signs of spring.

Ice Storm 2013

winter in the garden

it's our first winter here at the new house, and we finally got a snow worth talking about. the first snow is always so refreshing.. and super bright when the sun comes out upon it. i was awake early to sneak some shots before the sun was high.

an end to one season, and the beginnings of the next.. walking around the yard and pondering the clean slate helps us to dream up ideas for the spring. last year, our first year in the new house, we learned a few key lessons about the new plot. the main one being, leave more space. at the last house we could plant things much closer together and they did not interfere with one another except to in some cases support or shelter each other where needed. in this space, it quickly overgrew. the soil us much deeper and more fertile here, not as much clay as the last place.

we did a lot of travelling in 2013, more than expected, which meant almost two entire months scattered about weeks here and there where the garden didn't receive any care. the further back, more wild garden beds survived just fine, but the kitchen garden closer to the house quickly got out of hand, and too much of the produce never made it to plate. on the plus side, there is a lot of fallen plant matter to compost in the heap and on the beds that we will use to build the soil. no tilling or turning.

next year we will be spending much more time at home with our garden. our design will be better fitted to the space we have available so that we can maximize our usage of the yard, and have better access to the bounty of abundance. we are already excited for spring, and it's only the first snowfall...

sharing with local wildlife

we are pretty close to the downtown core of our city so luckily we don't have to guard our plot from too many large animals such as deer, but we are visited by rabbits, rats and most often squirrels. we are pretty far south so our squirrels are the big bushy tail american ones, like little teams of acrobats they find the best way to get into everything.

i knew we would have visitors, so i planned to plant enough to share. this is my first time growing sunflowers, and i have been excited all year to reap their bounty. every time i go out to the yard i pick a small handful of seeds straight off the flower and eat them raw. they taste amazing and are power packed with nutrients! few things in life are more satisfying than eating something we've grown fresh ourselves.

so about sharing.. most of our sunflowers were planted along the fence, which may not have been the best spot for them.. this made them too accessible to the squirrels. they had enough force behind them when jumping from the top of the fence to take the sunflowers down to the ground and decimate the entire heads. the ones planted along the open space where there is no fence yet are still standing, they only managed to grab the seeds closest to the stem where they hang from to sneak a snack.

i don't mind sharing, but next time our placement will be a little better so that we get at least as much of the seeds as the squirrels. we are thinking of trying other tall plants next year such as corn to form a natural green barrier between us and the surrounding car lots behind the chain link fences. it helps to block the wind and blowing dust from the nearby road, creates a 'sunbowl' effect, and a slightly warmer microclimate for other tender plants. we will also try mixing in other types of sunflower and wild natives to further beautify the yard and attract other beneficial insects.

Happy Autumn Equinox 2013

harvest season is upon us at the garden city homestead, and it's colourful.

<3

the majestic sunflower

i'm in love with our sunflowers.. we were so happy that we got to see the first one open to greet us the morning that we left for nova scotia, and greeted by all of their smiling faces when we arrived home. we will certainly do more sunflowers next year! they are the biggest things we have started from seed, it's so exciting to see something so big come from a tiny little seed. nature is so magical..

the tallest sunflower is well over six feet tall, and we started them quite late in the season.. we plan to do many more next year. they make a great backdrop to block out the view of the industrial complex nearby, and the bees love them! they help to filter out some of the harsh afternoon sun, and hopefully they will make us some tasty snacks as well.. this week is looking like it will warm up again, there has been so sun to be seen all weekend.

next year we will also try a variety of different kinds of sunflowers, some for [edible] seed, and some for decoration [and to attract more bees]. we will use these and other tall varieties of food bearing plants such as corn along our fence line to create our own little private green space in the heart of the city.

late august bounty

it's harvest time in the garden.. there's something becoming ripe for our enjoyment daily. we have enjoyed fried green tomatoes, eggplant tempura and eggplant burgers [that turned out amazing!], various flavours of tea, some super fresh pasta sauce, spices, sandwiches [made with deli fresh bread!] and salads.. all grown in our very own back yard.

one thing i'm most proud of growing has to be our giant sunflower. there are half a dozen or so around the back yard, but this one in particular is massive. it stands well over our heads and the stalk is well over an inch across, and it hasn't even flowered yet! but it's working on it.. we had a late start this year with our last minute move, so we didn't have a chance to start a garden right away after last frost. on top of that we had to start from scratch in an overgrown backyard turned meadow after the grass had a chance to get waist height. what an adventure... and here we are, almost fall. what a great gardening experience, so much learned and so much yet to try!

gifts from the garden

there has truly been no shortage of tomatoes in the garden this season, and i say keep 'em coming! i love fresh tomatoes, and this year we will learn how to freeze and can them so that we can make use of them over the winter. it's a good thing that toasted tomato sandwiches are one of my favourites, and matt loves his fried green! 

 i'm excited about the sunflowers this year. for some reason i never tried them until now, and they are certainly the biggest thing i have ever grown from seed. the biggest sunflower towers over me, and it's not even flowered yet! this one along the back bed i snapped a shot of as it's starting to bud, and i noticed after the fact that there's an enormous daddy long legs just hanging out on one of the leaves.

here's something that we weren't expecting, i was told by other tenants of the house that the grape vine along the back fence hasn't produced fruit in years. so i was surprised to find a few bunches hanging out on the vines. i was happy enough to have it as a wind block and a privacy screen, plus the vines are a lot more pleasing to the eye than the car lot on the other side of the chain link fence.

every day there's something new to discover in the garden. just having a garden is a gift of it's own, but it's an amazing feeling knowing that you can have something beautiful to enjoy, and it will feed you too. my partner agrees:)

the new bed

it's been such a busy past couple weeks, luckily the weather has been decent. i finally got to finish the bed along the back fence with the ontario natives, some blueberries and blackberries, wild ginger, sunflowers and a few other things. the sunflowers are the ones i started from seed, so it will be exciting if they take off.. they will be the biggest things i have ever successfully started from seed. i have a [mostly] green thumb but when it comes to starting seeds i usually don't have much luck unless it's directly in the ground.

 [more freecycled garden ties]

another seedling that i am quite proud of is my scarlet runner. four years in a row i have tried sticking these things in the ground, starting them in deep containers, planting them along fences, and nothing... finally this year [while i was away actually] one of the beans in the cups sprouted! it was quick to take off so i had to get it into the ground right away.

when i first dropped it into the ground a day or two ago, it had it's two huge first leaves, and a little something was starting to come out the top. now it has three more leaves and it's starting to spread out. i planted it in front of what used to be a tree, and is now a couple foot tall log sticking out of the ground. it will give the beans something to grow up, maybe creating a bush, and giving the vines a way to reach the fence.

the blackberries seem to be happy in their new home, the plant has really bushed out, and it's starting to fruit! usually in the first year fruiting perennials don't produce much if any edible fruit, but we'll see.

one thing that i was worried about was the rhubarb. i had planted it a couple weeks ago and it didn't do much, except lose a couple of leaves and look really unhappy. this shocked me because usually rhubarb is so easy! i asked the woman at the farmers' market what was up with it, and she said it should be fine if it's still alive, just give it a couple more weeks to take. sure enough a few days later it started to perk up and produce a couple new leaves! that's it for now, i'll post later today about the benefits of polycultures. toodles!

sprouts of sunshine.

i'm horrible at starting things from seed. especially in trays. especially indoors! if it can go right in the ground i'm alright but otherwise... i need some practice. so when i set out a huge tray of seeds out back, i wasn't sure if anything would go, and it was a pleasant surprise after a couple big rains to find sprouts!

this lovely array of seeds were donated by various friends who had left overs, or nowhere to grow them.. i happily adopted them. wasn't sure if i could make them grow, but free seeds are better to try my luck than ones i've had to pay for. so! here goes...

sunnn! sunflower sprouts look so happy.. maybe because as soon as they sprout they're already huge! if these things make it to fullness, they'd be the biggest things i ever successfully grow from seed. they were so easy to start, i'll probably try a few more when i return from down south.

as an added bonus, the lupins sprouted. i love lupins, they're beautiful flowers.. they remind me of taking trips through northern ontario. they should have been started indoors weeks before frost, and delicately transplanted. but here i have started them in peat trays outdoors, on a repurposed trampoline turned planting table.

it will be interesting to see what makes it all the way, i hope more sprouts appear! we've also seen the cucumber seeds break the surface. still waiting on various herbs like mint and sage, and a couple other flowers and veggies. stay tuned!