Good kind of Frozen

A month ago, we hefted our old freezer upstairs and moved the last of the frozen things from last year (cherries, apples, zucchini) into a new freezer we got from a friend. It was a big commitment because we had to downsize, but with Leo gone and Anwyn leaving in a year, it seemed like good timing.  I sorted through everything in our old 1970s freezer, which had with light and a hinge that no lolonger held the door open. Since I was downsizing to a freezer half the size, I told myself I was doing well to let some food I had grown and processed go.  Carrying it up the stairs was an epic odyssey of skids and door removal for the whole family, and we were all revealed when we heaved into the trailer. Mike ripped the door off so no child could be trapped in it, and it was ready to go to the dump.  In the end, I was glad to see it go.

The new freezer had an exciting hum, was small, and fit well. Unfortunately, it did not work well and over the period of three days everything in it defrosted.  I was sad about the veggie burgers, baking, and especially the ice cream, but what I really missed having all the things made and ready to go, and having all the home grown produce I had. We are always making smoothies with our frozen berries, our own pesto, and pies.  Having no freezer was a big deal to me because it cut off the bounty. You know you have an excessively strong relationship with food when...

Since we were buying a new freezer, we decided to avoid our usual used appliance (I didn't want another failure) and buy a new energy star appliance.  It helped me feel like less environmental damage came from throwing out two freezers. We priced out various models and got a stand up one which is large and nice, but a bit loud.   All of this corresponded with the early crops in the garden.  We had no freezer when we ate asparagus and all the early herbs, and I would not have frozen my lettuces. But just in time, the freezer arrived to store homemade pesto, haskap blueberry chutney and jam, and a large ziploc of  rhubarb. It is funny how happy it makes me to see each item go in. If it were not for my environmental streak I might hold the door open just to see the awesome.

I just got off work three days ago, and two days ago Mike finished the city walk, so I was driving and working more the loving the yard.  But today and yesterday I spent the morning out there, loving the flowers, reading, and picking berries.  I can already feel the rhythm, with iris finishing and peony in full bloom, just as the lilies are starting. You can enjoy the views with my yard by looking at Mike's photos. Each spot I go, I think about what it will be like over the summer and what I'll enjoy about when I eat the bounty in the winter.

I love the yard.  The food and flowers are an unbeatable combination and the space is tranquil and relaxed. Now that the freezer is up and going and the caner is ready, I can enjoy the best kind of frozen that fruit and veggies can have.

On Saturday, the city walk day dawned misty, and I sat out on the back patio and watched layers of the yard gradually come in to view.  It reminded me how much I enjoy my gardens and love time to myself with the plants and the quiet.

Finally, fruit

Every year I wait for my strawberries to come in. For years, some would look ready and the birds seemed to get them just before they were ripe.  I was super sad until it became clear the birds were actually Leora.  Then with ordering, cajoling and constant vigilance it was possible for the others in the family to get berries (although still not usually the first ones).

Leo is getting ready to graduate and leave home after the summer, and she just got her second ever job.  Although all her plays have finally finished (I have never seen her care more than playing Juliet at the Persephone), she still has lots going on. Mike and I got home last night and we ate the first two berries.  It made it so clear, and bittersweet, that Leora is leaving.

The yard had another good week this week. Last week asparagus was completely done, and I picked a bit more rhubarb this week, but now I will wait till the fall.  We are eating lots of greens off the shade bed I grow in the driveway, and the herbs are awesome.  I really like watching the garden bound forward in growth - reminds be of the early teenager years. This week I did a lot of training plants on vertical growing surfaces, and I pulled out the last of the major baby elm seeds.

Perhaps the most exciting part (other than the first new strawberries in 17 years) is the flowers. My backyard is right in its best stage, and the front yard is about take over and show off for over a month. In the back, irises, bell flower, roses, daisies, geraniums, and a wide variety of other flowers are blooming. Mike and I have counted over fifty different types. In the front, Mike is excited about his orange irises and orange roses, which hang out side by side in the heart shaped bed. Soon the lilies and  money wart (ground cover) will be out. My favorite in the front right now is the thyme path (predictably purple instead of the warm color palette). All photos can be viewed here.

I (and in this case I mean Mike) have been taking videos of the yard once a week this year to chronically changes. Check out this week's video.

Sea of purple

It is hard to get me out of my yard this year.  I have a leave for school, so I have time to be in the garden during the day at watch everything start to bloom.  It has been such a luxury.  I write for a couple of hours, hang out in the yard for an hour, write more, then go out more.

The tulips, which were lovely shades of purple and pink in the back, and the daffodils from Mom, leading the yellow in the front, are mostly done now. The iris and anemone have taken over.  Three iris types in different shades of purple iris are my beloved colours, but I also have lots of yellows and yellow/purples.   My double white has been transplanted this year and isn't doing much.  I did a count in the yard, and including bushes, I have over fifty different things currently blooming.  Not a good sign of personal restraint.  Predictably Mike's current favourites are in the front, his thyme path and his bright orange poppy. His rose will be the big hit right away. Everyone else keeps commenting on the lilacs on the left in the back, and Mike loves the white bleeding heart.

We put our garden in at the usual time, and most things are doing well despite early drought.  I start many things inside now including unusual things like beets and carrots, so things tend to take well when we plant.  I have tried carrots three ways with year, from seed, from transplants with just the starter leaves, and ones two weeks older.  I'll let you know what I find.  We get so little rain that carrots don't always germinate well in the garden, and thinning hurts my heart, leaving me with small, thin carrots who are overcrowded.

We have just finished eating asparagus and made a batch of stewed rhubarb and some fresh crisp this weekend.  All the spices are ready and Mike is using the March basil seedlings for pizza.  Strangely, the winter was so mild that both my oregano and my sage made it through, which has never happened. The sage is even about to bloom. I am trying a new curry rosemary that Jodi bought me - I will let you know what I like it in. My lettuce is also ready to eat, and I put in my final planting of lettuce and beans this weekend, nearly a month after my first seeds.  I usually plant for nearly a month in addition to all the seedlings I start, as it gives a variety of ripe veggies at different times. I'd far rather eat beans and peas fresh all summer than can them or freeze them in large batches because I planted all at once.

I put in two new beds at the end of last year.  The one above is in the front, and I will keep expanding it.  I has the two new honeyberries and Mom's daffodils. The one in the back has a new trellis and is designed to keep basketballs in the court. Luckily for me it is full sun, so I get to grow some new things.  You can view progress in all the beds for this week and last week.

Mike has taken some new video of the yard, which is great for those of you who aren't here right now.  It is from last weekend, so it is already outdated in terms of blooming, but it gives the idea.

Backyard video 1
Backyard video 2
Front yard video

Rainy day lull

It was a late spring, and the last week has been a hard one. Lilah has been very sick, and the human parts of the family have been, too. I was home two days last week, and Mike and Anwyn were each home three. Leo is just getting sick now.  In the midst of all that mucous and vomit, it has rained.  In the last two weeks, there have only been two days where it didn't rain most of the day. When you are sick, though, it doesn't mater as much that you are housebound.



The rain has slowed garden production, which means it is the right pace for my ill family. The asparagus just finished, and we have been eating herbs and a variety of greens for a couple of weeks. Mike ate one cherry tomato today and I made a nice brochette with the fresh basil yesterday. The big star, however, is the flowers.

It was a hard winter and I lost some perennials.  Because things were late, however, my tulips, narcissus, flox, iris, chives, anemone, and lily-of-the-valley are all blooming at the same time (check out Mike's June album of garden pics to see all the purple and pink). The yard is a sea of pinks and purples and the rain has kept them all frozen together for a protracted period of time.  Mike and I look out our window in the rain and admire the view. Everything looks incredibly lush, and it is cool and humid.

In breaks in the rain in the last couple days (typically no more than 40 mins.) we go out and do a bit to try to keep the yard under control. Mowing, weeding the garden and picking rhubarb to freeze all occur in these little windows of time. That is also about right for sickness, as we need to recover for about 2 hours for each 1/2 hour slowly pushing the mower. As you might imagine, we've been mostly eating out of the freezer as no one was hungry and no one was well enough to cook except Leora, who is writing finals.

Today we finally felt well enough to make all our meals: blueberry pancakes in the am, veggie soup and rhubarb crisp for lunch, and a fresh garden salad for supper later tonight. My greens and brasicas (think cabbage and kohlrabi) are happily co-habitating in a square foot bed on the driveway that tolerates all the damp very well.

All things considered, the misfortune has fit together so well as to actually seem like a pleasant lull combined with feeling crummy.

Looks Like Green

In my last post, I was writing about how early planting looks like mostly like dirt. Two weeks later, the yard is a beautiful, lush green. I sit on my patio and look at a mix of blooms and food I'll get to eat.  I am already enjoying asparagus, spinach, lettuce and a variety of herbs, but I'll have strawberries and beans soon. The yard is feeding me in so many ways.

One of my favorite things once the yard greens up is how I can put things together to create a specific feel that I want. There are a number of things I do to create the look that I want:

Color:
My backyard is all in pinks, purples and white, so all the colors blend well. I have a wide variety of textures and heights so that color appears like accents in all the various main parts of the backyard.  My front is the same, but the colors are oranges, yellows, reds and whites, so the palette is much more energetic. In the back, the color provides contrast and calm.

Bloom time:
My beds are planted with perennials that take turns blooming throughout the sprint and summer, so that there are always flowers to look at. The picture on the left is a bed that currently has tulips (white), phlox (purple and pink), chives (purple), irises (white) and columbine (pink).  In less than a week the tulips will be gone, but two types of purple iris, white bell flower and pink roses will bloom.  As they finish up, lavender and pink peony will start.

Layout:
I use a variety of levels so that the plants draw the eye around the yard, or into certain sections at certain times. I also have leafy screens, arches, and trees/bushes that create hidden sections or areas with specific purpose. I don't really have many "outdoor rooms," but I do have zones. Sometimes I use formal levels (like on the stairs to the patio in the picture on the right).  Other times I just have a variety of plants that create the stepping up look. In the back, most of the beds are edges, so they move from flowers that are 10 cm. in the front about a meter in the back.



The picture on the left in a classic example of that stepped layout.  It boarders the play area, screening the play fort and the trampoline. It has two types of clematis climbing it (the purple is currently blooming and the white will bloom in August) and layers of other plants in front.  This type of layout helps to make it feel like you are surrounded by a verdant landscape even though you are just in a city backyard.


I have attached a couple other pictures of interesting examples to show some key concepts. The one to the right is an example of thick layers of greens to create different textures for the eye to look at.

Here are two examples of creating spaces that are zones but not really rooms. One is a planting bed made out of old bricks under a tree (left).  The other is the dry south side of my house where quack grass was struggling (below). This bed turned this small space from an eye sore to the most productive growing space in the yard. Cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and squashes ripen here first, and live longest in a mini-zone 4, when the rest of the yard is a 3A.  The reflected heat off the wall and the shelter provided by the two houses create a very productive little alley a meter wide.

 I love the look of the rich greenery and the way in which the space is laid out throughout the yard. It is a great combination greenery, color and productive spaces that make the most of a pretty ordinary rectangle that is my yard.  It is funny how two short weeks turn it from dirty and work-filled, to green and tranquil.

Looks like dirt

When you first plant your garden in the spring, it mostly looks like dirt. We gardeners like to call it soil, and describe its properties at length, but when you sit in it a lot, you still get dirty.  This long weekend I planted as I always do, despite a substantial sinus cold.  Bending over is no good when you have a sinus cold, and planting late is equally painful, so sitting in the dirt was the best option.

Fortunately for me, Mike did a bit of the heavy work before he left for Anwyn's basketball tournament in Regina.  He was pleased with her silver medal; I was pleased that the potatoes, carrots and most of the peas were planted before he departed.  Because I plant in stages, I didn't have to do everything, but there was still a lot to do.

I started by transplanting my bedding plants.  Those are herbs, tomatoes (6 varieties), peppers (5 varieties)

and various members of the squash family. I did not plant pumpkins this year as I still have lots from last year, but I had two types of cucumbers, experimental cantaloup (unlikely to bear fruit in this zone), 2 varieties of zucchini, and butternut squash. I also put in corn, peas, green onions and kohlrabi that I planted early in the greenhouse last week. Many of the bedding plants go in various raised beds throughout the yard, but I still put some in the garden proper.

Once the bedding plants are done, I start with seeds. I plant flowers (like sweetpeas) and vegetables I grow from seed including beets, various greens, beans, parsnips, radishes etc. This year Leo and Anwyn both helped a bit with planting, which was great, because my planting speed was about one tenth normal Wendy. It is pretty hard to use your Kleenex with muddy hands, so I wore gloves and took them off all the time to blow my nose. I think it was a huge part of the slow down - it definitely had nothing to do with low energy due to sickness.

Now that the garden is all planted and so many of the flowers are blooming, it is a real pleasure to be out,

even when you are sitting in the dirt blowing your nose. I admired my flowers all weekend long and listened to my fountain. I planted a little sedum planter and felt like I did some great craft a la Martha Stewart. I enjoyed fresh asparagus, put basil on our burgers and had chives in my egg salad.  After 7 long months of winter, it is great to be dirty.

For those who'd like to see some pictures, you can see the album of what is blooming and take a look at the mulch Mike and Leo put in the front.

Already eating

Two weeks ago, it was still snowing.  This week, I am eating my first asparagus. It is supposed to rain all weekend, or I'd be planting up a storm.  Nonetheless, it is still so great to have green.

I have been puttering around my yard virtually very night.  Mike has to call me in from dreaming on the deck, weeding, planting and watering.  And now, he gets to add picking. He picked our first asparagus today, but the harvest will continue unabated for another month.  My spinach is up and we'll be eating that soon, and I also have garlic greens and chives ready to go. I am still 2 weeks from harvesting basil and mint, but my other herbs are great. I had fresh oregano in my soup for supper.

This weekend I planted a number of my flower boxes, and I also prepared many others for planting veggies. I made a beautiful succulent sculpture for my desk and did some transplanting in my flower beds.  I also started putting in my annuals.

One of my favorite things to do is enjoy what is blooming and consider what will bloom next. Last year at this time I wrote my yard was already full of flowers.  I can't say that now, but there are a few things blooming, including:

• two types of crocus
• chives
• tulips (only the yellow so far)

I have a number more buds (let's cal them flowers in waiting), but there has been too little sun this week for things to open up. I keep touring the yard thought, and I'm loving everything I do find.

Rain News

It is pouring today, which is a good thing from a blogging perspective, if not a gardening one. Lots of little bits on news (but no new pictures due to rain) to share:

• I finished eating asparagus this week, and have allowed the spears to grow to full fronds
• Currently eating 5 types of lettuces and spinach, all spices, green onions and rhubarb
• Mike trimmed our front tree so I am getting much better sun in the front
• We had 60 plus km an hour winds last week, so I think the main drop of dutch elm seeds has passed. Mike helped me rake them out of the beds and lawn, which will mean less weeding later. 
• I wanted to plant my third planting of beans and peas this week, but it looks like I will be waiting till at least next weekend due to rain
• My squashes and peppers are flowering and some of my tomatoes are starting. I have tomatoes on one larger plant I bought
• Tulips are mostly done done blooming, and the yard is moving into a new faze.  The backyard is currently dominated by Cranesbill  Germanium, purple and pink Lilac bushes and purple Iris, and the front by orange Poppy and yellow Iris. My back wall is especially beautiful with purple and pink carpets of flowers like flox.

More news to come when I have more pictures.

Planting and flowers

After complaining last week about nothing blooming, my yard is already full of flowers.  Mike took a few pictures for me early in the week, and we'll lake more this weekend as we plant. This album gives a good sense of the start of the week, though.

In the last couple nights I have been planting a variety of annuals and veggies throughout the front yard.  I co-plant my veggies and fruit there, and love to disguise my vegetables with flowering items. I put in 4 types of tomatoes, 6 types of peppers, a variety of squashes and some onions. Mike seeded spinach for me, and it is already up. We are also eating rhubarb and asparagus (Mike made a great risotto with the asparagus Wednesday).

Currently blooming perennials and vegetables:

• 7 types of tulips
• Crocus 
• Grape hyacinths
• Poppies (yellow)
• Apple tree
• Cherry tree (2)
• Daffodils
• Flox (pink and purple)
• Johnny jump ups (think wild violets)
• Strawberries
• Elephant Ears
• Snowcrop
• Columbine

All this planting and blooming is very heartening. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, but should be dry by Sunday, when the main garden in planted. Luckily Mike got all the tilling done yesterday, so we'll be ready despite the rain.

Finally Out

After my return from Montreal I was feeling pretty down. It rained the entire time until yesterday and my bedding plants were destroyed while I was in Kitchner-Waterloo visiting Greta, Gus and their kids. My whole gardening habit seemed dead, or at least washed up. To the left is my basil as it as starting to die. Looks okay but a little limp right? It was dead in under a week.

On Friday, my thoughtful husband took me to Dutch Growers, where I had a gift certificate from Teela is spend. I actually laughed out loud with pleasure when I saw all the plants. We spent too much money replacing heirloom tomatoes and peppers that dies, and we could not afford to replace Mike's basil habit. All if it reminded me how much money it saves us to start our own things in the grow table and greenhouse. This would be an expensive pastime without them.

Today and yesterday I came home from work and spent a least a 1/2 hour in my yard having a zen moment. I examined all the plants that seem to leaping forward, and found my first flower, a Johnny Jump-Up (technically a weed). Last year at this time my first flower was a strawberry, and I had all types of things up, like asparagus.  Not even a tip so far this year with the unseasonable cold and rain in the last two weeks. If it were like last year, I'd have at least 5 types of flowers by next week.

The little bit of green I have up and the growth in the last few days has been really encouraging. Even if it is not all is great, I can see the hope in my yard now that I am finally out.

Farmer's Market Lessons

Last summer, Greta and Dad took me to one of the largest Farmer's markets I have ever been to, and it got me thinking about my lifestyle. Today I took the girls to Saskatoon's and noticed it even more. The things that Mike and I make for ourselves are all up for sale, and they cost a lot more than you might think. A handful of rhubarb is $5 and a wilted basil plant is $4. Fresh spinach and chard both cost about the same. The amount of asparagus I picked yesterday is about $7.  That's just plants and seasonal food. Anything processed is much more. Baking costs nearly ten times the cost of ingredients and thing we make like canning and soap are even more. People pay it because they are too busy or disinterested in doing it themselves, but they believe handmade, local or chemical free is worth it. Quick calculations told me that Mike actually earns nearly double his library salary each month in the stuff he makes for us.

This lesson was reinforced at the grocery store where I bought pre-made salsa and bruchetta ingredients (minus the fresh basil, a savings of $4.19 - no organic available). Because of our tomato blight last year, we ran out salsa about three weeks ago and Mike is very sad. I think salsa is to Mike as ice cream is to Wendy. Anyway, the salsa is very mediocre and costs a lot for the amount you get, and bruchetta ingredients were also really costly. Makes it easy to understand why people by chips instead of peppers and candy instead of raspberries. Anyway, the long and short of it is that I am very happy to be growing things - and not just because I love to do it.

Currently eating:

• all herbs
• rhubarb
• spinach
• baby chard
• asparagus
• garlic greens

Blooming perennials:

• 2 types of iris
• purple clematis
• anenomie
• 4 types of tulips including a beautiful yellow-pink clustered tulip
• orange poppies
• tomatoes
• cucumbers, squashes 
• chives
• tea rose
• lily of the valley
• wild violets
• strawberries
• birds-eye narcissus (Mom admonished me for calling them daffodils)
• a variety of shrubs

Today the girls and I also picked lilacs, tulips, iris, and lily of the valley. Leora and I made 7 bouquets in a variety of rooms. There were no lilacs for sale at the farmer's market, but we played with the equivalent of $40 of luxury fresh flowers that were pesticide free with zero greenhouse gasses expended in growth or transportation. Yup, we live a luxurious life in a small bungalow full of used furniture.

Planting the garden

This weekend was our flurry of spring planting, weeding and yard projects. The weather was great Saturday and Sunday, so we got lots done, then rested on our cold and rainy Monday.

What's new:

• Mike built me two new beds on the side of the garage and I have filled them with peppers and tomatoes. Because they are raised, against a south wall and on concrete, they should get a lot of extra heat, which will be great for them. The girls planted the third one full of their own veggies and herbs and put it in their sandbox.
• I moved one of my square foot beds onto the driveway.  We have never actually parked our car in our garage, so I parked my raised bed in front of it.  I'll let you know how things do there. I planted about half of the spaces with flowers, basil, beet seed and a pumpkin (my lone veggie bedding plant from a store - old seed didn't sprout).
• A bee hotel is a great think for a gardener - the girls made me this one for Christmas and I am hoping to attract some lone bees with it.
• Mike is gradually growing the stone path that connects my front steps to the sidewalk in front of our house. Thanks to rocks donated by James, there is great progress. I also used some to make a dry stone bed in the front.

Our planting:

I always try to plant on the May long weekend because it is our last frost date (although as Anna noted, there was a frost warning last night after the last frost date). This year I put in two types of bedding plants: those always done in Saskatchewan and those I did so we could have early crops.

Tomatoes:
I planted three types I like, Yellow Pear, Cherry and Sub-Arctic Maxi.  I also bought a new heirloom type and a small pack of Roma's. The tomatoes are planted mostly on the south side of the house and garage, although I have 9 in the front yard and 12 in the garden. I have used spiral stakes in the front because they were great last year. The tomatoes twine themselves up the stakes and need less pruning, so Mike is a big fan. I also planted three in the greenhouse and the ground and potted 6 more as patio tomatoes. Last year I thought the upside down tomatoes did not work well, but it was such a bad tomato year that I am trying another.

Cucumbers and squashes and other vine things:
I am growing four types of squashes and two types of cucumbers. The cucumbers are on the south side of the house where they did really well last year, as is the watermelon (which did not, but Mike wants to try again). I had to buy two pumpkins, as mine did not sprout.

Corn and Peppers:
I have learned that starting corn in the greenhouse a couple of weeks early ensures I get a crop of corn before first frost. I did that again this year. Peppers need a much earlier start to be able to fruit. I did mine in February - they are always the first thing I start.

Herbs:
I started basil, oregano and mint this year. Mostly, I did a lot of basil which I kept in the greenhouse in hanging baskets and pots. I put about 15 plants throughout the yard as well. I also did some edible flowers like nasturtium and potted them with the herbs in the front.

Plants usually grown from seed here:
I actually plant in three intervals now.  Most of my seeding happens on the May long weekend, as do my potatoes. I also plant extra peas, beans, chard and beets about two weeks later. The other big thing I do is start a number of things early so I can put them in as bedding plants and start eating them sooner. This year I planted bedding plants of:

• sunflowers
• coriander
• spinach
• chard
• beets
• yellow beans
• purple beans
• lettuce
• rocket
• kohlrabi (with my new bug screen)
• onion, green onion

Check out all Mike's pics of planting weekend to get a feeling for how things are laid out. We are currently eating herbs, lettuces, rhubarb and lots of asparagus.

Greening

My mouth is sore from a braces tightening today and I didn't get to talk to Jodi very long tonight.  I am turning that negative into a positive by using the time to write a blog post.

I was gone last weekend at debate in Estevan at got home Sunday about 12:30 with the girls. It was Leora's Junior Nationals, and they fed us "kid food." By the time I got home, I was really craving green food and burning to see my yard.  So much is blooming, and it makes me feel a little giddy. I picked my first asparagus of the season and cut some chives, spinach and rocket.  Then I alternated between working in the yard and making a delicious salad for supper to go with the potato soup (made from our potatoes and basil) that Mike brought up from the freezer.

Mike had sent me a picture of crocus blooming in the front and something else I don't remember the name of blooming in the back.  I zoomed around the yard inspecting each bud. Today I have grape hyacinths blooming in 5 beds and white tulip blooming in one. My daffodils, tulips and  phlox will all be blooming soon. All my leaves are in bud and I can see growth each sunny day.

The help from the girls on Sunday was grudging, but nothing could hamper my green rejoicing. I nagged them to do and hang their laundry then looked on happily at the second line and thought I was glad Mike hung it, or all the laundry would not have fit. I felt the same way as I gleefully watered everything in the yard for an hour and a half, and emptied my three rain barrels. I was even happy weeding as I watched my daughters do a decidedly mediocre job of mowing with the push mower.

At the end of my green afternoon, my salad was delicious and marred only slightly by the sunburn on my chest. I guess there is such a thing as too delighted. . .

So Much Fun

Mike and I are so exhausted but happy after a busy weekend in the yard.  It has been cold and windy all week long, but this weekend we got some sun and only 20km winds, so we enjoyed the time in the yard as much as we possibly could.

I was wrong that my first flower would be a chive.  The buds are almost ready to flower, but the first flower was actually on my strawberries. I found it yesterday when transplanting some that had crept into the garden from the berry patch. My asparagus are up (two tips so far) and about 5 cm tall. I also have buds on my grape hyacinths, which did not bloom last year. My violets are also blooming.

I spent a happy afternoon Saturday transplanting in the greenhouse, expanding the front flower bed by lifting grass and doing spring transplants.  Mike got 4 van loads of rocks from James, so I also spent time re-building the dry steam bed and placing new rocks around the yard.  Mike expanded his rock paths and built me two stone benches, one in the front and one in the back. Leora and Anwyn both helped lift the turf, and Leora also removed some bricks and replaced them with rocks. Anwyn trimmed the four clematis and they both mowed the backyard. I mowed the front (around the rocks Mike was storing on the lawn) and my elderly neighbor's yard.

This evening as I was bringing in laundry off the line, I was so happy I actually stopped and gazed at the yard.  Mike and I are both sore but happy - nothing like a workout that actually accomplishes something.  I'll post pictures next time when the main path is done and things are starting to bloom.

Spring in my yard

It has been a cold spring, but things are finally humming along. Mike and I moved the plants out to the greenhouse and I have dug the mulch out all the beds. I am really excited about a number of the bulbs I have found coming up.

My asparagus came up yesterday (two stalks so far), and more and more garlic keeps coming up. In addition, all the fall bulbs I put in last year are humming along. I have tulips about an inch up in most beds and my Mom's daffodils are up, although they did not bloom last year. A number of grape hyacinths are up, although they are not budding.

Most of my seedlings are continuing to do well. We have a huge crop of garlic and I started some beans, beets and kohlrabi for my first square foot bed. I will start some corn tomorrow and then all my seeding is done.  I did almost no flowers this year except morning glory and nasturtium, but the veggies are great.

It is hard to believe we have about three weeks left until planting in the garden because I have so many projects in mind. I have tried to convince Mike we should put some things into the side bed early, but he seems doubtful. I want to dig out more of the front yard so that I can move one of the rhubarbs up there, and Mike has plans to get some rocks from James. It should be a busy, fun spring. I predict my first flowers will be chives, which are already budding.

This week Mike put up a second clothesline and I started drying things outside. It was great to dry to loads at once, and I have enough room now that I can do 4 loads totally in a day. I am so excited about all the possibilities in my yard.

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.

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.

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.