A Little Winter Gardening

Hello All-

Some recent warm days have given me quite the case of spring fever.  I needed to shake it, and the only way I could think of was to plant something...anything.  I had recently on Pinterest where someone grew green onions in a glass of water.  Hmmm...I had some onions that were getting old in the fridge, so why not? 

I trimmed up several onions, added them to a short glass of water, and placed them in a sunny window. 

Just a few days, later, this is what they looked like...

You'll notice that there are fewer ends in the glass than when I started.  Several never sprouted (likely because they were pretty old in the fridge), and I tossed them before they funked the water too much.  I also change the water every few days, and give the roots a rinse. 

According the the site I saw this idea on, you can simply cut off what you need for cooking, and the roots will continue to grow.  I bought a fresh bunch at the store today to add to what I have, and hopefully I won't have to buy any more green onions for a long time!

Cheers!
Sharon

P.S.  This project didn't cure my fever 100%, but it helped!!

Garden Update...The Front Yard

Hello All-

With all of the posts last week regarding the back yard, I thought I'd do a quick one about the garden out front.  So much of it is comprised of bulbs and perennials that I don't think much of it sometimes.  It kind of takes care of itself.  The other day I did clean it up a bit.  We have a rose bush that was put in by the builder and it has spread all over.  I clipped that back and trimmed the tulips that had passed, to make room for the lilies that are out in full force.  I love seeing how many new flowers come up each year...to think, the patch I have started with just a handful of bulbs!  The yellow ones are all opening, and the red ones are a few days behind. 

I also weeded everything (the thistle this year is out of control!!!) and moved around a few of the smaller plants to fill in where the tulips had been. 

While outside, I noticed that a friend from a few years ago was back to say hello...

I believe that it is a type of crab spider.  Hannah thinks it is so cool that it can change it's color to match the flower it is on.  It has mastered the color of our yellow lilies.  We spent a while watching it, as it truly walks like a crab...so cool!!!  I don't know if it is the same one that we have watched in years past, but it seems like each year we find of these guys living in the same spot. 

Well, I guess I'll leave you with some photos of the other flowers in the garden.  We had a nice sunny day, so I went out to snap some photos.

Enjoy!!

 

Happy Gardening!!!

Sharon

Garden Update...The Veggies

Hello All-
As promised, here are some photos of my veggie/herb garden, as well as my cherry tree.  So far everything is doing quite well, with a few surprises. 

Earlier this summer, the tomato plants I purchased looked awful.  The flowers they had got black and fell off.  Then all of a sudden, we noticed that they were blooming again and this week I noticed we had tomatoes growing!!!  What a wonderful surprise!!!  Hubby reminded me that they always perk up in July, but I wasn't too optimistic...little did I know!!  We'll see if they grow into anything worth eating...if not, the composter will have a good feast!

A while back I had bought a "cheater" cucumber plant at Lowes.  We must have gotten 10 or so good sized cucumbers from it, but it is now looking pretty bad.  It still has a few flowers on it, so I haven't given up hope, but I'm not holding my breath for any more.  I do have photos of the cucumbers we got, but they are on my phone...I'll have to post them another day...

Since I last posted, we have been eating lots of peas!!!  We got a bunch of hail the other day, so the pods were all marked up, but they still tasted great!!  I felt better about their appearance when we went to the Farmer's Market and saw that theirs were marked up too.  Thankfully the new crop we've got growing look awesome and show no signs of hail damage. 

While my Mom was in town, we also picked a few onions for some fresh salsa.  Again, I have a photo of the one we picked, but I'll have to post it another day.  The tops of the onions all got pretty messed up from the hail, but the onions were super tasty!!  I still can't believe how potent fresh from the garden onions are.  They gave quite a bite to the salsa we made!  In this photo you can see some of the onion tops peaking out.  We'll be picking more of these guys this weekend. 

As for everything else, we planted more radishes and they just started sprouting.  My lettuce is forming tight heads, so once we finish up the salad fixings we bought at the store, I'll be picking some fresh stuff.  One of my broccoli plants flowered, so I've cut it back to encourage a second harvest.  My Swiss chard looks great and I can't wait to toss it up with some pasta.  My three different kinds of beans are off to a bit of a slow start, but they seem to grow in spurts. 

Let's see, what else??  Oh, my zucchini and summer squash are doing well.  I have a small summer squash forming and my zucchini is getting ready to flower.  My spinach isn't growing as fast as I'd like, but I think we'll still get a decent harvest from it.

I think that's about it for the veggies.  I did buy a "Salsa Planter" at Home Depot the other day on special.  I missed having peppers in the garden, so the pepper/basil/tomato/cilantro/chive combo plant was just what I needed.  For $10.99, I thought it was a good deal.  It was a bit underwatered when I got it, but I expect that it will perk up soon. 

As for my herbs, they are growing really well.  We used a bunch of them this past week when we roasted a chicken, and hubby used some more when he made an herb paste for a rib roast.  I don't know about you, but I think food tastes so much better when you know the ingredients were grown in your own backyard.

Right now we are keeping an eye on our cherry tree to see how it does.  It is loaded with fruit and they seem to be growing, so fingers crossed that they have a fighting chance against the birds.  I'd love nothing more than to can some of the fruit for us to eat after we move. 

So, for edible "stuff" in the garden, I think that about covers it.  I'll keep you posted on how the tomatoes do in the upcoming weeks.  We are supposed to have a cold snap soon, so hopefully they weather the storm okay.

Happy Gardening!!

Sharon

Garden Update...An Overdue Update

Hello All-
Sorry for the delay in posting.  My Mom was visiting from the States for 12 days, and we were out and about every day!!  Needless to say, I didn't get much free time to blog.  So, it is catch up time!!

I wanted to start with a post about where the garden is at right now.  I've actually had a few emails asking how things were looking, since our summer in Calgary hasn't been ideal for gardening.  It has been rainy, then too dry, hot, then chilly, and don't even get me started on the hail!!  (That's a post all on its own!)

So, without further ado, here's what the garden looked like as of yesterday afternoon...

My flowers are all in full bloom.  I pulled the two sunflowers I had put in earlier...something happened, and the blooms never opened!  They got black and droopy and I was sick of looking at them.  So, Hannah and I hit a clearance sale at Home Depot yesterday and we bought the sunflower you see in the photo, as well as a blackberry bush.  With the upcoming move, we won't see any fruit on the bush, but I thought it would be a nice surprise to whoever buys the house, come next summer.

My gooseberry bush is also full of fruit, but I am still waiting for the berries to get red.  Hopefully the birds don't pick the fruit off before they get fully ripened.  We did discover that the strawberry thief in the yard was one of the robins we had been watching.  Oh well...Hannah loves watching the birds, so we were happy to share our bounty with them. 

As you can see, from this photo, I had slacked quite a bit on my weeding.  Yesterday I filled this bucket to the top in the backyard and again in the front.  It feels so good to have it done now...things look so much better!! 

While weeding, I not only pulled out the old sunflowers, but I also took out some salvia that never did well in the garden and a few petunias that had seen better days.  It's funny, once you start thinning out the dead stuff, everything else looks so much more full and happy. 

Of course, it wouldn't be an afternoon in the garden without my little helper!  She decided that weeding was boring, but chasing butterflies and dressing up in her "suit of armor" were much more fun.  Ahhh...to be 4 again!  She did tell me that the gardens looked better post-weeding, so I guess that's all the affirmation I needed!!

Tomorrow I'll post about my veggies, cherry tree and herbs...next week I'll give you the full front yard update too!

Stay tuned!!

Happy Gardening!

Sharon



Garden Update...the Fruits of our Labor

Hello All-
I just wanted to share a few photos of some of our early crops.

Not too shabby, eh??

Next week we should have more strawberries and I'm hoping that the gooseberries start to change color.  They are looking full grown, I'm just anxiously awaiting their beautiful pink color to come out!!

Happy Gardening!

Sharon

Garden Update...An Unwelcome Visitor

Hello All-
Living in the city, we don't get too many "pests" in the garden.  We did have a bunny issue our first summer here (FYI, neighborhood bunnies and cauliflower and cabbage plants don't mix!), but our fence quickly fixed that problem. 

I thought we were in the clear with pests until the other day. I was upstairs in the guest room, peeking out the window to see how the other back gardens in the neighborhood look, and that's when I spotted him...

Say hello to Mr. Prairie Dog!

(he hid under our neighbor's car when I went out to grab a photo)

I have never seen one of these guys in the 'hood before.  Our neighbor on the other side moved in and when the snow melted, she found deep holes in the yard.  She assumed it was from the previous owner's dog or the neighborhood bunnies, but now I'm starting to wonder.  That worries me since I'm smack dab in the middle and I'm the one with a garden. 

We did notice that the neighborhood cats have been hanging out in the back alley behind our house a lot more lately.  There was a mound of grass surrounding the power box and we assumed that we might have some mice back there.  Then some kids started using the grass as a hide and seek spot, so a few nights ago hubby cut it all back.  Then the next morning I spotted Mr. Prairie Dog.  Hmmm...I don't think there were mice back there afterall. 

I am praying that this little guy doesn't cause too much trouble and that he doesn't find my veggies and fruits.  Does anyone know how to repel prairie dogs?? Until we figure out what to do, Hannah and I are on burrow patrol.  I hate to see the little guy suffer, but it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the cats were after him.  It would save me a lot of lost crops. 

My cats are indoor cats, so they won't be on the prowl anytime soon.  Plus, I think they have better things to do...

Happy Gardening!!

Sharon

Garden Update...Happy Summer!!

Hello All-
So the sun has been out for 2 whole days now!!  I was able to sneak out today and snap a few photos of the back gardens.  Unfortunately the mosquitoes are so bad that I haven't been able to get out and weed yet, so don't mind any stray pieces of grass in the photos.

First up, I had started some cucumber seeds inside this winter and once I put them outside, they fried in the sun.  So, after searching high and low for a replacement plant, I found a beautiful one at Lowe's.  For $14.98 I was able to get a 16" pot that was caged and full of cucumbers!!  Here are two of the ones we plan on eating next week.

Next, in my side flower garden I have a few edible items.  Last year I planted a gooseberry bush, and it has taken off this year!!  Growing up, my Memere and Pepere had a beautiful gooseberry bush, and during games of hide-and-seek, I could always be found snacking away.  Pepere swears that gooseberries grow better next to currants, so once we move to Edmonton, I think I'll be getting one of each.

My strawberries and chives are doing great too!!!  The strawberries are just now starting to turn red...I can taste them already!!  We have been eating lots of chives, and we even sampled the flowers.  Just a warning...chive flowers, though delicious, are really potent!!  Use sparingly!!

My veggie garden has been doing really well, despite all of the rain.  I was worried about my beans, as they weren't sprouting, but apparently they like wet soil since they took off once the rain came.  The two back boxes in the photo below have wax beans and green beans.  The box between the onions is full of purple beans.  Hannah can't wait to try those!!

Our peas are getting big and we're anxiously awaiting flowers and pods.  Hannah is a big fan of eating peas off the vine, so we're hoping for a crop before we move.

In the rest of the veggie garden I have 2 types of tomatoes growing, onions, Swiss chard, lettuce, radishes, summer squash, basil, spinach, zucchini, and broccoli.  I also have some asparagus that I think needs 1 more year before we will get a crop. 

Our lilacs are just starting to open, and we can smell them inside.  Our cherry tree has already flowered, and I'm hoping that the fact that the rain knocked a bunch of the flowers off, that we don't have a lousy crop of cherries again this year.  Thankfully I saw a glimmer of hope with a few cherries starting to grow.

So there you have it...despite the fact that we're preparing to move 3 hours north, my garden hasn't suffered too bad.  Fingers crossed that the house sells quickly, but that we can also get a taste of our hard work before we are officially gone.

Cheers and Happy Summer!

Sharon

Garden Update...Rain, Rain Go Away!!!

Hello All-

Happy First Day of Summer!!!  I think Mr. Sun has finally decided to show his face, so I am hoping to get some garden photos this afternoon.  It has been raining for 2 weeks straight, so needless to say, not much gardening has been done around here.  Thankfully the seeds I planted didn't get the memo and they have been growing like crazy!! 

Stay tuned for some photos!!

Cheers!
Sharon

Garden Update...It's Beautiful Inside and Out!

Hello All-

I wanted to give you all an update on some of my indoor plants.  I have actually been having some trouble with a few of them...too much sun!!  I have always had a hard time getting my seedlings enough sunlight, while also trying not to let them bake in the south sun.  I have had a few shriveled casualties, but I think I have caught most of them before I've lost them for good. 

I'll wait a bit longer before planting my violas and daisies outside, but they are coming along nicely.  My tea garden isn't growing very fast, but it is still growing none the less.  I think I might transplant the three survivors into a larger pot so they don't dry out so quickly.  We'll see.

 My summer squash and cucumbers are growing really well!!  It won't be long before I can pop them into my outdoor garden.  I did lose my broccoli seedlings, but I planted more seeds that seemed to grow in record time!  I actually put them outside the other day, along with my lettuce seedlings, but I forgot to snap a photo.  If they don't drown with the rain we have headed our way, I'll snap a photo when the sun comes out.  Thankfully both the broccoli and lettuce can be planted outside as seeds right now too, so if I lose the seedlings, I can start over and not lose too much time.

 The other day I picked up a tomato plant.  I know, I know, it is too early for tomatoes, but at 50 cents, I couldn't resist.  I picked up a large pot for this little beauty and I am going to try to get tomatoes inside this year.  I just have to remember to play bee with a Q-tip once the flowers bloom.  If it doesn't look like I'll be successful, I'll just plant it outside.

This pot of herbs has a story behind it.  Yes, I still have the smaller pot that I created a few weeks back...those herbs are doing great.  We went to our friends' house for Easter dinner, and hubby and I decided to bring them a pot of herbs as a Hostess gift.  We found this lush pot at Canadian Tire for $25.  It has oregano, basil, chives, rosemary, thyme, and sage.  We bought it the day before Easter and leave it to me, I forgot it on our kitchen table when we left to go to Easter dinner on Sunday.  By the time I thought of it, we were too far to turn back.  So, back to Canadian Tire we went to buy pot #2!  So, I ended up keeping the first one, and I have already used a bunch of the herbs.  They don't go to waste in this house, that's for sure.  Hubby thinks I forgot pot #1 on purpose so I could keep it, but once we started using some of the herbs, he realized that it was a convenient mistake on my part.

Last weekend we roasted two chickens and used some of the thyme and rosemary inside the cavity of each bird.  Now that I know how to make my own chicken stock, I couldn't let him throw away the bones from the chickens, so I made lots of stock this week.  I used more thyme and rosemary in it, and it was delicious!!  I already had another chicken carcass in the freezer for the next time I made stock, so I threw that in too.  I also used carrots, onions, leeks, peppercorns, bay leaves, and lots of water.  In the end, I had 20.5 cups, as well as one ice cube tray, of stock!  (Hubby loves it when I freeze some stock into ice cubes...he used a bunch of them in some Queso he made the day we had the chickens, and the cubes were so handy!!

I don't know about you, but I think my freezer is going to be very happy with all of this yumminess filling it up!!!  I am going to make some homemade noodles and make up some soup this week too...I can't wait!!!

Cheers!
Sharon

Spring Has Sprung in Cowtown!!

Hello All-

I am so sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I have been so busy!!  Between dance classes, music classes, playing outside, Easter, and a slew of other things, I have been right out straight. 

Yesterday Hannah and I spent most of the day outside.  It seems as though Spring may have finally sprung here.  My gardens are all full of new life, and even the grass is greening up nicely. 

I started weeding yesterday and found lots of green "non grass" popping up.  My gooseberry bush apparently survived its first Alberta winter, as you can see.  There is a bunch of new growth coming up in the middle, and all of the branches are budding.  My family has always had gooseberry bushes on their property, and they all swear that you have to grow them alongside a red currant bush.  My Great-Grandmother used to mix the berries for jam and it makes for a nice balance of sweet and tart.  I saw a few currant bushes at Walmart the other day, so maybe my little gooseberry bush will be getting a roommate before too long.

At the end of the season, I transplanted my strawberries from my veggie garden into my flower garden.  I wasn't sure they would survive after a move and then the winter, but I was wrong.  They are growing nicely, and, in my mind, I can already taste the first berry of the season...yum!

The chives have really taken off!!  This is year number three with them, so the plant is quite established by now.  I can't believe how thick the chives are getting though!  They remind me of the ones my Memere and Pepere used to grow that we would use as straws because they were so big!! (Don't mind the grass in the photo too...I was mid-weeding when I took this photo)

My edible crops aren't the only things that are popping up.  I have several bulbs coming up, including this cute little hyacinth.  I cannot wait until they all come up and add lots of color to my flower bed.  The only problem is that I cannot remember exactly what I planted for bulbs, or where, so I'll be as surprised as everyone else once they start blooming!!

Out front things are popping up nicely as well.  I haven't taken any photos yet since I have a lot of weeding and cleaning out to do.  Our home is directly north-south, with the backyard in the south sun, so the front of the house gets sun so much later.  Up until a few days ago there was still a fair amount of snow in the front garden.  Thankfully it has all melted and the ground is softening up, but it is still a bit behind the back.  I did see some tulip bulbs sneaking up, and the day lilies are greening up, so next week I should have some progress photos from out there. 

So far the weather has been quite agreeable.  It has been warm the past few days, and the rain that we are expecting today should help things along.  I just hope that it is more gentle than driving, since I planted some seedlings yesterday and I don't want them floating down the alley!!

More updates to come, including some photos of my indoor plants!!

Cheers!
Sharon

Garden Update...Green Green Everywhere!!

Hello All-

Despite the recent snow we've had, my seedlings are doing great in their warm, sunny, south-facing windows.  I did lose my second batch of parsley seeds...I have no idea why they won't grow for me.  Oh well, I can get established plants easy enough at the garden center.  I'm starting to wonder if it is the seeds that are the problem, but I'm sick of planting and failing, so I'll just buy them instead.

First up, my broccoli, violas and Canterbury bells.  They are all doing quite well.  I had one broccoli not sprout, but the other one is doing great.  I am still on the fence if I should plant a few more seeds to see what happens.  As for the flowers, they are doing just fine, and I cannot wait to get them in the ground and in pots!!

My tea garden is sprouting quite nicely.  The middle row of green is chamomile, and the back row is lemon balm.  You can't see the sprouts in this photo, but I do have some spearmint that is starting to pop up too.  I am so anxious to make my own tea!  I had to get a jump start and buy an established plant to keep my momentum going.  So, I purchased a peppermint plant.  It is doing great and soon I'll be crushing leaves into my teacup!!

When I purchased the peppermint, I also decided to get some herbs for my kitchen.  I have always had herbs in my outdoor garden, but I tend to forget about them and they either get leggy or die off.  To combat against this, I decided to keep my herbs indoors.  I plan to have some outside as well, but I think this pretty pink pot will be a kitchen fixture. 

In the mix I have basil, sweet marjoram, thyme, oregano, and chives.  This past weekend hubby roasted a chicken and used some of the thyme and oregano.  It felt so great to know that the herbs in the meal were from our garden!!  I have already found myself looking for recipes that call for fresh herbs.

I planted a few seeds before our trip to Edmonton, and they are also sprouting quite well.  In the front, there are lettuce seedlings, the middle are jalapenos and in the back green pot is a sunflower plant.  All seem to be quite happy in their pots and are growing nicely.

Yesterday I also planted some cucumbers, summer squash and bell pepper seeds.  I didn't take photos of them since right now all you will see is dirt, but hopefully in my next update I'll have some green to show off!!

Finally, I wanted to show off my little bonsai tree.  I mentioned it a few posts back, as I "saved" it from the Lowe's Clearance rack.  At that point, it was very thirsty and needed a bit of TLC.  Since then, all of the leaves have returned and it is growing quite quickly. 

I don't know if you can see them in this photo (they were hard to focus in on), but we recently got buds and little white flowers on the tree!!!  I wish I knew what kind of tree it is so I could care for it even better, but I think the flowers are a clear sign that it is happy living with us.

So, that's where my garden stands at the moment.  As soon as my raised bed thaws out a bit more, I am going to plant my peas and other cold weather seeds.  I told hubby that I was going to pour boiling water over the garden to thaw it out...either that or I'll bring out a blanket to keep it warm.  If the sun can't thaw it soon, I may cover it in black plastic to see if that speeds things up a bit.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!!

Happy Planting!!

Sharon