Winter Returned

So the snow came back after some very cold days and blanketed everything. I'm hoping this coating will stay because we could use some build up. The neighbours have their backyard ice rinks and the river's starting to freeze along the banks. Winter seems to have finally come to stay.

I moved the aloe back into the window because it was getting pale in the center.

Looks like it's doing fine now and the  other plants in the front window seem to be doing okay.

Aloe's looking darker.

Lavender's thriving.

Chamomile good, Oregano still small.

Calendula pale, Sage small.

Chives weak but still holding on.

Over all they seem to be doing okay. Do you keep indoor plants? How do you keep them strong and healthy through the cold dark winter months?

Back Garden

So here's the idea on this one:

The beds with a diagonal line though them indicate a change of crop in the August-to-October-ish time of year. There's two kinds on cauliflower. One planted early in the spring that ripens in the summer/fall and another we're planting in the fall to overwinter and produce very early next spring. 

As you know from This Post , the garlic is already in bed 4 and should be ready in summer/fall. Bed 9 was WAY too wet for the carrots, onions and tomatoes planted there last year because of the rain barrel run off flooding it off and on. This year we're using it as a pollinator attractor and moving the hosta from the front garden where it got sun burned to this less exposed spot. The zuchini we're planting isn't the standard vine. It's called Ambassador and actually grows up on a central stalk.

Close ups of the beds:

Beds 1 and 3

Beds 5 and 7

Beds 2 and 4

Beds 6 and 8

Bed 9

What do you think?

Front Garden

Remember how I said the last one was a rough draft... well I meant it.

Here's the latest version and I think this is the one that will stick.

 Re-do of front yard plan with list of herbs for spiral and raspberries along fence.

Here's what that means:

Rough Plan for Front Yard

Now do keep in mind this is a ROUGH plan that isn't exact in placement or sizes. The border of the yard is measured and the rest is sketched in in approximate sizes and spacing. Megan says it looks like a face.

North is up. The front yard is bordered on the west by the walkway to the front door and beside that our driveway, on the north by the house, on the east by the neighbour's driveway, and on the south by the sidewalk that runs along our street. It's about 8-9 feet wide depending on where you measure and about 16 feet long from sidewalk to house.

The paths in the garden are marked by XXXX and are about two feet wide. The cross-hatch against the house indicates a lattice to trellis the wisteria and roses. The wisteria has a ? because I need to gather more info on it before committing. The very south edge of the yard will have common self-seeding annuals and some perennial bulbs. I'm hoping for this section to need the least care and to announce to the neighbourhood that this is a garden, not a random mess of "weeds".

If you don't know what a herb-spiral is or why you'd want one check out this lovely post by Antony at The Kale Yard. The cross hatch pattern at the north side of the herb spiral indicates a small frog pond/wetland area that can be used to grow watercress.

I haven't decided what's going where for most of the plants. Where it says "low ground cover plants" could be anything from forget-me-nots to creeping thyme. The keyholes might turn into something else entirely like Tripod supports for climbers... but here it is. :)

Have you got your 2013 plans started?

Winter Indoor Plant Update

Since winter is officially here as the calender and first snow of the season insist I figured an update on the indoor plants was appropriate. The aloe has recovered well away from the direct light and is enjoying it's time on the stereo. Last weekend I gave it's baby/shoot to a friend. She's named it Medusa and says it's doing well.

The window plants have various levels of success. The lavender seems to be doing fine in it's peanut butter jar. I wrapped a tea towel around the jar holding the paperwhites because the water was going green and I was worried the extra light and heat was slowing root growth. Seems my instincts there were solid because shortly after wrapping it the roots went all over in the jar and the tops started growing. Just two days ago the flowers started blooming. They smell very strongly and similarly to wisteria.

Winter arrived on schedule.

Pretty little white flowers.

The chives in the tower seemed to be getting too much light beside the mirror and some shriveled up. Ironically, to get them away from the strong light I turned them to the window. The rest of the plants seem to be hovering in sprout stage and neither growing nor wilting. I'm not really sure what to do with that.

How are your plants doing?

Lovely Afternoon

Out is the garden, weeding and tidying:

These are radishes,

and these are garlic.

As I was digging a worm just kinda popped up nearby and started squirming away.

Run-away worm!

Closer view.

When the weeding was done I started to tackle the piles of sticks, papers, rocks all over the grassy area.

Too much stuff is/was on the grass making naked dirt.

Hopefully it'll green up again easily

Raked, watered, seeded.

And that was my afternoon. How's your garden coming along?

Warm & Wet

There was a thunderstorm last night. Filled the rain barrel with overflow so everything should start sprouting if this weekend is as warm as they say.

Kinda cloudy and drizly today.

Behind the Broccoli, the peas are doing well.

The trellis mesh will have to go on the bars this weekend so the peas have something to climb.

I am hoping this is kale. Won't know for sure til it's bigger.

These are parsnips or carrots.

These are the baby salad greens,

and these are the chives, finally sprouted.

What's started in your garden?

Sprouting Like Weeds

There comes a certain week every spring where every dandelion for miles blooms at the same time. The rest of the year you can find a small patch here or there, but if you want to make wine, this first flush is when you'll find enough blooming heads... and for the past 4 years, I've missed it every single time. I start out with the best intentions of having everything ready for spring... but one thing happens, then another, and suddenly, it's spring and I'm looking around at all the beautiful dandelions thinking how I wish I had the money go buy the supplies before they all go to seed... but knowing deep down, I've missed  making dandelion wine again.

It's like a yellow haze over every green swatch of land.

Do you have a favourite "weed" you like to use as food?

Getting into the Swing of Spring

I got plenty of weeds pulled this weekend and a bunch more seeds started. (see calendar for details)

Tree sprouts from a neighbor's box elder.

Don't know what these are but I didn't plant them.

New Page!

Put up an About/FAQ page. It will be added to over the next little while.

Would you please comment here with any questions you'd like to see answered?

Thanks. :)

My Empire of Dirt Begins!

Without proper seed starting medium (or seeds for that mater) I still wanted to plant SOMETHING... but what could I do that wouldn't get dug under when we set up the beds in the spring... then I thought GARLIC!

There's cloves of garlic in there waiting to sprout, I swear it.

So the idea is I'll get them to sprout then move them out to the front garden(where we're gonna do flowers & herbs anyway) to winter in the ground so they can grow early and well next spring.

Do any of you over-winter anything?

Seeds and Transplants

My shoulder's acting up again so I woke to ow-ow-ow-ow-ow at 6:30am. Figured since I'm up with Advil in my belly and Arnica jell on my shoulder, I've got the time to post.

Here's the list of plants we're planning to have: