| Blog series by MsDebbieP consisting of 49 parts so far |
Part 1: Fruit & Nut Trees
March 2, 2008I am enjoying Catspaw’s journal of his seeds and I thought it would be nice to list what I am growing so I can go back to this next year. Whether I keep it up and refer back to it is another issue all together but I won’t know unless I try. So here goes. Fruit & Nut Trees (Thus Far) Apple: dwarf apple tree. “Deb…” something or other. Purchased because of the name. VERY delicious apple. Last year Rick did a big pruning job on it and it was...
Part 2: Fruit Bushes
March 2, 2008 Fruit Bushes (Thus Far) Red Currant: Two bushes. One bush was here when we moved in over 25 years ago. It is huge and is covered in berries each year. The second bush is about 5 years old and also provides a lot of fruit. We’ve never done much with these bushes except prop up the branches. Raspberries: We have two rows of canes, both planted about 3 years ago. Last year we had an abundance of fruit in the fall as well. Rhubarb: not a bush but since it com...
Part 3: Blueberries
April. 28. 2008 I finally got my blueberries! After years of “someday” 2008 was going to be the year that it happened. I tried ordering them from the place I got my strawberries but they were all out already. Doh… there was a moment of panic, let me tell you—for a brief moment I worried that I wouldn’t be able to find any bushes (silly thought but I thought it anyway). Friday, I bought three bushes at a garden centre and some peat moss. Yesterday I picked u...
Part 4: It's Planted!
May 24, 2008 Yes, indeed – the garden is in. It’s not completely finished (that will be done tomorrow) but the majority is done. Woo hoo.. Finally. That’s it.. short and sweet—and no pictures. We’re off to bonfire night at my brothers. See you tomorrow!!
Part 5: Cucumbers
July 1, 2008 (Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadian, by the way). Yesterday as I was weeding my cucumber garden I was surprised and thrilled to see this little guy peeking out at me. He’s not very big yet but I can already taste him. Now, for many of you, this really isn’t that exciting but you have to remember the history of my cucumbers. First plantings were destroyed by the cat and the dog. These plants were some saggy leftovers at the grocery store – some un...
Part 6: Salad Garden
July 1, 2008 I had purchased some triple mix for a front flowerbed but changed my mind and decided to add another veggie garden in the backyard. We simply laid down some cardboard/newspaper, placed some old logs around the edge, filled it with the soil, and then planted sections with seeds for salad ingredients. We have some kale, spinach, lettuce, radishes, and mustard greens. (I forget when we actually through this together but the seedlings have come up nicely and will soon have s...
Part 7: Tips From My Brother
July 5, 2008 Today at bonfire breakfast I gave my brother a tour of the yard and got lots of little tidbits of information from him. (He’s in the fertilizer business.) Let’s see what all I can remember: when the leaves of onions bend over it is a sign that the soil lacks calcium. watch for some little worm creature in the barley/grains/grasses (mine is doing fine. woo hoo) bind weed has to be in flower before you can hit it with Roundup (or equivalent) and then becaus...
Part 8: Peas
July 9, 2008 First Pickin’s What, you say? Not many peas in that dish? Well, uh, I have to admit that there were a lot more when I was finished harvesting them. (Yummy) I love my fresh peas. I admit it; I don’t apologize for it and I rarely get any peas into the freezer or even onto the table. They go right into my mouth! This year, I planted lots of peas -with the intention of freezing lots for the winter. Well, my first pickins were from a bush pea and even thoug...
Part 9: Red Currants
July 10, 208 (No pictures)Today I picked red currants. (The mosquitoes were horrific when I started.) The branches weren’t as covered as they were last year, even though there are tons of berries again. Perhaps if I leave them a few more days they will all be big fat red luscious berries. Anyway, today, I was selective in my pickings (whatever was easy). I ended up with about 5 cups of juice. Next pickings I will probably leave the currants whole to be used for jam perhaps. ...
Part 10: Weeding my "Salad Garden"
Yesterday I went out to weed my “salad garden” and all was going well until I felt something biting my leg. I look down and my foot is covered in ants. I had obviously disturbed a colony and they were NOT happy. They didn’t touch my left foot, only my right and I had a devil of a time getting them off and getting them to stay off. Ouch; ouch.. and more ouches on my foot, ankle, and calf of my leg.
Part 11: This one is my own fault!
July 25, 2008 I take full responsibility for this mishap! Finally we have had a day of sunshine and so this morning I hit the gardens with my weeding tool. All is going well and then it happens… as I’m weeding around my “Frog pond” (with my three metal frogs playing musical instruments) my metal tool hits the metal frog and ”ch-chang”. “So??,” you ask? Well, this is the third year my frogs have been there and both other years the ...
Part 12: Carrots (continued)
July 26, 2008 Let’s review the history of my garden regarding “carrots”. 1. last year’s crop of carrots did not come up.. not a single one! 2. this year we built a “raised bed” and planted three varieties of carrots3. the dog laid in the carrot bed and I’m sure hauled off most of the seeds in her fur4. the cat continuously used the carrot bed as its own private kitty litter box and tossed around all the dirt and seedlings leaving us with a barre...
Part 13: Grains
July 27, 2008 Today I started weeding and my path wound around by my first planting of quinoa .. which sure does look like big ugly weeds. Since my daughter brought home a big bag of the grains and I can get more when I want them, I took a deep breath and pulled the big plants out and tossed them. The pond sure looks nicer without them there! Following the walkway I ended up at my Barley and I decided that it was time to harvest. So I took the grain and did my best to get the seeds off ...
Part 14: Amaranth
July 31, 2008 For the last couple of years I’ve grown flowers called Amaranth and Rick and I both enjoy them. This year I planted “Amaranth” as a grain. The seeds are “multi-hued” and so I have the red and green. I don’t know if I’ll harvest the seed for eating. I didn’t pick the leaves when they were young so I missed having them in salads. I don’t think I’ll plant these again as “edibles”. But they are pretty t...
Part 15: New Fruit Trees
Aug 15, 2008 The other day Rick and I went to London to buy some things at Lee Valley and Busy Bee. While we were in the area we went a little further and stopped by Canadale Nursery. We had been talking about adding some more fruit trees to the property and so we went and had a look. Their fruit trees were on for “3 for $99” so we bought three. We bought: Sunrise Apple Santa Rosa Plum Satsuma Plum. The apple tree had two wee little apples on them. I had to try...
Part 16: 2008 Harvest
September 2, 2008 Freezer (approximate amounts) two dozen packages of sweet corn two dozen packages of asparagus two dozen packages of peas one dozen packages of green beans one dozen packages of strawberries one dozen packages of raspberries one dozen packages of red currants Jars 32 pints of chili sauce 12 individual bottles of apple juice (for lunches) 6 pints of lemon balm jelly 8 quarts of pickled beans 22 quarts and 4 pints of pickled beets 42 pints ...
Part 17: Is It Oregano?
I was given this plant and was told that it was thought to be oregano. So, I’ve come to the experts to confirm 1. Is it oregano?2. Is it a perennial? and therefore do I harvest and dry the leaves or do I plant it out in the garden for next year.. or both, I guess.
Part 18: Planning for 2009
What better time to plan for next year’s season than when you are are just wrapping up the current year’s gardens? The list of what went where this year, what worked and what didn’t, and what you loved vs what wasn’t inspiring is all fresh in your mind! For 2009 at MsDebbieP’s House: plant a second apple tree, getting better odds of a good harvest, if one tree doesn’t produce (tree already planted) move rhubarb, allowing more room by the shed (use ...
Part 19: Barley
October 6, 2008 Looking back over the summer I think the plant that gave us the most pleasure throughout the season was the Barley. Looking back through my notes (that I thought were quite thorough) I wanted to see when I planted my Barley. I remember thinking, later in the spring, that I could have planted it even earlier. Unfortunately I did not write down the Barley planting date. I did however say that I planted the Quinoa on April 23. The Quinoa didn’t like being out in the o...
Part 20: Tidbits on "Onions"
October 8, 2008 We were chatting with my brother yesterday about garden crops and dirt nutrients and the conversation ended up talking about onions. Info I came away with: onions like a consistent, steady level of water during their growing season dry spells mixed with bursts of water result in the onion getting an outer skin embedded between layers of “onion” the uneven watering also results in the rotten areas in the middle of the onions. I had posted other advi...
Part 21: Amaranth
October 10, 2008 This past week has brought us a couple mornings with frost and so it was time to tackle my Amaranth flowers, to gather their seeds. In the past, without knowing what I had planted, I just let the flowers cascade to the ground and drop their seeds. We did get some survivor plants grow the following year and that was fun. This year, I planted the Amaranth because the seeds (and leaves) are edible. We didn’t touch the leaves this year. I’m not much for salad...
Part 22: Beets
October 18, 2008 Oh the yummy beat – especially when it’s pickled!!! In the “Open” magazine, Fall 2008 issues there is an article by Michael Fisher, Whole Food Nutritionist. here are some of the key points in the article: very good for the heart helps measure intestinal transit health: the red pigment of the beet should take 18-24 hours to pass through the system very high levels of iron and so is good for the blood according to Chinese medicine, it i...
Part 23: Cherries
October 18, 2008 I can’t wait for our cherry tree to have cherries on it! We’re getting close. Maybe next year we’ll have a few handfuls, if we can beat the birds to them. The following is from the Fall, 2008 issue of “Open”; the article is by Lee Anne Andriessen according to the Cherry Nutrition Reposrt, cherries contain 19 times the beta carotene of blueberries and strawberries they also have: vitamin C/E, potassium, magnesium, iron, folate, fibre ...
Part 24: Green Beans
October 18, 20008 My best crop, this year, I’d have to say were my green beans. Now, I’m not a huge fan of green beans, but since I’m trying to live off my land as much as possible, I’ve made myself enjoy them. Other than “fresh off the vine”, I think I’ll save next year’s crop mostly as pickled beans. This year was the first time I’d even made or eaten pickled beans and I love them! The recipe I used turned the beans into the equiva...
Part 25: Anise Hyssop
October 18, 2008 This year I purchased some “Anise Hyssop” seeds from Salt Spring Seeds. My daughter and I tried some licorice flavoured tea last year and although I don’t really like tea I did almost enjoy the flavour. After planting the seeds I forgot all about it – until I smelled the flower in the garden. The aroma of licorice reminded me that I had planted it on purpose – and to make tea. Even without using the plant, I will probably plant this agai...
Part 26: A Tomato For Bob and Dan
October 19, 2008 I was out in my garden today and I found this tomato lying in the dirt.When I downloaded the photo I saw a surprise image in the image
Part 27: Chicken Soup For The Home Gardener
Nov 12, 2008 Yesterday I wasn’t feeling well and so I made some home-made chicken soup. In it I put some of my home-grown barley. I’m not sure what made me feel better – the chicken soup or knowing that I was eating some of the barley that I had grown in my yard this summer!! Regardless, it warmed my body, my heart, and put a smile on my face.
Part 28: 2009 - Seed Orders
January 6, 2009 Being inspired by the January Gardening discussion I checked out the seeds that I have left over from last year and my records as to what we liked from last year and wanted to plan again this year… I then went to a couple of Canadian Seed Companies and ordered some seeds: Tomatoes – I ordered some paste tomatoes, some large, yummy tomatoes, and one package of cherry tomatoes. I selected seeds that were “early” and “late” varieties ...
Part 29: Seeds for 2009
Feb 17, 2009 My garden this year will be used for: providing the majority of our fruits and vegetables for the year herbs for cooking as well as teas subjects for photography and my photo arts meditative and retreat purposes visual interest in the yard Vegetables tomatoes (cherry, paste, beefsteak) peppers cucumbers for pickling strawberries (hopefully the plants survived from last year) beans beets cabbage (savoy cabbage for making cabbage rolls this fall) ...
Part 30: Carrots, 2009
April 24, 2009 Today was the day to tackle the carrot planting. For those of you who weren’t here last summer, let me just recap by saying that it has been three years since I’ve had carrots come up in my garden. Bad seed, cats, dogs, and more cats and dogs—add that together and you get “ARGH”. My stubborn gene works really well at times including my goal of having carrots in my garden. Now I’ve grown carrots for YEARS. We’ve always had carrots ...
Part 31: Beets, 2009
April 25, 2009 Today I planted beets. Half of the raised bed is filled with round beets and the other half is elongated ones. I had a brilliant idea this year for the planting. I took an old plastic tray that plants had come in last year and used it as a marker. The tray had individual compartments that looked to be about the right size for a beet. All I had to do was turn it upside onto the soil, press and squish around a bit, and I had a perfect grid for planting. I had about 2 ...
Part 32: Fresh Veggies '09
May 1, 2009 Did I mention that we had asparagus fresh out of the garden this week? Oh it was yummy!!
Part 33: Apple Blossoms
May 13/09 I worried about my apple trees with frost (again) last night. But all is well!! So happy was I at seeing the blossoms smiling at me that I had to grab my camera and take a break from garden work. Here is one of the images I took Delicate in Pink Garden Tasks Today put a fence around new compost area (to keep the dogs out) ran the rototiller around part of the garden and seeded it with white clover put white clover seed in the beds for the tomatoes and peppers (I...
Part 34: Deer Me; Deer Me
May 15/09 Yes, I mean “Deer” and not “dear”. Rick and I did a walkabout yesterday and I was showing him my peas that are up nicely and then I noticed a pile of dirt—something had dug up the corner of the area. Well… hmph! Then as we walked along I saw this deep triangle impression in the dirt. Oh no—a deer was at my peas! Actually, it was at the nuts that I had put in the ground in an attempt to start at least one nut tree. Sure enough, there at...
Part 35: The War Continues
May 17/09 Deer: 3Debbie: 0 But it’s not who wins the battles that matters—it’s who wins the war!!! Don’t count me out yet. They tore up the peas worse this time. I guess they were saying, “oh yah??? ya think? Ha! Watch this!!!” And… they went through my garden-garden. Carrots – untouched. Phew. but two raised beds, that haven’t been filled yet were dug up. Now that they have found my garden they are using their frequent flyer m...
Part 36: With A Little Luck and A Lot of Surveillance = Shell Beans
May 22, 2009 On my list of “first times” is some brown shell beans that I purchased through William Dam Seeds.(photo from the William Dam Seeds website). I had originally planned to plant the seeds in a new raised bed by the raspberries. Earlier this week I had built the bed from some old wood and filled it with several wheelbarrows of well-decomposed manure. The plan was to put a layer of soil on top (or create pockets of soil for the beans to grow in. ) Then, yesterday...
Part 37: NOW - I'm getting annoyed!!
May 27/09 I came home from a consultation today and went out and checked the garden for the first time today. What did I find?? More of my garden dug up by cats. This year I was really excited about getting some stevia seeds to plant. In the package there were just a few seeds. That was disappointing. Only 4 seeds sprouted. That was really disappointing. The other day I planted the tiny, special plants in the garden (along with a row of parsnips). Today I find that all but one of the st...
Part 39: Onions -- Maggots
June 28/09 On Friday, we had “hot dog night” with family. After our meal, my brother, as usual, made his rounds checking out my gardens. My onions have had some yellowing of leaves and I asked him to check them out. (For the yellowing of leaves he said, “sulfur”. And then he said, “Debbie has onion maggots”. Well everyone around the fire said, “onion maggots?” My Mom, aunt and uncle were farmers all their lives and this pest was new to ...
Part 40: Red Currants - Maggots
July 8/09 As the strawberries wrap up for the season the red currants are ready to pick. Today I went out and picked a couple quarts of currants. Yummy. But… as I was cleaning them I noticed one, then two, then three wiggly maggots on the berries. Brush them off.. continue on… hmmm I don’t remember maggots being a problem in the past. ... This year, I thought I’d try the dehydrator with them and as directed, I plunked them in some boiling water for 30 seconds ...
Part 41: Blueberries
July 13/09 Today I was sitting at the picnic table eating some fresh peas when I looked out and saw a bird on one of the bushes in the front lawn. I looked closer and realized that the bird was under the netting – eating the blueberries! I ran down to chase it away and when it saw me it tried to fly away and of course ran into the netting that I have over top of the bushes. It fell to the ground and hopped out under the gap at the bottom of the netting and flew away. I was sure...
Part 42: July 26/09
My blueberry bushes are doing really well. I have gotten about 2 quarts of delicious berries off them so far. Cucumbers – I was surprised to find 3 lovely cukes on the vine yesterday. They were delicious. I forget what kind they are. Broccoli – we have had broccoli! The first batch had some worms on it. But they are easy to brush off. I currently have some in the dehydrator (the broccoli not the worms). Beans – tons, tons and tons… in-between storms today I ra...
Part 43: 2009 Preserves
July 31/09 I won’t come even close to Scott's produce (wow) but I do think it is important to document quantity so I can adjust it next year. I will be adding to this list as the season progresses. Strawberries- 25 quarts of strawberries dehydrated- 6 quarts, freezer- 12 pints jam Raspberries(so far) - 6 quarts, freezer Blueberries(so far)- 3 quarts, freezer Peas- 1 quart, freezer- lots in my belly! :D Beans(so far)- 3 quarts of dehydrated beans Zucchini(so far)-...
Part 44: Kohlrabi - Dehydrated
As you know, this year is really going to focus on dehydrating produce. Unfortunately, I didn’t look at dehydrating recipes etc before I planted this year’s garden. Around here I am the only one that eats kohlrabi so I only put a couple plants in. Bad move. After I ate the one good kohlrabi (the rest don’t seem to be growing (I had this problem last year as well—bad seed I think)... anyway, after I ate the one kohlrabi I checked out my dehydrating booklets and fo...
Part 45: Green Tomatoes
Aug 19/09 Well, it seems that the soil where my tomatoes are is calcium-deficient and my tomatoes are getting the blossom-end rot. I had the same problem last year, in a different area. This year I loaded up the raised beds with new triple-mix soil and then added some composted manure to it. But.. not enough of the right nutrients, obviously. So, what do I do? Start making green tomato preserves! Today’s produce 2 1/2 pints GT (ha—green tomato, not gardentenders) relish...
Part 46: Hardy Kiwi
Oct 13/09 I planted 2 hardy kiwi bushes this year (just baby plants) but the one had a handful of kiwis on it. Since I had no idea when they would be ripe, how to tell, or what they would taste like, over the past month I have picked on every once in a while to check on the ripeness. Well today (following our heavy frost on Monday morning) I picked the remaining kiwis. DELICIOUS. I can’t wait til next year. I show you what they looked like but I ate them already. :D :D :D
Part 47: 2010 is just around the corner
Dec 3/09 The end of the year is approaching quickly, too quickly really… Today, I found myself (once again) itching to think about gardening. It’s not the “gardening” that I’m thinking about, but the produce! Perhaps it is because we are already on the last jars of jam and we’ve gone through a lot of the yummy green tomato relish. All the peas are gone from the freezer already (OK.. so I didn’t put many packages IN the freezer—most went into ...
Part 48: 2010 Seed Catalogue
Dec 28/09 I received my William Dam Seed Catalogue last week and took some time today to go “shopping”. On the list: bush beans dutch brown beans pole beans beets brussel sprouts savoy cabbage kohlrabi carrots cukes onions peas peppers pie pumpkins radish spinach zucchini tomatoes dill luffah And for flowers ….. marigolds I had several flowers checked but once I looked at the list of veggie seeds I skipped the flowers...
Part 49: Honeyberry
Feb 25/10 On another blog “honeyberries” were being discussed and I thought I’d start a separate blog here because I had ordered a couple of plants from “Henry Fields“ I ordered them “just because”—they are another way to grow my own produce. Simple as that. A little research showed that you have to have bushes from two different varieties in order to get fruit (not just two different bushes). So, I went back and looked at what I had or...
gardening is a journey, a journey of learning how to connect with and support Mother Nature
By subscribing to the RSS feed you will be notified when new entries are posted on this blog.
Blog Series
- Bonfire Breakfasts - 2 parts
- Dehydrating - 3 parts
- GT Talk - 14 parts
- Labyrinth - 3 parts
- My "Turtle Island" - 6 parts
- My Carolinian Forest - 7 parts
- Our "Edibles" - 49 parts
- Our Flower Gardens - 33 parts
- Our Gazebo/ "Shanty" - 15 parts
- Our Pond - 21 parts
- Our Wildlife Companions - 8 parts
- Photography - 2 parts
- Recipes - 13 parts
- Spring - 14 parts
- The Winter Season - 13 parts
Your Online Garden - Your Support Is Greatly Appreciated - Your Gardening Showcase - 3 Ways To Help, Financially - Your Gardening Community
