't shown its face.

On the upside, well-established perennials are doing well, especially my clematis and the prairie lilac. Currently blooming (see pictures of the yard in the start of June):

• lily of the valley
• purple geranium
• orange poppies
• johnny-jump-up
• yellow iris
• anemone
• lilac
• purple clematis
• pink and white bleeding hearts
• phlox
• chives

Last year at this time, roses, strawberries, pumpkins, zucchini etc. were blooming right now (see early June post). This year all tea and hybrid roses have no leaves, all the gourds are squashes have died (even the cucumbers after 2 tries) and both my neighbours lost most their strawberry plants just like I did. Some of the roses I lost are 7 years old. Sniff - darn you deluge. On the upside, Mike and I are eating all the same things we were last year at this time.

I did have some lovely time relaxing in my hammock, got all my laundry dried on the line and went with my nephews and my family to a playground and pool. Those were great summer time things to do!

Rain and Rhubarb

Rain, rain and more rain. Saskatoon set a record for rainfall these last two months - nearly twice what we would usually get in April and May. As a result, my newly planted tomatoes have ugly orange spots. The 70 km/hr winds have rendered them vertical. I guess I should be glad I put them in two days after the hail.

The only upside has been the rhubarb. I harvested nearly 10 cups yesterday and today in the brief times when it was not raining. I also mowed my lawn, and stared forlornly at my garden. Nothing is sprouting, at the works have fallen out of the trees and eaten the spinach and chard I had growing. Sigh. On the down side, we are schedule for frost tomorrow night.  :-(

Currently blooming:

• orange poppies
• anemones
• birds-eye clematis
• lily-of-the-valley
• bleeding heart
• white columbine
• yellow iris
• chives
• phlox (bright pink)

Planting Weekend Ramble

The May long weekend is the traditional plating weekend for all Sask. gardeners. Theoretically it is our last frost date, although in my experience it often isn't. Last year it snowed after the May long weekend - but if you don't plant then, it's hard to get off many crops. So as per usual, the long weekend was full of things to do.

We did most of our plating Friday night, as we needed to get a head start on Sat. The forecast for the majority of the weekend was ominous - pouring rain and wind gusts 50-70 km/hr. Since we now use a square foot gardening technique, cold hard crops had been partially planted and some things will also wait. That helped us get most things in either Friday night or Saturday morning before the rain started.We also pulled up another chunk of lawn in the front to make way for even more front yard crops and also packed up the grow table as it finished for the season last week. Saturday morning while Mike was out at his parents, the girls and I did an hour round trip bike out Clarence to visit some friends and talk debate. They had baby kittens and a trampoline, so the trip was complained about during the biking and enjoyed during the visiting.

Sunday we had a TV day. We have been on this max 5 hrs per week plan for 6 weeks or so, and one the rewards for the girls was a day of video gaming for the girls. I must admit I enjoyed the day (although I played no video games). I did a bit of work, had Erin and Jamie over for tea, read a novel, cooked some nice meals and watched a movie. For an introvert, a great day of relaxation, facilitated by howling winds and sheeting rain that drove me out of the yard.

Monday we did the last of the main planting and transplanting (I still have a few bedding plants and half my gladiola bulbs to put in next weekend) and I did a lot of weeding. We also  took the girls on a picnic. It was not dry enough for a blanket, but it was still nice out so we were able to played catch, make homemade lemonade, bake muffins and bread, and generally have a fun family day. I was able to cycle three loads through the clothesline - which was good considering all the rain.

I spent an hour laying in the yard reading, and enjoying my flowers. When I made eggs this morning, I cut in chives and oregano from the yard, which was delicious. I picked lily of the valley and enjoyed the iris that opened up (my double yellows). Soon the lilacs will be blooming. Happy me.

As I look back through this post I see that my version of a relaxing, weekend ramble reads a bit like a to do list. Hmmm. Might need to work on that, as it is a trait I always complain about in my parents. Too much hypocrisy is always an issue when you are writing it down. There is probably a way to blame it all on Mike - he was doing bike tune ups and finishing the piano bench, so no doubt this will be his fault if I think about it some more. . .

Blooms Begin

Well, we are just a few days from planting our garden over the May long-weekend and I am very excited about the myriad of blooms in my yard. Last weekend I put in a few annuals to liven things up, but in 30 degree spell of this week, many of my perennials came into bloom. Mike made a collage for me!

The late frost seems to have had some casualties, especially my snowcrop, lots of strawberry plants, and many of the hyacinths I planted in the fall. However, we are eating asparagus, spinach, cilantro, mint, and oregano. My big excitement is that the peppers I seeded very early are now setting fruit.

Currently in flower:

• tulips
• phlox
• chives
• clematis (just starting, purple)
• cherry
• saskatoon
• blueberry
• johnny-jump up

I am a little nervous about the cucumbers and peppers I planted last weekend. I should have hardened them off more, as the cucumbers are getting fried in the heat. I may need to put aside my principles and by cucumber bedding plants.

Sunny Morning with a touch of clothes

I did the last of my pre-seeding last weekend and we moved most things out to the greenhouse except for the newest seed. But I like going in there - it is green and beautiful.

It has been really cloudy and rainy for the last several weeks and freezing at night. However, for the last 2 days it has been really sunny. The asparagus stayed just above the soil and did nothing until the sun hit us. Now it is ready to harvest.

For the last year, it has been has been our goal to get a clothes line up outside. There used to be one , but it was in the middle of the area we wanted to build a playset in (and in the shady part of the yard). Mike put the new one up yesterday. This morning I am hanging up our first load of clothes - I am delighted as it makes a big environmental difference.Only your furnace and air conditioner use more energy, and our dryer is an old green 70s number with no energy star advances. Check out the how much energy your appliances use in this info graphic by GE.

We'll need to see how often we use it. It will mean that Mike has to do more laundry (I can't do 4 loads on a Saturday when 1 fits on the clothesline), and that we may need to iron some things. My biggest concern, however, is cat hair. The dryer usually removes it, so we'll have to see if the wind can do the same. I put the load this morning out just before 8, so it will be interesting to compare the efficiency of the solar power to my clothes dryer.

Mike also added the sign the girl's made for me to the greenhouse. We'll see how all that wood does in the weather, but I love having it there. All in all, it's a beautiful morning.

No Longer Green

In my last post, I gloated over the fact that we did not get Calgary's snow. In retrospect, I may have been tempting fate a little. It's already May and today we had blowing snow all day. It makes me feel like banging my head against my greenhouse wall, but since that thin glass is the only thing protecting my baby plants, I think I'll refrain.

This photo is a picture of my yard on May 15th last year. I had planted my corn, and was protecting it with a row cover. It doesn't quite seem right to have a late season snow just as I am getting ready to plan. What if I keep tracking and find out that I always get snow in May when I want to plant. 

I have had cold hardy stuff in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks, but everything else is still in the grow table or the window boxes. Tonight is the first night we are heating the greenhouse. Last year we were heating by the first of May and had a much wider variety of plants out (see photo right). However, we spent too much heating the greenhouse and we are trying to avoid that this year.

Finally green

Last week I was at Teela's helping out with the birth of her new baby girl, Viola. While we were waiting (Viola was a few days late), Teela's son Merlin and I did some potting in Teela's screened porch. I also got to see azaleas in bloom and Merlin and I walked through a beautiful botanical garden. All this green and the plus 25 degree weather had me hankering to garden.

It snowed in Saskatoon while I was gone, but it was only raining when I cam home, and the grass had finally greened up. A number of trees are budding and my perennials had grown while I was gone.

It continued to rain most of the week, but we handily avoided the blizzard that struck Calgary.


 By yesterday, I was gardening even if it was raining and windy. I have good rain pants and a sold rain jacket, so I headed out into the yard and weeded my flower beds.

While I was there, I discovered so many exciting spring things. My asparagus is up and we'll get to eat it soon. The spinach and chard I planted in one of the square foot beds have also sprouted and I ate some of the spinach in the greenhouse. there is so much of it that I am putting it on the menu this week. My chives are starting to bud and I ate one.

All this weeding encouraged me to do some potting and seeding today. I seeded all the gourds and squashes (about 5 days later than I would have liked, but oh well). I also re potted cucumbers, artichokes and tomatoes. Some of my peppers are even flowering, so Mike fertilized the flowers by hand. Even though it was a high of nine and it rained of and on, I felt great.

Mike put some covers on a few of my beds so what I can get them really growing quickly, and I planted the astible and some lilies. I still have a few in the greenhouse and they are getting ready to flower, so I am hoping for some sun!

• Check out all the pics of the yard at the start of May

First Food

Thanks to Mike taking the girls out to Osler to see his family, I had a relaxing day spent almost entirely in the yard. I worked with two of my former students to prep for debate Nationals from 9:30-10:30, but other than that, I was out from 9 until 2. It was lovely weather and I spent it in a lovely way.

Thanks to that mighty wind storm, my first job was re-raking the yard. While doing that, I uncovered all sorts of baby plants just getting ready to be born. Since two of my sisters are due to have babies this week, it felt like a year of birthing (I feel free to say this because when I used to talk about dealing with Leora as a baby, Teela would always compare Leora to her dog Jessie).

My mother used to go around her yard poking into the partially frozen ground to see what was ready to come up. Since I spent many a good James evening teasing her about this, I am a little nervous to admit my raking time was a least half occupied by poking the ground. Since it was not frozen, my behaviour in no way resembles my mother's.

I found a number of things already up, but I was most excited about the Cranesbill Geranium (great smell) and the tulips I planted last year. The very tips of the hyacinths I got from my mom are up in the full sun bed, but no daffodils yet.

I also did some re-potting and pruning, and then I decided it was time to harvest our first food of the season - parsnips. Our neighbour, pat, told me to just "leave them in the ground in the fall and dig them up when the ground thaws in the spring." They were her husband's favorite when he was still alive, and she's been planting them "forever", so I trusted her advice. She said not to eat any that get mushy.

I dug up a small patch of ours, and two of the ten were mushy, but I am using the others in roasted veggies and am exciting to be eating our first meal with some fresh garden in it. Last year that was the asparagus, which is not yet perking this year. I also have chives, and will be harvesting cilantro and spinach in small clusters from the greenhouse soon. Check out the pictures of all the green things, especially my upside down tomatoes.

I also spent a nice couple hours reading in the hammock, which made it a great day in the yard. On Tuesday I am headed to Teela's to help with her new baby, and she tells me it is air conditioner weather there.

Still growing

The first part of this week was spectacular weather, and since I was off school, I expected to get lots of gardening done. However, I had my right hand wisdom teeth out, and then developed dry socket in both extraction points. This slowed me down a bit. I could work slowly for an hour or so, then lay down for two. Just like my mother, I worked every time I felt a bit better and may have extended my infection just a tad.

On Thursday, I was out in the greenhouse re-potting in one of these times of feeling better. I had the girls help me plant some upside-down tomatoes and planted artichokes, green onions and cucumbers. I also re-potted a number of my perennials, and my astilbe are even ready to bloom already. I have so many plants that they don't fit in my grow table anymore. I moved some tomatoes and all my perennials up to the sliding door area so then can have the most light possible. I am nervous about their proximity to the cats, who love to graze on a little green, especially in the spring.

By Friday, the lovely weather I had been enjoying was gone. 90 km hour winds and snow made it pretty unpleasant to be outside. I haven't been out to check the spinach and cilantro that had been doing well in the greenhouse, but I have a bad feeling. Luckily, Mike had added a hook and eye lock to the door of the greenhouse, which the wind and/or our cat Pip had a habit of opening. The outside of the greenhouse seems unscathed, although our phone went down and large branches fell on the canoe. I wish I could say the same for the tarp that roofs the girls' fort. Mike had also attached the rain barrels, so we hope the taps aren't damaged by the heavy frost.

In about 10 days, I will need to start the various gourds - but I am nervous about space under the grow light. I will be gone to Teela and Peff's at that point to help when my new niece arrives, so I guess it will be Mike's problem!

Happy growing in the basement

About ten days ago we had unusual spurt of very warm weather. I used that time to do a little potting in the greenhouse in 26 degree greenhouse, and by now, most things are up. I did a flat of tomatoes, but most of my other planting was flowers. Every year I buy about $200 in bedding plants of various flowers, and this year I am hoping to buy less than $100. As a result I had lots to plant.

I planted three Astible, a feathery pink shade plant. I am hoping to put them in three shade spots along the north fence. I also planted a variety of lilies and day lilies, which I will put in the front and back yards in various places. I have quite a few lilies in the front, but these are mostly orange. Now I have some reds and yellows, so I can round out my warms. I also planted a number of annuals, I am particularly excited about the impatients and pansies.

To my surprise, the plants I put into the greenhouse (spinach, cilantro and rocket) are living through temperatures as low as -11, which means Mike's insulation work went well. They aren't really growing, which means it really is to early to put them in there, but it is still an interesting experiment. I think they are living because they are in the ground.

First leaves

Well, the things planted last week are staring to sprout. In particular the tomatoes (which I thinned today) are as much as 4 cm. Also fast of the mark are rocket and spinach. Things like cilantro and basil are just green specks and there is no sign of pepper. View the album to see the progress.

It has been lovely, warm weather the winter retreat has started. Today I shovelled 35 cm of snow off of the deck and went out there to sit and imagine spring. I also popped into the greenhouse where it was tee-shirt weather. Too bad it doesn't stay warm at night. . .

I was throwing out the last of the sprout peas today. We need the room for the other things we are sprouting. Since it was so nice in the greenhouse I put the mat of peas in the ground level planting bed. I expect the shock of the sub freezing to kill them tonight, but thought it would be interesting to see what happens.

I always get excited as the weather warms and the melting starts.

Already potting

For the last month, the only fresh, homegrown food we have been eating is sprouts and garlic greens. Right now we have a good crop of pea shoots. Our herbs have developed their usual Feb. infestation of aphids, so I had to cut them back today. I am trying to tell myself I am still growing things, but I don't really believe me. I am burning to be planting and eating a wide variety of our own foods.

Since it is the last weekend in Feb., I started my slowest bedding plants plans today. I predominantly planted peppers and herbs, but also started just a few tomatoes I plan to put on the patio.

Types of herbs:

• Mint (as much usually dies with winter kill)
• Basil (an entire flat of it)
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Sage

Types of peppers:

• Green
• Yellow bell
• Mini Bell
• Chili
• Jalapeno

Types of tomatoes

• Yellow pear
• Cherry
• Early Girl

We start all the items on a homemade grow table we got from a friend of Mike's. It has two layers and adjustable lights. Some things we plant in peat pellets, and others go immediately in pots because we plan to have them under the grow lights a long time (think basil, which won't be happy outside until the hot days of June). Adapting for our zones 2-4 (depending on micro climates) means that many things need extra help inside.

I also did an inventory of our remaining garden items, prompted by Anna's question about how things were holding up (if you haven't check out Anna's food blog lately, you should - she has done some nifty organizing). At this point in the year, I still have six months left before I get to eat anything fresh from the garden besides asparagus, spinach and strawberries, so my inventory needs to hold out. Check out what we started with in my final post of last gardening season.

Frozen

• 12 cups apples
• 9 cups saskatoons
• 10 cups zucchini
• 10 cups raspberries
• 1 cup strawberries (I need to put more of those down next year)

Canned

• 12 500 ml cans of tomato sauce, 6 liter jars
• 4 500 ml cans of salsa, 6 liter jars
• 1 small jar taco sauce
• 3 250 ml jars plum jam
• 4 250 ml jars chutney
• 3 250 ml jars stewed rhubarb of questionable colour
  
• 5 250 ml jars raspberry jam
• 29 250 ml jars of apple sauce

Fresh
I just have about 5 pounds of potatoes left, and they won't make it through the weekend. I am going to use them and some garlic shoots to make me some potato soup.

There are already areas where I know I did not have enough, like rhubarb and strawberries. Likewise, I am pretty sure I have way more applesauce than one family will eat, even though we use it as an oil substitute in baking. As for the rest of the harvest, I will have to wait until July to know for sure.