Garden Stuff

This is Year Two of our attempts at a garden. We moved the box so Laura could put a swing on the upper-level out-cropping area we have in our back yard. Hopefully the plants will get enough light there. Here is the garden beside the fence:



We planted peas, beans, lettuce, spinach, carrots, radishes, corn, cucumbers and in the pots out front, peppers - (if I recall correctly - we forgot to label everything) As you can see, things are kinda small as we were busy and were a week or two late putting the seeds in the ground.

Also we started our tomatoes from seed earlier than necessary but we left them outside to harden off and went out one day. A huge wind came along and destroyed all but one of them. It's the one in the gray pot in the back:


I restarted them from seed again and are now a few weeks behind on the tomatoes. We did pick up some seedlings for cherry tomatoes from a greenhouse that are doing well. (They're the three in a row up front).

I bought some of this stuff to make up for our late start:


It's supposed to be super-awesome, all organic snake-oil for getting huge delicious vegetables. Only time will tell if that's the case.

Our grape vine is larger than last year:

I don't really expect much from it as I don't think the Soo's climate is optimal for grape production but, what the hey, might as well try it, eh?

This year I put some Goji berries in the ground too:

I just took the seeds out of the dried Goji berries they sell at the Bulk Barn and germinated them. They're supposed to grow on snowy mountain-sides so I think they'll do fine here. I have two other plants to put in the ground but can't decide on a good spot for them. This one is doing alright. Supposedly they take 3 years to produce berries.

And here is the most successful thing I've planted:

Our raspberry bush! It was only 3 stalks last year. This year it's going crazy! Awesome. I am aware that raspberries are easy to grow but I must take take happiness in small victories. Also, Mira loves jumping in the way of my shots.

And one of Leo guarding the garden:

Gardening Returns

Despite all my rookie mistakes ("What's this 'pruning' you speak of?"), we ended up with a pretty good haul. Our only casuality was the corn. It didn't make it. Who knew you were supposed to fertilize? Anyway, here's some shots of our harvest so far.

Carrots. They're extremely sweet. In the background on the right you can see my grape vine and the left is the raspberry bush that did pretty well this year too. I was going to try and plant a hazelnut tree from the one at the camp but didn't get around to it. I'll have to learn more about them first - next year, I guess.


Some cukes. I didn't find that huge one for a while (obviously).

Our tomatoes are still not ripening so we picked a bunch today to ripen inside.

We left some out there for on-the-vine ripening. Cherry tomatoes:

I would like to attempt to can some tomato sauce (from scratch) and some salsa. We'll see if that comes to fruition. Canning is another skill I have no idea how to do. But I did buy a book and have two new buddies. David and Andrea at Canning USA have a video called "If I Can, You Can" that will show me how to do it. I love these guys! Check out David's smile at the beginning and Andrea is so wooden. haha love 'em!

Here's our basil and mint. The mint is out of control, like almost every plant we have but it's delicious in mojitos.

And here is the beginning of my wolfberry bushes (aka goji berries). I just took some seeds from dried wolfberries purchased at the Bulk Barn and planted them. Six out of 8 attempts sprouted. We'll see how many survive to one day bear fruit.



The spinach and lettuce were growing like crazy, so we pulled them out and ate them all. It took a while to get through all that lettuce. The beans and peas came out well too, but I didn't take any pics of them.

So for next year, I'd like to learn how to prune and fertilize properly and maybe even learn how to 'seed save'. (Maybe I can still do that last one. There is so much to learn.)

Square Foot Gardening

Laura took a one night course on Square Foot Gardening at Sault College a little while back. This weekend we put our garden together. Here it is in our backyard. It doesn't look like much now but hopefully it'll be teeming with life, (or more specifically vegetables) later on. Laura planted corn, beans, cucumber, tomato, carrots, lettuce and spinich. We built the box out of wood left over from the fence I built last summer. It's eight feet by three feet.

We've also started a compost. (behind the shed)

Keeping in the vein of gardening, I bought Laura an AeroGarden for her birthday. Here it is in operation. She's planted Red Basil, Dill, Parsley, Basil, Chives, Thyme, and Mint. You can also see our tomatoes started.

We made sure to buy Heirloom Seeds so that we can seed save and have some for next season. We found this place on the net.

I also plan on learning how to can/preserve and found this thing that pickles in 4-5 days instead of the regular wait time: The Picklemeister (scroll down)


Any experienced gardeners out there have tips for first timers? (well, a first timer...Laura already has gardening experience)


p.s. The Red Wings are seriously dominating the Pens. Two shutouts. In a row. In the Stanley Cup Finals.