Winter Fun
It is usually a struggle to get a decent rink made in time for Christmas. We bought a rink kit a few years ago, but without the right kind of weather, it still won’t work. Some years, winter arrives early with a huge dumping of snow in late November, but it’s often just a lot of [...]
Home-canned Baby Food
Better late than never.
The best time of year to make baby food is late summer or early fall. Peaches, followed by apples and pears, reach their peak at this time, and these flavours are always well received. If you are new to canning, then making baby food is a good way to learn the basics. [...]
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 [...]
A Tickle Trunk for Everyone
Growing up, my family always had a Tickle Trunk. It was a big black old-fashioned thing with metal hinges and clasps – both my cousin and I could fit inside it. It had some really interesting costume pieces in it: old wedding veils, a couple of wigs, old shirts, ties, skirts, high heeled shoes, scarfs, [...]
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 [...]
Salsa Verde!
I have 6 jars of green tomato salsa in the canner. I’ve never preserved green tomatoes before. Usually, at the end of the season, I cut down all the remaining clusters of tomatoes, leaving as much vine attached as possible, and spread them in a single layer between newspapers in the cold cellar. [...]
No Sun No Fun
I don’t ever remember October being this dark and wet. Unpredictable, yes, but never consistently dreary and damp.
The annual golf tournament at the cottage is held on Thanksgiving weekend. It’s always a roll of the die as to what the weather will be like. We’ve had Indian Summer and we’ve had blistering [...]
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 [...]
Rainbow
Tonight we witnessed a beautiful double rainbow and a starling party.
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 [...]
Pepper Pride
October 1, 2009 by Christine
Filed under GROW Green!
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
