Serious eating

As the lilies go into serious bloom each year, the serious eating also starts.  We had pancakes this morning with raspberries and saskatoons from our yard, I had our strawberries for snack, and supper was a taco salad featuring our greens, our tomatoes, our zucchini, and our single ripe pepper (thanks greenhouse). I also picked two types of cucumbers, beet greens, dill, and onion stalks today.

Anwyn and I were sitting out in the backyard this morning just soaking in the beauty.  The peonies are finishing up, but there are lots of other things blooming, particularly roses, lupines, delphiniums, sedums, and lilies.  The front has four colors, all versions of orange and yellow, with a mix of day-lilies, tiger lilies etc. The back also has some errant orange which I should dig up, and lots of pinks, whites, and maroons. Lilies are such great cut flowers, and  they will bloom in various forms for the next couple of weeks, ending the time when massive swaths of perennials bloom in the yard.

My sisters start arriving with their families in the next several days, and almost everyone will be here except my parents.  Mike made a video for you, Mom, so you can see what is up right now in the yard while everyone else is here in person. I hope I get to see a picture of the garlic you just dug, even if it was a bad crop due to heat.  I need to dig mine this week, too, and I am expecting the same crummy state for my early garlic.

The cherries are changing color, and one of the trees has an infected branch that I need to cut off once it freezes.  I always want to eat them as soon as they change color, even though they are much sweeter later.  We'll see how all the small cousins do with them, as they are very low hanging fruit. The apples are higher, and the ripe raspberries and strawberries should give the grazers a focus.  Teela is hoping to arrive in time for the peas, and it is looking good.  I think I will have my first pods later this week.

Mike is busy laying down additional soaker hoses for watering.  He set up our two boxes on the south side of the garage and house last summer, and is irrigating the strawberries and one front bed this year.  We have so many beds now that the three rain barrels only keep up for 4 days without rain, and we've had little rain for a couple of weeks.  Hopefully this will reduce serious time spent watering, and focus more of his time on the serious eating (and, of course, video production).

My only unhappiness is that our local rabbits have finally discovered our yard.  We found scat, and one sent of my bean plants went from blooming to stubs in one night.  You can see it in the video. Hopefully the bunny doesn't find a way into the backyard where most of the veggies are, or notice the north bed of salad greens. It is exactly the sort of place that Peter Rabbit would pig out.

Bugs and Bounty

This time of year, I am always out enjoying the bounty of the yard, which makes it hard to want to be inside on the computer.  Since I blog about gardening, it is almost always hard to blog when I have something I want to talk about.  However, since the pouring rain just drove me away from my mowing, it's a great time to blog.

I just finished work a week ago, and am really enjoying my summer. The girls are off visiting my youngest sister's family and my parents, so Mike and I have a ton of time. We've seen shows, attended the Jazz festival, gone out for meals, had picknicks and friends over, but mostly we've been in the yard. Right now every vegetable is blooming and we are eating lots of zucchini, strawberries, greens and herbs.  I am making strawberry rhubarb crisp, salads, soups and dozens of other goodies.

All that time in the yard also gives me two other things: beautiful bouquets and bugs.  Given the amount of rain you'd think I mean mosquitoes (I have never seen them so bad in the city) but I actually mean  variety of cawlies that  haunt the organic gardner.  So far the nets are keeping my brassicas (kohlrabi and cauliflower) safe from the cabbage moths that have haunted them, but my moneywart, potatoes and my roses have unwanted guests. The caterpillars on the moneywart are small but very hungry, in the tradition of the picture book. You can see the size of them on Mike's hand and in the picture above.  Since I have many feet of moneywart, I also have many, many feet of caterpillars.

For most gardeners, all these bugs would be devastating. I must admit the sawflies in particular have me a bit down, but Mike is so delighted and dedicated to nabbing them (more on film than in person) that they have a real upside.

Picture this conversation:

Mike: Wendy, come quickly.  I have found a great beetle.  Do you know what it is?

Me: (glancing over from weeding the strawberries) That's a potato bug.  Kill it.

Mike: It sure is great.  Look at the stripes.

Me: It isn't great.  Kill it or it will strip the leaves off of the potatoes.

Mike: Are you sure? It looks so cool. We don't want to eradicate it if its a good bug.

At this point Mike goes inside.  I weed the rest of the berries, the garlic (whose scapes I picked this week - delicious), and the beans. Mike comes back out carrying a lot of camera equipment.

Mike: Well, it is either the Colorado Potato Beetle or the false Beetle.  I'll investigate.

I weed the onions and start cutting the comfrey to place around the plants as compost. 10 minutes later, Mike pipes up again.

Mike: It's the Potato Beetle.  I've found eggs on this leaf.

Me: Have you killed it yet?  There are probably others.

 Mike: Wait till you see the close up of the eggs - they're orange. 

In all fairness to Mike, he did eventually do the deed, despite his vegetarian love of all animals and insects (minus mosquitoes - even he can't take it that far).  And his diagnosis and dedication to bug picking did save the rose bush.  He's spent a few minutes each day helping me squish or drowned caterpillars, too. 

But while I am marvelling over the fresh Saskatoons on the bush, he is so busy editing bug pictures that he forgets to taste them as he eats them.  I guess that it is a match made in heaven, in that I don't have to compete for the food and he doesn't have to compete for the insects.  Now if only he loved to kill weeds.

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.

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. 

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!

Full up after harvest

We store many of the things we grow for use throughout the winter. As a general rule, we finish all our starches in Jan., but finish lots of the frozen berries just as new ones become available. We try to make chutney, salsa and spreads last until we can make new, but since we give those as gifts at Christmas, it can be a challenge.

As of Oct. 18, we have harvested all the food we will.



In order to be able to cook using strong flavors, we free a lot of herbs. The tradition actually started when I read that mint could be frozen. I was about 19, and my sisters and parents started to freeze mint for ice tea. After that, I started experimenting with other frozen herbs.

Frozen- Herbs

• oregano (4 cups)
• basil (12 cups)
• parsley (2 cups)
• sage (3 cups)
• mint (3 cups)
• jars of pesto (5 jars)
  

The rest of our herbs we brought in and transplanted under the grow light, so we can have fresh spices over the winter. We have already dried a lot of herbs and spices for the year, especially dill and coriander.

The fruit we freeze we use in baking, mostly loaves and muffins for breakfast foods, but also in pies and turn-overs. We rarely freeze vegetables from the garden, as they are inexpensive in the grocery store.

Frozen - Fruit

• strawberries (9 cups)
• saskatoons (32 cups)
• raspberries (14 cups)
• apples (30 cups)
• zucchini (16 cups)

In addition to freezing, most of our stored food is kept in our cold storage room. Take a look at the pictures of our fall yard and the cold storage.

Fresh in the cold storage

• 4 large pumpkins, 2 small
• 2 bags small onions
• 2 gourds
• 13 dried jalapeno peppers
• 30 dried Thai peppers
  
• 2 1/2 pounds beets
• 52 pounds red potatoes
• 23 pounds Yukon gold potatoes

We also have 17 pounds of carrots, a bag of peppers and a few kohlrabi left in the fridge. We also have 20 pounds of tomatoes still ripening in the basement, which we use for eating and in pizza.

Preserved in the cold storage

• 2.5 liters of plum jam from Dana's tree
  
• 3.5 liters of raspberry jam
• 2 liters of taco sauce
• 3.5 liters of apple sauce (ours) plus 9 liters canned from Pat's tree
  
• 9 liters of tomato sauce, which is about a 50% reduction from canned tomatoes
  
• 14 liters of canned tomatoes
  
• 3 liters of chutney
• 1.5 liters of stewed rhubarb
• 18.5 liters of salsa
• 2 liters pickled beets from Erin

Yesterday we had our first day of sunshine in a couple weeks and spent time in the yard deadheading and emptying rain barrels. We also store our patio furniture away from the deck and cover the BBQ. It was good to get that done as the snow melted. If winter sets in prematurely, we are ready.

Today we are headed out to the garage to do some work on the piano bench we are building and do a much needed cleaning job. Our single garage is Mike's workshop, a general storage area, our garden shed, and the place where we park our bikes. It has tendency to descend into anarchy in not closely supervised.

Steady as she goes

There has been a lot of rain this week, so we`ve spent little time in the yard. However, Mike has been busy building a piano bench for the girls and working in the greenhouse while I`ve done fall harvest. The yard is starting to look barren and the colours are changing. Inside the greenhouse however, life is starting anew.

Mike has been bubble wrapping the inside to preserve heat. We have no frost yet, but expect to have some any day. I planted a crop of cold tolerant greens, spinach and cilantro, which have sprouted well. They are growing slowly this week as there has been no sun at all, but did well last week when temperatures in the greenhouse ranged from 35-11. I am not sure how well the new greens will do, but I am excited about the experiment.

Here`s a look at our yard in early Oct. It includes pictures of the bubble wrap and things growing in the greenhouse.

The cold storange continues to get fuller as Mike cans tomatoes. After the first frost, we`ll bring in potatoes, a few more onions and the rest of the tomatoes. Well also dig the carrots and beets, but we`ll let the parsnips winter over in the garden. This week we`ll also plant the garlic and dig up the glad bulbs for winter storage in the basement.

Almost done

The garden has been very busy this fall, and Mike has found it a lot of work when the girls and I went back to school. Finally, however, it has begun to slow. This weekend I harvested the last of the herbs and the final green beans, peppers and kohlrabi. The girls picked the final raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb. We are still harvesting a lot of potatoes, beets, chard and tomatoes.

The tomatoes have had a good year because we still have yet to have our first frost. It was scheduled for last night, but didn't quite get there. That was a good thing, as the 43km winds made anchoring a tarp challenging. Although most of our tomatoes are in full swing, I harvest all the fruit in the front and pulled up the plants. That was nearly 40 pounds, and most of the tomatoes we planted are still on the vine.

Mike and I made salsa this weekend and canned seven liters of tomatoes. We also made bread, rhubarb muffins, tomato based soup, pizza, iced tea and green potato curry. We were so happy when the last red tomato was used Sunday, and there will be lots more ripe by tomorrow.

The flowers are doing well and Anwyn picked me massive bouquets on Sunday. She and Leora also helped me plan nearly 300 bulbs from my mom and dig up a bit more of the front lawn for transplanting. Mike did more work on the stone path to go with it, but has mostly worked on the greenhouse.

Mike has been lining the interior with bubble wrap for insulation, and has a large blue barrel filled with water to retain heat. So far this seems to keep the green house about 5 degrees warmer that outside at night. Leora's transplanted herbs are doing well there, as are peppers, cilantro and chard (in the ground).

Life remains really crazy for me. I am still doing two people's jobs, but my replacement Jay starts full time this week, which should help. My time in the yard has been great stress relief, but I'd like be able to really enjoy the last beautiful days. Last week we had 30 plus temperatures that shattered records and I saw very little of any of it.

Tonight our family joined James' family in a bike ride on the new designated bike lanes with 340 plus Saskatoon cyclists. It felt great to be out, although it was cold and windy. I definitely need more of these days before I am snowed in for the season!

High Harvest

It's that time of year again, when you look at bins of things you harvested and think about how much you have to do to get it all processed and stored for the winter. Anna took a bit of stuff of my hands on Friday when she came over and made supper. We had a great evening playing cards (she and Ian played Kaiser for the first time), but the rest of the weekend has been pretty yard oriented.

The girls were at their grandparents this weekend, so when Mike went to work on Saturday, I had the yard to myself. I picked about 6 cups of strawberries and 10 pound of tomatoes, in addition to the standard harvest tomotillos, beans, onions, herbs, chard, kohlrabi, beets and pumpkins. I am reminded of how much I like the square foot gardening method for so many of those things because I get the right amount to eat but not so much I need to freeze and can.

I also mowed the yard with the new reel mower, deadheaded the flowers and started moving some rich compost to some of my garden beds. I also dug up all my corn and the finished beans. Hauling it to the compost was a bit complicated, because we lent the wheel burrow to James.

Much of the garden is turning yellow as fall approaches, and I wanted to pull the peas, but Mike is trying to save some for seed. I also finished the watering of the boxes. We have been watering out of the girls swimming pool for two weeks - and they have been hot ones with plus 30 temperatures.

I have been waiting to finish a section of the new flower bed and connect it to the shade bed in the back under the pine tree. I started by digging up the grass and banging off the dirt from the roots. Then I added the compost to it and transplanted the remaining plants. I really wanted to start putting in all the bulbs Mom sent me, but it is still to hot and I need to wait for the first frost. Regardless, the bed looks nice - I'll just feel great when it is completely done.

We started working on some canning about 3:30. We got two boxes of crab apples from Pat and have been processing them into apple sauce using Anna's food mill. We also got a box of plums from Dana and turned those into jam. We also made some bread and a plum/strawberry crisp. We've been freezing down lots of zucchini, but still have a lot of pumpkin to deal with. We finally finished our batch of cooking about 8 pm and are feeling very pleased with ourselves. Take a look at the current yard pics and all the stuff Mike has been canning.

So much summer

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

Currently eating:

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

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

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

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

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

Serious start to harvesting

What a difference two days makes. We were gone camping last weekend from Thursday until Sunday and we had a blast. The girls spent the whole time in or on the lake. We taught them to paddle and went in canoeing in white caps (the girls called it a roller coaster). We also roasted marshmallows, ate some sunflower seeds that Brad gave us, and read lots of books. When we got home and unpacked a huge surprise was waiting in the garden.

We had a huge harvest because we did not pick on Friday or Saturday. We got

• Lettuce
• Kohlrabi
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Peas
• Sugar Snaps
• Raspberries
• Edamame beans

I have flowers larger than I am, all my lilies are in bloom and my white clematis is starting. Today, Mike finished the second rain barrel and we went berry picking with Anna. We got three baskets of saskatoons and two of strawberries. I am SO excited to be gardening this year. Check out all the current pictures.

Baby Veggies in the Rain

We've had west-coast like rain over the last week and our rain barrel is really full. That's great, but the sea of mud that is my garden is really slowing me down. I have so many baby veggies I want to visit and love up, but I can't really get to them.

The first one I am really excited about is our little cauliflower. I have never grown cauliflower before and am not sure how this will turn out. Greta says she has tried broccoli and it turned out small and bitter. That's the most likely outcome for prairie gardeners. I have them up against the greenhouse window and am watering them copiously to try to give them the best chance. My broccoli seems to be following Greta's prediction - so far it isn't doing much. We have 5 cauliflowers and they have all set heads. At this point, they are tennis ball sized. I haven't folded the leaves and tied them over because this is supposed to be a variety that doesn't need that. We'll see.

We also have baby pumpkins - some are even golf ball size at this point.
I told Mike we'd get none, but he thinks there will be lots.

I've read that to get giant pumpkins you are supposed to take the other baby pumpkins off the vines. I wonder if we should cut off the other pumpkins on one vine to see if that will get us a pumpkin. On the other hand, all that space for one pumpkin seems ridiculous.

We are currently eating zucchini, strawberries, greens, spices etc. and will have peas as soon as we have a warm day. I've eaten a couple of pods already and they were so good. Our sugar snaps are a couple of weeks behind yet.

We have already harvested 3 zucchini and given one to James and Jaime. Hopefully Anna and Ian will want some soon and I know I can freeze some.

We are also trying edamame beans for the first time this year. We have six plans in the greenhouse and some on our south trellis in the square foot beads. The pods are doing well and I think we'll be eating them soon as well. Our tomatoes in the greenhouse and in the south boxes already have large fruits and the romas are doing well in the main garden bed. Peppers are all flowering as well and we have a number of baby peppers.

Our big excitement is our spaghetti squash. They are getting so large that we had to make our first cradle for one the other day. A cradle is a nylon or mesh support attached to the netting to prevent there from being to much weight on the stem. I'll be sure to take a picture of the cradle and post it soon.

Mike and I have had some interesting conversations lately about the value of all this fresh gardening and how few people is western society actually eat really fresh vegetables. I think they are so much better that even farmer's market veggies and they are way better than the supermarket. It's clearly great that they are organic and that they are more nutritious if eaten directly after picking. However, it's the taste that keeps me gardening.

Front yard environment

Mike and I have been pretty serious this last year about reducing our environmental footprint. We are done most of the easy "change your light bulbs" stuff, and much of the medium "compost" stuff, and we are starting to move into the deeper and more challenging commitments, also know as "that really weird environmental stuff." One of our big changes in that direction has been growing as much of our own food as possible.

Our garden, square foot beds and greenhouse have been a part of that transformation. Our next stage has been reducing our grass in the front yard to reduce the need for watering. We've been avoiding fertilizers and chemical weeders for about 5 years, and our grass shows it. Mike also under waters it because he secretly hates large front lawns.

Anyway, we had our second half of the retaining wall built last weekend and started to lift the turf. I first tried this method when I was 8 months pregnant with Leora (in Meadow Lake). You cut up thin strips of turf, maybe no larger than a brick. Then you pick up two of the strips and alternate scrubbing and banging them so that a lot of the dirt is removed from the turf. This has two advantages:

1. You keep a good chunk of your top soil so you don't need to buy more
2. There is a theoretical possibility that your compost pile can keep up with all the turf you are adding.

I made Mike dig some last week in a rainstorm, but this weekend we had great weather, and girls and I dug up the remaining grass in our bed on Saturday. The bed has kind of a strange shape (Jaime says its phallic, but it might be her preoccupation) because we had to dig it to cover the tire tracks in our lawn.

From Garden june 26

After we dug the bed, we added 4 wheelbarrows of compost and 1 large bale of peat to improve the soil and I was ready to plant. We put in two saskatoons and two blueberries as foundation, then build the bed around it. I added 5 tomatoes we'd been growing on the deck, romaine lettuce, basil and a variety of perennials and annuals. I also dug up and transplanted perennials from the backyard.

My mom is planning to send me some bulbs for the fall and I left room for them, but I am really pleased with the result. It looks like a flower bed (which it partially is) but also acts like a vegetable plot (although a sparsely planted one). I am going to keep working on this principle as we lift more turf over the next several years.

On a side note, the back yard garden is doing really well. The peas are now flowering and we are eating lots of strawberries. Mike is relieved to see baby apples on the tree and we've been eating lots of lettuce. I think we'll eat our first zucchini this week. Click on the link under the picture to see garden pictures from this week.

From Garden june 26

At play. . .

Who says a Wendy doesn't know how to play? I have been having so much fun in my yard this week. The pictures show me harvesting lettuces and loving up some of my favorite early summer flowers including:

• three types of iris
• three types of bleeding hearts
• Blue bell flower
• clematis
• chives
  

Mike has been hauling rocks like a crazy person and also bought us a 27 year supply of straw at $2 a bale. We put the straw on the strawberries and raspberries to deal with the lack of rain. I think it looks pretty good, although I am not wild about the extra straw storage behind the garage.

We have had 4 days of plus 30 weather and things in the yard have really responded. The tomatoes and peppers are starting to flower and we have our first baby cucumber and spaghetti squash. Mike and I are like a couple at their first ultrasound. We keep looking at baby veggies and wondering if they are just female flowers or actually germinated. Mike has lots of little cherries, which he feel good about.

In addition to gathering rocks, Mike has been out raping and pillaging the landscape in my name. He has returned with a sucker Saskatoon (we hope) and some year one roses from the bush in our park. He also got another cherry tree from his uncle Kent. I am not sure where he envisions all this going, but for now it is some is living in pots on the deck. Our plan to divest large chunks of the front yard of grass will likely provide a home for many things, although the soil will really need some compost.

We put up our pool this weekend and had our first swim today with the girls. Since its really hot out and we are trying to avoid using our air, the dip before bed is a big help.  It's been hard to cool the house without the cats escaping because Merry has figured out how to open the screen door by hanging off of it. We have jury-rigged an elastic system that currently contains her.

Another cold Sunday

Yesterday there was a delightful high of 8 degrees, but today we are heading out into the garden in bold defiance of our bitter spring. We've been forced to water with the hose, as the spring has been mostly dry in addition to cold. When Mike turned the compost yesterday we found that it was doing virtually nothing because it was too dry to rot much, so we had to water it.

We are currently eating:

• Spinach
• Herbs, especially mint and basil
• Rocket
• Rhubarb
• Romaine
• Chives

Mike made a great batch of stewed rhubarb yesterday and we had it on our blueberry pancakes. I'm mixed into Mike's homemade yogurt. It's great that way.

The spinach is doing really well, and we've been enjoying several other lettuces for salads. We've also been having chives and spinach in virtually everything. I've made grilled vegetable panini with the basil and feta for an extra punch and Mike made a great omelet using the basil as well. Basil often dies or grows very slowly for us during the spring. We have it in the greenhouse where it is doing well, and the one in the yard is under a cloche.

Cloching seems to be working well for the corn and are melons and gourds. Given the type if spring we are having, they should be mostly dead. The corn has even continued to grow after multiple -8 types of temperatures. Who knows if it will be too stressed to do well.

Currently flowering or up in the garden:
All the same things are flowering as last week, but the raspberries and cucumber have started. We've seen almost no bees, which is very worrisome. Mike thinks we'll have few apples. The ants have been looking after the low growing things like the cherry and strawberries, but they won't be good enough for the raspberries, so we need bees soon or there won't be much of a crop. Mike and I would also like to mulch the raspberries with straw, but we haven't found anywhere to get it.

Peas, beans, kohlrabi, beets and onions are all up. We don't have parsnips yet and the carrots are really patchy. We don't really know why that always happens - any suggestions on germinating carrots would be appreciated.

Flowering perennials

• iris (three types of bearded)
• lilac
• lily of the valley
• tea roses
• purple clematis
• snow crop
• bleeding hearts
• blue grass
• anemones
• chives

The most exciting news is that we found some free stone on Kiji yesterday and we get to go pick it up today. We can use it as a mini retaining wall in the front to solve some of the dryness issues created by the slope and the pine tree. We've been having so much fun working in the yard this year, and the rocks will help solve a problem we've been worried about. Last night Anna and Ian took the girls (thanks guys) and we spent too much time just admiring the yard and thinking about the rocks. Anna was kind enough to want to look around the yard and Ian was indulgent enough not to complain in front of us :-)

I'll post a cool series of pics of the garden past and present soon.

Blooming in the start of June

I'm going to track the state of my fruits and vegetables this year to help myself keep track of things for years to come. Despite my despair dealing with the cold, I am excited about all the things that are blooming in the garden.

We are currently eating:

• Asparagus (just finished the last batch)
• Spinach
• Herbs
• Rocket
• Rhubarb

Currently flowering and edible:

pumpkins
squash
zucchini
strawberries
apple tree
cherry tree
chives
sage (brought out from inside)
red currents

Flowering perennials

• tulips
• iris
• grape hyacinths
• lily of the valley
• tea roses
• purple clematis
• snow crop
• bleeding hearts (pink only)
• blue grass

We haven't had any rain in a week and a half and are watering with tap water, which is too bad. We've been discussing the purchase of an additional rain barrel for next year. Mike and I are hoping to avoid using city water as much as possible.

The weeds are pretty happy with the burst of wet and heat, and for the next several weeks Keith's elms will be dropping seeds on everything. June is the worst month for weeds in general in the yard.

Slow Spring

From Garden Spring 2009

Well, it's June and you'd never know it by looking at my yard. Mike and I have embarked on an ambitious or insane (depending on your perspective) series of practices designed to reduce our environmental impact.

We began by using a grow table Mike got from a friend to start seeds for ourselves, James and Anna. Then we moved the seeds out into the greenhouse Dad helped us build last summer.
We were planning on getting the jump on spring to give ourselves a longer growing season and helps try some veggies that struggle to make it in Zone 3. In early April, we moved our tended plants out to the greenhouse only to see three weeks of temperatures 10 to 20 degrees C below normal. We planted our corn and had to cover it constantly to protect it from repeated snow and temperatures of minus 8 at night. Last week, it finally warmed up to be seasonal.

I was so excited to my plants start to actually grow (they'd been hunkered down just above soil level for 4 weeks) and we finally planted our garden. This year we are experimenting with square food gardening for the first time, so some planting is still to come.

New vegetables this year:

• spaghetti squash
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• soy beans
• rocket
• purple pole beans

Mike's experiments that I predict will die:

• watermelon
• pumpkin

All this exciting plenty has Mike and I touring the yard, ecstatically probing the dirt to see what is up. We have beans, carrots, peas, kohlrabi and beets all germinating just in time for the happy news. Great news this morning -more cold weather on the way and risk of frost tonight.