Seedlings transferred to soil

Seedling updates!  The seeds I started with the wet paper towel method have been transferred to soil and containers (all indoor still).  They are adapting to the soil quite well and are growing quickly, reaching for the sun!

As I mentioned before, this year I'm trying to be organized, so I've put together a nice little chart for what I've planted in each of these little containers: 

Keeping my fingers crossed that these will survive through the next few weeks! 

Seed starting 2013 and Frost Chart

I started looking at my calendar and realized that I really need to hurry up and begin starting some seeds for my vegetable gardens.  Compared to last year I am actually quite behind schedule so I need to get to work straight away if I want to have decent size plants to plant outside by the time we get our last frost here in Toronto.  (here's a handy Frost Chart for Canada: http://www.almanac.com/content/frost-chart-canada )

Luckily I've been collecting used food containers all winter so at least I can start the seeds using the wet paper towel method before I have a chance to go purchase and prepare other containers with potting soil etc for the seedlings.   

This year I plan on planting a lot of the same vegetables as last year and some new variety with seeds I purchased at the Canada Blooms show:

- Parisian Market Carrot

- Rosa Bianca Eggplant

- Caspian Pink Tomato

-Big Rainbow Tomato

- California Wonder Golden Pepper

I have never planted eggplants before, so that should be very interesting.  And I'm really looking forward to those Pink and Rainbow tomatoes, they are apparently of heirloom varieties and they have beautiful colours and distinctive/unique shape.  I'm also hoping that I'll have a better handle on how to space out plantings and replantings this year, so that for certain vegetables (i.e. lettuce) I can have a more manageable harvest where I harvest fewer plants at a time, but more continuously throughout the summer (instead of having 10 heads of lettuce at a time and having to wait a few weeks before the next harvest, I can harvest 3 hears of lettuce at a time, but on a weekly basis).  

Wish me luck! :) 

Canada Blooms 2013

Welcome to the 2013 Canada Blooms show.  Since I'm running low on time to blog these days, here are simply a few fun photos with short captions (they say a picture speaks a thousand words)!

This year again there were many fun and interesting landscape design display.  It was a bit too crowded so and we were being herded like cows through each booth, so I didn't have very many chance to take photos. He's a fun one, with the green roof on the (fake) dog house.  I'd build that if I have a dog :)

I find myself attracted more to the floral display portion of the show.  There were some amazing pieces, such as this one.

I think my favorite floral display of the show was this poppy themed one by Quince Flowers.  

The poppies were GORGEOUS and the way they've placed single stems in various glass vessels made it very interesting to look at.  

But I believe the favorite part of the show was the "Abracadabra" Youth Competition.  These were all pieces made by little little kids (as young as 3!) made with dried leaves, flowers, and other floral related materials.  

They were so much fun to look at, and so creative!  They look like such fun projects!  

And I caught a glimpse of Mr. Lady Bug.  He was a huge hit with all the little kids that day!!

Happy Canada Blooms!

Happy Spring!

Today is officially the first day of Spring, although the latest winter wind is giving us -2 Celsius and flurries, it certainly doesn't feel like Spring yet.

But I've definitely been thinking about warm weather and plans for the gardens already (especially after going to the Canada Blooms show - which I will post pictures soon).  Lots of ideas this year for both the flower and vegetable gardens.  And perhaps I should start some seeds soon as I think I'm already behind schedule for that (looking back at last year's blog posts, I actually started my vegetable seeds at the end of February because it was such a mild winter!).  

But for now here is a pretty "spring-like" photo of my latest indoor purchase to celebrate the official start of the Spring season!     

Spring?

Even though it's still cold outside, I do sense a hint of Spring in the air. Perhaps because the days are starting to get longer or the birds are chirping more in the morning.  So I couldn't help but buy a pot of tulips yesterday to get things rolling :)  I miss seeing greenery and flowers, can't wait till Spring is here!

Canada Blooms show in two weeks!

November surprises

It's November - the weather is cooling down and it's time to bundle up.  This is also time to start cleaning up the gardens and getting rid of unwanted/dead plants.  This is also time to pick out whatever is left in the vegetable gardens before the first frost hits.  

A very pleasant surprise were the Solar Yellow Carrots.  Although they took almost the entire season to grow, they turned out beautifully and was a nice little treat in November when almost all the other vegetables were gone.  Now it's making me think that I should have planted a few more of them!  We at them the same day they were harvested (boiled them quickly and sauteed in butter) and they were DELICIOUS! 

Here's a pic of a few other things I managed to harvest in November - lots of green onions, red onions, cayenne peppers, cherry tomatoes, and even one lettuce plant that was hiding in between the onions! 

I have to say, it has been a GREAT growing season this year.  Not that we grew so much that we could feed a village, but definitely enough to supplement our grocery bills.  I learned so much about starting the plants from seeds and about different vegetables, and was so good to see what heirloom, organic, and natural vegetables should be like (not to mention how delicious everything tastes!).

Now... time to take a break and start planning for next season! :)  Stay tuned! 

Fall visitors

 

This time of the year, lots of little visitors come by the gardens to feed and collect food for the Winter.  The seeds from the Black Eyed Susan is a popular choice for these little brown birds.... 

Very once in a while, we'll see some Cardinals.  I even saw a hummingbird earlier in the summer but it flew away before I had a chance to grab a camera.... 

And then, the ever so fearless squirrels.  They LOVE digging around in the garden, either looking for tulip bulbs people are planting for next Spring, or they are hiding something in the ground to be picked up later on in the season.  This one's eyeing the nice yummy pumpkin we put on our porch just before Halloween....    

And it took a nice bite (several bites actually)!  I guess Mr. Squirrel likes pumpkins!  I guess we just have to car around it for our Jack-o-lantern!