A new home for Katie...

Well, Katie found herself a new home this weekend. I've decided to invite her to greet our guests as they find themselves at our front door. 

I'm lovin' the tulips that have surprised me this spring (late is better than never!) since I couldn't remember what or where I'd planted last fall!!

The gardens are still looking very sparse, but temporarily weed-less (not weed-free, only less of them!!), so Katie is a welcome addition to our humble little plot :).

Too good to be true!

I'm thrifty (a.k.a. cheapy skape :)!!). And for the last 5? years, I've been composting using large plastic garbage cans with holes drilled into them. It's functional - but not near as much fun as firing up the new composter I just got for my yard!!

I will post a pic once we've got it up and running. But I can't wait to continue to do good things for the environment, eliminate garbage AND create the best fertilizer for the garden :).

It's the little things in life, really :).....

O You, Mighty Little Earthworm!

With all the squeals of delight around here, you'd think it's Christmas ... or Birthday ... or someone bringing loads of candy. Or something.

Nope. Around here, all this excitement comes from the discovery of the ever-lovely EARTH WORM.

Ewww. Is all I can say.

I've been asked all sorts of questions about these squirmy little creations. Like...

Do earth worms have teeth?

What do earth worms eat?

Where do they live?

Why are they all brown and crunchy on our garage floor?

Uh. Biology and dissection seems like a reallllly long time ago (which is a good thing, I am thinking!) so here I am, online, seeking out real answers for my 3-year-old who not only asks good questions, but also has a fabulous memory (and I am motivated by the shudder of the thought of misinforming her, and then her sharing that misinformation with a classroom of kids 5-6 years down the line, and then all of them laughing hysterically over her less-than-educated mother!).

IN FACT, earth worms don't have teeth. Which is a GOOD THING TO KNOW if you are picking up an earth worm with your bare hands (which I d.o.  n.o.t.). It munches its food by sucking it in like a vacuum cleaner (great, so I may not get bit, but I might get a little hickey mark on my hand!).

What does it eat? Wellll, these are efficient little critters, eating - well, pretty much anything they can suck in! Not just dirt (which I told Little M), but garbage, poop and the like. Tasty. They eat pretty much non-stop too. Lovely.

Earth worms live in dirt (mostly!). They are found all over the world, and in a variety of habitats (soil, obviously, but also logs and bogs).

As for death and the cause of the dry crunchy worm, we've saved those conversations for another day, and I just say that the worm ran out of water so he's pretty dried up.

Also good to note (for when you realllly want to impress your youngsters!!) 

 - Earth worms have no lungs. They absorb oxygen through their system.

 - Earth worms produce their very own antifreeze. They curl up in a knot, produce their own antifreeze and voila! They sleep through winter!

 - They can make enough poop in one day to be the equivalent of their body weight!

 - Don't even get into the reproductive conversation. It's a little ... ewww. 

There you have it. Another example of  God's might fine creation at work. Fascinating, providing hours of endless entertainment, and something I don't dare touch without gloves. Or a lonnnnnng stick.

Thanks to Worm Watch for the abundant source of information!!

So excited!

Well, this morning I began the annual chore of scraping rocks off the lawn :). While it's not the most delightful springtime activity, it reminded me of the gardening possibilities to come!

This year one of my goals (other than making sure I water the plants properly, which I have an issue with :)...) is to plant proper flower baskets. So, imagine my excitement when I found a "recipe" for a cute deck planter...

Earthy reds

Container: Brown metal with flared top, embossed with acanthus leaves
Dimensions: 45 x 18 cm, 15 cm deep
Plants: 3 ‘Wizard Pastel' coleus, 2 red Million Bells (Calibrachoa), 1 leatherleaf sedge (Carex buchananii)
Notes: Sun to part shade. Calibrachoa was trimmed back every few weeks to let the box show through. Best in front of a light-coloured wall or window for contrast.

I've even bought the "ingredients" for it through a school fundraiser. Except, of course, true to form :), I've decided to swap the million bells for dalias and the sedge for an pansies, I think. So, it's kinda like this, but might not look anything like it at all. 

Sigh. No wonder my gardening is such an ... adventure :).

I'll let you know how it goes!

View of my backyard :)

This was yesterday.....

This is today...

Enough said.

A few handy tidbits...

I have a small little gardening book that I like to peruse - and snag a few helpful ideas here and there... these are a few that I have tried - or would like to give a whirl...

beets - to prevent them from becoming woody/tasteless, keep covering with dirt as they pop out of the ground

carrots - sprinkle row with sand before sowing seeds - the roots grow better and are easier to pull out! OR after placing seeds in rows, carefully pour boiling water over them - the carrots will grow straight 

celery - if you want your stalks extra thick, cut an inch off the top of the plant when it is about 4 inches high

cucumbers - pinch off runners for earlier and more abundant produce

peppers - place a layer of tin foil around the base of each plant - the reflected light adds more heat to the plants, keeps the roots cool AND fends off the b.u.g.s.

potatoes - plant deep to avoid hilling (and green potatoes!)

sunflowers - plant a seed at the beginning of every row for an attractive row marker :)

tomatoes - when transplanting, add compost and egg shells to the hole (and around the base once they are planted) - they love the nutrients and the calcium!

I'm already storing up eggshells to use in the garden. Weird, I know :). And, with the assorted tomato cages, eggshells, tin foil, and flowers interspersed, this garden is sure to be a sight :)!

Book: 700 Gardening Tips & Handy Hints, Practical Wisdom from McFayden's Gardening Enthusiasts

Mary, Mary...

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

This afternoon, as we enjoyed a puddle-jumpin' walk to the post office and back, it occurred to me that buried underneath all this (somewhat melting) snow are the BULBS I planted last year! Oh Yeah! With one day blurring into another, it's sometimes a wonder I remember what I did YESTERDAY, let alone, last FALL!

But, soon and very soon, there will be a wondrous display of tulip and hyacinth lovely-ness throughout the front yard and back. And what a wondrous surprise it will be because - ha ha ha - I can't remember what I planted where! 

I love springtime surprises!

Let the games begin!

Half (or maybe more than half, I have not yet decided!) of the fun of gardening for me is the dreaming. Hmmm. That is the part that involves no cost, no labor, no sweat - but can consume hours of imaginative time! Right about now, I switch from surfing Christmas craft websites (and book-marking all those fun projects that I'll never get around to!) and start hunting through a few garden favorites. Most ideas will remain dreams (unless a free landscaper comes my way!), but you never know which ones will take root and manifest themselves in some small (or large!) way with your own personal flair.

Here are a few gems....
 - Who could resist the ever-popular Better Homes & Gardens! I have so many ideas stored up in my folder that I wouldn't know where to start! And, really, some of this wouldn't even apply to my zone 3 turf! But it doesn't hurt to browse .
 - I subscribed to the Canadian Gardening magazine for a few years. Chock-full of fun, color, ideas, tips, etc. A pleasant read!
 - My 8x16 vegetable plot, and my few flower beds, make it more important to think of small-scale gardening. I've read a few good books or browsed a few websites that provided some helpful tips: wildaboutgardening.org or gardeninglife.ca

Happy dreaming!

One more thing that I love!

Peas. Straight outta the shell, warmed in the garden by the summer sun, nature's candy - PEAS! And with all this snow and ice and cold I CANNOT WAIT to get out there and plant me some! It's coming. I keep looking out my back window to the garden area and I promise myself. THE WARMTH IS JUST AROUND THE BEND (it's a long bend, mind you...).

And I want an abundance of peas this year. Somehow, that just seems delightful. In reading a gardening book that I have, here are a few helpful suggestions in getting the most pea out of your pod ....
1) I use tomato cages, and some people use chicken wire fence - but using a make-shift trellis saves loads of bending, is a great space-saver and makes picking a breeze! 
2) If you hill the plants once they are taller, the vines have better support, better moisture retention (as peas are not so great on water-deprivation!) and makes it easier to weed.
3) Soak pea seeds in water or milk, for 2-12 hours prior to planting. Apparently this helps quicker, better germination.

Hmmm, got any other handy little tricks ?

I've decided to call her Katie

I've never been a huge fan of garden ... "additives." Gnomes, trolls, flamingos, dried out "sculptures" - they just really didn't do anything for me.

But this year, in early anticipation of the upcoming gardening year, I purchased a lovely little garden angel. She's a beauty alright. 

I've decided to call her Katie to keep my gardening connected with my family roots. My dear Grandmother, who cared for us kids on many a farming day, was affectionately known as Katie. My mom's mom, who delights us still with her painting, funky stories and sense of humor, goes by the full name Katherine. My self and my own daughter also bear this name. And so, to me it is fitting.

Katie she is and Katie she will be :).

ps - that is the picture from the box she still lives in. We have not have a recent bout of warm weather that would leave us with grass or pretty flowers. That fun is still to come!

Why do you garden?

Why Do You Garden?

Really, why does one feel the need to dig in the dirt, spend endless hours weeding, watch things wither without a clue as to why...

Honestly, I garden from a bag of mixed motives! I'd like to say it's all about nurturing and appreciation for nature, but - alas - my intentions are not quite that simple!

1) I garden because it brings me back to my roots. My Grandma Katherine has been known to win awards for her yard. She had glorious tomatoes, apple trees and lovely flowers (pre-condo days ). My Grandma Katie (who died when I was in grade 5, and I still miss her!) grew flowers like you wouldn't believe (us kids used to pretend that her gardens were Buchart Gardens from Vancouver Island!) and canned like she was still feeding a family of five. My mother has diligently hauled gallons and gallons of water - by wagon - to the end of their acreage, just to make sure the blooms in their rock garden were getting what they needed. When J and I married, I received a family of gardeners as well. His parents both love the great outdoors, and spend endless hours shaping, tending and adding color to our world.

2) I garden because I love to plan. Plain and simple. I love to order seeds. Get everything organized, lined up, plans drawn (and folks, my vegetable garden is only 8'x16'!!), books read, and so on. I love to bring out my little garden map (of course I NEVER measure anything out, though, so details are not a strong point!) and plant everything in its proper place. Not necessarily properly spaced, by somehow, we get by .

3) I garden because I enjoy saying "this year, in my garden...".  

4) I garden because I enjoy looking out my bedroom window and seeing my leafy green vegetable garden. I find it inspiring.

5) I garden because I feel proud when I get to scrape dirt from under my nails, my tan-lines are a little more earned, I get down on my hands and knees and dig dig dig. There is a huge sense of satisfaction in well-tilled soil.

5) I garden because it reminds me that growth is a process, that it is affected by seasons, that God is a Master Creator, and thateven the smallest efforts can come alive.

I am not a great designer, so flower beds are constantly under renovation! I am not a diligent waterer or weeder (though I start off well and J has kindly installed soaker hoses in the majority of our beds, so I am getting better!). I get overwhelmed and neglectful, but somehow, it's still worth it. Every year I wade through the same process. And every year I wonder why on earth I do this. And every fall, as I pile things into the compost bins or burn the dry stuff, or carry in the last load of treats, I am grateful for the opportunity.

Thinking outside the box

Hmmm. Not sure why, exactly - but every so often something strikes me, and I think - now why didn't I try THIS before!?

There is nothing profound that will follow, I can assure you - but this winter I started asking myself Why have I never tried growing YELLOW beans instead of the standard GREEN? 

See, I told you it wasn't profound!

Well, maybe it is, at some level. Because I tend to do things because they've always been done that way. Change isn't avoided, just - well, feels weird. So, instead of trying to grow some un-native-to-my-prairie-soil plant, whose seed has to be flown in from who-knows-where-ville, I decided to liven things up by going yellow instead of green.

I think the yellow ones may be more tender. And I'm wondering if my toddler will eat them . She has mightily declared she doesn't like beans . So, we'll see.

My Little Piece of Earth: Tomatoes

Beefsteak -- Hybrids -- Romas -- Reds -- Yellows -- Better Boy -- Early Girl

Any of these names sound familiar ? Well, if you've gone tomato-plant shopping recently, you'll know what I mean. More options than a Payless store full of shoes!!! In our present deep freeze, I can only DREAM of the warm spring evenings when I will browse the nurseries, select stocky looking plants, and come home and nestle them root-deep in warming soil.

And until then, I intend to do a little research .

I always get overwhelmed when I go plant shopping, because there are a bazillion options (well, narrow that by about a million because of our zone 2/3 area!) and I don't know what to look for so I just randomly pick something that looks --  well -- tomato-y, and call it wonderful.

This year, I swear I'll do it differently . I'll let you know how it goes....

Until then, here are a few pointers to help the selection process:

Beefsteak/Supersteak - great slicers for sandwiches and those great bbq burgers! Big Beef is a great new hybrid
Early Girl/First Lady - juicy, tangy, compact fruit; available varieties provide a range of plant sizes
Better Boy - Larger fruit than the Early Girl
Hybrids - can blend the "best of both worlds" - large, meaty tomatoes with more disease resistance and/or earlier yield
Yellows - lower acid taste; novelty
Romas - less seedy, firmer, fruit; great for canning, sauces and salads

Staking vs. Bush - Bush are more compact and require less support than the staking variety; however, that certain special tomato might be worth the extra staking effort!

Great questions to ask - what do I want to use these tomatoes for? Do I prefer bush or staking? Can I get a hybrid with the qualities I want in a tomato with the added benefits of scientific adjustments ?

More info can be found in the T&T Seeds Online Catalogue

Oh yum. I can't WAIT until that first sun-ripened tomato sandwich!