Weeds At Home - a.k.a. dog-pee-free wild greens

Pulled up some purslane on the way home from work a while ago. Couldn't get the roots out of the crack in the cement so I wasn't sure it would root. I put the stems in a cup of water like I would for spider plants but weeks later only one of them had the barest nubin of a root. I decided maybe they didn't like the water since they were starting to wilt, and as a last ditch effort I planted the stems (still rootless) in a pot of very damp dirt.

I've kept them damp with a daily dribble of water right where they're planted and they've sprung back so much in the past few days I'm certain they're growing roots now. Looking forward to potting some more "weeds" and having a winter window garden full of wild greens.

TL;DR = Purselane prefers in soil rooting. 

A Week After The Move

So it's been a long week. Moved Monday and been busy all week unpacking and getting ready for the housewarming party. We had a few friends over for the afternoon. 

Mmmmmm... Gluten-free Snacks!

Tonight I've come back to the old place to share pizza and super hero shows.  First thing I did when I got here was the weed the garden of course. :)

There's lots of the little keys sprouting around the edges but guess what! There's also plenty of stuff I actually plantedc growing too. 

Yay!

Weekend Transformation

This weekend it was time to tackle the front yard. 

Perfect for gardening.

Obligatory Before Shot

Last fall we got London Landscape Inc. to tear up the overgrown lawn, put down some proper topsoil, and cover it all with landscape cloth to keep weed seeds out. It was completed on time and on budget and I was very pleased. Unfortunately the snowplough decided to tear a strip off the yard near the side-walk. Yay.

Friday on the way home I grabbed some Growers Cider cause I knew after a long day of gardening I was gonna want something sweet and cool to drink. Saturday I spent the morning poking around the house and after brunch around noon I got to work.

First thing to do was go out back to the shed for some tools. as I was opening the shed I heard something behind me and managed to take this pic over my shoulder without startling the lil robin.

So Cute!

The yard was going to need edging and stepping stones in order to look tidy and be functional. I started with the heavy stuff first(thank goodness). I lifted the landscape cloth I found a few surprise grass sprouts, then started digging a trench for the edging stones. Around the edge the new topsoil wasn't nearly as deep so I quickly hit what was out original soil. I packed the gaps with dirt and rocks to prevent run-off. 

Clay and sand are not the best soils.

Four done, plenty to go.

Grass has got to be my most disliked weed.

Last fall when London Landscape Inc was coming I dug out the rosebush meaning to keep it in the basement over winter.... It over wintered in the carport. I'm not 100% certain that it'll grow again but roses are insanely resilient (I had a bush trying to grow from a 1" clipping last year) so there's no harm trying. I burred it deep and watered it well.

This is all that can be seen of the poor rosebush I dug up in the fall and left in the carport.

At this point it was almost supper, rain was threatening and I was tired so I figured it was time to call it a day.

Borders complete, stepping stones placed, rose bush re-situated.

I put up my feet for a bit and enjoyed a cider before dinner. After Dinner, Meg and I cuddled on the couch and watched some TV. The cats slept nearby keeping us company.   :)

A well earned drink to relax with.

They're so cute when they're not fighting.

- - - - - ~ - - - - -

It rained Saturday night and I slept fairly well but woke up sore all over. I am SO glad that all I left was the planting. I settled the stepping stones a little lower in the soil for stability, made and anchored a trellis, and made a little... entry arch? near the porch to show the intent of the stepping stones and that they're not there just for some weird artistic reason.

I bought a nice blend of perennials and self-seeding annuals for the base/filler from West Coast Seeds. I bought a bunch of bulbs from the dollar store, and I still have a variety of various seeds from previous excursions into gardening. I wanted it to be a nice low to no maintenance garden. Other than watering I think the only work involved might be taking the dead nasturtium vines off the trellis in the fall. I didn't plant anything to... obviously food... in the front yard but there's some useful plants in with the just-for-decoration flowers.

I planted some helpful flowers like lavender, chamomile, and calendula. To most they'll just be pretty flowers but if the new renters know their herbs, they'll be happy to have them. I also planted the whole length of the neighbour's driveway with garlic and onions. If they're recognised they'll be tasty, if not, they'll be basic greenery with the occasional round flower ball. :)

Sunday morning from inside before I started.

All Done.

Now I know garden folk love progress pics and I will let you know when everything starts sprouting, but I'm moving in two weeks so I won't be back to take pics regularly... just occasionally. :)

Weedy Saturday

The little path between our house and the neighbour's driveway was becoming over run with weeds. I fixed it.

Before

After

And for my troubles I got a PILE of green stuff to compost. Win-win.  :)

Compost goodies hauled off.

Anxious

• I'm awaiting word on sweetpotato slips from a seller since I can't seem to sprout my own
• I'm waiting for my mom to call so I know when I see her tomorrow(she lives 1 1/2 hrs away)
• I'm waiting for all the little green things in the garden to get big enough to ID as food or weed
• I'm waiting for someone to claim the stray cat that showed up in our neighbourhood last week
• I'm waiting for the salad greens to mature and start to look like leaves not sprouts.
• I'm waiting for various job posters to call me about my resume
• I'm waiting for the day's to get longer and warmer so I can get more into the garden

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?

Gone in a Flash

Well maybe if a week is a flash.

And as quickly as dandelion season started, it ended.

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.

Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

Remember back in early December when the water was up over the graffiti? Well now it's so low you can see the gravel. This just re-enforces my decision to buy a rain barrel.

This is the local community garden. All I kept thinking was "why all the weeds?" and "where's all the gardeners?"
Guess they'll show later in the season.

See All the Green?

Yay! Except... no, not really.

All those tall grass looking things are rye. Apparently when I scooped dirt from the garden I brought in some rye seeds too. The teeny-tiny sprouts are what I planted, and the one lettuce has yet to sprout at all. The tall "sprout-looking" sprouts(aka "hairy roots") I assume are the radishes because they're the fastest growing thing I planted.

The poor mint hasn't shown any spouts either (I planted a few seeds dead center). Looks like maybe they were too old. I've snipped at the soil every sprout that I'm over 95% sure is rye. In a  few days we'll see how the rest are doing.

Front garden weeded

Before (roses trimmed back, no weeding done)

Not bad for a lazy Saturday morning

Spent about a half hour in the back yard this morning. The plan was to pull up any remaining wood along the edge of the patio and dig up the half pavers to even up the large bed.

Mission Accomplished

Turns out the dirt and gravel I thought were obscuring the view of the pavers... were actually in place of most of them. There were only three large brick type pieces separating the patio from the wood framing the garden. The rest was this:

Gravel mixed with dirt. Lovely isn't it?

So it looks like I'll be picking gravel out of my garden all next year... but hopefully it'll be all gone by the following season.

In combination with info from a Google search, I had a thought, while I was digging this morning, that should save us some money on the set up.