gardenbre

See Y'all

2008-12-29T18:59:00.001-08:00

gone to gardenbre2

... to daydream and brainstorm about my second year of gardening in 2009 ... come on over ...

(but feel free to read all about my adventures last summer) ... ahh, last summer ... why does it have to be so DANG cold here now)!

gardening blog list

2008-11-16T18:47:00.001-08:00

I came upon some other gardening blogs on the site, 'this garden is illegal' ... it contains quite a lengthly blog list ... I'm really in need of reading about gardening now that the the season is over ... not to mention there is time to finally do so now too!

seed collecting/10-year gardening journal

2008-11-16T17:25:00.000-08:00

at some point I am going to have to get more organized ... I know I'll probably have to break down and get a gardening journal if I am ever going to be able to keep proper track of plantings ... there's a 10-year journal at Lee Valley I could pick up for about $40 so I suppose it's $4/year and it would be good to get it this winter so I can transfer all my muddied info in little notepads and scraps of paper that I've collected over this past gardening season while there's a lull in the 'growing season' -- http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=43043&cat=2,46154,46145

I came across some origami seed packet folding instructions and this particular one works well with 2x2" post its (it becomes a 1x1" packet ... not great for big seeds will work for some of the smaller seeds I've collected like David's tomato seeds ...

This one is a little fussy for a 2x2" post it but would work well using a larger piece of paper albeit it really needs to be accurately folded to look good (click on the image to see the full-size image)

Vacu Sealer

2008-11-12T16:57:00.000-08:00

I made a decision to buy the vacu sealer on-line through sears.ca and can't wait to get it now! It's a Kenmore/MD 'Seal-n'Save Select Automatic Vacuum Sealer from Sears Canada (www.sears.ca)

I just found this site info on YGG - it looks like a good download! http://www.foodsaving.com/canning_guide/

Also on the YGG site, Renee says, "I just got the October issue of Bon Appetit and they have a section on canning! They found some cute jars I might look into for next season. Although they look just as pricey as the ones you found. The link is really long, but just search “jars” on the Sur la Table website. They are made by Leifheit." I did a search on this type of jars too (Gayla mentioned she'd thought they were right up her alley as well in the posting right after Renee's) ... (see below). The jar lifter works on these jars (Gayla mentioned that it doesn't really work very well on the decorative weck canning jars though FYI as there isn't any neck on the bottle for them to hang onto ... the magnetic lid lifter isn't helpful either as the lids on them are glass!

Leifheit Jars

Also @ http://www. weckcanning.com has some really good-looking jars.

Weck Decorative Jars

Day 29 - the very last day (31 Oct 08)

2008-11-04T16:09:00.000-08:00

Overview (Left & Right Diagnals)

I broke down and went to the plot on the very last day it was open (I am going to go see if I can still get in during November) but I thought I'd pick up some of my tools and the bagged hoses I'd be absolutely lost without if they were taken ... and I thought I'd see if there was anyone around to ask whether or not we really had to take absolutely everything home. I checked the bulletin board and found that Lynne, our President had posted a letter about the letter sent out by the City. She assured us that it was just a form letter and that we could in fact leave things in our tool sheds so long as we'd closed the plot down, etc.

It was a beautiful day (about 16C) and the sun was falling on my empty plot and you just KNOW things could still have been growing there if they'd let us stay longer ... I wanted to remember where the sun falls on my plot and where my tools were so in Spring I can hit the pavement running ... and so I took photos of

the tools I took home and
put @ back of the garage
(there's another bag of
hoses that connect the
garden to the faucets)

the hut from a distance

c/u of hut (and pig's butt)

... some stuff along back
wall (that dirty white thing
underthe wood is the lawn
chair I useto lie upside down
on if my back begins to hurt
while I work - who cares if I
look eccentric to any of the
other gardeners ... as if it's
even possible - we just all R

nice shot of the front of the hut

... front of the hut (I moved sticks
off herbs so in Spring they'll be ok)

Gate & Garden Left

Gate @ the Center

Gate & Garden Right

c/u of Hens & Chicks

Compost Corner

Compost (from hut)

I take (what I call) Overview Shots usually
with my lense poking through a hole I've
made in the chickenwire outside the plot...

Overview (Compost Corner)

Overview (tomato patch)

Overview (center)

Overview (tomatilloes/herbs)

Overview (videla patch)

Overview (far right)

Overview (Right Diagnal)

Bye Garden (this is the farthest corner of my plot - the last shot I take as I leave the Allotment Gardens - but remember I am going to come back to see if others actually continue t garden after the final notice ... (I think there will be some who do)!

So After the Bob

2008-10-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

I suppose when I look back at what I did in the garden last Thursday, I realize it's not really a 'crewcut' per se; but rather just a 'bit-of-a-bob'...

So After - there's a huge part about gardening - its' raison d'être, that makes me realize I really do need to quit the day job ... all the bones & stuff post my dog day afternoons of dirt digging and dealing with stuff the cat drags home - to mix metaphors - but I know you know what I'm talking about ...

... I've made the bowl to house the
minestra ... and grown the sage to
flavour it well, etc, etc, etc ... and all
that takes time - a great deal of time
& energy - all for a bowl of soup - one
that comes together & marries this well

I looked up the word 'minestra' and found out it loosely means 'wedding soup' because it's made of ingredients that marry well together " (not one served at weddings as some erroneously believe) ... it is to Italy what potage is to France - a basic, delicious vegetable soup composed of what is fresh and in season" ... mine's full of beans (heheh) - eight whole cans of canelli beans (that I had to hunt down in over 3 different health food stores since they each only stock a limited amount). I looked up canelli too and found that it's a "little (Italian) town ... situated at the entrance of the Langhe hills, along the left bank of the Belbo stream. The territory is covered in vineyards and a centre of production of the Asti Spumante, the slightly sweet, bubbly white wine, which is a symbol of Cannelli and also of the whole province of Asti." This pleases me immensely since I really like Asti Spumante - now who would have thought beans & bubbly ... (of course, we all know fava beans go with a nice Chianti right - Silence of the Lambs) - but I digress ...

... again, one little bowl of something
holds so much meaning to a gardener
ie, remember my mystery plant the one
that got away & wandered 20 feet plus
into my neighbours garden ... well this
is what that amounted to ... in a material
sense ... one teeny-tiny, dish of diced pulp!
See Below --> 'Its Alive' 15 October 2008

... and this little rival dish of slop took up
the entire corner of the garden by the hut

here they are on their way home - BTW
you're looking at the biggest ball-shaped
one & the one that looks like a banana!

... these are them out in their garden growing

... my minestra close up in the pot

lined up & ready for the freezer

... looking all toasty and hot right
now but not for long - alongside
their friendly frozen pesto & toms

... my chard's close up shot with
raisins/cranberries, pine nuts
and lots & lots of toasted garlic!

... oh and pizza made from nothing
but the freshest tomatoes and garlic

Day 28The Garden's Crewcut

2008-10-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

ok so here it goes ...

... WELCOME TO MY LAST
DAY in the GARDEN of '08

I borrowed three pairs of shears from Deborah and set out to cut the garden down on Thursday (after receiving a letter from the City reminding us exactly what our obligations were & threatening to do it for us if we didn't).

BEFORE the SHEARING (Overview)

A little before & after

THE TOMATO PATCH
believe it or not this is one
& the same patch of land !!!

AFTER THE SHEARING (a little look from the left & then one from the right)

THE HUT
... it got its bangs cut

aagggHHHhhh!
(mind you 1/2the stuff
I just brought with me ...
I mean a girls gotta eat)

... everything's done just in
the nick of time - by sunset!

A closer look at the c/u

The hoses used to attach to the
faucets outside the plot is on the
left & on the top (inside the pile
of the four green garbage bags)

... SO SORRY but I just wanted to
see these BEFORE's one last time!

Bye Bye

Day 27 - OVERVIEW on Thanksgiving

2008-10-15T16:16:00.001-07:00

I spent Thanksgiving afternoon in the garden with Gary having a sandwich & wine ... and checking out the garden trying to decide what needs to be done to put it to bed for the winter ... so here's some of what I saw

Hallelujah - Jalapenoes
(I'm going to pot them up
& bring them home & put
them in a sunny window!)

Todays Catch - Flowers
see below for Tomatoes!

... views from the inside out
(in the baggie I'm collecting
little things to ask Barry about)

view from the vadelia onion patch

Overviews (from the outside in) left & right

my hut ... this 'thing of beauty'

... then what's in it (heheh)

... gate caught in light
(Gary pointed it out to me
& said, 'quick take a picture')

... here it is again & here's where I took it from

click on the first photo and you'll see tomatoes (next is post picking)

... some flowers

Amaranth & Parsley

... the rest of Todays Catch Davids Vine Cherry Toms ... and lots more green tomatoes

Byzantinum Conchicums

2008-10-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

I found these just to the right by the gate post at the exit out of my garden on Thanksgiving Day when Gary and I had our picnic in the garden with a bottle of good white wine & a pork chop sandwich I'd fried up for us the night before.

I found this information and picture on-line when I did a search on Google.

General Culture:

Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Plant corms 3” deep and 6” apart in August for bloom the same year in fall. If necessary, dig and divide during the mid-summer dormant period.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Autumn crocus is so named because it blooms in fall. Colchicum byzantinum is a species of autumn crocus that is generally considered to be native to southeastern Europe, however some authorities believe that it is actually a hybrid of C. cilicicum. In late spring, plants send up somewhat unattractive foliage (5-6 ribbed, elliptic to lance-shaped, dark green leaves to 12” long). Foliage gradually yellows and dies by summer as the plants go dormant. Naked flower stems rise from the ground to 4-6” tall in early fall bearing pink to lilac, funnel-shaped flowers (to 2” long) with dull yellow anthers. A single corm may produce a clump of up to 20 flowers. This species is considered to be synonymous with C. autumnale var. major. It should be noted that spring crocus is in the iris family, but fall crocus is either placed in the lily family or, more recently, in its own family, Colchicaceae.

Problems:

No serious insect or disease problems. Watch for slugs and snails. Botrytis is an occasional disease problem. Corm rot is a concern in poorly-drained wet soils. Weak flower stems tend to flop.

Uses:

Meadows, woodlands, beds. Good for pockets in the landscape where spring and summer plants are fading. Good around patios or along walks. Plant with low ground covers that may help support weak flower stems. Generally inappropriate for prominent parts of beds or borders because of the unsightly appearance of the spring foliage as it yellows and declines on its way toward summer dormancy.

© Missouri Botanical Garden, 2001-2008

New Plants

2008-10-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

... some basil that doesn't
flower from Barry's friend
(... here's hoping it's taken
root and keeps on growing)!

... and some rosemary I'm trying
to root from Barry's potted plant

more stuff from Day 27

2008-10-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

It's ALIVE

2008-10-15T10:12:00.001-07:00

Update on the Mystery Melons

My mystery plant (the one that moved over
into my neighbours garden) has about 3 of
these round melon-like balls growing on it.
The largest is about 4" in diameter, and the
smallest about 2".

tomatilloes - tons of tomato-like-ish toms

2008-10-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

Gary couldn't believe how many tomatilloes he was able to scrounge off the ground under my tomatillo plants ... a whole grocery bag full ... he should have stayed longer to see how many I gathered in the green garbage bag I brought ...

the size of the bowl is deceiving - it's
1-1/2 feet in diameter + 10 inches deep!

... salsa verde / salsa verde / salsa verde / sals ...

Tomatoes, Canning and Vacu Mason Jar Sealer

2008-10-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

The last of the green toms ... now
just waiting for these ones to turn ...

Boiling Water Canning @ full boil!

... and all the lids sealed!!!
[tomatoes, lots of garlic, salt,
pesto and bottled lemon juice]

This is what I want so I can vacuum seal food in my cupboards and fridge and foods I've been dehydrating to keep things fresh even longer. The hose and white cylindrical device are what attach to the top of the Mason Jar with the flat top secured in place so air gets sucked out and then the screw top can be put over the flat top afterwards (so it doesn't get lost I suppose - because the seal is made with the flat top). I like the idea of being able to seal foods away in glass rather than using plastic. I can still see a use though for the plastic bags ... complicated but much used recipes (my canning books have taken a beating - I could have made a copy of the pages I needed and put them under plastic so when I was juggling goey things and trying to finger where I was in the process on the pages, it would have been useful! I'm sure there are other uses for things sealed in plastic ... but I suppose a zip lock baggie would have sufficed as protection for my canning book pages) ... hmmmm

I think this is worth it for just the Mason Jar use ... bottling everything in jars that are stackable would save space in cupboards!

ground tomatoes

2008-10-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

A colleague at work gave me some of these ground tomatoes to try - so I thought I'd dry some seeds and see if I can get some to grow next year. I think the 'ground' refers to ground as in soil ... not as in grind ... and they are sweet like a fruit - so they aren't like tomatillos in taste and I don't think they are gooseberries going by another name. They tasted quite good - a novelty item - something to put on the side of a plate as a garnish (it's not like you'd sit down and eat them like grapes because of the work required to take the paper lantern-like skin off them).

Aha - I googled them and came up with the following ... (instead of rambling off the top of my head ad nauseum)

Cape gooseberry = Chinese lantern = physalis = golden gooseberry = alkekengi = strawberry tomato = ground cherry = husk tomato = golden berry = golden husk = poha Notes: Like its relative the tomatillo, the Cape gooseberry is covered with a papery husk. The fruit inside looks a bit like a yellow cherry, and tastes like a sweet tomato. You can eat Cape gooseberries whole, minus the husk, or use them to make very tasty preserves. They're hard to find in the United States; your best bet is a specialty produce market in the spring. Substitutes: tomatillos OR gooseberries OR cherry tomatoes

Day 26

2008-10-08T13:51:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd better post photos of my last garden bounty before I head there today after work. I only expect to be able to find a few more tomatoes ... some tomatillos & blossoms and hopefully some pototoes!!!

beautiful colours of
nasturtiums in rice
wine vinegar with salt,
garlic & peppercorns

nasturtium butter for the freezer

yet another platter of tomatoes ripening

nothing better than a perfectly ripe
tomato with olive oil, balsamic & feta

cooking up a storm of tomatoes
with garlic & thyme + some lentils

some of last weeks heist

2008-10-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

you can only imagine how much
this scared me when I first saw it!

Black Brandywine (I've been waiting
quite awhile for this first one to ripen)

2 new plattersful - they're
slowly but surely ripening

more preserves

2008-10-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

... slowly but surely I'm getting things preserved.

Dried Pears from Liberty Village

Dried Figs from Roncesvalles Organic Grocery

3-Day Salted Yellow & Green Beans

... the fancy new decorative accordian file system I can leave out & opened on my table

more preserves

2008-09-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

it starts innocently enough
... pretty pears, et al

dawg's looking out over my mess
... after the visit to the garden

... now to declutter the entire first floor so I can move again ... and most importantly to make yet another mess! ... if you look closely at the right you can see my pet zucchini (just before it gets salted, grated & put into jars)

Day 26 - more tomatoes

2008-09-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

It's my 4th Thursday visiting the garden after teaching ... I've got at least another week to collect tomatoes - I just picked the red & pink ones

pretty gardens' sugar baby, kale & asters

2008-09-23T12:43:00.001-07:00

I'm thinking (hoping) my vagabond mystery plant is a sugar baby watermelon ... there are a few little balls like this on it and it looks like it has survived being transplanted (thrown) back onto lot 80! ... and check it out - it's trying to escape and move back into the neighbours lot again (seriously - it's got it's nose through the chicken wire already)

I'm quite pleased with how the sage did in the garden - I want to try to get some kale and make my Tuscan Beans & Kale dish that I like to much once the sage gets a little bigger (NOTE: See After the Bob - end of October 08 posting - I made the Tuscan Beans & Kale Minestra and froze 10 containers of it).

I was thrilled to learn that the huge weed in right-hand the corner of the lot is an aster! I did the right thing and didn't yank it out by the scruff of it's neck (albeit only because I was exhausted that day and didn't have another ounce of energy left to do it and then it was so big it seemed impossible to do)

...what can I say but 'it's a very pretty garden' ... even if I do say so myself & I like that it's such an overgrown lush mess of fruit & veggies & leaves YUM-O

lactic fermenting

2008-09-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

At Lee Valley, I bought a book called Keeping Food Fresh. It has recipes for preserving foods in ways I'd never realized would work. I'm following some of the recipes and trying out a variety of ways to keep some of the garden produce to use in the winter. I've bought some tomatoes, beans, carrots and beets at the Liberty Market to experiments with as well since all I've really got from the allotment are tomatoes and zucchini.

... cut up chard stems and a few leaves, boiled salt in spring water is cooled and poured over the chard it's fermeting now and not so picture perfect (a little cloudy) ... I brought it out to the garage after 3 days inside at around 68C so it could be in a cooler place.

These tomatoes were pretty perfect - no flaws - I pushed them into the bottles and poured cool salted water over them and topped them off with olive oil. They are also out in the garage staying cool ... they will keep for up to 9 months.

I still have to do something with these tomatoes and my pet zucchinis. I think I might salt & dry the toms and put them in oil ... and I'll grate the zuccs and press them into glass jars with salt and add water and lids so they ferment. Hopefully they last until Thursday when I have time to do this.

Squash Story & Found an Eggplant

2008-09-17T15:11:00.001-07:00

For the longest time I've been wondering what the 'squash-like' plant was doing over at the edge of my garden by wrinkley chicken wire remnants sewn to rebar poles aka 'fence' ... it didn't seem to be doing much (every week when I checked it the plant remained pretty much the same - maybe the stem was getting a little larger and dirtier - and I couldn't figure it out so I just moved on to other things I could get a little more satisfaction out of ...

Last Thursday after I'd gathered all the squash blossoms in my garden I began admiring my neighbours blossoms and his squash-like plant that seemed to cut right through his rows of produce ... like a slice of lightening bolt ripping through me it it finally dawned on me that this was my plant tresspassing on his property SO - I quickly ran over to see if I could get it back ... it had gone much farther than first anticipated ... having all but travelled the full length of his garden (without too much thought I grabbed the end and began winding the vine over my shoulder and when I got to the fence I peeled the wires back over the top of the metal poles and hoisted the thing off my shoulder over onto my side of the fence and put the fence back as it had been before ...

I decided not to try to move it ... it was slightly damaged from its whirlwind trip home ... I'm hoping it will be okay and continue growing the little green balls it was growing ... I don't remember what it is ... I bought a little pumpkin plant - maybe this is it???

... just slightly overgrown ... blame it on the snake AND yippee - I found an eggplant (I'm overcoming my fear of looking in the undergrowth - aka overgrowth! Oh so what - I planted too much (and couldn't bring myself to take any of Joes plants out).

Day 24 ... the real harvest begins

2008-09-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

... look VERY closely and you can see some of the tomatoes blushing

I've begun going to the garden on Thursdays after teaching drawing class. Thursday last was 9/11 and the tomatoes were beginning to finally show some pinknesses. I gathered about 20 or so tomatoes that were beginning to turn - some had fallen on the ground and were rescued and others looked like they might be red before my next visit. It looks like I might need to begin going more often ... the counters were filled with produce either from the garden or recent visits to nearby farmers markets (Dufferin Grove and Liberty Village).

Dehydrating the Garden

2008-09-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

I thought is was only appropriate to begin dehydrating my garden produce - after having had soooo much rain (that I didn't even have to water once this year)!

these are not exactly from my garden but ... I've been supporting the Liberty Village Farmers Marken ... 3 colours of carrots as well as peaches and apples and some pears from Helens garden

the tomatoes are from my garden - they were pink when I brought them home and they ripened on my counter

Born Pregnant

2008-09-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

Just the other day I was talking to a friend at the year-end Parkdale Horticultural Society party about a certain kind of bug (I think it's a fruitfly) that is born pregnant - something I said I thought was quite phenominal (another woman said she thought it was quite horrific - heheh) ... anyways

... lo & behold - don't I the very next day as I'm cutting tomatoes from the garden to put in the dehydrator for winter storage come across this ... seeds sprouting with leaves inside one of my toms!!!

Day 23 (Thurs) 4 Sept 08

2008-09-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

... the first tomato
with olive oil, feta,
balsamic and basil

I decided to go to the garden after work Thursday to check on tomatoes ripening on the vines ... and I've been eating a tomato a night for dinner ever since!!!

... and I got a few shots of the gardens in their peak (as well as shots of 'todays catch) ...

... in this photo you can
see the grey of my fence
in the topleft quadrant if
you look really really really
close ... (I can see it)

this is where the fence went
up after the dogs were found
poisoned (... they say maybe by
a gardener trying to kill racoons)
I couldn't believe how fast the
weeds grew - way taller than 6'
high and almost overnight ...

... backseat of the car on
first week back to school
(a little colour in my life
after an exhausting week
teaching black conte line
drawings - it'll pick up)!
... and if you look closely
you might see empty wine
bottles ready to go back to
the store for recycling - hint
... the white LCBO canvas bag!

all of todays catch
ready for home!!!

... flowers & herbs

... tomatoes & zuccs

more Day 22 - overview

2008-09-02T16:15:00.001-07:00

tomatoes!

Red Tomato!!!

... and an EGGPLANT
albeit just the size of
a small peanut

... and tomatillos

Left Diagnal Overview

Tomato Patch

... from Gate

... from Right of Gate

Right Diagnal Overview

friendly garden visitor

2008-09-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

todays catch - lots of colourful bounty

going ... going ... gone (after brunch ... off after beer to Barry's for wine)

... last day at the summer
office before school begins
+ see 2 empty beer glasses!

Nothing like having invited garden visitors to take the 'edge' off the uninvited ... I have to say each time I go and there isn't a snake, the better I feel. I think I was able to project bravery yesterday as I waded waist deep through weeds and showed off my herbs and reddening tomatoes & pepper ... after Brian rode off to Barrys I had an hour before we were to meet up again and I went a little crazy and cut off a ton of zuc leaves so I could see what lurked beneath ... (enough thinking a snake were everywhere ... there was a surprising 2nd batch of zuccs growing on both the in situ and the seedling batches ... not sure ridding the field of their leaves will affect the harvest but I figure that there were enough little newbies sprouting up that even if they stay the size of my thumb I'll still have another sizeable feast ... I was also able to take home another handful of zucc flowers - without zuccs attached - to stuff)

one ugly potato

2008-08-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I didn't plant this when I planted the other one. I think I thought I'd have too many potatoes ... is this even possible? And I'm really not sure why I keep this on my counter ... it's now taken on 'pet' status - so I doubt it'll be going anywhere soon (unless it starts to stink - then it's gone)

small difference a week makes (except for the weeds)

2008-08-25T14:58:00.001-07:00

I did a quick check-in to see if the tomatoes were turning but they are all still green. I was able to collect some zucchini blossoms to stuff & fry. I've bought a pressure cooker canner and some 1 L canning bottles in anticipation of the onslaught (they won't just stay green I hope). There are so many huge plants - many I don't know what they are - that's the problem with taking over someone elses garden - I'm not complaining - just making an observation and trying to alleviate some guilt over not weeding everything that's come up. It has gotten a little out of hand - and the snake didn't help make going in and foraging through greenery very easy these last few trips! ... that's my story & I'm sticking to it ...

... the blossoms look innocent
enough BUT they all have the
same bug inside them - just
waiting to be shaken out !!!

... they look a little eerily
like chickens feet & the fact
they had bugs in where the
parmaesan stuffing is isn't
really the biggest turn on ...
all that aside though they
are really really really GOOD

and now for some shots taken a week apart

... san marzanoes

... there are tons more tomato shots just like these (they all look the same)

... the Fiesta Farm pepper is turning red though
... the tomatillos are growing like wildfire (it maybe time to harvest them soon) how big & green should they be?

... and Helen's little cucs are coming along slow but sure (we ate one in Ottawa)

Relish the Zucchini - Relish

2008-08-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

Mom stirred & I chopped
(and while I was stirring -
Mom chopped) ... we used
the smallest zuc and whipped
this up in just a few minutes!

I managed to off-load all 5 zucs (see below) in Ottawa. Mom & I had a blast ... she knocked on her friendly neighbour's doors and innocently ask if they would like a zucchini from her daughter's garden and they all enthusiastically said, 'yes' ... then I carried the big beasts over (nobody changed their minds ... everyone had a good sense of humour about it and said they would do something with it)!

I saved the biggest for my Ottawa brother ... he'd arrived for a belated birthday dinner with family - how could he say no to his gift! He works in a restaurant in the Market and said he was going to bring it there to show everyone (I think he will leave it for them to serve to customers afterwards).

mo...monsters in the garden

2008-08-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

where the snake wasn't ...

... ok - so today was my first day back after the S-N-A-K-E incident - admittedly I took my time returning ... and the weather co-operated for the week or so - raining daily so I didn't really have to go, etc.

... as I put the lock back on the chain back to the main side gate I sensed I wouldn't see any snakes ... very different from the last time I entered the allotment and sensed I would.

I only got my courage back after much thought ... and much time trying not to think about it ... here's how that went ... logically, I realized that if I went and the snake was alive, it would be gone (three cheers for that scenario) and/or if it indeed had been dead, as I sensed it was on my last visit - I would know this because it would still be where it was - there in the same position up by the bottomless birdbath with the hens & chicks; and being dead - I could deal with it (somehow) ... logic breaks down at this point ... don't ask but I'm beginning to believe now I've inherited snake fear (which is probably also attached to wounded frog fear and might even be stretched to include fear of other green things - keep reading) ... so when I stretched my neck in my plot and saw that it was NOT there today I was way more than just a little shocked - I'd been so dang sure it was dead last time ... my intuition was so strong that it had been ... hmmmm ... just like my intuition when I'd entered today was telling me there would be no s-n-a-k-e-s ... agh ...

I hung my three gardening satchels on the post outside lot 80 instead of bringing them in and as usual putting them on the table. I bought more time and pulled out my camera and took a few shots from outside the lot ... keeping my eyes on the ground at my feet (now covered in shoes with socks - not like last time when I was barefoot in skimpy little sandles) ... eyeing new weeds that had grown at least two feet in the weeks since my last 'productive' visit - scanning underneath enormous zucchini leaves that have taken over the garden ... seeing everything now as places for snakes to hide out ... ugh

... I noticed that another gardner was came along the path towards me with a little girl so bravely I walked a quarter of the way into my plot along the weed riddled path ...

'Hello - how are you'

... don't think I missed a beat before I said, 'scared! ... (who cares if I'd never met him before) ... I explained about the (dead) s-n-a-k-e last time ...

He said, 'Oh that big dead 3-4 foot one that was out here on the path just over there for a couple of days ... gone now! ... an animal probably took it ..."

Phew - I thanked him for that information and said it made me feel an awful lot better ... and to prove it I began to inch slowly backwards along the path towards the table (too bad I then screamed & slapped my arm hard, as I lept about a foot in the air while still listening to him ... as a mosquito landed on my arm at the same time my camera sucked the lens back into its body and scared the poop out of me (figuratively) ... the lame smile afterwards probably didn't help much ... and I can't remember his name ... his little girl's name is Grace. She kept tugging at him to go and wouldn't say goodbye - smartie pants wasn't suffering this fool lightly.

So of course, it doesn't end when they go ... I decide to be brave and lift some of the zucchini leaves off the path so I can see if I'm stepping on snakes ... lift lift lift ... and W-O-A-H-ly moley ... isn't there a zucc the size of a small animal that would eat a snake under leaf number 3 ... and then another one under leaf number 5 the size of a body part (from my knee to the top of my thigh) ...

3 of 5 harvested today ... tell me what's hiding below isn't laying in wait!

... right now 5 zuccs have taken over the back seat of my car and are going to Ottawa with me tomorrow where I'll unload them on family & friends because they are way too heavy to lug up my stairs (well one is only about a foot or so - I could bring it in) ... and I'm sure I've not found all the zuccs in the garden yet and who knows how big they'll be be next week when I return (I never really saw this coming ... I wonder if there's a name for it ... fear of big-ish veggies!!!)

... the other 2 zuccs (amidst some smaller fare) ... the little green things are cucs not zuccs (and FYI - I wasn't afraid of them)!

You Tube videos

2008-08-05T18:18:00.001-07:00

I've clicked & dragged some You Tube videos on Gardening Tips onto my desktop! I'm not sure how to post the exact ones I want onto my blog ... but there are some random ones now posted at the bottom. Regarding the video Gardening On Salvia - here's a website below you can cut & paste to for info on salvia - it is a medicinal sage used in Mexican healing ceremonies ... I don't believe the individual smoking the pipe in the video is using it for this purpose necessarily ... you might want to skip that video ... as I said I'm not sure yet how to pick & chose which videos I want) ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia

new & old websites

2008-08-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

I've just recently been able to get back onto the YGG website now that 'my' wireless is getting a stronger signal ...

(http://lifeonthebalcony.com/) listed the following website as a place to get a refrigerator pickle recipe ... I knew there had to be something like this (Diane and I made pickles in our desks in grade 5 based on the fact that we were sure that the longer a cucumber sat in a brine the more likely it would be that they would actually become pickles ... how did we not get caught??? - the smell alone had to give us away ... no wonder we weren't that popular - ouch)

http://awaytogarden.com/dan-koshanskys-refrigerator-pickles

... and here's a website for a British sitcom on gardening that inspired a good number of organic gardners in England ...

http://www.answers.com/topic/the-good-life

... one of the YGG members sent it along as a response to a 'plantlet' asking about the feasibility growing all your own food in Toronto ... 'Nice dream. You should refer to the book Square Foot Gardening to make the most of your garden space. You should also try to get hold of a DVD of The Good Life with Felicity Kendall (an old BBC series) - to keep you sane when you start to realise how crazy you are!!! ' heheh ... gardners are everybit as nuts as any and all artist cronies I've had the good fortune to come across - move over everyone - it's more and more apparent we don't own 'good crazy'

I can't seem to publish my photos today ... I've posted on flickr.com instead

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25312005@N06/?deleted=2733552165

S-N-A-K-E in the garden ...

2008-08-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

No p-photos to-today! Yikes - I actually had a premonition as I walked towards my garden gate that I might encounter a 's-n-a-k-e' ... maybe it was the fact I was wearing girlie open-toed flat shoes and the path was quite overgrown ... maybe subliminal images of 's-n-a-k-e-s' were on my my mind because of the curled hoses enroute ... I don't know (I do know though that I've had 's-n-a-k-e' premonitions before ... so I'm not chalking it up to anything less than that's what it was - for sure - a premonition ...

When I saw it I was approaching the end of the path weeds near the Hens & Chickens birdbath judiciously and there it was coming out of a pile of old suncrisped weeds ... not moving ... it looked like it was dead - not that it was squished or anything but I didn't see breathing and it just had this aura of stillness about it ... but I took no chances and very quickly I scurried back out of my gate faster than lightening ... then I looked in by stretching my neck so it came out of its socket (a technique used so my feet didn't get as close to it as they might have had I not done this) ... I decided I would be a little brave and try to at least get some nasturtiums which were just a little up the garden path - I think I might have seen it's head - I can't be too sure though because my eyes didn't have a very clear vision of it through the foilage shielding it (it that's what it was) from sight (oh not there's a picture I can take and post ... the pesto I made of the nasturtiums - notice it's of the yellow nasturtiums - they are the ones closest to the gate ... the red ones were right up there next to 'it' ... you do realize why I'm spelling it - so it's not like I'm saying it out loud - I do want my Mom to visit my garden when she comes to Toronto - and she won't if she even suspects there's you-know-what's in them thar woods ... I stopped a woman as I was leaving and told her about it and asked if she'd ever encountered any and she nodded that she'd seen the same type in her garden that I had ... she said you just have to kind of ask them to leave and they'll go - I told her I thought mine was dead ... I didn't tell her the dilemna that now leaves me in ... how in the hell am I going to dispose of it ... we're talking about me - the person who had to get her younger brother to come and rescue her after opening my back door and squishing a wayward frog in the porch. I was stranded for the entire day waiting until Wayne got home from work ... I'd tried everything to get out ... dressed up in winter clothes & practiced what I might do after covering my hands in potholder gloves whilst yielding a pot in one hand and a lid in the other ... the whole thing made me crazy ... the idea that if I opened the door it would hop up my pant leg and die or something after it bit me, etc) ... Wayne's wife brought my 4 year old nephew over and they stood in the backyard yelling to me through the back window both more scared than I was - assuring me that help was on the way ... you have to know this brother - he's always late ... has never been on time for anything in his entire life - ever

ok so here's the pesto it tastes a
lot like basil pesto except peppery

The Last of Day 18 - The Summer Office

2008-08-01T15:43:00.001-07:00

Look close & you can see my breakfast
shake half gone on the 'desk' ... soup
for lunch - a Thai Veggi Yogurt puree

... going

... going

... gone

More Day 18 Some New Plantings + Todays Catch

2008-08-01T15:15:00.001-07:00

Yellow Nasturtium Pesto &
Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

Davids Grocery Store Tomatoes!

Newly Planted Clematis from
Barry at the Pole to left of Kiwi

Clematis C/U in Dappled Sun

Barrys Bowl - allums planted
in with Hens & Chicks (Day 18)

Newly Planted Videla Onion Patch

outstanding in her field

2008-08-01T12:34:00.001-07:00

Tomatillos, Amarynth & Cucs

2008-08-01T12:12:00.001-07:00

Tomatillos
(look carefully at left center)!

Amarynth - I think

A Cucumber is starting to grow & Helen's Mini-Cucs (after weeding)

Day 18 - Butterflies in the Garden

2008-08-01T11:57:00.001-07:00

Monarch Butterfly

Butterfly & a Bee on Echineacia (look carefully on the left flower is a bee)

Butterfly on Echineacia

... another Butterfly on Echineacia

Butterflies on Echineacia (again look closely - you'll see them)

As I sat down for a rest in the garden I noticed all the action going on even though I had ceased to be in on it - it struck me that there was an entire feature film that could be shot on the lives of creatures that passed through and around my little plot ... a chipmunk scurried past on the right and then began coming towards me on my chair - it passed my ankle as though I were just part of it all ... where's the camera when things like this occur (not that it could capture the whole essence of what it's like actually being there)?

I found the sage!!! (heheh) - Day 18 - 29 July 08

2008-08-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

Mom said she'd save me some sage - she has lots and was drying it. I told her I thought I had some but had no idea what happened to it. On Tuesday while I was weeding the herb garden I pulled up so much long grass between the thyme which is flowering (and which I just read in one of the 6 new/'old' books I bought from Value Village for about $20 is good to dry and use in potpurri) and the oregano (which is also flowering and I imagine could be harvested for potpourri as well) ... hidden way down deep under the grass was my sage! I can't believe it had grown so much under such poor lighting conditions ... as well take a look at the photo of the herb patch at 1pm when the sun still hasn't hit it (woops - heheh - I forgot I just put up my umbrella for the first time so I could sit comfortably on my chair and write and have my shake and soup for lunch).

here's the herb patch after I've weeded

here it is around 1pm (the shade is from my umbrella) ... I left around 3:30pm and the patch was in full sun ... that lets me know the direction the sun falls on my garden ... it's actually at a diagnal but the front gets the sun first then it hits the back where the trees from the forrest (not to mention the 8 ft weeds along the fence ... and my virginia creeper on the hut keeps the plants moistened with dew until midday) ... [well will you look at that - I spelled forest 'forrest' ... what the heck - it's summer & I've got my feet up and my left pointer finger slipped!]

Day 17 - woops I forgot about the funny face tomato

2008-07-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

you have to tilt your head to the right to see the face straight on ...

I found my first tomato and it looks like a little old man's face ... like I'll want to eat it ... I was hoping this wasn't what would be in store for me further on along when more tomatoes grow on the vines! It's not ... Finally some normal looking tomatoes have popped out!

san marzanos

I think these are the Black Brandywines!

Day 17 - 24 July 08

2008-07-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

herbs and a few bits & pieces

tomato patch (Day 17)

tomato patch from chair (Day 17)

tomatillos (Day 17) tomatillos have begun bursting forth!

Right Diagnal Overview (of Hut which is almost invisible now that the Virginia Creeper has taken it over)

Left Diagnal Overview (Day 17)

Day 16 - 18 July 08

2008-07-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

Day 16 - tomatillos - bursting with flowers

Day 16 - zucchinis after watering

Day 16 - lemon or lime basils

Day 16 - todays catch ...

Day 16 - the tomato patch - a few flowers beginning

Today was my very first day to water the garden (and I didn't think I really had to but a touch of guilt hit so I decided I would ... I knew the forecast was for rain all weekend ... and ... as it turns out, I was right - I didn't have to - it rained so much I almost thought I would need to go to the garden and put up umbrellas for protection)

Day 15 - cont'd

2008-07-17T11:15:00.001-07:00

Sugar Baby Watermelons - after weeding

Todays Catch - some lettuce, more lemon balm, zucchini flower, lots of flowers, etc

Zucchinis with 2x4 lean to

Tomato Patch - after tying up

Day 15 - cont'd

2008-07-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Left Diagnal Overview after the weeding and Tomato Patch Tie Up

Potatoes & Pumpkin Patch

Right Diagnal Overview

Shed - After Vine Tie Up

Sugar Baby Watermelons - Slow Growing

Needless to say there was a lot of weeding to do.

Day 15 - zucchini leaves the size of T-shirts

2008-07-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

Herbs & Salad Garden - After Weeding

Close Up of the Potato Patch

Close Up of the Salad Garden

Weeds Composting in the Center Path

Compost Patch - After HUGE Weeds Taken Out

In Sito Zucchinis with Propping Post

The day I left for a quick 5-day holiday to Ottawa it poured so hard that cars with passengers inside were stranded under the bridge beside my place in water halfway up their windows and firetrucks and police were at the entrance and exit ... a man was killed after being hit by lightening in the park on the way to Fiesta Farms where I went for some plants. This set the stage for humongous garden growth. When I left the zucchini leaves were the size of a spread out hand and when I returned they were as big as my T-shirt. I propped a 2x4 against the corner pole and gently lifted the two plants over about 45 degrees so they rested on the plank and weren't shading my tomato patch.

Day 14 - Hoses hoses & more hoses + plantings & replantings!

2008-06-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

... as a preface to the day, I got some very fine sand-sized mesembryanthemum seeds and a lesson from Barry about their relationship to these very 'cool' livingstones he's also been growing in that great little greenhouse at the side of his house since last Christmas. I planted half the seeds in the bottomless birdbath with the hens & chickens that's situated in front of the wonderful self-pollinating female miniature kiwi fruit vine David found during his landscaping adventures and gifted ME with (heheh ... a female self-pollinating mini fruit bearing metaphor for me & the garden ... I sit in a big chair between all this and the rebuilt monkey-torn apart hut that Helen helped me put back up to house my tools) Oh no now - you can't touch that!

I'm not sure how long I will need to wait before seeing my new little fushia purpley colourful feathery daisy-like flowers. I can't remember their nicknames ... hmmmph

Not to be outdone - Helen brought a dozen or more mini pickling cucumber plants that she put in along the hut-side of the plot which will climb up and create a living wall along my side of the fence blocking my view of the neighbour's garlic shield.

So at the end of the day - eight hours gardening!!! There was a little trip to the hardware store and out for lunch but the rest of the time was 27C working in the dirt. It did cool down substantially around 6pm - we left at 8:30pm. [Helen was within just a few minutes of guessing the time correctly - I used her guess as a guide and was within about a half hour but had she not said what time she thought it was I'd have guessed late afternoon because I thought the darkening sky was all about gathering rain clouds (it's rained that much lately and I didn't feel tired ... maybe Helen did all the work - heheh)].

The Potato Pumpkin Patch ... I yanked a volunteer potato plant out of the middle of the carrots and planted along the entrance fence. I'm not sure if it's really called a volunteer if Joe planted it last year ... or forgot to take it out on purpose, etc.

It's certainly organic organic gardening I'm doing. There is no real rhyme nor reason to my plantings and Julie certainly came in and criticized all my gardening efforts. I helf myself back. I didn't throw her down in the dirt and rub her face in the mud of my many new transplantings (and not just because there was an investigating detective out & about either - see below). I took a thorough scolding for the bushy basils not having been planted singly even after I told her I purposefully planted them that way ... at this point I did raise my hands to gesture for her to move along because I was coming through and continuing what I was doing ... she laughed so that was good ... a sense of humour will get you everywhere with me ...

The garden has the look of a 'jungle' about it - I'm no longer thinking about what I'm doing - I'm just doing it. Some decisions are obviously better than others. I was planting two plants together (thinking they'd like a friend; but Julie told me 'two together will not weather' ... so I replanted all the twosies and created a little periphery around the tomatoes of parsley, peppers, eggplant and And again for another example, finding potatoes planted right beside the kiwi vine was a surprise - especially when there was a potatoe also found in with the carrots. I later remembered making a tired decision to plant the potato next to the kiwi on Day 13 (bad decision since I'd have had to disturb the vine to dig up the loot later) ... and no I didn't plant the potato in the middle of the carrot patch - it must have just come up by itself from something Joe left in the ground last year (yippee another surprise gift) ... I dug up both potato patches and resituated them elsewhere so they'd have more room - did I set them back ... probably & will they live ... I sure hope so. Julie was all over me about the bushy batch of basil I put in ('you can't do that' ... I told her I'd been advised by someone else to do it and I wanted to follow their advice - yes I yelled it at her ... like I said I didn't throw her down and push her yap into the dirt ... mostly because I mainly like her and her advice - she's got a good heart and knows a lot and I like her ... criticism & nagging I won't have - this is supposed to be fun ... and it's not like I've killed a racoon with antifreeze or anything so leave me alone.

There was a female detective who began asking Helen questions while I was playing with the hoses on the other side of the gate so I came back into the plot because it looked like she might give Helen a hard time for having said it wasnt her garden. It ended up that she was taking one of the dog owners whose dog had been poisoned back to the scene of where they'd found the antifreeze-soaked bread. The detective came back about 3-4 times with different dog owners but we were no longer interrogated. ... supposedly a racoon or two were positioned holding flowers, etc. It was ominous there yesterday and I'm glad Helen was with me ... we both found the police tape confusing - were we allowed in, and if so, should I really be carrying this many water bottles in ... I wanted them so I could keep my lunch cool - and to drink ... what could I say ... it was only cold water and I didn't want to poison myself with mayonaise in my sandwich if it went rancid in the heat before I ate it ...

7 December 08 - I just revisted YGG and decided it was safe to do a 'cut & paste' of what I wrote on their website about the incident - forgive me if it's just alot more of the same but I'd like it for the archives here now ...

"I spent the day in my garden on Wednesday. I was told that Joe was seen back in the allotment checking things out - I wonder what he thinks of what I've done (and more to the point - what he thinks of what I've not gotten around to doing yet) ... woops ... I wish he'd come after I was finished what I got done on Wednesday but I suppose he was as interested as all of us about the recent dog poisonings reported in the news ...

It was an eerie day - one without dogs and dog owners anywhere around and my friend & I had to begin the day by ducking under police tape to get to the gardens ... there were police investigating the scene of the racoon & dog poisoning(s) ... on the news a statement has now been released that it was probably an angry gardener who was responsible for putting out antifreeze soaked bread to get rid of racoons ...

My friend and I were interrogated to see if I'd had problems with animals in the garden ... Rosemary & Thyme (those two British gardening detective women on the tele) we were not - I said I wouldn't really know because it was my first time gardening but I pointed to a hole where I thought an animal might pop it's head out of and my friend chirped in, 'I think you just took a plant out of there' ... in other words, in her estimation, it obviously wasn't an animal hole - I just put my head down and dig really and when I come up for air I don't really remember where I've been nor do I know where I'm going to next I've discovered. All my plans are out the window - as are most of my notes since I keep going back and changing things. It's an organic 'organic' garden. I could have sworn that hole had a neverending bottom to it last time I looked ... and I'd decided to go to the other side of the garden in case a snake or at least a large earthworm came out ...

... my friend and I spent the entire day weeding and replanting many of my mistakes (I'd put two plants together in most places - thinking they'd each like a friend but I was told 'two together will not weather' ... so I had to separate my twins - good thing they were only about a week old and hadn't gotten too used to having one another by each of their sides) ... and we laid garden hoses along the edges of gardens down from the taps tucking grasses around them so they were invisible and out of the way of tripping feet ... what must those investigators thought I was up to will remain a mystery to me ... I kind of thought they should really have asked me about that ... can you believe I have not needed to water with a hose yet due to all the rain we've gotten this spring! I've gotten away with a few buckets of water drizzled over newly transplanted seedlings going in and nature has more than taken care of the rest.

I'm still recuperating ... and another friend has called to say he needs to get rid of some more of his tomatoes ... I said I'd find a spot for some cherry tomatoes and a black krim ... even though there are no spots ... well maybe that hole where I dug something up that wasn't a flower in Joe's perrenial flower garden ... the black krim can go there ... tomatoes are flowers - right!"

BabyBushyBunchBasils3

2008-06-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'm hardening off the small square pot at the top on the right.

I've put one of my 3rd batch of basils out as a test to see if it's too soon to be hardened off ... heheh ... I'm laughing because the poor little bushy batch has been out on two days when tornadoes touched down in Toronto (parts of the Don Valley have been closed, on the news there was footage of someone in North Toronto shovelling about a foot of hail out of their driveway, etc) ... these little guys are thriving and my roof has been untouched!

Something else I noticed on the news - reports of dogs being poisoned in the off-leash area of High Park - this is beside my garden! I wonder if someone really hates animals that much? ... some of the wildlife has been found with poison in their systems too I think ... some kind of fuel I think (I wonder if it's an inadvertant thing where someone has left something without a tight lid on it and the animals are drinking it)?

Day 13 - weeding the 2nd half of the 2nd half

2008-06-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

I put in about 2-1/2 hours today and high-tailed it out of there before the rain started. There I was with my 2nd outfit in the car & ready to put on but it was unnecessary. I bumped into Julie as I entered the gardens. She showed me some of the good weeds in my garden and suggested I decapitate the onions and use the tips for soup and stir fry. I think it is so that the plant can put its energy into the bulbs now and because I don't necessarily want seeds because they take too long to germinate ... but I kept some tips on the plant to see what happens.

Most of the weeds in the 2nd half of the garden are now gone. There are still quite a few around the perimeter of the garden that need to come out. I wish I knew which were weeds and which weren't but I know enough about certain weeds that I can still do another day's worth of yanking.

I brought a few mystery plants from the roof to plant ... I know two were peppers but I'm not sure if they were sweet or hot (I think hot)? I also have something that looks like a squash plant (how do I come up with this I have no idea because I certainly don't know for sure what a squash plant looks like) ... next year I will have to pierce the plants so the tags done get lost when I'm running them to the garden. I've taken meticulous notes all throughout the stages of their growth and then right at the end I mess up (heheh). It just plays right into my 'issue' with forgetting names I suppose.

Day 12 - Weeding 2nd Half of Plot

2008-06-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

check out the vines on top of the storage shack! ... Oh and check out the size of these weeds!!!

Today I spent 3 hours weeding the biggest plants I've ever touched in my life ... it was so out of control in the 2nd half of the plot that I just got down and began yanking foot-tall plants out of the dirt like a mad woman who'd been told last one done was a dirty rotten pig. At a certain point I remember stopping to wonder if any of these plants weren't weeds - like I would have known if any of them weren't. Realizing this, I decided to just keep up the pace until I got tired or hurt myself ... before I knew it I had three of thes hugest piles if I'd put them together they'd have been approaching the size of a small car and I totally didn't know what I was going to do with them - more about that later ...

If you look closely you'll be able to see the compost bin at the end of the flower bed. The weeds are as high on the path.

... so I stopped what I was doing and I clawed my way down the path that used to lead to the compost heap and had to pull a few things out in the middle of my way that looked like rubbarb leaves on steroids (for a minute I thought maybe I was having some beginners luck again and it was but I don't think Joe would have put one in the pathway - I left most of it just in case). When I made it to the compost corner, I came upong the three very scarey 6 foot plants with 2"diameter stems standing guard over the 4-foot high composter - from a distance they just looked like very healthy & interesting additions to the forest of plants that have sprung up in the last week after the heat wave and tropical thunderstorms.

... a little word about my composter. I'm scared of it. I'm not scared of the worms or the worm poop or the bugs in it right now - I've inspected it all quite thoroughly and read scads of material on composting so in theory I kind of get it. But - I'm scared I won't be able to do it right - the percentages of greens and dirt and whatever won't be right and what I end up with will be a huge festering stink city like nobody's ever witnessed before and I'll get kicked out of the gardens for doing it but not before they all make me clean it up. As a result of this fear, I've put all my other weeds from the first half of the plot in bags that are partially opened and just left them there - I guess I thought they might become a little more compact and I could then carry them to the dumpster or that I could read more on how to compost so I'd know for certain what to do with them, etc. ... anyways, I looked into one back and it appeared I'd inadvertantly created a composter in the bag. It was a clear bag and it pretty much fell apart in my hands as I tried to lift it and when I looked in I saw it was so filled with worms and worm poop and dirt and gick ... that I ran quickly off to get my shovel (thinking to myself as a I ran 'eureka-eureka') ... because now I could put it into my composter and it could compost some more ... once I got the goo shovelled in, I threw one of the 'lounger-sized' piles into the bin and put the top on ... [do I dare ever take the top off it again?]

Day 11 - Quick Visit to the Garden

2008-06-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

Seasoned Lambs Quarters with lime (and 2 little tomato slices for colour).

Some white iris' (I think) ... these ones are quite small - there was one big one though ...

I decided to drop by the garden around noon on my way home from an appointment yesterday to see how the mulch was doing. Of course, when I realized I was driving by Fiesta Farms enroute, I had to stop by to see if there was anything I needed ... $22 later (lettuce, tarragon, violas, pumpkin - yes pumpkin - little ones though; and yellow at that - but just the same ... blah blah blah - there's more - I'll see if it goes into containers and list it later when I know more).

It was too hot at the allotment to really do anything but I thought that if the rain had washed all the compost off and was exposing worm poop stained old drawings it might be something I (and or others) might be embarrassed about if I didn't fix it up quickly. All looked ok maybe a few bits of paper poking through but not enough to be an eyesore. I planted 2 of the 4 black sherbet violas ... truth be told the last ones I bought died of the cold and too little water on the roof a couple of weeks ago ... so I figured I could replace them and be done with pining over it. I watered them in hoping that by planting them in the heat won't just set them up for the same fate.

Gary was just leaving and we had a quick chat. His garden was totally cleared and a dozen tomatoes planted in (so I needn't feel silly for having 18 tomato plants in a garden twice the size. He pointed to a plant (lambs quarters) and said, 'we eat it like spinach', so I told him I'd take some home and try it (see photo above). He showed me a plant just outside my fence that is good for alleviating inflamation from things such as 'stinging nettle' ... now that's a good one to know about ... pity I didn't realize it after it bit me two visits ago. It felt like a new scrape for about 5 hours or so. I can't believe Helen got bitten on the nose when she smelled it while she was there to help me. Yikes - that had to have been a big bother for the whole while we were working.

NOTE: Aphid-infested hot pepper plant seems to be doing okay - it does look a little worse for wear - I'll put it out tomorrow - away from all the others.

we've got the UGH-bug - APHIDS - O-gross

2008-06-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

OMG ... I noticed the pepper plant (see it drooping in the far right corner) the one I bought at Fiesta Farms (why didn't I just trust I could grow some of my own from seeds - just because they sounded high-maintenance) ... I've noticed it's been droopy lately ... I kept reaching over and watering it - thinking it sure was thirsty - not really looking too closely. [I'm at that odd stage of needing glasses and not needing them. I've always needed them to see off into the distance but not so much for up close ... so I rarely wear them around the house unless I'm watching tv.] Well gross me out big time when I was carrying OldDroopy to the tap, instead of reaching over to get it good with my old mayo squirt bottle, I noticed white polka dots covering the undersides of all the leaves and green bugs walking all around along the stems ... without even thinking I hopped into the tub with it and gave it a good dousing under the tap, 'bad plant' ... I felt a little bad myself as I watched myself do it ... but still I couldn't help but up the ante & ran downstairs, filled an empty squirt bottle with castersoap and pounced back into the tub & sprayed the dickens out it ... three hours later I doused it again with water then soap (repeat x 2) ... and it's been relagated to the tub and won't come out of solitary confinement until it's aphid-free & that'd better be very very soon ...

O&please don't let my new little guys get them ... I was so proud of how well the late seeded basils and san marzanos & especially my new little hot jalapeno pepper Sunday transplantlings were doing (I don't dare even look at them ... I suppose I should though - in case I can cut them off at the pass ... hmmmm - obviously I should have thought of that Tuesday when I first discovered them - ok - next time ... I'm so darn new to all of this ... O-please don't have them!

... Day 9 vs 10

2008-06-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

before weeding after weeding (Day 9)

after mulching (Day 10)

... not much of a visual difference!

Day 10 - todays catch

2008-06-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

It's only been 2 days since I was last at the garden but there were 3 more iris' in full bloom. These ones were deeper yellow so I took a stalk for home and picked what I think are lillies-of-the-valley for my wonky vase.

Day 10 - mulching w old drawings on newsprint & compost

2008-06-06T11:51:00.001-07:00

some old drawings worth their weight in gold today ...

going going ...

GONE ... and back to Square One -see Day 9 vs 10 (above)

I got up early but didn't actually get out the door until around 10am but when I got to the plot I put my nose to the grindstone and made it out of the garden at 10 after 12 ... the sun was beating down on me the entire time but I took breaks and drank water during the mulching ... my comments about it are on the yougrowgirl.com site. Julianna is helping me get through the planting process!

... the iris'

2008-06-05T16:45:00.001-07:00

When I got to the garden yesterday, not only were the weeds thriving but I had iris' ... yellow ones and blue ones ... so I took a stalk of each home so I can enjoy them.

... some sights on Day 9

2008-06-05T16:08:00.001-07:00

There were a few other things I was able to capture as a result of having my camera with me on Day 9 ... MrBigPig's face is full of Corsican Mint - soon his body will be full of ivy! I watched a bird fly into the birdhouse and got a shot of the birdhouse with it in it (not of the bird) ... and I missed getting a shot of a bright red cardinal which caught my attention by its' singing ... next time! ...and the hens & chickens are now in their birdbath ... and there was the biggest worm I've ever seen in my life in the tomato patch (and then later I saw another one in with the zucchinis that was just as huge)! I am thinking this is a good thing and that they will eat things and add compost to the soil - I think they call it 'amending the soil'.

Planting In Tomatoes, Peppers, Zucchinis, Watermelon, Rosemary, Potatoes, Tomatillos, Hens & Chickens, etc

2008-06-05T15:09:00.001-07:00

The weather was a perfect 20 C and I was able to put in a good day of hard work yesterday. I lasted 5 hours which seems to be my limit. There was another 1/4 plot to weed. This time with weeds quadruple the size of the first batch ... although I'm not sure it made it more difficult since they were possibly able to be grappled with more easily. I carried plants to the plot and brought food; but it seems I really only need a good meal prior to beginning and large amounts of liquid to see me through. The camera is one of my best tools - it is meaningful to see the progress afterwards. I watered all my plants a little at the end. They were wet when they went in and the earth was damp - not to mention the forecast is for 5 days of rain. It has rained a little this evening already.

I put in about 18 tomatoes in the center at the left at the entrance (not sure that all will make it because they weren't all thriving). And I cleaned up the little corner at the right by the entrance and planted 2 sugar baby watermelons, 2 zucchinis, a potato, 2 tomatillos, and I sunk a container and planted mint I dug up with the weeds out of the new tomato bed. I planted dill that was in with the weeds from the new tomato bed into the perennial herb section by the hut, and put in my 'bonsai' genoveses and lemon basils ... I won't call them 'sickly' although I probably could. I planted rosemary that I purchased and put a few chives and a red onion from the cleaned up section by the gate at the right.

I used extra soil to fill the birdbath that Barry gave me and planted the hens & chickens. They seemed quite pale. I put some Corsican Mint into Mr.BigPig's face. [Today I purchased 2 quick growing and interesting-looking ivy for his body. I also bought some parsley, sage, lettuce, a red pepper, yellow summer squash and a blue cadet hosta ... $26.26]

I spent the better part of this afternoon on-line looking into mulching the tomatoes after Julianna suggested I get straw laid down asap so the plants don't get scorched. I couldn't easily locate straw and when I found some at Humber Nursery, they told me it was a huge bale 4'X3'X2 so I had second thoughts about going so far out of my way ... I've rationalized it because it's supposed to rain and because I found two sites which suggest not mulching until the ground is warm and the plants are about a foot high. I think that it could go either way and the forecast just turned to 5 days of rain from just 2 days.

Stinging Nettle Tea

2008-05-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

I picked up 4 little cups for $14 when I got the bud vase pins and I purposefully brought home some Stinging Nettle (& Mint as per Gayla's suggestion on YGG) so I could make tea. I heeded everyone's suggestions about not touching the nettles. I put gloves on to pick it and I carried it home in Dad's old hat. I then used tongs and scissors to get the leaves into the tea pot and cover it with boiling water (hence rendering the stingers harmless)! Adding the mint to it certainly made it more palatable. Thanks Gayla.

Forget-Me-Nots

2008-05-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

I went to pick up the little bud vase pins that Gayla mentioned in her YGG column about a week ago. Isn't it cute ... and yes, there's water in it (and a sprig of mint as a back drop for the flowers).

Day 8 - Soaker Hoses, Chicken Wire & Seed Sowing In Situ

2008-05-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

I headed over to Mike & Cathy's for 10 am and got the soaker hoses & milk can to bring to the garden. I put the rugs into the garage and came in to get plants and was fixing the plant cover when I noticed it was drizzling. I quickly got over to the allotment plot with the hoses, can & Mr. BigPig and took the plastic ground cover off the carrots (and woops beets). It was to have been on the carrots for 7 days - so this was perfect timing (the beets were to have come up in 4-6 days ... not much evidence of anything really - maybe a few new plants but nothing for sure). There was a friend of Mr. DirtyBirds standing on the new plantlets so I scurried him away and thanked him under my breath for actually reminding me to cover everything with chicken wire. It was a fly by the seat of my pants effort to clip some overlapping fence with scissors left in the trunk of my car along wit some of the plastic mesh edging from Mike. I was also able to use some pieces of small square wire meshing left behind by Joe to fashion a new ground cover.

I decided to also plant about 4 Zucchini seeds by the garlic and some Russian Kale and Dino Kale alongside the row of beets. I put the strawberry plant in the ground at the end of the row (I was very pleased it looked as good as it did - a week ago I watered it and put it sitting in a shallow dish of water - it's been dry for 7 days now.

wee pea's out for good in a big pot

2008-05-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

I decided to put wee pea into a big pot with two other pea plants and his friend the morning glory. They are in a pot with some rapini and rainbow chard!

I put most of my other plants outside this morning just before going to school to attend the LAC Meeting (for Visual & Creative Arts). Fortunately the temperature hit 11C as I was leaving. On my way home around 3pm, I stopped at Barry's and picked up some Parisienne Tomatoes he'd grown from seed and a Pepper plant of Davids'. Barry gave me a cover sheet to slip over my plants as they harden off so I didn't have to take them in from the sun today and I can keep them out tonight - it's only going down to 10 C.

Hardening Off - Day 2 (the Black Cherry broke)

2008-05-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

A chair fell on my Black Cherry tomato and it broke - I was lucky nothing else broke though. So I took the masking tape and taped the stem back up and cut open another glass to slip over the top and add more soil since I realized that the stems could maybe root and the hopefully the stem will heal (or at least maybe the tape will hold the stem together enough to carry water & food to the leaves, etc) ... fingers crossed.

Update:- My Black Cherry tomato just fell off the Executive Desk where it was sitting after I'd taken its' picture ... I wasn't watching where I was going - walking & talking on the phone and I hit the cardboard back drop and sent it flying ... how much masking tape and twist ties can one tomato plant take?

An Eva Purple Ball tomato looks like it's had one of its arms burned - hope it makes it.

Nobody said anything about my having to 'harden off' with my little plantlets! This is all quit fraught with disaster at every turn it seems and I'm learning vigilance now.

Peas'n Beans - Staked

2008-05-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

Wee Pea's out for his first day hardening

off with his friend, the morning glory!

Next year make sure to stake the peas'n beans when they are planted ... it took about an hour to unwind them and many were already broken from having been moved - possibly it happened yesterday when I put them out to harden off. Masking tape to the rescue again ... I tried to mend bent stems and twist-tied them to long stakes.

Check out the difference from yesterday's tangle ...

Hardening Off - Day 2

2008-05-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

The windowsill plants are going up to the roof again today. Here are some thriving chives from last year in a container (one of the only survivors after the winter) ... I will try to plant lettuces and kale in the Fall though now that I know they can make it too.

It's 11am and it's just hit 11C. The winds are only gusting at 9 km/hr today! What a difference that will make ... it is supposed to get to 18 C this afternoon and stay around 15 C during the evening - then drop to 5 C overnight. I'll begin bringing the plants out to a shaded area with a little dappled sunlight and keep an eye on them every 30 minutes so I can pull any that seem to look stressed. I figure I can keep them outside for about 4-6 hours today (yesterday they were out around 4 hours).

NOTE: lower leaves on one tomatillo plant are dangling by a thread from the winds yesterday. I found some old takeaway wooden chopsticks last night which I'll put in with them both today to hopefully strengthen them even though the winds won't be as strong.

wee pea's had a pea

2008-05-27T14:23:00.001-07:00

I couldn't believe my eyes when I took Wee Pea out to water him (I decided not to put him out today) and he was attached to a Morning Glory ... then I saw a white flower and looked closer because the Morninging Glory was supposed to be 'heavenly blue' ... and I then saw the pea pod ... OMG!!! (it's the lime green thing in the center of the c/u photo on right)

hardening off - Day 1

2008-05-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Gulp - the little plantlets are on the roof getting some dappled sun & wind (at the top left you can see tomato plants that have done well and at the top right ones that have barely grown). I still have plants on the windowsills (edibles and peppers - I think I'll wait until it's a little warmer and I'll need some respite from planting everything all at once + I think I'll plant some of the edibles in sito next time I'm out at the garden + some in pots) ... I waited for Sarafina (Julianna)'s posting Re starting her hardening off yesterday. She mentioned that she was waiting for 10C - so when it hit 10C on the weather channel I started my procession outdoors. I watered them as per her reminder as well. I noticed that today's temperature will hit 17 C - going down to 5C overnight (glad they haven't been put out earlier)! There are wind gusts of 39 km/hr and it's now 11C going to 14C (then 17C I suppose). I've set my timer at 30 minutes and it's just gone off so I will go check them and leave them out for about 1-1/2 hours today I think.

I set my timer for 30 minutes about 1/2 hour after setting them all out and watering them. I checked them about an hour after they went out and noticed that some were in full sun - so I let them stay there for about 20-30 minutes then put them all into a sheltered area from wind and sun. I've reset the timer for another 30 minutes. In total, they will have been out about 2+ hours if they come in at 3:30pm. The peas & beans came in after an hour because they seemed droopy (they were a little fragile when they went out).

2 bags full

2008-05-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

... evidence of weeding & work done - Day 7

more new pet dirty bird

2008-05-24T07:18:00.001-07:00

... dirty bird (I've named him this because he's the exact same colour as the dirt is) just hung around all day - the little movie star! When I wasn't shooting the bird, I was weeding from my yellow stool (looking at the yellow boquet of tulips in the next lot - just joking - I just noticed them in the shot - all I saw were weeds & dirt) ... and when I wasn't weeding I was planting & watering (nose to the toes) ... how healthy is it to be breathing in dirt all day I wonder. Dirt has a particular smell - one that I couldn't get out of my head until well into the evening and only after a lot of garlic and a little wine).

new pet dirtybird - Day 7

2008-05-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

It appears I have a pet bird ... the colour of dirt (so it's easy to miss him - but he's there)!

masking tape on zucchinis

2008-05-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

As I was putting the tall zucchini back on the windowsill, its stem cracked at the tie on the straw which I'd put a long pole through to stake it. Ironically, if I'd not staked it, it might be fine right now. So - as much as I want to stuff the blossoms and fry them up for a meal, I've used masking tape to close the wound. I am hoping it will help it heal itself and hold in the water as it goes up inside the hollow stem. What do I know? Maybe a lot. Let's hope so!

These photos were taken 3 days apart. The blossoms are shrinking. Hmmm. Maybe they are trying to tell me something ... like, "Eat me"?

TO DO Today: Find out more about harvesting blossoms to eat off zucchini plants.

"sorrel renders men themselves pleasant & agreeable " Woah - I wondered what was happening to me

2008-05-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

"Sorrel sharpens the appetite" and imparts "so gratefull a quickness to the salad" John Everest, Diarist & Salad Lover

It is a spring tonic with astringent properties that cleanses the blood. It will supply one with greens and 'add relish to sallets' from Spring through Fall, for 8-10 years. Add a little compost to surrounding soil. Take cuttings continuously throughout the season and also from the main root to plant a foot apart and keep it producing at peak capacity. When it flowers, cut back the flowering stem lest the plant put its efforts into seed rather than leaf production.

It can also be used to make a nice pesto for fish dishes and the French use it in soups!

sorrel 'n salad

2008-05-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

Sorrel is good. It's lemony & tangy!

sorrel & dandylions OUT... peas & beans IN today

2008-05-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

Day 7 at the garden ... I put in about 1-1/2 hours total. Peas & beans are in finally - along the northeast retaining wall against the new fenceless neighbour on my left. I need to find out what to do with sorrel. A half bag of dandylion plants is soaking in the sink, and I am about to dry more roots for tea (I wonder if I'll ever make the tea).

sans San Marzanos

2008-05-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

Most of my San Marzanos are doing so poorly that I don't think they are even worth planting (I don't even have to say which are the San Marzanos in this picture and which are the Black Cherrys (and even close up shots don't help) ... thankfully I have some that are doing well (not sure yet just how many though - maybe two). The long weekend is early this year ... tomorrow is Victoria Day (20 May). Today was so cold and rainy that I couldn't even think about putting plants out to begin 'hardening off' ...

aerogardening

2008-05-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

I figure I've put in under 30 minutes over the course of a month to get this.

bloomin' zucchinis

2008-05-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

I almost fell off the sofa when I pulled back the curtains this morning to take a peek at my windowsill garden of seedlings. I am certain there were no flowers on the zucchinis yesterday! I have photos without flowers taken this week and I've poured over them to see the closed pods. What an exciting start to the day! It's the long weekend and it's raining and I'm staying in. The plants have to wait until I'm certain there will not be a frost. I am tempted to just EAT it! There are more photos ...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25312005@N06/

a Bird Bath for the Hens&Chicks

2008-05-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

Day 6 - Barry carried a wonderful old bottomless birdbath (sans pedestal) out to the allotment which he gave me from his garden for my new little hens&chicks. It was heavy. I ran ahead and opened gates. Once I decide on the perfect place for it, I will bring out the little guys (purchased at the Annual Hort Plant Fair last Saturday) and I'll probably get more once I see what will look best with them. I got greens with increasing amounts of burgundy. Two of them have name tags (the middle one is called Glon'osum and the one on the far right is called Hall's Hybrid). I will call the tagless one on the left 'Monkey' ... they'll want full sunshine and I will want shade and to be able to see them from the chair when I'm resting ...

To Do: Bring out the umbrella!

Gilligan'sHack

2008-05-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

All this in just 2 hours - we barely had to do anything ... Joe's fallen down shack just kind of came together and built itself. In some way, Helen & I were just there to pull a few poles back into place, wire it up and witness it( literally) fall together easily. Helen pounded a few metal poles into the ground to secure corner posts where they'd been broken off. At first we thought 'someone nasty' had vandalized Joe's garden; but Julie, Helen and I all conceded that it may well have been old Joe who pulled it down - for whatever reason. Maybe he thought he had to take it down before leaving. I have a t-shirt that says, 'not your ordinary joe' ... I will make it my gardening shirt (too bad it's black and will absorb the sun and make me really hot while I'm working ... making a statement is important! I will suffer.)

Tables & Chairs

2008-05-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I spent the early morning clearing out the trunk of the car so I could put the seats down and pick up more gardening tools and equipment from Mike & Cathy's. First though - I headed to the hardware store to pick up outdoor locks ... I forgot to get a chain so I stopped at another hardware store enroute to the Annual Hurticultural Societies of Parkdale & Toronto Plant Fair Sale for the chain and next door but two I picked up a coffee-to-go.

At the Sale as I was looking at the 'garage sale' table I heard my name and looked up to see Katie. Small World - I had already made a mental note to give her a call for our summer 'catch up' luncheon after Day 3 because I entered & exited the Park very close to her place and right away thought of her! At the Sale, I bought a Red Brandywine and a Red Cayenne Hot Pepper Plant from 'the tomato lady' Parkdale's own Urban Harvest creator (Colette is her name - I think Barry said). I also got a handsome little threesome of hens & chickens.

Fortuitously Helen met me at my car just as I was putting my new acquisitions in because we might have taken a long time to actually find one another inside Parkdale School & Community Centre ... from here we met up in front of her place to make plan of action - we then set off and made our first trip out to Riverdale Avenue - we met at the Green Coffee Bean Warehouse and had a big cup of java then - after dropping everything off in my garage - we had a birthday lunch at Phils then made a second trip out to the East End - meeting at the garden where we chained the chair to the fence next to the little fallen apart table with chipped red paint. It is coming together - slowly.

Barry called and I went over to pick up the black tarp which I will put down to keep weeds off the walkways in the garden. We had Vietnamese and I came home and sunk my weary self into a nice hot bath.

There are bruises!

Today I am sore.

Dandylion Salad w Garlic Chives (Day 3)

2008-05-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

I made a dandylion salad with strawberries and garlic chives for dinner after my long hard Day 3 of digging weeds in the garden ... created a simple vinegrette with champagne vinegar, dijon mustard, sugar/salt/pepper. This is how much is left after washing 1/3 of small grocery bag of them ... about a sinkful. WHAT a DAY!

Not Your Average Joe (Day 3) 9 May 08

2008-05-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

My permit arrived in the mail yesterday! The plot is mine!! I'm eating dandylion salad with garlic chive mustard dressing tonight - bounty from my garden.

DAY 3 - a woman named Julie met me at the gate and asked if I was a member of Joe's family. I told her I was a new tennant. She obviously wondered why I was standing in Joe's Garden and quite curious (first about him and then about me). Joe, it seems befriended her, gave her plants and taught her a lot about them. He used to test her on the latin names and drive her crazy. It sounds like he helped a lot of people in the gardens before his health let him down. His garden was the envy of many (I'm hoping it isn't still). Seems his wife died a year or so ago and he wasn't himself last year - used to sleep in the corner where the little hut was - it's since been vandalized. Well that shoots my theory down completely. I was sure Emily Carr was back from the dead and had left in February for a man in England - forgotten her monkey and it had gone mad in the garden and wrecked havoc on the plot in retaliation. But luck is surely with me though - I've been left with really great soil, lots of compost and many perennial flowers and herbs. Now, that said, I spent 3 hours yesterday digging up dandylions - the healthiest I've ever seen. I am seriously wondering now if Joe grew them to harvest.

When I told Julie I was here to dig up weeds but wasn't exactly sure what was what, she took me on a little tour of my garden - I'll need her to do this for me more than once - I imagine she will do it for me as Joe did it for her which will be good fun. When I pointed to the dandylions and said I'd be taking them up first she told me she really likes dandylions and that she eats the whole thing - the entire plant. With that, she reached down and popped a yellow dandylion flower in her mouth - said it was sweet. So I then leaned down and popped one in my mouth and looked at her and said, 'yup', and she laughed!

Julie said, "I'm Vietnamese. I eat everything. She showed me the stinging nettle by the fence and said she makes a quiche out of it and drinks the tea after she boils water to cook the leaves. She pointed out the mint, oregano, thyme, and many other plants I can't remember. I'll have a pencil and paper ready to pull out when she arrives next time (I didn't want to be rude and go to my wheelie cart on her first visit - but did run to it once she left to get down as much as I could. Everyone's names for example - I am so bad with names - and I'm sure this will translate to plant names now as well as peoples). So more about the dandylions. She dries the root and makes a tea in the winter ... told me it's good for cleansing. Have I heard this before? I dug deep and without disturbing the root yanked those guys out of the ground and shook their soil off and back into the beds. I brought two bags full home last night of the entire dandylion plant and spent the best part of an hour washing maybe 1/3 of a bag before setting the other and the remaining 2/3 bag aside for Helen tomorrow. Helen's been threatening to take me out to pick dandylions at her cousins for years now. We plan to meet at the 'Annual Horticultural Plant Fair Sale' that Barry told me about and then we head to Mike's to pick up stuff around noon - I called Cathy to make this arrangement - she said, 'You're really into this. Good", when I told her I was going to a plant sale beforehand. I'll have to empty my entire car before I head out (when Mike lifted the trunk - things spilled out - I've been spring cleaning and rotating junk in the car bringing it from one place to another but never really seeming to dispose of any of it. I need to use the car for carrying more gardening things up without wrecking the seats so ... I'll be in the garage by 10am to give myself an extra half hour to clean out the car and put the seats down - maybe protect them with a plastic tarp and then I'll arrive at the sale by 10:45am. I don't think I need any plants but I said I'd go. And we all know I'll be buying some!

I also met Karen and Barb who are in the plot across the path from me. Karen has my card and will e-mail me with info about a pot luck they are organizing on the 1st weekend in June for everyone. She works in the new Trinity Belwoods Park greenhouse that Marty is helping out with - she guessed it was Marty when I told her I knew someone helping out at the new greenhouse ... I told her I'd taught Marty art and we laughed - it's a small world (with 1 degree of separation - some people have 7 degrees).

wah-WHO was almost right ...

2008-05-07T05:19:00.000-07:00

I went to MY garden yesterday and evidence of someone else having been in it were overwelmingly apparent (but WHO) ... tulip flowers were chopped off, sorrel was sliced away, the composter was moved and used to hold old furry plant bits ... the land looked 'gone over' ... 'oh please tell me the old owner just wanted to have one final session to clear things away for ME before leaving'! I won't panic yet. I'll wait until I receive MY actual permit and then make a call - if necessary.

From what David said, the plot is a double (so that's what the extra charge was for). Barry helped me upright the composter and fill a garbage bag with undesireables. Both confirmed my first suspicions that the garden is chuck-full of perennials and only needs certain parts worked over. They lifted the fallen fence between my neighbours at the right (who they think is a newbie too - judging from their overgrown plot of nasty thistles). Obviously the 'stinging nettle in my garden they said would be good for tea isn't to be catagorized the same as those enemy thistles are. I stayed another hour after they left to shoot photos and notetake so I wouldn't forget what information and advice they had given me during their visit.

Afterwards I waited at Value Village (where I got some scarves to keep the sun off my head and a little yellow chair to sit on while gardening) until I could go to Mike & Cathy's to pick up gardening tools and equipment. I am everso grateful for all the gardening acoutrements they gave me that I never even realized I would even need (... and for somethings I don't really 'need' ... the cement ducks and bunny ... the still-to-be gotten 'big pig' that I'm hoping to fill with corsican mint and use as a footstool on the roof. I am still to make another trip and pick up more. I will photograph it all and now have to make a place to store things so that I'm not hauling things to & fro daily. The Echo is a veritable travelling garden shed right now.

Gateway to Garden - Before

2008-05-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

I can't count my chickens just yet - not until I have a permit in hand - (this land was your land/this land IS my land)? It's been suggested I paint the gate ... I'm seriously considering it - and thinking periwinkle blue - waWHO ...

... bring on the heavenly blue morning glory flowers-to-be ...

To Do

1. Find out what blue birds eat and buy it ...

aLOTment pLOT 80

2008-05-02T20:57:00.000-07:00

To Do List

1. don't forget to get new seedling flats out of greenhouses and into windowsills (DONE)

2. clean up that mess (see photos)

3. get a hat + sunscreen

pee inoculant

2008-05-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Here's part of what I wrote in YGG today:-

... when I went to buy pea inoculant today I was told if there was any it would be on the back shelf - another woman who overheard me asking said, 'real farmers use urine (as an inoculant) ... then she said, "really - just plant the peas and pee" (everyone looked at one another and smiled politely)

... there was no inoculant on the back shelf and so I left the nursery confused about pee inoculant ...

I think I am going to phone ahead before I go to the next nursery ... I've read the old threads and realize it isn't the easiest thing to come by ... or is it?

The response was much as I expected ...

... I wouldn't think any substances contained in urine can substitute for the bacteria that inoculant contain (Rhizobacteria). The reason for the inoculant is to assist with nitrogen fixation right ... maybe it's beneficial in other ways, but I wouldn't think it would replace inoculant.

To Do

1. Get pea inoculant at Humber Nursery (N of 401 <-- see Map)

www.wintersown.org

2008-04-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

This looks really interesting:- I got it from the yougrowgirl.com website under, Seeds, Seed Starting & Growing - Hot_Toddycat

... "wintersowing is easy to do ... creative and easy ... done outdoors during Winter using mini-greenhouses made from recyclables; there are no heating devices, no energy-wasting light set-ups or expensive seed starting devices ... "

To Do

1. Start collecting water bottles to use as cloches in the garden (DOING - 27 Apr) ... (some in car)!

OVERVIEW (27 Apr 08) + Wee Pea

2008-04-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Not So Wee

OVERVIEW (27 Apr 08) - Wee Pea

2008-04-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

See OVERVIEW (27 April 2008)

www.flickr.com

I put about 6 hours into all window sill seedlings today (3 hours after midnight and 3 hours from 9:30 am - 12:30pm) ... I watered, separated & sorted seedlings and reorganized what went where. I also documented here, @ flickr.com (see Overview 27 April 2008) and in moleskin journal (see diagrams and notes on pages -10 to -7) ... and there's still more to do ...

To Do Today

Plant more basil (DONE - 28 April)

Plant jalapeno peppers (DONE - 28 April)

Transplant San Marzanoes

Transplant Two Leggy Little California Wonder Peppers

ETC (ie, see Plant NOW in Moleskin, p -10)

Cucumbers

2008-04-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

my folia.com

To Do

1. List more vegetable with details (Tomatoes DONE)

DIY Irrigation Drip

2008-04-26T19:21:00.001-07:00

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/garden/dripsystem.php

To Do Today
Make a 'proto-type' T-Shirt

nestegg@gardenbre.com

2008-04-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

www.gardenbre.com

two-sided White T-Shirts 100% cotton
$100.00

WHAT CAME FIRST

The Plot Thins

2008-04-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

I am bone tired - and so - thought twice today about calling the City to see if there has been any movement on the 'waiting list' for garden allotments. I felt unsure of what I would or wouldn't say if I was given a cold shoulder (wound ... I just typed 'wound' and had to correct it); but I dialed anyways and took my chances. A woman answered. At least I'm not constantly speaking with the same person and am spreading my enquiries out (I call about every 2-3 weeks). The woman was very kind. She offered to look my name up even though she let me know right off the bat that they were still waiting for responses back from original tennants. At first she just told me that I was on the list but couldn't tell how many plots would be available - then quickly offered that I was at (and/or near) the top of the list and she repeated the two contact numbers they have on file for me (they were correct) and she said they would call me if there was an allotment available and that I should call back Monday because maybe I could find out more. All righty then!

One of the peas has wound itself around an edible flower (there's that word again, 'wound', albeit disguised in another meaning ... or is it ...nevertheless it needs its tendrils tenderly untangled today) ... toodle-oo - now there's a 'must do' ...

To Do Today

Unwind Seedling Leaves and Tendrils (DONE - 26 April 2008)

A Little Too Buzzy

2008-04-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

... a big bee made its home on one of the computers at work today ... and so that everyone could get back to doing what we were doing, I saved it from being smushed to death by our computer technician weilding a promo leaflet, by placing an empty coffee mug over the poor little thing when it was swatted to the ground off a keyboard ... later when I noticed I no longer had to step over the mug to get to my purse, I asked about the bug in the mug and was told it had been killed ... so much for getting on with my work ... I should have, reprioritized & dropped what I was doing, salvaged the abandoned glossy pages, slid them under the cup and made bringing it all outside my job ... but what's with all these bug references lately ... what's really been bugging me?

On a lighter note & speaking of bees. On our way to a Hallowe'en party once, my best friend introduced me to one of her co-workers who had arrived at her place dressed as a bee ... later, seeing her friend out of that 'context' was nigh impossible ... I'm just glad I was ever so much more acceptably dressed as a 'pimento going solo without its olive' for the evening

Fly Away Home

2008-04-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

... home finally ... now where's that spider ...

As I was putting far too many 'staples' in the back seat of the car (Echo), after our last school meeting of the year, I saw the first Lady Bug of the season crawling along the furry base part where the back window comes out of. A dull, rusty-coloured small inverted half-ball with no spots - well maybe a little dirty bit on its back but not a spot - no polka dots that I could see which surprised me somewhat. So did seeing the small fly lying belly up near the entrance to our meeting room this morning. Flys hold a place in my heart. Long story short - we moved a lot ... my brother G prided himself on a pet fly that travelled with him everywhere, often located in the car as we pulled out of the driveway just setting out on each & every new destination ... how many annual screams of ego-filled joy did I listen to while turning to catch my final glimpse of 'bygone homes' when he discovered her in the back window ... waiting just for him. Kindy was her name (sounds like kin-dee).

To Do Today

Check California Wonder (sweet) Peppers for water in Liv Sill (DONE)

see NOT DONE Yesterday

Wee Pea in a Pot

2008-04-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

Warm sunny weather is finally here. Last week, to celebrate, I lit the lampe berger, opened a window and flung back a door to disperse the smell of wild peony throughout ... and a little later while vacuuming, saw my 1st 'good luck' spider of the season crawling up a wall inside ... there's a metaphor in here somewhere!

After numerous, barefoot middle-of-the-night visits to the roof, with hair ascew, wearing 'who knows what' out to salvage as many old 4" pots as were there for transplantlings I ran out of pots [ie, See Wee Pea in a Pot] ...

an even wee'er pea in the same pot can be seen @ www.flickr.com/photos/25312005@N06/2415680134/in/photostream/

NOTE: I found some inexpensive, brilliant red beer cups with 3-1/2" diameters at the grocery which I've been poking holes in the bottom of with chicken scewers ... maybe if the plants don't use them all up for long tall drinks of whatever, I just might. [Note2Self: Don't poke'em all!]

Now I am trying to decide how to best notetake for the garden(s). Using a 'to do' list will work for somethings ... using the Website @ myfolia.com to track technical planting information will ensure I have essential dates and using flickr.com to post photos will provide good visuals. As well, I am handwriting notes and drawing in mid-size, lined Moleskins labelled InDoor & OutDoor Gardens.

I am going to use a large, unlined Moleskin to do 'Jamie Oliver-type' gardening entries on the fly once heavier gardening begins ... (http://www.jamieoliver.com/bookstv/) ... just trying to crack the code so next year life is easy.

Yesterdays To Do (DONE)

transplant 1 Sugar Baby Watermelon seedling (17 March 08) --> (deep 4" round red beer cups)

To Do Today

water 3 sills (DONE)

transplant 3 California Wonder (sweet) Pepper seedlings (17 March 08) (NOT DONE)

transplant 1 San Marzano seedling (28 March 08) (NOT DONE)

Next (Most Imminent) Project - To Do

plant more wee peas - Buy *Inoculant, etc (See:- InDoor Moleskin - List)

Right now one of the books I am reading is The Sunday Telegraph URBAN GARDNER by Elspeth Thompson. ['Her lot is that of the average city-dweller - an overgrown allotment, a tiny backyard and the window ledges, rooftops and shady strips of land that surround a terraced house.] I'm on page 46 now.

*Inoculant: see p 146, Incredible Vegetables (Beans and Peas ...) and yougrowgirl.com