gardenbre3

this year ... my all time favourite-lookers

2011-08-05T13:55:00.004-04:00

I think today, these ones are my favourite looking tomatoes
- just ever so delicately pink blushing on yellow - if my tags
were on correctly (who knows if there were) they are Persimmons!
... and they are ever so slightly velvet-furry a wee bit ...

kale chips, caramelized leeks and rose hips

2010-12-12T14:10:00.012-05:00

I was lazy this year and am starting to think there IS a certain genius to it. Taking so long to go get the kale and the leeks allowed them to reach their full potential and let me attend to 'other', nongarden-related pressing matters. I just chopped the entire kale tops off and yanked all the leeks out about a week ago (Thursday 2 Dec) - just before it got really really cold.

I washed the leeks and caramelized them in EVOO with some organic cane sugar and a little balsamic vinegar. I was shocked that after so much had gone into growing them from seed, etc., I only had a half jar of leek jam.

They are a precious commodity now ... you can almost see them if you squint at this blurry shot of them (see brown in a little bowl in amidst the salami w three french cheeses I picked up at La Fromagerie on Friday). I think I'll just go to the farmers market next year (or maybe plant closer together). How can I give up growing my own leeks? I'll see.

I wiped the kale off and checked every crook & crany for bugs (found a few little guys), ripped it up, threw it into a big bowl and tossed it with EVOO, cayenne pepper flakes, salt and a little sugar (I have since gotten some organic garlic powder which I'm going to toss a few in and try) and ripped it up and put it into the dehydrator ... the chips were done within a few hours. Again, a whole lot of shrinkage!

Back to being lazy ... David gave me a big bag of rose hips and I kept meaning to get to them. They remained underfoot in my kitchen as a reminder of my recalcitrance until now - not that I didn't almost do 'something' with them a few times, but truth ... I wasn't sure what to do ... and 'other', nongarden-related ... (blah blah) ... so today I googled and found what I could do now (that they were shriveled up little knobs of maroon) phew.

All I needed to do was separate them from their thorny stems (as task probably best done wearing gloves) and then I used my kitchen scissors and cut off the furry bits and stems, threw them into the blender and sifted them so the powdery bits and fur fell through.

And voila - now I have a jar of hips for winter tea! And I saved a few seeds from the blades and will google to see if I might be able to try growing roses from seed! There is something about cold stratification I need to look into before they are planted! I have access to a neighbourhood greenhouse so I might want to do this sooner rather than later - stalling on finding out more abut this might just be someplace where laziness might not be smart!

... 'cold stratification' ...

Creeping Charlie

2010-11-07T13:56:00.011-05:00

I've just been told the ground cover (see top right corner and in between all the kale leaves) is something called 'creeping charlie aka Lamiaceae, an aromatic perennial that has been around for a long time and it has been used for many ailments - one of which is ringing in the ears. Now I'm tempted as I've suffered from this for ages!

I loved davesgarden entire blog about Creeping Charlie ... Aunt Bett made tea from its tiny leaves. She said that the tea was a remedy for coughs, but I am here to tell you that when she made it for me it was such a nasty bitter drink that I coughed even more. She added honey to it and told me to drink it anyway. It tasted as terrible as an asphidity bag smelled.

Some sites say it is invasive and can only be taken out with the 'big guns' ...

I think what I will probably have to do is cover the ground with weed cloth and be vigilant next Summer with it. I'll save some for a hanging basket on the roof! I'll be doing more research on how to use it properly because as you may have noticed there are some safety concerns sounded on the wikipedia site that too much of it can make you so sick a horse could abort ... hmmmm (maybe I need to read that one more time) ... off I go!

Putting the Garden to Bed

2010-10-30T12:43:00.002-04:00

I spent a couple of days (only a couple of hours each day) pulling out tomato stakes, undoing the twist ties to save for next year, saving little incised copper nameplates and taking tomato plants out of the ground and getting them off site - just in case they carry any old spores that could ruin next years crop. I am hoping to do a little crop rotation next year where possible. As well, I clipped a fair amount of overgrowth along the edges of the plot and spread oak leaves around. I have left the red mulch plastic and will see how well it protects the ground from weeds come spring. I want to bring more leaves to cover the ground and I have just left all the hoses in place - so I may need to purchase a few new ones for areas I left lie fallow this year - especially if I am planning to use these new areas for my tomatoes.

The temperatures have dropped substantially - I think I was around 10C tops and I've not really attended to this section of the garden - other than to weed out the strawberry patch and put poles beside the berry canes. I placed the fennel fronds along the path in beside the poor old pea patch gone wild. There is still kale, some leeks and herbs (parsley, rosemary, thyme, savory and stevia) to harvest on my next trip back with leaves. But for now - some rest for my aching back!

Day 17 - More Tomatoes (The Final Haul)

2010-09-15T20:30:00.004-04:00

I stopped by the garden on my way home from school ... everyone's garden looks like it mine ... the tomatoes are done (I left a few dangling on the vine but will probably need to pick them green and do something relish-like with them). I will put these ones in the slow cookers tomorrow and water bath can more thick sauce Friday evening.

Here's the batch from last weekend (one medium-size jar lid didn't take - I didn't put the ring on properly).

Today is dedicated to someone I loved

2010-09-09T06:05:00.002-04:00

for you Wayne. The Outdoor Classroom ...

Day 16 - Tonnes of Tomatoes

2010-08-20T22:48:00.008-04:00

These lovlies took about an hour and a half to
pick & bag. I've named them to the best of my
ability below. I've got one tray in the oven
roasting and will dedicate the weekend to dealing
with the rest (again - to the best of my ability).

tomatilloes, chadwick cherries, reisenberg, sweetie, copia

sweet pea, sungold, black eyed peas, savignac

san marzanoes, principe borgeses

red fig, cosmanaught volkov, big ass red,
prudholms purple, azoychucks, rosemary & thyme

Fancy Tomatoes: pink accordian, black from tula
yellow ruffle and persimmon (still my favourites)

black plums and eva purple balls

black brandywine, eva purple ball, black krim

Big Peachy Pink Bottomed Tomato

2010-08-17T12:40:00.009-04:00

Love that this tomatoes butt turned peachy pink as it ripened!
Time to slice into it now.

I am just about to roast and freeze another batch of tomatoes
... a little olive oil brushed over them with salt and the intensity
of flavour is almost more than one can imagine ... I am using a
straight sided mason jar to freeze in and Tattler PBA-free lids,
pressing down on the tomatoes with a circle cut from parchment
to keep them as air-free as possible. Happy Winter Pasta Eating!

Dealing with fruitflies

2010-08-14T11:49:00.008-04:00

... my Desk this morning - what can I say ...

I tried my best to name them in the post below ...

Something I don't like which comes along at this time of year ... fruitflies ...

besides pouncing on a plastic bag fruitfly trap - another way
to capture fruitflies is to set out a shallow pan of apple cider
vinegar with a tiny squirt of dish soap (it breaks the surface
tension) and secure plastic wrap on top then pin prick a lot of
small holes all over the plastic ... wait & watch - they'll come!

Day 15 - Tomato Harvesting

2010-08-13T22:56:00.009-04:00

In just under an hour tonight I managed to harvest
enough tomatoes from the allotment to mean I had to
make two trips to the car - about 5 bags partly full.

Here's the line up - to the best of my abilities!

Tims Black Ruffles almost ripe!

Sweet Peas, Red Figs, Picollo and Black Eyed Pea Pods

Sunny Gold, Yellow Ruffles and Bloody Butcher. In the
Sink the front one is a great big Burrackers Favorite from
Moonshine Territory in the Foothills of the Blue Ridge
Mountains floating with an Ananas Noir (love that name) ...

Red Fig, Principe Borgese et al ...

Random Ruffles (Pink I think), Black Brandywines, Red Figs,
Pricipe Borgese and San Marzano ...

Russian Azoychkas ... This one is supposed to be a meaty,
lemony really quite a good one for both sauces and salsas!

... and last but not least ...

I think today, these ones are my favourite looking tomatoes
- just ever so delicately pink blushing on yellow Persimmon!

Day 14 - aka Gilead & Gardening Day

2010-08-07T17:21:00.070-04:00

... well enough about Gilead - let's get this show on the road ...

... crazy velcro grape-weed coverlet on the entire
garden that I had to rip up & throw out last night!!!

beet & pea garden (somewhere in there - according to my copious & detailed notes of 2010 is a pocket melon too) I HOPE!
BUT ... let us not be easily fooled into thinking those at the far left nor bottom right leaves are melon leaves - they aren't - they're grape-like 'velcro vines'

... according to these same said super detailed notes - with this bit I now notice that's missing (just what made me think because I knew enough this year to put EVERYTHING into one notebook that I'd remember to actually write EVERYTHING down - UGH) Oh well - I can't exactly close said book on my head now and expect info to drop out like I'm shaking basil seeds into a plastic seed-saving bag can I - and especially knowing now I no longer know; ie, a little bit of a mixed up stoner metaphor where no seeds unturned are left in the birdsbrain but no worries - according to this notoriously poor notetaking I do - or don't - it's sort of safe to say that these are NOT the coveted Chantrais Melons from France - known first and foremost for their fragrant sweetness - and secondly for their tasty numiness - ... but let's back it up a bit again right here and remind ourselves that just because it's written in 'the book of me' doesn't mean TOO MUCH the other way either - obviously - though they do look decidedly the same as the ones on another different plant that looks exactly the same one that has the Pumpkins growing on it? Gayla who is more of an expert thinks it's all one big plant - and rightly so - everything's beside each another and there's enough leaves that one - well make that - I for sure - can no longer tell which ones are coming from where anymore - especially with all that crazy velcro grape vine covering everything up ... yes - let's not forget about that or anything anymore ... starting NOW.

velcro vine! ... nasturtiums, stevia, rosemary & thyme (at home rooting) - I HOPE!

... and here are those 'home-rooting' hoardings (woOps - collections) ...

Zucchini Patch (wait for it - you'll be introduced to Zaid later - Zaid the Zuc)

... some san marzanoes (didn't name them - had other things to do)

New Patch beside Zaid's Zuc Patch (notice the
black brandywines & 'o why are THEY elongated
- you ask - don't - just trust - as am I - the
chipmunk that munched on the one on the right
(the bites outta sight) that he's not picking
up the little copper engraved markers using 'em
as menus and gotten 'em all mixed up! Couldn't
have happened ... and pretty safe to say it sure
as heck wasn't me getting name things wrong ...

Kale Patch with Stray Tomatoes, Okra, Fennel,
an Eggplant, Edamame & Weeds (have I mentioned
'weeds' yet ... velcro grape is not the melon
I thought it might be either - it's a weed and
one that won't let go of anything it gets it's
little clinging vines on? To kill it I've been
told I would have to cut it off from the main
stem - and hell if I know if THAT was ever found
last night ... when I get busy I don't stop 'til
I'm dizzy - weeding's like housework)! And yes,
seriously I thought it was a melon and I've been
guiding it's vine up & over & around all Summer
so it would cover certain places and look pretty
(not to mention producing my very own varigated
orange Queen Anne pocket melon deodorant balls).

THE main PATH in - or NOT

In front of the 'hut' ... but can you see it through the grapevine - the hut?

Today's Catch .. the whole haul!

... Gayla said she just throws whatever stuff she gets
sometimes all into a crock pot some nights and lets it
stew ... so that's what I did! I had a slow cooker that
has been waiting for a good reason to strut it's stuff ...
and did it ever ... the peas & beans & okra & kale was
almost entirely flavoured with just some salted lemony
tomatoes, fennel & whatever other garden bits there were.

Too pretty not to post ... especially the little sweet peas.

... leftovers - after 'Chippy' had his fill ... I squished the seeds out of the half eaten tomatoes (Julie, another gardener, if you've been following my earlier blogs you'll be a little familiar with Julie, last night, she told me she was dying to either kill me or the chipmunk for letting these particular tomatoes in MY garden go to 'seed' like that ... or some such ... maybe she said 'waste' whatever ... so 'waste not want not' ... 'I plant some for my friends and some for me - no biggie' ... I decided to save some seeds for Julie) HA.

... and finally as a nod to 'ned the dog', I've given my great big fat zuc the human name, Zaid ... see Gayla's shot here if you missed it on Flickr via Twitter ... (you kinda had to be there - at the BBQ) but trust me ned the dog - try as he might - just can't be a good doggie ... I've known him for a short while and last I saw him after he was drinking and swirling about in the birdbath just after having been called on his trespass - and from up on the pedestal where he was, ned heard his name called and he looked up with a whiskery smile poised to sit - like a good doggie - but just ever so short as usual of getting it quite right - yet again) ... I turned away as Gayla shot him ... for sure when he heard his name called he thought he was getting a treat! Not very opaque - that ned - quite unlike Seattle wes who got someone named Judy to try to help him hitch a ride to Toronto mind you. Is this post over yet? OK - almost.

Zaid was waiting for me on the kitchen floor this
morning. The name, Zaid, is African for growing
big (or something like that - I think). He kind
of scared me a little when I went to make coffee.

Day 13 - The Mouse(s) + Weeding and Tomato Tying

2010-07-17T22:27:00.031-04:00

So this looks like a boring and bad photo of uninteresting gardening tools on weeds I know. And it is! However ... (and I pause here for emphases - lest any of you forget this little 'what the Sam Hell from last week') ... this photo of scissors and tomato ties over weeds is what might be referred to as my establishing shot for movies I made of the little soft furry brown mouse (which in retrospect might have been one mouse or two or three) that was in my garden yesterday.

I had just tossed these things onto the pile of weeds I'd just spent an hour or so pulling up and was holding my flip cam and having a rest on my little yellow plastic kiddie chair plopped on said pile of weeds wiping sheets of sweat from my brow with a clean black sock I'd resiliently rescued from my bag of (gardening) 'tricks' ... and right there from under my newly yanked weeds not a foot from my feet popped up the little brown mouse with something in it's mouth (something small and brown ... maybe a nut ... or better yet one of it's babies. I don't know). I just know that instead of jumping up on my chair and screaming, "Help - a mouse!" (or something earth-shatteringly loud that might even have gotten me permanently evicted from the allotment gardens for good), I pressed the button and began filming (after it was gone mind you) ... and I stopped a few short moments afterwards and realized I'd almost captured a moment. Phew. What fun.

I got very proactive then ... once I had the thought that it might return to get more babies or nuts. Mice don't just have one. If it was a nut then I was stuck waiting - like one! But no matter - I perched on the edge of my little plastic yellow chair ... if this was for National Geographic in the jungles of Africa ... there would be no one more patient sitting-in-wait. Within about 30 seconds the mouse came running back and disappeared under the pile of weeds (remember I am sitting on the pile of weeds) ... but thankfully I am wearing rubber boots up to my knees and my pants are tucked in ... I am verging on being slightly delirious with joy just because it returned ... I got my finger on the camera button and readied myself for a third round, took the 'small game hunter pose' not even caring if anyone walked by or saw me or not ... (surely, if they did, they'd not talk to me crouched intently over like this which I knew was to my full advantage and I gained confidence that all was right in my universe and knowing now the little guy would most likely return with another nut or baby in it's mouth to take it where it had brought the other one, etc).

He/she/it/them did it again ... popped back out of the weeds not a foot from my foot and disappeared quickly out of sight over to the right. This time I was confident I'd captured it and even held the button down extra long before letting up on it. I realized I needed to be careful not to crush the camera. I held steadfast, my hands were sweating as well, I'd flung the sock so there was no more getting any help from it, no matter, I used my soily shirt and was ready when the mouse(s) reappeared, stopped looked at me and disappeared under the weeds and I watched and filmed the weeds moving between my legs and under the little yellow chair ... and here's where I took a road less traveled and got creative over a mouse and under distress ... and did a camera pan to my face ... and made a face ... not a very flattering face ... but this wasn't about me it was about the mouse ... and the whole documentation of it ... as a little reality star of sorts I suppose and I had just become one of those annoying side kick characters that gives context to what is happening (not exactly how I would've done it if I'd planned ahead) ... the little guy came out and went in a few more times ... or maybe it was it's wife or cousins coming & going ... all so Mouse-atouille. They really played it up for the lens ... drank water pooling now under my feet from the hose over watering the tomato patch beside me, looked up at me and ran in confused little circles and ran back under my weeds between my legs and my kiddies' chair legs ... and I caught it all - and not to be outdone I even panned in on myself, again, this time holding up 2 fingers and then 3 indicating there might be a couple or even a few more ... ie, different ones - wink wink nudge nudge ... you know how we all think 'they' all look alike ... well not so - and these guys kept going and wouldn't let up ... 'til it got so that I was getting really tired filming (maybe it was the adrenalin leaving my body and me hitting my stride) but hey I stayed with and caught their every move on camera - in living - hi def - colour ... or so I thought. When I came home and actually downloaded all my shots, this still is all I have of this. HA. How I even actually got that now I'll never know.

Quiet on the Set. After all the ruckus I got this shot ... what you'd see (minus me) if you were walking by when filming was taking place.

On arrival it looked like this ... all crazy with weeds!

I got a fair amount done before the ruckus broke out ... weeding & tying tomatoes up

Day 12 - Watering during the big heat wave (6 July)

2010-07-06T20:48:00.008-04:00

Tomatoes are progressing really well ... none were wilting & it's
not rained in a week (good to know they can be left this long)...

The basils are getting dwarfed by the huge tomatoes ... maybe it
wasn't such a good idea to put them right in the middle! Hmmm ...

I took this to show how tall the tomatoes are already (at least 4 feet)

The herb garden - maybe next year I'll create a more formal space! Ya ...

Flox! I brought a big bunch home. It smells so nice. In the b/g
are the potatoes before I put the chicken wire cage around them and
dumped a huge amount of soiless mix over them ... and then a whole
bag of compost when it didn't look like barely enough to cover them!

I spent about 2 hours watering - everything looked fine but I thought I'd be proactive. It is supposed to rain again on Thursday evening or Friday. The soil did look like it was dry. How lucky we were to have a wet June and then to have this 5 day stretch of 33C heat without rain ... It is going to cool back down and be in the medium-high 20s after the rain.

What the Sam Hell ...

2010-07-02T18:25:00.002-04:00

OK - now you tell me - What The Hell ... is this
squiggling it's tail beside my soaker hose? I
picked it up with my gloves and the front half
is hard ... it kept vibrating between my fingers!
I'm thinking it's a 'thing'aka pupae aka "pharate"
desperately trying to get out of its chrysalis maybe ...
if so that's cool. If not, it's not cool - alien creature
- go away - ewwww!

Day 11 - The Weedings

2010-07-02T17:55:00.023-04:00

But first the tomatoes ...

and some more tomatoes!

And patches needing weeding ... the Tomato Patches

At halftime weeded areas ... strawberry patch and lettuces, beets, kale and edamame someday maybe ...

Day 10 - More plants in + some weeding! Early Tomato Blight?

2010-06-21T21:50:00.010-04:00

I decided to put in a couple of hours at the allotment before the big three day rainstorms hit. I brought a tray of peppers and eggplants that I'd not found room for on the roof knowing I had space in the original tomato patch to plant more veggies and I filled the red tarp with edamame, eggplants and three different peppers (jalapeno, buran red and cayenne - I think) ... I even found some healthy looking derelict tomatoes hanging about in cups (I honestly have no recollection of bringing them - they were obviously given to me - I'm thinking at the swap - I really didn't think I took more tomatoes - what was I thinking (oh just one more wouldn't hurt - there were at least 6 though - oh six more couldn't hurt! huh?) ... I finally got the little Zapotec in (it's one I grew from seed that wasn't doing so well but then it picked up - it likes lots of heat as it's Mexican ... maybe it's that much more tempermental because of that I don't know)

Here's what I really accomplished tonight - getting more of these plants into the ground ... here it is almost the end of June but I notice an awful lot of other gardeners are really behind this year. I've been on time for most of the garden - just a few stray bits and bobs that I keep finding that I have left over after heavy planting days.

I spent about 15 minutes weeding the herb patch. I lost the French tarragon ... I don't seem to have any luck with it where I put it so I won't be planting it there again ... this time it was overrun by weeds (maybe that's what happened to it before as well) ... poor delicate little thing. The rosemary was sturdy enough underneath them and even the parsley kind of survived. I brought home a little dill - I hope I can get it growing successfully on the roof (it's in water now along with a little oregano). The oregano had black dots all over it so I yanked a good bit of it out and piled it in the path along with all the other weeds I pulled tonight. That's something that works quite well - drying the weeds on the path where they smother the other weeds so I don't have to weed the paths.

I really wish I could remember for sure what the small basil globes are (I think it's the Thai) ... I couldn't bring myself to take any leaves from two of them after I saw how asymmetric the first one I plucked looked after.

Also I noticed that there are some white dots on the lower leaves of many of my tomato plants which I think might be early tomato blight. I looked up an organic solution which I'll try after all the rain stops. Looks like Friday!

Here's the recipe!

Baking Soda Spray
For anthracnose, early tomato blight, leaf blight and spots, powdery mildew, and as a general fungicide
Sodium bicarbonate commonly known as baking soda has been found to posses fungicidal properties. It is recommended for plants that already have powdery mildew to hose down all the infected leaves prior to treatment. This helps to dislodge as many of the spores as possibly to help you get better results. Use as a prevention or as treatment at first signs of any of the diseases.

To make: Mix 1 tablespoon baking soda, 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil with one gallon of water. Shake this up very thoroughly. To this mix add 1/2 teaspoon of pure Castile soap and spray. Be sure to agitate your sprayer while you work to keep the ingredients from separating. Cover upper and lower leaf surfaces and spray some on the soil. Repeat every 5-7 days as needed.

The tayberry was sporting a red 'black berry' which I ate and one of the pumpkins was sporting a blossom which I left (for now).

Day 9 - Tomato Staking

2010-06-17T21:14:00.009-04:00

It rained enough that I didn't go to the allotment for a week and then the forecast was for more rain so I decided to head out of town for a week since I knew watering wouldn't be a problem. Yikes! Two weeks and two foot weeds! Almost all my tomatoes had grown a couple of feet as well without having been staked - HA - a pretty knarly sight of sideways growth - they were all taking a nice little nap on the red mulch cover cloth when I got there. So instead of popping just a few more tomatoes in I spent the day weeding and twisting ties around poles and snapping bottom stems and the 'inbetweeny' stems out of the top stems. Owy-owy owy -my fingernails hurt - and it's not helping that I am typing this now.

It was supposed to have only been 25C but holy crow it was hot but when I took breaks from staking the toms I worked the soil to plant my two new raspberry plants in (I soaked them for a few hours and the soil they were going into) and I dug up some soil to pile up around the potatoes which had grown two foot stems where no stems had been before, too, and by the time I made it home - here's how dirty I was ... I was so filthy I had to get cleaned before having my bath!

... a little visual of what met me at the gate! ... and the 'aftershots'!

... new patch 'at atten-tion"!

Check out the beans with bug bites & berry plants waiting to go in ... and then voila - I now have 6 berry plants along the far side!

... and beside the berries is the new strawberry pop up! ... sorry too tired to turn the photo - you can tilt your head right!

Day 8 - Vegs IN

2010-05-25T21:44:00.008-04:00

I went to the allotment again today after work around 7:30 pm and beat the 30 C heat. I brought two
trays of vegs and got most in (5 kale + 1 = 6 total), 20 fennel, 11 basils, 5 okra, 3 sour cucs, 2 zucs, 2
pumpkins, 1 chanterelle melon, 1 pocket melon, a hollyhock, lettuces, parsley and some lemon thyme.
I walked around with the melon trying to figure out the best spot for it and circled the garden twice to
realize there is no really perfect spot for it I don't think if it is to really ramble about so I just basically
kind of closed my eyes and put one by the lettuce where it can travel up the hut and the other by the
compost where it can fight with the two pumpkins for the fence by the forest. The zucs can have the
far fence and maybe it can visit that guys plot who never comes after being accused of poisoning dogs.

Day 7 - 18 more tomatoes IN

2010-05-25T10:37:00.010-04:00

There were 37 tomato plants put in Day 6 and Day 7 I got 18 more in
... doing the math ... that's 55 tomatoes ... I said 56 from the start and
I'm sure I can rustle up another one from somewhere to hit my target
but I won't! I have quite a few to go in on the roof as well but I'm going
to wait until Saturday when I take Gayla's workshop on container tomatoes
so I know I'm doing everything correctly and can ask questions!

I am sore and even with having put on tons of sunscreen, I can still feel a
little tingle from the sun. Nothing too over the top maybe it's windburn ...
from my bending over and back up so often?

The new tomato patch with 10 tomatoes (black brandywine,
white queen, black krim, beefsteak, eva purple ball, ponderosa
pink, black plum, alicante, black plum, hillbilly, sun gold) ...

Four tomatillos this year (each year I've added another plant)!

The little shaded veggie patch is doing very well.

I pulled up these out of the tomato beds and need to separate them
and find a new place for them -but maybe I'll pickle some of them.

I found a little skull near the new zoo poo pile when I was digging
up some plantain weeds (good for your skin). I break the leaves & use
them to rub on my skin after I'm bit by stinging nettles - it really works.

Day 6 - Original Tomato Patch DUG

2010-05-23T14:42:00.005-04:00

When I arrived at 11:30 am, this is where the sun was ... it means the little lettuce patch does get a fair amount of shade and then some sun which is perfect!

I spent about 2 hours pulling weeds and aerating the soil in a 4 x 10' area before dumping one and a half loads of zoo poo. After I punched a few holes in the soaker hose I put the red mulch plastic over it but decided not to plant the tomatoes I'd brought because it was still too hot and I wasn't sticking around to water and rewater.

Here's the red mulch on the original tomato patch ...

Day 4 - 36 Tomatoes IN (phew)

2010-05-23T08:32:00.004-04:00

I spent an evening this week weeding and conditioning the soil with water and manure from the second dump brought from the zoo to the allotment (at one point it was gnu poo now its just called zoo poo with nothing new though I thought when I was shoveling ..it into my bucket I detected some things a little fresher than other bits). The large patch took two 2/3 loads and the little ones just one).

... ahh 24 hardened off tomatoes in already with ruffled stunners front and center

It took a little pushing and pulling to get the hoses to line up as right as rain in the paste patch and to still get a little action in with the herbs ... running the hoses for 4 hours still doesn't do to much on these little patches so a good hose squirt will be needed if it doesn't rain. The large patch has a central leak which is useful ... so useful I almost thought about springing a few more with my poker but I'll see how the summer goes before I actually do it next year (maybe).

I filled the cherry patch and just put the red figs into the paste patch so far ... I have another red fig sunning itself on the roof and three or four san marzanos and a gold paste so this will fill up quickly. I noticed that I could add another one or two between the two patches and still be able to get at them all (so that may have to happen)

Nice overview ...

There is a husband and wife team that has an Echo like mine (there's is silver and a little newer) but I struck up a conversation with them about it one day as we were leaving together. I wave at them - they really work hard together in their little plot. Yesterday the husband was there on his own and he stopped by for a chat. Afterwards he brought me some buttery soft lettuces to plant and offered me some bean seeds if I wanted them. I let him know I had some and was glad to hear they could go in now. I might try some. Lots of people now say hi to me ... we seem to have a really nice group in the allotment.

Pickling workshop

2010-05-22T12:31:00.001-04:00

I just attended a pickling workshop in Barry's kitchen with yougrowgirl founder, Gayla Trail. It was fun and enlightening.

A good reason to attend a contemporary workshop on canning is to get up-to-date information on new methods because you really don't want to get it wrong and possibly compromise the life of your friends & family ... let alone jeopardize your own good health! Good idea to purchase books that accommodate changes that have taken place at least during your own latest blue jeans lifetime. As well it is a good thing to compliment your knowledge with information from this side of the ocean since guidelines vary from country to country and you know how far ahead of the world we are here in Toronto (and how far into my cheek my tongue is pressed)! Gayla addressed foods that are in season right now as well and she brought produce the day before from our local farmers market. One favourite book Gayla recommended that isn't seen on the book pile because we're thumbing through it is Well Preserved.

Some of what was brought to the table is growing right now in my own garden (ok so I won't be attempting asparagus anytime soon nor fiddleheads (see below) ... but I think I have a whole array of alliums to pickle) and so I will be able to put some of my knowledge to the test immediately which is quite exciting ... ok ok ... if we can find the time because gardening season is bearing down upon us like a 7am Go Train at full-steam entering Union Station so I don't know about you but (note to self) I really must pick my own clip up as I'm jamming timely information into my noggin enroute and maybe put the books down and stand up and get out.

We had an amazing sampling of recent foods Gayla canned ... lemon rind with fiddleheads (best to blanche them to get all the little brown bits out and to tenderize), green garlic with no sugar - quite an amazing taste - not at all unlike cocktail onions one would find in one of those cocktails from the 50's, asparagus with a little organic sugar to offset the vinegar ... we had some lemon balm with earl grey tea and later had some seltzer water with mojhito mint syrup before heading off to lunch at the Palmerston Cafe(which incidentally has finished renovations) with a stop at the new little shop next to it called Provenance that recently opened beside the restaurant.

Next week Gayla is doing a hands-on container planting workshop and I'll be there with gloves on and pencil in hand scribbling illegible notes again! I'm an experiential learner - no getting around it - I can read and listen to people talk all I want but it's not until I get my paws grubby that things sink into my muscles memories (and I might as well do it alongside someone who actually knows & shows what they are doing).

Day 4 - Went late in the day but the sun was even HOTTER

2010-05-20T21:44:00.008-04:00

I had to get out after spending the day working indoors. What a great balance gardening provides to all the 'office work' I'm doing of late.

I couldn't believe how hot it was late in the day today ... 28C and nowhere to get away from the sun so I set up a little portable shade for myself as a yanked weeds. Hauling manure meant I had to be in the sun so I did roll on extra sunscreen (which doesn't really go with flipping soil much less slinging manure). Before I left I sank up to my ankle in a mud hole I'd created trying to get an entire 'feature film's worth' of ants to leave the little spot they'd chosen at the side of the tomato patch. I hosed the mud off and left with a soaker. I was a right mess by the time I slunk back to the car carrying the rolling cart (which doesn't really do 'bumpy terrain' well). I was able to go about 2" per minute with a full load of poop which was 2" per minute quicker than if I'd not had it - so all in all it was a good think I brought it. I had a load from the day before and just needed one more to cover the new 2009 patch that I weeded.

Today I put in 4 hours and left late but ate while I was there and planted a few things and took water breaks. The entire time I worked I kept the hose on and moving throughout the garden so the soil is getting conditioned for transplanting! Thinking ahead. This is my 3rd year and I can't believe how much more I know than when I began in the garden two years ago. I remember going in with Barry and not understanding a thing he was saying. By the time we left I couldn't remember what he'd said was a weed and what was a treasure. I remember trying to ply Julie for the information again and being as overwhelmed with what she was telling me too. At a certain point, I just bent over and began pulling things out and putting things in.

I got purchases from Fiesta today into the ground and managed to get some out of each of the pots to bring home to the roof as well ... so I can see how well things do in both locations.

I created a little spot for some stevia, sage and winter thyme in the herb patch.

I purchased two new strawberry plants - alpine strawberries (which are to produce this first year and to give a continuous yield through until September - BINGO! (they are the two tiny plants in the background).

I broke down and purchased a pak of leeks. Last year I grew 4 leeks (2 blue solaise and 2 scotish) ... I have no idea what I was thinking when I just put 4 seeds in ... I know I don't normally eat leeks but growing 4 for an entire year just seems silly now. So I have two rows of them now! In the Fall I may also be wondering what I'm going to do with them but hey I'm going to Gayla's pickling workshop tomorrow at Barry's so I might just ask if they'd be good to pickle! Solution!

I left all my plants out tonight - most have been out for a few days already. I did bring the peppers and eggplants in ... I noticed that the leaves got a little fried ... I put them in full sun knowing they like heat - HA - not as much as I thought they might!

I have had my bath and can move again ... feeling this tired must be good! I will sleep well.

Day 3 - Got a fair amount done

2010-05-19T12:33:00.017-04:00

I went to the allotment after work today and got a fair amount done. I woke up and began generating school files at 6 am so I was able to get out at a decent time and have a late lunch in the garden around 3:30 pm. I was surprised how much physical labour I was able to put in after a day of brain flexing and butt sitting!

I am kind of really liking the ground cover that's happening on the little path from my chair to the compost pile ... I wonder if it will stay this tame - if not I'm ripping it out my its roots and planting the pretty little flowering ground cover growing in my old potato drawer. Julie has some on her paths and I like it ... a lot!

Arriving to see something done that I'd forgotten about and not even realized I was doing when dumping Fall leaves from my friends driveway carefully over parts of the garden made me feel good ... mulched garlic that is creating a border around the top of my new tomato patch ... now I know what to do with all the extra garlics growing in it (I did say arriving to see something done ... now I'm seeing what it means I have to do that wasn't ON the list) HA :(

I did a quick hand raking through the old strawberry patch where just a few survived along the far edge so I put in my new one from Saturday's Swap along the far edge giving me more options for using the space close to the new pea patch. This is going to be my little fruit section as it's close to the Tayberry and Raspberry plants. Pumpkins and Melons will do well to use the fences to climb on and over (I'll have to remember to keep an eye on them so they are trained and don't hop 40 feet over into the next allotment like they did in my first year ... fortunately the other gardener never really visited and didn't say anything when I told him about it when I did see him). I also spent a few minutes planting the Callas in beside the compost as a wall to hold the potatoes in. All in all that took about 30-45 minutes.

I had already dug this little area to plant beets so putting in the little bok choy and mitzu that Julie gave me earlier on in the day and the little 6-pak of chard and kale I brought from home was a breeze. It may have taken about 15 minutes to do. I watered before and after. Then the little 'dirt bird' and his teal black friend visited it and ate a couple seeds while I watched them. They came for a little bird bath in the water I was flooding the soil with before I left (so it will be easier to deal with on my next visit)!

Here are my next four days work ... prepping the tomato patches for my 56 tomatoes!

Here's a side view of the paste and cherries patch ... I have ground cherries this year so they should do well along the fence I hope. You can see the newly planted little kale, bok choy, chard and mitzu growing in with the beet seeds in the back.

Here's the original tomato patch that held 20 tomatoes back in 2008 ... I'll be spacing them further apart this year so less will fit ... maybe 16 if I'm lucky. Notice the $15 green plastic recycle bin in the background I just purchased to haul manure (it was hell on wheels literally) ... way too low to hang on to properly and push the poop ... pulling the poop was way worse and I almost had to pick it up and carry it in my arms ... the only thing that darn thing its good for is putting papers and silly things in to bring back and forth to the car ... mind you there's enough of that each trip so it will be useful - just not the same poo I thought it would be good for.

Here's the area of the garden that I used to throw my zucchini into and let them take over but this year I'll be clearing it up for more tomatoes! Zucs will have to figure out their own Plan B ... I'm thinking they can take a hike up the other side of the fence! Pumpkins on the northeast wall and zucs on the south west ... melons to the northwest and ground cherries to the south east. I'm sure I got that all wrong - they will get it right.

Here is the new 2009 tomato patch - it held 20 tomatoes easily and will again this year. Please let there be no tomato blight in my soil.

And finally the tomatillo patch and it's twin on the other side ... maybe this is where the zucs will go which means I am going to really have to be vigilant and keep my eye's on them and not let them grow so big and wander out too far and eat people on the main path. My first year I could barely carry them to the car they grew so big. They were each at least half my size. I had no idea I wasn't supposed to be so proud. It was a rather good year for rain - not too much and not too little - perfect for growing monster zucs without lifting a finger. That was the summer I thought the garden hose was a snake and I didn't return out of fear for about a month or so.

Day 2 - It was cold but ok to work

2010-05-16T13:31:00.044-04:00

I'm calling Saturday Day 2 ... but it's really Day 3 as I did get over to the garden on Mother's Day but because I had to walk down since the gates were locked so what I was able to carry in was limited and so I spent most of my time looking and scribbling notes and calculating, I just grabbed up some violets and that was about it.

I got quite a little haul out of the garden today.

I almost totally forgot about the wild leeks that Vanessa, a model for the Portrait at year-end, gave me two years ago - until I saw the big one amongst all the other guys! What a nice recollection. I want to remember to let her know how well they did - albeit two years later - for sure - she will understand how I missed them last year since I am a new gardener. I started transplanting the alliums into an area along the northeast fence at the left of the garden but they continue to pop up inside the tomato patches and so yesterday I put the trowel in deep beside them and teased as many up as I could and scooted them over to where they needed to be (some came home with me and are all clean and chillin' in water)!

I am noticing from last years blog that I am a little behind (and as we all know here in Toronto the weather is a little ahead of itself so this isn't a great combo) and this all means I need to up my game a little. That said though, I think I've learned a little bit over two years (translation: I think I may have whittled a few extra days off by tricking my weeds with a layer of leaves and weaseled in a couple of days ahead on my schedule as a result. I sure yanked some HUGE weeds this year (maybe a combination of amending the soil with leaves and being later to get to the garden) and laid them in the pathways which I now remember I figured out last year was a really good (might I even say geniusly brilliant) idea because it dried them out and at the same it killed the weeds on the path! Laying the leaves over 3/4 of the allotment as a test proved that it really worked and I am going to want to bring even more leaves in and I'll wet them and add another on top of that layer and wet them again so weeds are really given a good set back at this time next year. I suppose if there are enough flattened leaves I can just dig down and put my plants in and let them continue to do their thing!

I didn't realize gardening was going to be so intellectual. Dang!

I'm being patient but it's difficult with potatoes because they've let me down two years running already!

The peas are coming along ... again the potatoes aren't really doing anything ... I didn't get a good shot of the berry bushes but the tayberries and last years raspberry transplants are putting out leaves and the other two are just like two dead sticks sticking out of the ground (the tayberry is growing some whiskery ball things that might possibly be berries? (I will find out and report back!)

Here's the little patch I amended yesterday with a bag of sheepoop that sat around all last summer gathering worms and bugs inside it YUK-O (but I imagine it's even better than upon purchase) and planted two rows of beets in after going at the rest of the garden yanking big weeds from wherever I saw them for 3-1/2 solid hours. As I said - it was a cool day. When I stopped for a drink of carrot juice the sweat on my back almost froze so I had to get right back at it to get warmed back up!

Oh and check out the new fedora ... I'm thinkin' "too kool for skool' ME!

A Day in the Garden - Catch of the Day - Violets

2010-05-10T00:48:00.009-04:00

I got a jar full. The petals are infusing in boiling water!

Tomorrow I'm going to squeeze the dickens out of them
using gauze and I'll boil the blue water with sugar (half
I'll add some lemon to so it'll be pretty pink but half I'm
leaving blue and adding honey to so it's stays blue) ...
according to good old Hildregard von Bingen Violets kill
'vermes' on contact! look it up 'vermes' means worms! HA
... the syrup is also anti-HIV and is used to treat AIDS according to some.

greenhouse peppers and eggplants potted up

2010-05-05T23:20:00.021-04:00

I got the tray of peppers and eggplants potted up to give away on Saturday. There are little green peppers on some of the pepper plants. You can see little white flowers on some of them if you look closely. Well - the little peppers somehow come out of the flowers and push all the petals off. I have no idea which peppers are which anymore. Some though have different coloured straws inserted next to them and this means they are different types. I will make sure I get a little collection of various coloured straws for myself so that I can help some others figure out what I've given them. Next year I will be better when I do the repotting up. I was good up until then and knew what was what but once they left their little squares that was it - nameless and mute. And there are about three rather big tomatoes on another one of the whippersnappers, too! I got a couple of e-mails from volunteers at the greenhouse letting me know that one pot of them was looking rather sickly. I went in to rescue it and found one whippersnapper bursting with tomatoes and dropping it's flowers and bottom leaves (which I think they are supposed to drop anyways because they aren't true leaves). As soon as I gave it a little compost and water it cheered right back up. I separated it from it's little friends in the pot and they are all doing very well on their own. I think the one with the 3 tomatoes was stressed after producing them all at once and so quickly.

Mine are pretty embarrassingly big compared to all the others. It
just looks like I feed students who don't do homework to them. I
do admit they are a full-time job on top of the one I already have!
The yellow tags mean 'water me even if I'm soaking wet already' ...
lots of water and a dash of mushroom compost seems to work! Oh
and also, I started mine at home on heat pads and then under lights.
The ones I started in the greenhouse are as tiny as everyone elses.
I think the greenhouse temperatures fluctuated too much in March.
So give them a good start and then send them off into the world ...
& dress'em in a flamboyant colour like red so you know where they are.
And I didn't really talk to them - I know some people believe in that ...
but they might have been listening to me when I was talking to myself?
And don't be totally fooled, Helen's shelf, the one below mine is now on
its second shelf load of plantings. Her cucumbers are almost edible now.

two whippers potted up

2010-05-03T00:18:00.005-04:00

These two little whippersnappers
don't know it yet but they are just
about to start hardening off tomorrow.

This little whippersnapper has
3 little tomatoes on it already!

And this little whippersnapper is
going to Uncle Barrys secret garden
once it gets a few more roots along
its stem (I've built the soil up around
the sides by stacking plastic glasses).

now THAT took longer than I thought

2010-05-01T01:35:00.013-04:00

38 Tomatoes ready to be hardened off so they can go to the allotment.
+ 5 Tomatoes (not shown)
+ 3 Tomatilloes (not shown)
+14 Determinates (not shown)
+ 2 San Marzanoes (not shown)
TOTAL 62 (54 varieties) 2 didn't make it!
oh plus ones I've flagged in the aerogarden
and the ones growing in the greenhouse
oh almost forgot ones in the windowsills

Not the half of it ... just some extras ...

Here's a shot of the aerogarden tomatoes. They
will go well with all that basil I'm growing. And
there's a lot more basil than what meets the eye
here in this photo ... the copper flags are my way
of putting dibs on tomatoes I want in the garden
- the rest I can give away to friends & Mel's swap.

56 Tom Tags

2010-04-30T14:09:00.004-04:00

Oh my aching fingers! I just used a
ball point pen to emboss 56+ copper
tomato tags (goey black ink galore)!
Two sadly never made it Livingston
Perfection and the Russian Oxheart.

Day 1 - What a great day the first day in always is!

2010-04-24T21:08:00.034-04:00

The rhubarb looks good - so does the garlic.
... darn thistle though (I'll let it grow a little more & collect it for tea) ... it always bites me no matter how far away from it I get I always seem to back into it.

I planted one raspberry cane last Fall and two raspberry canes today

(thank you Lyn)! ... there's a hole waiting for the soaking Tayberry.

Thought the daffodil needed a drink too (after I knocked it sideways

with a tomato stake so I had to pick it & bring it home for my table :)

I told Mom about my Tayberry planting. She mentioned that her grandfather

had planted it on their farm - the farm that had burned to the ground - the one

where everything was lost - no nobody died but it was one of the family's defining

moments ... they called them black raspberries and her Dad used to always try to

get to the berries before any of the kids could (oftentimes they beat him to it -

but sometimes to their utter dismay they would happily arrive and find it bare)!

Marilyn from Lot 60 passed by my gate on her way home after toiling away for

the whole day in her beautifully manicured garden and asked if I'd like all of the

rest of her tiny pea seedlings. I've had such poor luck with peas so I was thrilled!

Thank you Marilyn - here they are all tucked safely into their new pea bed. But I

was lazy and naive and foolish - believing it would rain at midnight like predicted.

It's morning and I've just gotten up and looked out the window - no rain - I turned

the television on and now I am foolishly expecting rain again - it's due any moment

now ... Burlington's been hit already and blah blah blah (lesson learned) ... ?

Catch of the Day

Ahhh - now I will rest (or not) ... the umbrella looks like a rabbit - BLAaaahhHHhhH!

Well here's a little more entertainment ... not that you are

amused by the same things I'm amused by but ... here goes

... it's the biggest bee I've ever seen in my life ... & it almost

flew right into my camera lens while I was filming it's debut!

... not to mention that I then thought it was going to fly right

up the leg of my pants so I got shaky and hit the stop button.

I'm off to the allotment now

2010-04-24T12:04:00.002-04:00

... but before I go, this just caught my eye because I happen to have planted Thai Basil and a number of other plants on the Plan Bee List

... see you later!

all potted up

2010-04-12T01:55:00.000-04:00

My shelf is the top one. I spent half the day potting up seedlings into larger containers. My plants are doing really well so far. Best year ever! Below are some of potted up plants I'm taking home to baby in south-facing windows!

maybe I'll buy the monkey tomorrow

2010-04-04T19:50:00.001-04:00

Today I got outside onto the roof after watching 5 hours of the Ten Commandments - intermittently - and planted a big pot of two types of arugula, a pot of nasturtiums and spinach and a pot of mixed lettuces I picked up in Whole Foods in Portland last year.

The chives are up and the sage looks like it's come back bigger and better than ever

(and I think I have some big onions)!

I think my strawberry plant looks ok. In the pot on the right, I planted some Renee's Electric Blue Sweet Peas I just got at Fiesta Farm Nursery yesterday.

Oh - and I potted up a little 6-pak of Thai Basil as well - I don't know what happened to my Lemon Basil that I thought I bought ... looks like maybe I'll have to go back for that tomorrow ... and maybe I'll buy the monkey (hook)!

I didn't buy the monkey

2010-04-03T21:37:00.000-04:00

I went with Barry and Gayla to Fiesta Farms and we poked around a bit and came away with a few things. Gayla was all about the Victorian-coloured, pale, frail as tissue, petunias and whisker-faced little violas; Barry got some red nasturtiums with inky black splotches and I got a Tayberry cane (half raspberry half blackberry). I told my Mom I got it and she said, "Oh that's going to just go crazy in your garden - you'll have to be careful!" I can't wait! I got a few packages of seeds as well. Some spinach with a surprise extra freebie ... parsnips! I got some Lime Basil and Thai Basil. I almost bought a little monkey (now I am very upset with myself that I didn't get it)! Really UPSET! It was a little barrel of monkey's-type metal hook that hangs off of a pot and you could hang another pot (with a handle off of) ... not a real monkey!

I went to Lee Valley afterwards because I had to return some stuff for the greenhouse and I got some peanuts. I don't know what I was thinking because it says on the package that you have to air dry them and then roast them ... I'll have to research this and add it to my To Do List now - as though it isn't already right out of control. I also got a little bucket with an apron around it that was on sale ... probably because it's a bucket with an apron around it and it's kind of stupid. But I think I'll be able to use it and it will be kind of practical. I wish I'd gotten the monkey instead of the peanuts. Isn't that always the way - sometimes! It reminds me of barrel of monkeys and my brother used to play with them - they were like his friends. I'm pretty sure he used to talk to them. At the time I was thinking of getting it for my boss/co-ordinator because of the One Minute Manager idea where you try to figure out whose monkey something is and then you try to get the 'monkey off your back' ...

After all the shopping I headed over to the greenhouse with my tray of plants that needed to be repotted. I thought I'd brought my chart with what was what but I didn't so I repotted it all up using coloured straws not knowing exactly what anything was other than same coloured straws are now in with similar plants! I hope they're happy. I gave them each a little poop. Mushroom Poop? That doesn't sound right ... maybe it wasn't poop afterall. Compost. That's it. Mushroom Compost. Oh Boy - you don't want to see the tray I left at the greenhouse. It was a real mess ... no straws ... just plants!

Someone please give me a clue!

the shelf with the red cups on it is mine

2010-03-30T13:48:00.000-04:00

The shade cloth is now up in the greenhouse. When I went it was a dreary rainy day - not much light getting in on the south side.

Two Soiled Trays + One Aerogarden Seed Starter Tray

2010-03-28T12:07:00.000-04:00

DONE - well almost - and now sitting on top of the florescent fixture which is nice & cosy warm

I decided it would be very fitting to plant my tomatoes during Earth Hour; but I got a call from my friend Barry and we talked gardening in the dark (on phones that had batteries that were charged from before the hour began) ... fitting?

I didn't start planting until 9:30 pm on the button and was in bed by 3 am ZZzZzZz ... I still need to label the cells and this won't happen until I can take the plastic lids of the trays (I like to label straws and slip bamboo skewers inside as the plants grow). Mind you - they are all numbered on my Master List ... and I was wise enough though to mark the bottom of each of the two large trays holding all the little dirt-filled cells so I'd know which end of them was where ... AND ... I eventually realized that I needed markers poking out of the cells I was about to plant ... in both trays ... since it was hard figuring out after the seeds were covered which were planted and which were waiting to be ... and I was doing double duty on two trays that looked identical as well as doing the aerogarden seed starting tray which were marked going the opposite way to the soiled cells (sounds like they soiled themselves - I know - but it was I who soiled them ... 'and No ... they don't need a diaper change')!

I kept myself on my toes for over 5 hours adding serious depth to the number 11 growing on my forehead between my eyebrows.

Two shots of the seed starting tray for the aerogarden. There are 70 sponges with organic growing medium in a styrofoam bed floating on water which I'll add organic fertilizer to in two weeks.

Once the sprouts are up, I'll remove the plastic and the lights are on a timer for tomato growing so I can actually go away for two weeks at a time (which is why I got this because theres a Bienniale Conference I like to attend that is always held at the end of March)! And once the tomatoes are planted into deep cells and hardening off, I'll plant herbs in the aerogarden and they'll last me 4 months. One day I'll get the shelf unit so I can hang it on a wall and regain some precious counter space. This year I am paying close attention to how well the seedlings do in the aerogarden and in soiled cells (as well as at the community greenhouse).

I got a BIG one

2010-03-27T11:23:00.000-04:00

I just had this photo e-mailed to me from my greenhouse watering buddy ... the whippersnapper there is doing well. Thanks Gary!

4' Monster Lights

2010-03-21T19:34:00.000-04:00

Well they are up! Those lights I bought on a whim that dreary day sometime in early February when I found myself in the local hardware store asking about florescent grow light set ups. The first person I asked didn't have a clue what I was talking about and I must say I was somewhat relieved because I hadn't written anything down nor made any definite decisions about it was I thought I wanted. Then around the corner came this other guy who didn't know I'd just been served and he asked if there was something he could help me with. I was just trying to be polite and explained that since I didn't really know what I was talking about it would be pretty useless trying to explain what I needed for my 40+ types of tomato seedlings (yes back then it was 40+ and now it's 56+). Seems he was some sort of an aquarium expert and he said he knew what I was talking about and I left with a $153 receipt for an order he placed by phone to his supplier after he took of for about a half hour on me.

About two weeks later I got a call and had to go pick the 2' x 4' four-tube monstrosity of a fixture up that I've been walking past it in my hallway for a few weeks now. Today I finally decided to see if I could at least begin to try to see if I could put some of the bits together and get it to light up. No problem. I even got the little on & off remote gizmo I thought was a timer thing rigged up to it and it works too ... so I suppose I can keep that bedside so I don't have to get up to flick the switch off & on before I go to sleep and when I get up in the morning.

I put the whippersnappers in my front window (squint and you can barely see them at the far right) with the eggplants & peppers. There is plenty of room for the sage (one just came up so it's been put under the light) ... and the basil seeds and edible flowers I planted yesterday will go under too as soon as they sprout!

Almost Ready

2010-03-19T23:07:00.000-04:00

I visited the greenhouse today and took a few little seedlings from my cups to bring home.

I've added the little batch of parsley and a few other wanton seedlings to the collection hanging

under the florescents in my kitchen.

I am going to pot up some eggplants and peppers growing under the aerogarden lights to bring to the greenhouse and put in a south-facing window at home and see how they all do. They are all really going gangbusters under the aerogarden lights. Time to leave the nest guys.

And finally I got the chain from the hardware store that I might need to hang my lights ... just in case I can't just lean them on something so they light the shelf I am setting up on a table in a south window upstairs ... a little redundant since this new monster has four 4-foot tubes ... but I'm thinking I might be able to use it to just augment the sunny sill. I'll have to make sure the timer is set so my home doesn't glow from afar in the middle of the night.

I've hauled the new lights upstairs and I've lined up cells in trays ... everything this year is being planned around 56 varieties of tomatoes ... two trays with 72 cells each - heheh - that means each tray gets the whole shebang and more. Oh the anticipation of seeing all 56 seedlings together and deciding what will go in the remaining 16 cells.

I planted three little self-watering potlets of sage. I call them potlets because they are so small that I just 'know' (I think) that I'm going to have to pot up within the month which I don't really think is the best use of my time ... but they are self-watering and quite cute ... if I remember from last year, sage is quite small & cute so I am hoping to be able to get away without potting up! Intellectually risky business - this gardening!

I like planting a few seeds in deep cells and clipping the one or two weakest seedlings when they come up (often I wind up gently wiggling them out and planting them in another pot ... and I know I said I don't like potting up - I just realized that's what I am doing ... hmmm ... it felt good saving the little guys and almost as good being so thrifty and super good giving them away because they're extras ... and I really like bottom watering & fertilizing (which I'm just getting the hang of with the deep cells under the aerogarden lights now. The tray takes a bottle and a half of the container I am using now ... I was enjoying using the squirt bottle to moisten the tops of the dirt but heck sometimes that's just too much work so I've experimented and found what it takes to do it solely from the bottom. Each day means adding a little more ... but I've got the hang of it now that I took the time and did that experiment.)

unidentified tomato seeds sprouting

2010-03-19T01:24:00.000-04:00

Last year I saved some seeds ... or rather I had every good intention of saving seeds but partway through I must have gone to bed and totally forgotten about them (oh - I remember now ... I was waiting for them to get all foamy and when they got that disgusting I was so grossed out I just put a lid on the jars because I think there were fruit flies and whatnots in with them by this point) ... well I found the jars about a week ago and was about to soak them so they could be put in the dishwasher and I decided to number them and soak some of the seeds and redry the others after getting them unstuck from the jar bottoms. I numbered the baggies I put them in and now they are all sprouting and I can't remember what they are but I am really hoping there's an Elberta Peach coming my way again this year. I'll know if one of the tomatoes plants is really fuzzy (heheh) fingers crossed!

so enough about the whippersnappers ...

2010-03-14T11:41:00.000-04:00

I counted my tomato seed packages yesterday and gave them their own 3-ring binder [it's red (for tomato red) --> I'm using a big brown binder for the seeds I've planted and am following the progress of <-- in dirt (get it) ... and I just put my notes and info for the greenhouse in a yellow (sunshine-driven) coloured binder]. If I don't do this, I just know I'll wind up at school someday with seeds instead of grade sheets ... I use the school colour (blue) for those binders now! but I do digress now don't I ...

I wrote out a planting plan yesterday and lined up my pots ... I sorted my seeds and got them all back into their little slots from which they'd strayed during last year's planting frenzies ... and I counted them all ...

AND I have 56 different kinds of tomatoes this year (including the 'whips' ... I came by 21 types last week when a fellow & self-proclaimed tom addict, too, and I traded ... so now I've got yellow, red & black grapes, green tomatoes, orange ones, fuzzies and potato leafs, determinates and indeterminates and some the size of blue berries - there's one I'm going to put in sugar and dry and one I'm going to hang upside down indoors so I've got tomatoes ripening on the vine until December and a few I'm going to make sauces and pastes from and there's a bunch for the freezer ... and those for eating ... I am so hAppPPpy

YES of course there'll be beans & peas and lettuces and zucs and pumpkins and violets and naturtiums and calendulas and basils and all that BUT there's going to be a main attraction at the zoo this year ... my basizillions of tomatoes (I sure hope it's going to be a good year for them) ...

Oh I am just so hAppPPpy

give 'em some fish fert & they grow an inch?

2010-03-14T11:29:00.000-04:00

Not exactly an inch nor 'give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile' neither ... but those whippershappers are really living up to their name ... I measured them yesterday morning and the tallest were 4 inches. This morning the tallest are 4.5 inches.

I've just potted 4 whippersnappers up and I'm taking them to the greenhouse to see how they do there. I'm giving two away to volunteers - maybe they will have different outcomes (and if theirs are better I'll ask what they did so I can learn more). I really buried them up to their ears and left about 2 inches so I can even add more soil once the stem grows again ... I am believing this will help them develop really strong roots and super strong stems! No more coddling ... they'll take what they get at the greenhouse (and I won't be around to see what that is unfortunately as I am trying to stay away and let others on the Watering Committee do their jobs - guess it's a little like letting kids go off to Nursery School ... except I've got a bunch back home if anything happens - so I care ... but not so much really).

Letting the tray down 2" & fertilizing day

2010-03-13T12:35:00.000-05:00

I weakly fertilized everything again today (first fert for whips which range from 1" - 4.5").

FINALLY a tiny cayenne pepper

2010-03-12T22:50:00.000-05:00

seedling(s) poking heads out of seed coats (I just carefully pried two off)! So now there's a total of three actually.

Some eggplants are about 4 inches tall and the sweet peppers are doing almost as well. The Jalapeno Peppers aren't too much smaller than the rest. I've now watered twice using the Schafer Fisheries fertilizer.

The Whippersnappers are doing so well - I'll have to transplant really soon and lower the trays as they are touching the florescents already. I wonder how the little beheadling will wind up doing? I'll make sure I label it so I know.

14 of 15 Whippersnappers UP

2010-03-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

Two more whippersnapper tomato seedlings just popped up overnight. I now have 14 in total - out of 15 planted. And the little beheadling is going to make it! I thought he would (well not right when his head came off and the seed coat with the two leaves in it were laying in my hand - but rather when a couple of days later it looked like something green was bubbling out of the end of the stem top! He's sporting two true leaves now - so it looks like those first two (fake) leaves must have been what came off and the little central area where the true leaves come out of wasn't damaged. I'm no scientist - but that's what it looks like to me.

Photos to follow at some point - later ... yeah yeah - I know (trust me - he's cute)!

the little beheadling

2010-03-08T12:18:00.001-05:00

I don't want to speak too soon BUT the little beheadling seems to be growing a leaf out the top of the stem now! Weirder things have happened - right?

This is not the beheadling but a poor photo of some in another pot (Pot #3) that have already begun to develop their first true leaves! That only took 10 days!

Here I am acting quite surprised at the whipper's when my eggplants & peppers have been going great guns for a couple of days now but they were planted a whole week earlier so the whippers ARE doing well (I won't foist poor photos of eggplants & peppers on anyone right now ... dang I wish I could figure out how to use this camera ... I'm an experiential learner ... and possibly even a flukin' fraud whose whole profession is about to take a tumble)

Whippershappers - two steps forward & one back

2010-03-07T12:51:00.000-05:00

In the 1st Pot I inadvertantly beheaded one of my sprouts trying to help the seed casing off :( ... (that makes 3 instead of 4 in Pot One) in the 2nd pot there's another little new sprout struggling out of a seed case (I put a water drop on it so it will soften and maybe that will help it :) (that makes 2 in Pot Two) and in the 3rd pot there's another little sprout coming up too (that makes 4 in Pot Three) ... Total 9

I made a note to myself to soak the seeds next year before they go into the soil so that maybe the seed cases are less difficult for them to emerge from (three cheers for the 10-Year Journal from Lee Valley because I am actually using it for things like this and can find notes to myself at this time of the year without too much scrounging on my belly around on cold cement floors in the garage where I tend to store a fair amount of obscure & random gardening stuff)

more whippersnappers UP

2010-03-05T23:47:00.000-05:00

Friday
In the first pot, there are 4 sprouts, in the second there is now 1 sprout and in the third pot, there are 3 sprouts. Total of 8 whippersnappers so far!

All of the other seedlings are doing well. No hot cayenne peppers yet.

Thursday

Five whippersnapper (tomato) seedlings are up ... and I do mean UP as well as up. I have been eyeing the florescent light in my kitchen for quite awhile now thinking it either needs to come down or I need to use it for seedlings. So guess which idea won out. I've rigged a light plant tray up underneath it with twine and it is providing light now for my seedlings! I knew I ordered those two extra grow florescent tubes for a reason! Whippersnappers are usually up before any of the other tomatoes (not just because they are the only ones I've planted so far) but because they are early determinates. This type of determinate can be grown in containers because it is a low-sprawling vine which means I can grow it under lights indoors for a fair length of time before it needs to go outdoors. It will take off quickly once it is set outside and produce numerous sweet, pink-red, oval cherry-size fruits. The reason I know this is that I have been following other tomato growers blogs during the past couple of years and taking notes so that I can try what they have had successes with

lots UP

2010-03-02T11:17:00.001-05:00

jalapenos UP, Cal Wonders UP, Buran Sweets UP, Black Beauties UP, Rosa Biancas UP, Cippolinis UP - waiting on Cayennes & Whippersnappers now (so sorry for blurry little photo - it's taking me ages to learn my new camera ... this is a result of a dirty lens) HA ... too tired after exploring all the other possible options that I'm letting it be as it is ZzzzZZzzz

more seeds in & some seedlings up

2010-03-01T02:19:00.001-05:00

I was at the Trinity Bellwoods Greenhouse on Saturday for a Plant A-Long that Barbara and I held with some of the volunteers. I planted more Hot Cayennes, Early Jalapenoes, California Wonders and Buran Sweet Peppers to see what differences there are between my seedlings at home under lights and those planted in the greenhouse without florescents. I also got some sprawling and upright ground cherries from Maria (in the foreground right wearing the purple shirt). I bought some this year as well - so these will be ones to watch. As well, I planted arugula and two types of parsley that Barbara (with the red scarf at the right) had soaked overnight for us. You can see some of my 14 red plastic beer cups in the tray to the far left. Hala, in the background at the left, made a self-watering tray using threaded cotton strips and is tying a tray underneath the shelf to catch drips and provide the plants with air circulation. It's an experiment and it will be interesting to see how well it works.

Back at the Ranch @ Home

front two rows of cippolinni's have been up 3 days

as well - rosa biancas have been up for 2 days

... behind black beauties have been up almost a day!

I was reading some tweets today about dwarf tomatoes having been planted so I went through some old posts on you grow girl and realized I needed to plant my whippersnappers today (5 in each pot). I put them on top of the aerograden light for warmth to germinate and will put them on the hanging rack I've strung up under the florescent in the kitchen as soon as they break through the surface!

Seedy Saturday/ Sunday - Day 1

2010-02-22T00:48:00.002-05:00

FINALLY

I hauled pots & trays and bags of dirt out. I've been henpecking around my seed package binders for the past month ... organizing & reorganizing them in planting order and in order of years (yup this is my third year so I can say that now) ... getting each packet back to where it should be - luckily I found the final seeds planted in the garden last year neatly placed in sleeves of a little book almost right where they should have been ... after almost unpacking the entire garage and I found what else I was looking for exactly where I brilliantly put it - so no I didn't foolishly pack my heating mat way at the back of the garage behind a ton of things - it was right on the treadmill (where I should have been during the past month and where I should have found it immediately).

I'm learning. This year I poured the soil and water into a big dish and used a trowel to scoop it into deep cell pots AND the whole mess was done in the tub so after it was all done I just took the hand-held shower and sprayed the tub clean! It certainly looks like I posed the Conversations with My Gardener by Henri Cueco book on the side of the tub but no - it's where I was last reading it - in the tub ... when I realized it was there I figured it should be in the shot. And of course, you all know why I didn't take a before shot - huge clumps of brown soil doesn't translate well in a bathroom photo, etc.

I also wrote out my planting plan with a little legend at the bottom ahead of time so that there was no searching for missing pen & paper with muddy fingers not coming back to the pot and mistaking what went where when, etc. (third year gardening - remember)! From left to right, I planted two rows of hot peppers (cayenne and jalapeno); two rows of sweet (california wonder and buran sweet); two rows of eggplants (black beauty and bianca rosa) and the last two rows are all chippolini onions.

And now my little warm wet seeds are all snug in their cells. I put 4 into each. I'm hoping two will survive and that I can transplant one of the two survivors into a second tray (of course nothing living will get kicked too far off the island). Oh - and I marked the bottom lower left corner of the actual deep cell tray so that if I flip it around during watering I won't be making any mistakes about which plants are hot peppers and which are onions!

Gardening has really been creeping into these past couple of weeks. Wednesday I attended a lecture at the Toronto Botanical Gardens by Mathew Wilson called How to Garden in a Changing Climate. Saturday we got our shelves at the greenhouse. Today I went to Seedy Saturday on a Sunday. This week, Wednesday, I'm looking forward to going to Lulu Lounge and getting a copy of Grow Great Grub for the greenhouse at Gayla's book launch. Saturday I'm attending a plant a-long at the greenhouse and helping finish our cold frame (if only just to put Kyla's book in the book bin).

Seed Buying Spree

2010-01-23T15:47:00.000-05:00

I've spent the better part of the day on-line looking at old posts and scouring seed catalogues. I know I have to start planting some seeds soon so I decided I'd make sure I wasn't sorry later for not having done my research on time.

Looks like I'm just coming in under the wire for somethings (ie, I think pepper seeds could have been planted last week)! I won't get any done until at least next weekend but at least I'm not too far behind some of the other obsessives!

I really wanted
Koralik tomatoes
again for my roof
(I got this plant
from Julianna
last year and it
was packed with
decorative clusters
of little red cherry
tomatoes).

I found Koralik seeds at http://www.tomatofest.com/ ... and I wanted Whippersnapper because it's a really early tomato (Julianna was eating hers in May last year). I was glad to find it at http://www.terraedibles.ca/ (the rest of the order just happened - I'm a shoppa-seed-a-holic and there is no cure - thankfully).

$45.40 Tomatofest - 2010 Tomato Order

2010-01-23T15:41:00.001-05:00

Koralik $2.95
Costoluto Genovese $3.95
Fargo $2.95
Fuzzy Bomb $3.95
Piccolo $3.95
Pink Accordion $3.95
Quedlinburger Fruehe Liebe $3.95
Red Fig $2.95
Sweet Pea Currant $3.95
Tim's Black Ruffles-Tomato Seeds $3.95
Yellow Ruffled $2.95

Subtotal: $39.45
Tax: $0.00
Shipping and Handling: $5.95
Grand Total: $45.40

$32.15 Terra Edibles Tomato (and Chard) 2010 Order

2010-01-23T15:38:00.000-05:00

All seeds were $2.50/package.

Black from Tula
Bloody Butcher
Cossack Pineapple Ground Cherry
Hillbilly
Isis Candy
Riesentraube
Sicilian Saucer
Whippersnapper

Chard - Five Colour Silverbeet

Shipping: Mail - Canada: $5.95

GST Tax: $1.42
PST Tax: $2.28

TOTAL $32.15

2010 Happy New Year

2010-01-01T15:52:00.000-05:00

I am starting the year opening an aerogarden parcel delivered from http://eco-source.easystorecreator.com/items/indoor-gardening/indoor-garden-accessories-and-replacement-parts/aerogarden-starting-tray-agst-detail.htm located in Ottawa. I put a special instructions on the order to not leave it on my front step but they did (fortunately I have a neighbour who looks out for me and took my package in while I was in Florida visiting my parents for a week. I suppose it is the post office that wasn't following instructions. The 2'x1'x9" package was placed underneath my welcome mat ... WTF?

I have new grow lights and 3 packages of seeds to grow herbs and lettuce. The main reason I placed the order was so that I could once again get the seed starter kit which will let me to hydroponically grow 70 different heirloom seedlings organically for my garden. I wanted to grow herbs but I think they will be peaking when I need to begin to grow the garden seedlings so I am wondering if I should wait on this.

making leafmould

2009-12-04T00:11:00.000-05:00

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/factsheets/making_leafmould.php

HA - I knew it (no I didn't) ... but I just found a site on making leafmould ... I've been making it in the driveway, in plastic bags for the past month ... thought I'd be able to fit it all into my car when I brought it to the allotment but about 3-4 bags didn't quite fit (so I thought I'd take it down later & later's never come) ... now this ... HA

Collect autumn leaves. All types can be mixed together
Water them, if dry, to help them rot
Pack leaves into a suitable container
Ignore them for a year or two
Use the leafmould

Now I want to take all the bags that are on the street waiting to be picked up (I'll have to take them out of paper bags - or wet them & put plastic bags over top of them) ... and/or I could also do this with them ... not exactly sure what the gardening 'nude' thing is - I'm thinking it's like Jamie Oliver's the 'Naked' Chef ... about being transparent, etc

http://www.gardeningnude.com/gardeningnude/2009/07/get-yo-green-on-tuesday-compost-101-how-to-compost.html

leaves for the garden - a good thing

2009-11-03T00:25:00.000-05:00

Prepare for next year's vegetable garden now http://bit.ly/4uMSsW

Garlic Planting through to Storage

2009-10-08T10:04:00.000-04:00

I've been waiting to begin gardenbre3 ... now that garlic planting is here I think it's a good time to start as it will be the first planting of the 2010 garden! First to learn 'how to' do ...

Preparing Garlic to Plant

Planting Garlic

Garlic Harvesting

Garlic Cleaning (for Storage)

How to Store Garlic

end of year -

2009-09-17T00:02:00.001-04:00

Don't forget to begin planning to bring in houseplants before temperatures dip ... hoarders - this means Fall Cleaning (especially if Spring Cleaning fell by the wayside))!

Some wonderful tips from Margaret Roach on her website, Away to Garden, that I pulled off a Tweet. today, 8 October 09.

http://awaytogarden.com/brrrr-overwintering-tips-for-tender-plants

As well, Gayla has been bringing plants in already ... woops (I looks like I really need to get my peppers inside ASAP)

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/thedirt/2009/10/06/the-first-plants-to-come-in/

Year Three - Organizing Info http:www.seeds.ca/mbr/member.php

2009-01-16T22:28:00.000-05:00

join seeds of diversity and get magazines and seed lists