Full up after harvest

We store many of the things we grow for use throughout the winter. As a general rule, we finish all our starches in Jan., but finish lots of the frozen berries just as new ones become available. We try to make chutney, salsa and spreads last until we can make new, but since we give those as gifts at Christmas, it can be a challenge.

As of Oct. 18, we have harvested all the food we will.



In order to be able to cook using strong flavors, we free a lot of herbs. The tradition actually started when I read that mint could be frozen. I was about 19, and my sisters and parents started to freeze mint for ice tea. After that, I started experimenting with other frozen herbs.

Frozen- Herbs

• oregano (4 cups)
• basil (12 cups)
• parsley (2 cups)
• sage (3 cups)
• mint (3 cups)
• jars of pesto (5 jars)
  

The rest of our herbs we brought in and transplanted under the grow light, so we can have fresh spices over the winter. We have already dried a lot of herbs and spices for the year, especially dill and coriander.

The fruit we freeze we use in baking, mostly loaves and muffins for breakfast foods, but also in pies and turn-overs. We rarely freeze vegetables from the garden, as they are inexpensive in the grocery store.

Frozen - Fruit

• strawberries (9 cups)
• saskatoons (32 cups)
• raspberries (14 cups)
• apples (30 cups)
• zucchini (16 cups)

In addition to freezing, most of our stored food is kept in our cold storage room. Take a look at the pictures of our fall yard and the cold storage.

Fresh in the cold storage

• 4 large pumpkins, 2 small
• 2 bags small onions
• 2 gourds
• 13 dried jalapeno peppers
• 30 dried Thai peppers
  
• 2 1/2 pounds beets
• 52 pounds red potatoes
• 23 pounds Yukon gold potatoes

We also have 17 pounds of carrots, a bag of peppers and a few kohlrabi left in the fridge. We also have 20 pounds of tomatoes still ripening in the basement, which we use for eating and in pizza.

Preserved in the cold storage

• 2.5 liters of plum jam from Dana's tree
  
• 3.5 liters of raspberry jam
• 2 liters of taco sauce
• 3.5 liters of apple sauce (ours) plus 9 liters canned from Pat's tree
  
• 9 liters of tomato sauce, which is about a 50% reduction from canned tomatoes
  
• 14 liters of canned tomatoes
  
• 3 liters of chutney
• 1.5 liters of stewed rhubarb
• 18.5 liters of salsa
• 2 liters pickled beets from Erin

Yesterday we had our first day of sunshine in a couple weeks and spent time in the yard deadheading and emptying rain barrels. We also store our patio furniture away from the deck and cover the BBQ. It was good to get that done as the snow melted. If winter sets in prematurely, we are ready.

Today we are headed out to the garage to do some work on the piano bench we are building and do a much needed cleaning job. Our single garage is Mike's workshop, a general storage area, our garden shed, and the place where we park our bikes. It has tendency to descend into anarchy in not closely supervised.

First Frost

Our first frost was Oct. 6. We had already picked all the things we wanted to save except for some in the greenhouse. The evening of the 8th, it went down to -9 and all the delicate stuff in the greenhouse died, as it is has been cloudy for days and could not warm up during the day via passive heat. The spinach and cilantro made it through. If it warms up again, it will resume growing.

We had a great Thanksgiving meal at Anna's on Friday and are scheduled to go out to Mike's parents house today around 3. We gave Anna one of the 4 big basil plants we brought in, but have been making lots of pesto with the rest.

This morning we are hoping to dig out the rest of the carrots, potatoes and beets. The ground isn't frozen, although we have about an inch of snow. It looks very strange with the green leaves on the trees.

In the fall, we usually clean out the rain barrels, put away lawn furniture, clean out planter boxes etc. So far that had been hard to do with the snow, so we are hoping for a good melt. If we can work around the snow, that's the priority for today.

Mike continues to can tomatoes at a rapid rate. We get about 2 large ziplocs every day ripening from the tomatoes we have in the basement. At this point, we are boiling it down to sauces and paste, as we have lots of salsa and canned tomatoes.

Steady as she goes

There has been a lot of rain this week, so we`ve spent little time in the yard. However, Mike has been busy building a piano bench for the girls and working in the greenhouse while I`ve done fall harvest. The yard is starting to look barren and the colours are changing. Inside the greenhouse however, life is starting anew.

Mike has been bubble wrapping the inside to preserve heat. We have no frost yet, but expect to have some any day. I planted a crop of cold tolerant greens, spinach and cilantro, which have sprouted well. They are growing slowly this week as there has been no sun at all, but did well last week when temperatures in the greenhouse ranged from 35-11. I am not sure how well the new greens will do, but I am excited about the experiment.

Here`s a look at our yard in early Oct. It includes pictures of the bubble wrap and things growing in the greenhouse.

The cold storange continues to get fuller as Mike cans tomatoes. After the first frost, we`ll bring in potatoes, a few more onions and the rest of the tomatoes. Well also dig the carrots and beets, but we`ll let the parsnips winter over in the garden. This week we`ll also plant the garlic and dig up the glad bulbs for winter storage in the basement.

Almost done

The garden has been very busy this fall, and Mike has found it a lot of work when the girls and I went back to school. Finally, however, it has begun to slow. This weekend I harvested the last of the herbs and the final green beans, peppers and kohlrabi. The girls picked the final raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb. We are still harvesting a lot of potatoes, beets, chard and tomatoes.

The tomatoes have had a good year because we still have yet to have our first frost. It was scheduled for last night, but didn't quite get there. That was a good thing, as the 43km winds made anchoring a tarp challenging. Although most of our tomatoes are in full swing, I harvest all the fruit in the front and pulled up the plants. That was nearly 40 pounds, and most of the tomatoes we planted are still on the vine.

Mike and I made salsa this weekend and canned seven liters of tomatoes. We also made bread, rhubarb muffins, tomato based soup, pizza, iced tea and green potato curry. We were so happy when the last red tomato was used Sunday, and there will be lots more ripe by tomorrow.

The flowers are doing well and Anwyn picked me massive bouquets on Sunday. She and Leora also helped me plan nearly 300 bulbs from my mom and dig up a bit more of the front lawn for transplanting. Mike did more work on the stone path to go with it, but has mostly worked on the greenhouse.

Mike has been lining the interior with bubble wrap for insulation, and has a large blue barrel filled with water to retain heat. So far this seems to keep the green house about 5 degrees warmer that outside at night. Leora's transplanted herbs are doing well there, as are peppers, cilantro and chard (in the ground).

Life remains really crazy for me. I am still doing two people's jobs, but my replacement Jay starts full time this week, which should help. My time in the yard has been great stress relief, but I'd like be able to really enjoy the last beautiful days. Last week we had 30 plus temperatures that shattered records and I saw very little of any of it.

Tonight our family joined James' family in a bike ride on the new designated bike lanes with 340 plus Saskatoon cyclists. It felt great to be out, although it was cold and windy. I definitely need more of these days before I am snowed in for the season!

High Harvest

It's that time of year again, when you look at bins of things you harvested and think about how much you have to do to get it all processed and stored for the winter. Anna took a bit of stuff of my hands on Friday when she came over and made supper. We had a great evening playing cards (she and Ian played Kaiser for the first time), but the rest of the weekend has been pretty yard oriented.

The girls were at their grandparents this weekend, so when Mike went to work on Saturday, I had the yard to myself. I picked about 6 cups of strawberries and 10 pound of tomatoes, in addition to the standard harvest tomotillos, beans, onions, herbs, chard, kohlrabi, beets and pumpkins. I am reminded of how much I like the square foot gardening method for so many of those things because I get the right amount to eat but not so much I need to freeze and can.

I also mowed the yard with the new reel mower, deadheaded the flowers and started moving some rich compost to some of my garden beds. I also dug up all my corn and the finished beans. Hauling it to the compost was a bit complicated, because we lent the wheel burrow to James.

Much of the garden is turning yellow as fall approaches, and I wanted to pull the peas, but Mike is trying to save some for seed. I also finished the watering of the boxes. We have been watering out of the girls swimming pool for two weeks - and they have been hot ones with plus 30 temperatures.

I have been waiting to finish a section of the new flower bed and connect it to the shade bed in the back under the pine tree. I started by digging up the grass and banging off the dirt from the roots. Then I added the compost to it and transplanted the remaining plants. I really wanted to start putting in all the bulbs Mom sent me, but it is still to hot and I need to wait for the first frost. Regardless, the bed looks nice - I'll just feel great when it is completely done.

We started working on some canning about 3:30. We got two boxes of crab apples from Pat and have been processing them into apple sauce using Anna's food mill. We also got a box of plums from Dana and turned those into jam. We also made some bread and a plum/strawberry crisp. We've been freezing down lots of zucchini, but still have a lot of pumpkin to deal with. We finally finished our batch of cooking about 8 pm and are feeling very pleased with ourselves. Take a look at the current yard pics and all the stuff Mike has been canning.

All Decked Out

Mike, the girls, and I finally finished the deck today. It seemed to take all of August, although we rarely worked on it. It was actually only three days, but we needed several dry days in a row to paint and we couldn't get them. I'm delighted with the deck, which integrates well with the yard now that it is the browns of the house.

Leora help slowly and carefully. Anwyn, like her mother, is a fast, motivated and somewhat imprecise painter. Mike helped them paint the deck yesterday while I was at work, and I did the touch ups today. I really like the combination of the darker and lighter browns.

Today we picked 3 more pumpkins and our weird yellow squash. Our raspberries are finally finished and I completed freezing the last of the 15 gallon pail of basil. We are still eating beets, kohlrabi, beans, strawberries, rhubarb, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, tomotillos, zucchini, eggplant and chard. Our peas finished a few days ago but I have left the roots in the ground to keep fixing nitrogen. I think lettuce is done too, but will plan fall spinach and garlic soon.

I got my box of bulbs from Mom and they look beautiful. I'll be putting them in after the first frost in September. Mike also picked up and put together our reel mower today. I'll be sure to rant about that soon.

Today I spent most of the day in the yard and loved it. Here's a gallery of pictures with my comments about them.

Starting Harvest

It has been a really busy week. We were gone Thursday to Monday camping in Alberta and James looked after the cats and yard for us while we were gone. Mike got to climb Bow Peak, the girls had their first horse back ride and we even had a tourist day at West Edmonton Mall Waterpark. When we got home, we found a a delightful harvest waiting for us.

The fall crops are starting to be ripe and we picked 3 pumpkins, lots of potatoes and carrots, tomatoes, beans, 20 liters of apples, cucumbers, peas and kohlrabi. We had so much zucchini that Mike made cake and 4 loaves of bread with it and we still had to freeze 12 cups. I am pleased to see the raspberries still producing (that alone shows how behind our whole gardening year has been) and the fall crop of strawberries has been bountiful. We are at seven spaghetti squash and counting. The best part is that we have been eating meal after meal of fresh produce and haven't even gone for groceries this week.

Unfortunately, my watermelon prediction has been accurate. The watermelon never made it past fist sized. Mike was sad to discover his potatoes in his special box have done no better that his garden potatoes. he is pretty sad. Our online reading doesn't really tell us why, but I have a guess. According to much of what we read, too much of the green stuff peaked over our dirt (it is supposed to be less than an inch). We'll see if Mike tries it again next year.

Our pumpkin vine on the south side got the same white mold that the peas do and we pulled it - the one in the garden is still doing well. I am really pleased with the purple beans as they have a great flavor. I am also really excited by the shear volume of peppers we have this year!

Rainy days

Nearly 7 cm of rain, much of it over the last 4 days, have left us pretty water logged. I was able to get out briefly with the camera yesterday, but otherwise am feeling pretty house bound. I pity Anna and Ian, who had a cabin at Waskesiu this weekend.

Garden Aug 18 2009

I am excited that my new shade bed has taken so well, and we are eating so many veggies and fruits that I have little to by at the store. We are headed camping Thursday, and I think lots will ripen while I am gone. Tomatoes are producing at the rate of 3 a day even in the rain, and beans are plentiful.

I have been starting to look over varieties of tulips I might be interested in. It's fun to browse the various types. I'd like some pink and white in the back and yellow and orange in the front.

Next week I head back to school. I was in yesterday for a bit, but my boss' stuff is still all over my shared cubical so I was only able to do some things. I'm feeling like summer is almost gone and want to spend every possible moment in the yard.

Mike and I have experimented twice with Pat's reel mower (no motor). We'd like to go that direction for environmental reasons (note link has an agenda, but stats are similar elsewhere) and our mower is starting to die. I don't like the cutting job because it isn't as uniform, but I feel a lot better about the emissions. We are thinking about it now because fall is sale time for mowers.

So much summer

Mike and I have been trying to polish off some of our summer projects now that summer is drawing to a close. We've been rained/blown out of the beach with Anna and Jodi and Brad have kept us happily occupied during their visit. As a result, we have gotten some work done but have more to do. Mike rebuilt the gate two days ago, and we've replaced the rotted boards on the deck.

Currently eating:

• tomatoes (just starting)
• ground cherries (tomatillos)
• apples
• green and yellow beans
• peas
• zucchini
• spaghetti squash
• spices
• cucumber
• lettuce
• potatoes
• beets
• chard
• kohlrabi
• peppers

Using the square foot gardening technique, I get a meal portion for every couple of days rather than the huge amount I get in a row. I think I'll do even more next year.

I have not been please with the amount of edamame beans (soy) for the space they take, so I don't think I'll plant them again. I am also thinking about moving where I put various things next year. The tomatoes are doing really well in the front, so I'll put more there. I'll also put chard, spicy peppers (they are faster than bell peppers) and beans. In the green house, I'll grow basil and bell peppers over the summer. I think I'll use back trellis for peas and climbing beans, and move the cucumbers to the south square foot beds. Boy, you know you are a gardener when you are planning next year in the middle of this one. . .

Newly blooming includes sun flowers, columbine, obedient plant and stems on my gladiolus (they aren't open yet). A number of new day lilies, including a peach colored one, are blooming. I'd like to get some more pinks and maroons in both types of lilies.

My mom emailed me that my bulbs are in the mail. She'd sending narcissus, daffodils and hyacinth. I'm going to buy myself a few more types of tulips - I'm pretty boring with the bulbs and basically have red tulips.

Purple Haze

I've been enjoying so many things in the yard lately. I've expanded my front bed by transplanting some orange oriental lilies from the back (in addition to a few other incidental flowers). I think it is as far as I'd like to take it this year for beds in the front. If we have time, Mike and I want to dig up grass for the front garden bed next year, but I suspect that will be next spring.



In the back, there is little of the garish orange, yellow and red. Instead, it's dominated by purple, with hints of pinks and whites. Here's a few in a collage.







A number of the annuals we started from seed are in full bloom including the morning glory and sweat peas. Lots of the perennials are going too, including:

• hostas


• lupins


• roses (5 types)


• columbine


• bell flowers (4 types)


• clematis (white one)


• 6 types of day lilies


• 4 types of oriental lilies


• yarrow (4 colours)


• sedum (5 types)


• succulents (8 types)

Lilies are the big hit at the moment, and the white is my favorite. Perennials just went on sale at my local greenhouse and were 2 dollars a plant so I bought 4 new varieties. The one I am most excited about is Obedient plant, which I have heard great things about but never grown.

I moved many of my part sun plants out from under the apple tree in the back and expended the north fern bed so I could transplant into it. Mike added three wheelbarrows of compost and the girls and stripped the grass, but otherwise we made few amendments to the soil. Mike also brought some feature rocks to add to the beds in the back and the girls used some to make a path under the apple tree for easy picking.

We are currently in the main summer harvest of the garden, and our grocery bills are feeling the impact (excellent). Mike also added the second rain barrel, so the water use is down too. We rarely eat a meal now that doesn't feature garden produce and had my in-laws, Bob and Gale, over for a birthday supper for Bob that featured all garden produce. I made a vegetable tray with beans, baby carrots, peas, zucchini, kohlrabi, and pepper. Mike made a spaghetti squash and roasted onion, potatoes and beets. We'd have had swish chard also, but we forgot it in the microwave, so we had to eat it the next morning. For desert we had a raspberry cheesecake. When that all comes out of the garden, it feels great. We sent the left-overs to Mike's grandma, Min, and she called to say they were yummy.

We are also eating snow peas, cucumber, edame beans, lettuce, beat leaves, all our spices and strawberries. I think we'll start corn, a few tomatoes, and apples next next week.

Your own organic fruit and veggies and fresh cut flowers are such a luxury. Mike and I often comment on how fresh picked food tastes - today the girls are having a sleep over and their friends just roamed through the yard tasting things and commenting how yummy everything was. Leora and Anwyn were super proud and named all the plants and pulled thing off for taste testing. Reminds me of Mike and I, but less obsessed. . .

Serious start to harvesting

What a difference two days makes. We were gone camping last weekend from Thursday until Sunday and we had a blast. The girls spent the whole time in or on the lake. We taught them to paddle and went in canoeing in white caps (the girls called it a roller coaster). We also roasted marshmallows, ate some sunflower seeds that Brad gave us, and read lots of books. When we got home and unpacked a huge surprise was waiting in the garden.

We had a huge harvest because we did not pick on Friday or Saturday. We got

• Lettuce
• Kohlrabi
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Peas
• Sugar Snaps
• Raspberries
• Edamame beans

I have flowers larger than I am, all my lilies are in bloom and my white clematis is starting. Today, Mike finished the second rain barrel and we went berry picking with Anna. We got three baskets of saskatoons and two of strawberries. I am SO excited to be gardening this year. Check out all the current pictures.

Veggies to scale

Anwyn and Leora agreed to let me take some pictures of them in the garden for a sense of scale. I can't believe how large things are this year. I am sure some of it is the green house / south side bed, but I think square foot gardening may be a big part. Things need to go up because they can't go out. Sometimes I wish we hadn't tried all these knew things in one year because I can't tell what is responsible for what.

Ian was over last night and he says their veggies are big, too. James also got greenhouse plants from us, but his are in the shade so that impacts size. He has lots doing well though. If James or Anna lets me I'll post pics of their garden projects also.

Mike went out yesterday with James and Kent and got even more rocks. We'll start storing again until we are ready for more grass removal. We also put up a piece of an old bunk bed so my clematis can cover the path in a tunnel fashion rather than hanging into it. So far it looks too white to me, but Mike assures me I'll like it in time.

Oh Yeah

Well, life has been busy in the garden of late, so I have been out rather than in, and my blog is behind. Lots of projects to talk about this week.

Currently blooming perennials:

• 5 types of roses
• 3 types of bell flowers
• 3 types of pinks
• Peonies
• Astilbe
• Phlox
• 2 types of poppies
• Lilies (too many types to count will bloom in the next several weeks)
• Lots of types of succulents

James gave us some poppies and an olla (pronounced Oh Yeah). I first read about ollas in a blog I follow on urban farming. I have situated it in the back yard among my cauliflowers and broccoli. It is a very old technology for watering water loving plants in dry areas. Mine is made with a clay pot and lid. It is late in the year to be putting it in, but I'll see how it does. I'll post a picture of the root growth around it if it happens.

I also read about comfrey. I found it in my garden 5 years ago and didn't know what it was. I liked the look of it, so I kept it. I read about it in an organic gardening book and it is sometimes called the compost plant. I'll experiment with it this year and try making some compost extract for my plants. It is so potent that I am supposed to use it at a rate of 15 parts water to one part decayed comfrey. I am going to cut some leaves and put them around my potatoes in one section to see if it makes a difference.

Mike, Leora, Anwyn and I build a path around the south side of the house yesterday, Jaime helped us lay the stones and we bought pea gravel to fill in around them. Erin and Colin lent us their truck to get the gravel. Although the pictures imply that the girls did all the labor, it was mostly supplied by Mike. Mike also made me some stepping stones by pouring concrete on rhubarb leaves. The result is beautiful, but may not be strong enough as we skipped the mesh. the south side square foot gardens are really flourishing and the path really helps with access.

Things in the garden are growing in leaps and bound. I've taken some pictures of veggies and the girls together so the scale is clear.

We are currently eating:

• zucchini
• lettuce
• peas
• cherries
• rhubarb
• strawberries (everberring)
• kohlrabi
• baby onions
• beet greens
• spinach

We did a massive basil harvest this week and Mike made his pizza and homemade pesto. I know Anna and Ian would love the pesto, but Anna is still away. Maybe Ian will come over... I have dried about thirty dill stalks, which will add up to about 2 cups of dried dill weed. We've been cooking a lot with dill.

Baby Veggies in the Rain

We've had west-coast like rain over the last week and our rain barrel is really full. That's great, but the sea of mud that is my garden is really slowing me down. I have so many baby veggies I want to visit and love up, but I can't really get to them.

The first one I am really excited about is our little cauliflower. I have never grown cauliflower before and am not sure how this will turn out. Greta says she has tried broccoli and it turned out small and bitter. That's the most likely outcome for prairie gardeners. I have them up against the greenhouse window and am watering them copiously to try to give them the best chance. My broccoli seems to be following Greta's prediction - so far it isn't doing much. We have 5 cauliflowers and they have all set heads. At this point, they are tennis ball sized. I haven't folded the leaves and tied them over because this is supposed to be a variety that doesn't need that. We'll see.

We also have baby pumpkins - some are even golf ball size at this point.
I told Mike we'd get none, but he thinks there will be lots.

I've read that to get giant pumpkins you are supposed to take the other baby pumpkins off the vines. I wonder if we should cut off the other pumpkins on one vine to see if that will get us a pumpkin. On the other hand, all that space for one pumpkin seems ridiculous.

We are currently eating zucchini, strawberries, greens, spices etc. and will have peas as soon as we have a warm day. I've eaten a couple of pods already and they were so good. Our sugar snaps are a couple of weeks behind yet.

We have already harvested 3 zucchini and given one to James and Jaime. Hopefully Anna and Ian will want some soon and I know I can freeze some.

We are also trying edamame beans for the first time this year. We have six plans in the greenhouse and some on our south trellis in the square foot beads. The pods are doing well and I think we'll be eating them soon as well. Our tomatoes in the greenhouse and in the south boxes already have large fruits and the romas are doing well in the main garden bed. Peppers are all flowering as well and we have a number of baby peppers.

Our big excitement is our spaghetti squash. They are getting so large that we had to make our first cradle for one the other day. A cradle is a nylon or mesh support attached to the netting to prevent there from being to much weight on the stem. I'll be sure to take a picture of the cradle and post it soon.

Mike and I have had some interesting conversations lately about the value of all this fresh gardening and how few people is western society actually eat really fresh vegetables. I think they are so much better that even farmer's market veggies and they are way better than the supermarket. It's clearly great that they are organic and that they are more nutritious if eaten directly after picking. However, it's the taste that keeps me gardening.

Way off topic

Yesterday we completed work on switching the girls' rooms - yes, I know that has nothing to do with gardening, but it's what I've been spending my time on. When Leora first got the master bedroom from us, we promised Anwyn she'd get a crack at it a few years later. That time has come and the big switch was on.

On Monday I helped them each haul all their stuff into the other person's room. The deal was that I was not buying anything except new sheets, new summer blankets. I had not bought either since Anwyn was three and everything was beyond further mending so I felt fine about that. I did cave on a mirror for Leora since Anwyn had one and a rung for Anwyn since the hop scotch rug has seen better times.

I thought I had some of the blue paint from the bedroom left, but I didn't, so Leora and I concocted a paint by mixing various colours together. We didn't have quite enough, but Mike suggested we use some of the deep blue from the living room as an accent colour. On Wednesday, we spent 4 hours painting Leora's room, and on Thursday, we bought the linens. I think the whole thing turned out really well considering.

I still need to get the girls new twin mattresses. Theirs are second hand - we bought them at a pawn shop in Meadow Lake when Anwyn was about one and a half, and the mattresses really suck. Mike is watching Kiji for me in case some come up.

Front yard environment

Mike and I have been pretty serious this last year about reducing our environmental footprint. We are done most of the easy "change your light bulbs" stuff, and much of the medium "compost" stuff, and we are starting to move into the deeper and more challenging commitments, also know as "that really weird environmental stuff." One of our big changes in that direction has been growing as much of our own food as possible.

Our garden, square foot beds and greenhouse have been a part of that transformation. Our next stage has been reducing our grass in the front yard to reduce the need for watering. We've been avoiding fertilizers and chemical weeders for about 5 years, and our grass shows it. Mike also under waters it because he secretly hates large front lawns.

Anyway, we had our second half of the retaining wall built last weekend and started to lift the turf. I first tried this method when I was 8 months pregnant with Leora (in Meadow Lake). You cut up thin strips of turf, maybe no larger than a brick. Then you pick up two of the strips and alternate scrubbing and banging them so that a lot of the dirt is removed from the turf. This has two advantages:

1. You keep a good chunk of your top soil so you don't need to buy more
2. There is a theoretical possibility that your compost pile can keep up with all the turf you are adding.

I made Mike dig some last week in a rainstorm, but this weekend we had great weather, and girls and I dug up the remaining grass in our bed on Saturday. The bed has kind of a strange shape (Jaime says its phallic, but it might be her preoccupation) because we had to dig it to cover the tire tracks in our lawn.

From Garden june 26

After we dug the bed, we added 4 wheelbarrows of compost and 1 large bale of peat to improve the soil and I was ready to plant. We put in two saskatoons and two blueberries as foundation, then build the bed around it. I added 5 tomatoes we'd been growing on the deck, romaine lettuce, basil and a variety of perennials and annuals. I also dug up and transplanted perennials from the backyard.

My mom is planning to send me some bulbs for the fall and I left room for them, but I am really pleased with the result. It looks like a flower bed (which it partially is) but also acts like a vegetable plot (although a sparsely planted one). I am going to keep working on this principle as we lift more turf over the next several years.

On a side note, the back yard garden is doing really well. The peas are now flowering and we are eating lots of strawberries. Mike is relieved to see baby apples on the tree and we've been eating lots of lettuce. I think we'll eat our first zucchini this week. Click on the link under the picture to see garden pictures from this week.

From Garden june 26

At play. . .

Who says a Wendy doesn't know how to play? I have been having so much fun in my yard this week. The pictures show me harvesting lettuces and loving up some of my favorite early summer flowers including:

• three types of iris
• three types of bleeding hearts
• Blue bell flower
• clematis
• chives
  

Mike has been hauling rocks like a crazy person and also bought us a 27 year supply of straw at $2 a bale. We put the straw on the strawberries and raspberries to deal with the lack of rain. I think it looks pretty good, although I am not wild about the extra straw storage behind the garage.

We have had 4 days of plus 30 weather and things in the yard have really responded. The tomatoes and peppers are starting to flower and we have our first baby cucumber and spaghetti squash. Mike and I are like a couple at their first ultrasound. We keep looking at baby veggies and wondering if they are just female flowers or actually germinated. Mike has lots of little cherries, which he feel good about.

In addition to gathering rocks, Mike has been out raping and pillaging the landscape in my name. He has returned with a sucker Saskatoon (we hope) and some year one roses from the bush in our park. He also got another cherry tree from his uncle Kent. I am not sure where he envisions all this going, but for now it is some is living in pots on the deck. Our plan to divest large chunks of the front yard of grass will likely provide a home for many things, although the soil will really need some compost.

We put up our pool this weekend and had our first swim today with the girls. Since its really hot out and we are trying to avoid using our air, the dip before bed is a big help.  It's been hard to cool the house without the cats escaping because Merry has figured out how to open the screen door by hanging off of it. We have jury-rigged an elastic system that currently contains her.

In 8 years. . .

From Garden 2002

Here are some pictures of our yard over the eight years we've owned our house. We moved in during Aug. of 2001. In that week, Liz got married, Mike went to Italy with Brad, and Greta and Rob stayed with me. I made them move the derelict compost bin and I dug weeds (lots of weeds). The first 14 pictures are of 2001 http://picasaweb.google.com/LeoraWendy/Garden2002#. This folder of pictures also contains the yard in 2002, the first year we worked on the yard. Mike laid the new patio and we built the swing set. There are also pictures of our first garden.

You can also see. . .

• Our yard in 2007
• Mike and Dad building the greenhouse
• Current pictures include fruit, veggies, our new rock wall and our dry compost.

We are pretty excited about the new wall, which is composed of free rocks we just had to hall. The James side would be proud.

Another cold Sunday

Yesterday there was a delightful high of 8 degrees, but today we are heading out into the garden in bold defiance of our bitter spring. We've been forced to water with the hose, as the spring has been mostly dry in addition to cold. When Mike turned the compost yesterday we found that it was doing virtually nothing because it was too dry to rot much, so we had to water it.

We are currently eating:

• Spinach
• Herbs, especially mint and basil
• Rocket
• Rhubarb
• Romaine
• Chives

Mike made a great batch of stewed rhubarb yesterday and we had it on our blueberry pancakes. I'm mixed into Mike's homemade yogurt. It's great that way.

The spinach is doing really well, and we've been enjoying several other lettuces for salads. We've also been having chives and spinach in virtually everything. I've made grilled vegetable panini with the basil and feta for an extra punch and Mike made a great omelet using the basil as well. Basil often dies or grows very slowly for us during the spring. We have it in the greenhouse where it is doing well, and the one in the yard is under a cloche.

Cloching seems to be working well for the corn and are melons and gourds. Given the type if spring we are having, they should be mostly dead. The corn has even continued to grow after multiple -8 types of temperatures. Who knows if it will be too stressed to do well.

Currently flowering or up in the garden:
All the same things are flowering as last week, but the raspberries and cucumber have started. We've seen almost no bees, which is very worrisome. Mike thinks we'll have few apples. The ants have been looking after the low growing things like the cherry and strawberries, but they won't be good enough for the raspberries, so we need bees soon or there won't be much of a crop. Mike and I would also like to mulch the raspberries with straw, but we haven't found anywhere to get it.

Peas, beans, kohlrabi, beets and onions are all up. We don't have parsnips yet and the carrots are really patchy. We don't really know why that always happens - any suggestions on germinating carrots would be appreciated.

Flowering perennials

• iris (three types of bearded)
• lilac
• lily of the valley
• tea roses
• purple clematis
• snow crop
• bleeding hearts
• blue grass
• anemones
• chives

The most exciting news is that we found some free stone on Kiji yesterday and we get to go pick it up today. We can use it as a mini retaining wall in the front to solve some of the dryness issues created by the slope and the pine tree. We've been having so much fun working in the yard this year, and the rocks will help solve a problem we've been worried about. Last night Anna and Ian took the girls (thanks guys) and we spent too much time just admiring the yard and thinking about the rocks. Anna was kind enough to want to look around the yard and Ian was indulgent enough not to complain in front of us :-)

I'll post a cool series of pics of the garden past and present soon.

Asparagus

Mike and I enjoyed our first really good crop of Asparagus this year. We've already stopped harvesting it (although perhaps we could have waited a couple of weeks because of the late frost). This year I picked an average of 6 stalks a day, more if it was really sunny and warm. I've read you should harvest it slightly below the dirt level, although I am too lazy to do it.

Our asparagus lives up against the south face of a fence in the sunny patch beside the green house. It gets compost twice a year, and is often under watered, except when the splashes from the pool give it frequent drinks. The thing I like best about it is how tender and fresh tasting it is. I've been forced to conclude asparagus from the garden is the like carrots from the garden - so far superior it isn't even recognizable as the same form of vegetation. We often eat it off the plant without cooking it, and it's great that way.

Blooming in the start of June

I'm going to track the state of my fruits and vegetables this year to help myself keep track of things for years to come. Despite my despair dealing with the cold, I am excited about all the things that are blooming in the garden.

We are currently eating:

• Asparagus (just finished the last batch)
• Spinach
• Herbs
• Rocket
• Rhubarb

Currently flowering and edible:

pumpkins
squash
zucchini
strawberries
apple tree
cherry tree
chives
sage (brought out from inside)
red currents

Flowering perennials

• tulips
• iris
• grape hyacinths
• lily of the valley
• tea roses
• purple clematis
• snow crop
• bleeding hearts (pink only)
• blue grass

We haven't had any rain in a week and a half and are watering with tap water, which is too bad. We've been discussing the purchase of an additional rain barrel for next year. Mike and I are hoping to avoid using city water as much as possible.

The weeds are pretty happy with the burst of wet and heat, and for the next several weeks Keith's elms will be dropping seeds on everything. June is the worst month for weeds in general in the yard.

Slow Spring

From Garden Spring 2009

Well, it's June and you'd never know it by looking at my yard. Mike and I have embarked on an ambitious or insane (depending on your perspective) series of practices designed to reduce our environmental impact.

We began by using a grow table Mike got from a friend to start seeds for ourselves, James and Anna. Then we moved the seeds out into the greenhouse Dad helped us build last summer.
We were planning on getting the jump on spring to give ourselves a longer growing season and helps try some veggies that struggle to make it in Zone 3. In early April, we moved our tended plants out to the greenhouse only to see three weeks of temperatures 10 to 20 degrees C below normal. We planted our corn and had to cover it constantly to protect it from repeated snow and temperatures of minus 8 at night. Last week, it finally warmed up to be seasonal.

I was so excited to my plants start to actually grow (they'd been hunkered down just above soil level for 4 weeks) and we finally planted our garden. This year we are experimenting with square food gardening for the first time, so some planting is still to come.

New vegetables this year:

• spaghetti squash
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• soy beans
• rocket
• purple pole beans

Mike's experiments that I predict will die:

• watermelon
• pumpkin

All this exciting plenty has Mike and I touring the yard, ecstatically probing the dirt to see what is up. We have beans, carrots, peas, kohlrabi and beets all germinating just in time for the happy news. Great news this morning -more cold weather on the way and risk of frost tonight.