Officially Spring

The official first day of Spring has come and gone, but the weather seems to be still hovering around zero.  Despite the winter-like temperature we're still getting, I'm definitely enjoying the longer day and warmth of the sun!    

Here's the first sign of Spring in our house - cat grass!  Lucky cat, she's the first one that gets to enjoy this season's veggies.  :)  

Seed starting (in take out boxes) are coming along.  The cucumber seeds are already sprouting (with green leaves) and the tomato seeds are just starting to sprout.  Seedling transfer probably just a few days away!

~ Rebecca

2015 Season

This week we finally got some above zero temperatures and the large amount of snow accumulated is finally starting to melt.  We've had one of the most consistently cold Winters (especially February) this year and everything have been frozen solid till now.  

Although the start of Spring is still one week away, I've been having a serious case of Spring fever the last few days.  I started the first batch of seeds with the "take out box and wet paper towel" method.  These are the seeds that requires the earliest start because it takes a while for the seedlings to grow - various tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants.  I'm hoping that by starting the seeds early this year I will have stronger plants and hopefully a higher fruit yield. 

Along with that I've started some seeds for cilantro and dill.  Hopefully they will get going soon and give us some delicious herbs to use early Summer.  This year I'm also going to start some seeds outdoors directly (such as beans, peas, and lettuces) as soon as the soil is warm enough to work.  

Next step is to plan out this year's vegetable garden design!

~ Rebecca 

Bye Bye Summer!

Summer's coming to a close,  This little guy (we have named it Dennis the menace) has been quite a hand full this summer and I really don't know how to further squirrel proof other than putting the entire house under one big cage!

Meanwhile, time to clean up the yard and start planning for next season! 

~ Rebecca  

End of Summer Update

Once again, I've been behind with my posting.  Here are a few pictures of the beautiful vegetables we've been enjoying so far.... 

This summer the vegetable yield was definitely more about variety versus quantity.  On top of that, I've had to pick some of the vegetables such as cucumbers before they're grown to full size just so the squirrels don't get to them (we have a squirrel problem here...)  

On of the most fantastic vegetables are the Candy-cane beets and purple radishes.   They are both gorgeous to look at and incredibly delicious.  The only thing is they take almost all summer to grow for a single yield and they do take up quite a bit of room.  

I also had a variety of tomatoes going this summer.   Here in the photo we have cherry tomatoes, Caspian Pink tomato, and the Big Rainbow tomatoes were the tastiest tomato, incredibly sweet and "tomato" tasty - you can just slice them up and eat them as is.  For sure will be planing lots of those next year!  

~ Rebecca

Mid-Summer Update

I've been very behind with this Summer's posting.  Partly because I am going through some transitional stuff so things are quite hectic.  The garden has been coming along great,both the perennials and the vegetables.  This is one of my favorite part of being a gardener - enjoying dinner on a beautiful summer evening like this!   Stay tuned for more updates later on in the summer! 

~ Rebecca   

Red Lily Leaf Beetle

The other day I noticed a bright red insect on the leaf of the Tiger Lily plant.  At first I thought, wow, cool little bug with the most vibrant red colour, looks beautiful against the bright green lily leaves.  Little did I know this is a dangerous littler bugger that can end up destroying your whole crop of lilies!

I started getting concern after seeing this insect on the tiger lily again a few days later, and then again the next day.  It made me wonder if this bug is specific to this type of plant.  With a quick Google research and voila, found out this is the Red Lily Leaf Beetle.  You can read about it here.  

Need to keep an eye out for them the next few days and hopefully catch a few of them before they get a chance to eat all the leafs and flower buds!

~ Rebecca

May Update

It's finally starting to feel like Spring!!!  The flowering bulbs are in full bloom and perennials and the perennials are coming out of the ground.  Here's a round-up of what I've seen so far in the front garden:  

(Starting from top left corner, across to right, and down)
1. Crocus "Orange Monarch", 2. Hyacinth "Oriental Mix", 3. Hyacinth "Oriental Mix" , 4. Nasturtium "Alaska Mix" , 5. Narcissus "Kedron" , 6. Muscari "Armeniacum" , 7. Tulip "Yokohama" , 8. Tulip "Orange", 9. Narcissus "Texas" , 10. Violets, 11.Daffodil "Sir Winston Churchill" , 12. Lamium "Herman's Pride", 13. Silvermound, 14. Phlox "Emerald Blue", 15. Tulip "Rajka".

One group of bulbs that did not come up are the "Libretto" Parrot tulips I planted in the Fall.  These were supposed to be tall, glorious, beautiful pink tulips so I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't come up.  Not sure if it was just a bad batch of bulbs or if the squirrels found them before it had a chance to grow.  

Otherwise, most of the plants in the garden survived the harsh winter we had this year.  One of the English lavender is a bit roughed up from the cold weather but I noticed that it's still alive (a few tiny green leaves) so there's still a chance to nurse it back to life.  

Next, it's time to tend to the vegetable gardens - divide,  re-pot, transplant, etc etc.  Updates coming soon!

~ Rebecca