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?

Banana Bread Bites, Sort Of

I decided I was going to make bite-sized banana bread today. 

I found a nice gluten-free recipe on Shape.com and tweaked it to what I wanted/had available. I didn't want to use the cherries or raisins, and I did want to use mini chocolate chips. I had two bananas in the freezer waiting to be banana bread and I was a fool thinking I could do without the third. I swapped out buckwheat flour for rice flour and used potato starch instead of corn starch.  

Made a dozen normal size.and two dozen of the adorably teeny size. (lip balm for scale)

I'm not posting the changes I made as a new recipe because it came out really dry... like, butter or drink of milk needed to swallow dry. They're tasty, but Oh So Dry!. Next time I'm going to make sure to use all 3 bananas, and I'm going to mix the chips into the batter instead of sprinkling them on top.

January thaw.

Last weekend we had a run of days over freezing and it melted all the snow. Warmer temperatures are good for the compost but it hardly looks like winter any more. The cats were trying to use Bed #7 as a litter box when there was snow on it so I put down an old folded dog crate we had laying around and the metal mesh has seemed to put a stop to that.

West side.

East side.

Look at What I Found!

I just have to say... This is so awesome. 

I'm going to post the weather reports every month! Squee!

From wunderground.com They are amazing.

They're Here!

Lokit Teh Pretyz!

As you can see, there's a hefty little block of the ground cover, and the carrots got swapped. Westcoastseeds.com has the option to let them send a similar packet of seeds instead of putting something on back order. I said sure and wound up with Ya-Ya carrots instead of the Scarlet Nantes. The description for Ya-Ya on the site says:

"Smooth skinned, uniform Nantes type carrots that perform all season long. Plant from spring to late summer for a continuous supply of delicious 17cm (7") carrots." 

It's in the same type I chose so I'm not picky. This means I now have all the seeds we need this year and the only thing left to buy is the herbs for the spiral. 

Compost Update

There's not much to be done in a garden like mine while it's covered in snow...

but the compost always needs taking out. 

Obligatory before shot. Please note the multiple inches of snow, and the slight excavation in the centre.

Some critter had decided to dig for buried treasure but it wasn't very disturbed. I scraped off as much snow as I could before putting the kitchen scraps and used pine based cat litter down and covering it all with shredded newspaper. The cats were using the great outdoors as their litter box but it seems the cats have decided it's now too cold and snowy to go outside so they're using their litter again.

Yay me.

I moved one of the stick bundles and a log to the in-use pile as cover. It probably won't keep the snow off but it will keep the newspaper from blowing around and discourage digging.

You can see a bit of the snow layer left around the edges. 

BROWNIES!

I made these yesterday afternoon for desert with dinner.

I must say, they were very well liked.

I got the recipe for these lovely temptations from Chocolate-covered Katie. They are not only awesomely delicious, but are gluten-free(good for me) and full of good stuff like protein. I've written the recipe how I did it. For the original, click the link to Katie's blog.

Seeds are on Order!

The Easy Care ground cover blend should keep us from having to mow grass around the front beds while still keeping a neat and pretty appearance. I may have ordered a tiny bit too much considering the area covered by the beds but I'd rather over seed than under seed, especially in pathways.

Instead of getting multiple packets of various seeds that I'd only want about 4 of each at a time, I chose a wild-flower blend for the front and back. The Partial Shade mix contains a bunch of the flowers I had selected for bed #9 and will also thrive as pollinator attractors in the front flowerbed by the rose and nasturtiums.

The Calibra onions look a lot like the small onions we buy in bags at the grocery store and say they're good for storage. The Walla Walla onions are the over wintering type and will be planted much later in the season for next year's harvest.

We have enough of the Amazing cauliflower seeds from last year for our first crop and I've ordered the Galleon cauliflower seeds to over winter at the end of this season and ripen for May 2014.

Last year I tried in vain to get carrots growing in soil that was too wet, too hard, and too nutritionally devoid. This used up all the seeds I had on hand so I'm buying some new ones to hopefully get a nice full crop this year. I chose the Scarlet Nantes carrots because they're good, basic, standard carrots.

The zucchini I chose is an unusual variety named Ambassador. Instead of creeping or climbing vines, this variety has a central stalk with leaves, flowers, and eventually fruit sprouting from it(Similar to brussel sprouts). This compact design is not only space efficient but it keeps all the produce in one easy to locate spot so they don't get overlooked and old.

I'm planning on buying the herbs, potatoes, raspberries and strawberries from local suppliers (Probably VanLuyk) so I don't have to start the whole spiral from seed and to ensure healthy sprouts. The herb garden won't be producing this year as it'll probably be barely planted in June but it'll have a few leaves to give and a good solid foundation for 2014.