Go Green BABY!

GROW Green!

It’s Never Too Early

Three weeks into the year and I’ve already received all of my seed catalogues.  I’ve spent the last few days laying out my garden plan on the computer.  Already the list of jobs to do (outside of planting, seeding, etc) is a mile long.  We usually begin with whatever jobs weren’t finished last year.  Makes sense.  These are as... [See more]

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Polytunnel Panic

I was worried that my beautiful greens might take a wee bit of a hit tonight (-2 predicted), so we rigged a temporary mini hoophouse over the garden bed.  It was a very last minute decision – made at about 4pm – and I think we did well. We happened to have several yards of 3/4 inch flexible black pipe, so we cut five ribs to a length... [See more]

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A Balmy Lack of Beans

Today was a balmy 13C and I took my first cuttings of my winter greens. I never eat my salad greens until I’ve washed, spun, and crisped them up in the fridge, so unfortunately, I won’t be tasting them until lunchtime tomorrow. For supper, I made vegetarian Boston Baked Beans. I won’t be tasting them until tomorrow too, because they’re... [See more]

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Put the Cob Down and Back Away From the Compost

With all of the tomatoes ripening on the counter, it was no surprise to find a few fruit flies flitting around. I detest them. So, in a mild panic, I decided to get every scrap of food off the counter and into the fridge, and I put the kitchen compost outside on the back step. I planned to take it down to the garden when I was finished my “Salsa... [See more]

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It Looks Like a Plant, It Behaves Like a Plant, It’s Not a Plant

I harvested potatoes and onions today. The onions are perfect, round and uniform – I’m quite pleased. The only bummer is that I didn’t plant enough of them. The potatoes are from my second planting, which I did in the experimental stacked bins. Russet Burbanks in all three. RBs are a late season variety and one of the best for... [See more]

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Critter Ridder

Something’s feasting on my winter spinach. I can recognize rabbit damage when I see it, so I’ve started a nightly cayenne ritual. I grew the pretty pepper plants two years ago to defend my garden against small critters. They were gorgeous plants, very bushy, just dripping with bright red finger-sized peppers. I dried them and stored... [See more]

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Pepper Pride

Another frost warning tonight. This time, with help from family, the plants were covered while it was still daylight. It may be the first of October, so frost protection is a little silly, but my peppers need more time and I intend to give it to them. I planted them when they were little twigs with their tops chewed off; I made hot caps for them... [See more]

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Sunshowers on a Cloudy Day

It was a strange day of intermittent sunshowers. Capricious weather. Mercurial. Jeckyll-and-Hyde. The clouds would part, the sun would burst through, then the rain would come. It’s a lovely time to be outside, actually. The sunlight flashes off the dripping plants and leaves you too dazzled to do any work. But, since harvesting can hardly... [See more]

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Smells Like Cabbage

Green CabbageI have one. Back in the spring, I started half a dozen each of red cabbage, green cabbage and brussels sprouts. The latter grew well in the cell packs, but never actually made it into the garden (I ran out of space). Of the others, the red were annihilated by cabbage worms, and the green may have gotten a little too much shade from the... [See more]

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I Like My Beets Bloody

The dehydrator was going all day today. More zucchini and tomatoes. I also decided to try beets this time. They didn’t really sweeten up the same way other fruits and veggies do when the moisture content is reduced. I had simply sliced them and spread them out on the dehydrator trays. Next time, I may try tossing them in a wee bit of olive... [See more]

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Salsa!

I canned five pints of salsa today. The tomatoes were a mix of Amish Paste, Roma and Hungarian Heart. With night temps back up into the “teens” all this week, the rest of the fruit will have a reasonable chance to mature. I may be in full canning production by Saturday.  Read More →

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Frost

It’s the same story every year: I’m happily going about my daily harvest – bringing in the beets, the potatoes, the tomatoes, the peppers – and enjoying the warm days and cool nights that September brings, when suddenly Environment Canada issues a Frost Warning. I’m usually wrapping up my evening with a soothing cup... [See more]

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Find Your LEGS

I think if we can learn to LIVE Green, EAT Green and GROW Green, then ultimately we will SAVE Green, which is good for our pocketbooks, and good for the planet.  Read More →

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Hold the Hoses

I don’t think I’ve ever watered tomatoes, or any part of my garden, in the month of September. At least, not until this year. I would normally be putting away the hoses and fittings at this time of year, but we haven’t had rain in weeks. I watered about ten days ago, but they’re thirsty again. It’s kind of important... [See more]

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Zunuksuk

It’s amazing how a single zucchini plant can produce enough fruit to save a small country from starvation. The perfect zucchini should fit the hand like a good tennis grip. How many perfect ones have I harvested thus far? Maybe two. The other twenty or so were almost as big as my first-born child. I let the Sunburst Squash get too big as well;... [See more]

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T to Z

The first decent harvest of Stupice tomatoes are in the dehydrator. When they’ve shrunk about 50% I’ll freeze them for use in soups, stews and sauces. Must remember: If I’m not sure if my zucchini is ready, then it’s definitely ready. I always leave it an extra day and then I end up picking a whopper.  Read More →

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Tomato Pruning

Staked Tomato PlantsThe tomatoes received the last pruning of the season this morning. I finally snipped off all the tops, removing any blossoms that won’t have time to set fruit before the cold weather hits. I picked one or two Hungarian Hearts, several (my favourite) Black Krims, and many Stupice and Sweeties. Still no sign of any ripe Romas,... [See more]

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Last of the Beans

I picked the last of my green and yellow beans for supper tonight. A few carrots left. Normally by this time of year, I’ve finished the bulk of my canning, but at present, the tomatoes are still mostly green. The plants themselves are brown and spotted with blight, but they’re dripping with tomatoes, so I may still get a decent harvest.  Read More →

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