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