Updates

 

The weather in Toronto has been back to the normal range for this time of the year.  Althogh many of the bulbs in the neighborhoods are alreayd blooming, probably 1-2 week ahead of their typical schedule.  The vegetable seedlings are doing well, especially the ones in the kitchen window sill.  The Cherry Tomatos are growing nicely, with nice little leaves and not too stringy...

The Cilantro is coming along as well.  I think I might have threw in more seeds in one pot than I was supposed to, but oh well, more Cilantro for me! :)



Ecofeminism

Fascinating interview with Vandana Shiva on the George Stroumboulopoulos show

Fascinating....

Watch it if you have 20 minutes.... 

Love - Care - Compassion - and Embrace. 

Seed Starting - Part 4

Here's an update on how my vegetable seedlings are doing.... 

(Going to have to change my post title next time, as they are much more than seeds now!)

(Seedlings getting a sun tan last weekend)

The tomato (both cherry and Roma), cucumber, radish seedlings are growing very well.  I think at our new location I'm getting THAT much more sun on the window sills (compared to the seeds I planted last year at a different house), these are less stringy and are producing more leaves already.  

The one surprise this time are the Nasturtium (Alaska Mix) seeds that my Mom gave me.  Even though only 3 out of 9 have sprouted, they are growing at lighting speed and are already almost 6" tall.  It's a little bit on the stringy side but the little plant already has about 6 or 7 small leafs each.  I hope these make it through the next few weeks as they are a GORGEOUS plant to look at, and it's edible!!!  

Can't wait for time to transplant these into large pots/planters when they get bigger.... meanwhile I have to stay patient and keep them indoors till May (that's my goal at least) as the weather is still unpredictable (they say it's supposed to be -2 degree Celsius tonight, coming from a weekend of +16 degrees!).  Well I guess after all it is still only March.  Hopefully all the pretty little flowers blooming in the front (super) early will make it through the next night or two!  

Seed starting chart

Here's a very useful chart I found online today from the Organic Gardening magazine.... it can help you figure out when to start your seeds depending on your vegetable types:

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/seed-starting-chart

Hopefully my vegetable garden this year will be as beautiful as this one I saw at the Canada Blooms show :) 

Spring surprise

Because of how warm it's been in Toronto lately, all the Spring bulbs are already popping up and even blooming.  This morning I was greeted by this beautiful red tulip (which I didn't plant).  I think I see a few other tulips (maybe) leaves popping up nearby as well, can't wait to see what they will bloom into! :)

Canada Blooms

Beautiful flowers from the Canada Blooms show in Toronto this year... 

All this goes particularly well with the unseasonably warm Spring we've been having so far....  

 Ahhh.... Dahlias.... 

Cute little "romantic" garden setup.....  

So much colour, so refreshing.....  

Lots of inspiration, making me even more anxious to get to work on the garden! :) 

Seed starting - part 3

 

Update on seeds - it's been two weeks so far and most of the plants have sprouted little green leafs.  Cucumber plant is coming up the slowest, as well as Cilantro (those just started sprouting).  The rest are still pretty delicate at this point, but so far I'm very happy with the germination % of the seeds.  In particular the Radish plants are growing the fastest.... (above right)

Little basil plants are coming up too (left), can't wait to have fresh basil!!!!  Now if I can only find more room on my kitchen floor for more plants.... :) 

Have a great weekend!