Take off yer MULCH!

Spring has definitely arrived here at Desert Lake!

When the rain stops long enough for me to get outside,

I was busily hauling the winter mulch off of the beds.

I was surprised to see some of the plants already growing back!

Some of them, like the mint, 2 kinds of chives and the catnip, come back every year.

Some plants, though, I did not expect to see returning...

2 kinds of parsley

oregano

lavender 

(this sad little lavender didn't fair so well last year, so I thought it was done for

and had no reasonable expectation to see it again.)

from L-R catnip, oregano, green onions, creeping jenny

Its amazing...to see your garden beds transform magically

from dried up to dazzling!

from L-R:  garlic chives and regular chives and one huge honking rock

I took the opportunity to rearrange some of the decorations in the garden.

More on that in a latter post...stay tuned!

from L-R:  italian parsley and curly parsley

hostas make a comeback

I am not normally into flowers.

I have a firmly held belief that I will not waste my energy, time or 

money on something that cannot provide me with nutrition.

In this case, the hostas were a present from a neighbouring family who were leaving the area.

They said if you want em, we could have em!

So for me, the represent the return of some seasonal friends we miss dearly.

Thanks again DJ Bill and Louise!

from L-R:  creeping jenny, garlic chives, mint, Valerian, horseradish

Above you can see the dramatic reveal!

The right hand side shows the beds covered in dried leaf mulch.

The left hand side shows the soil uncovered.

You can also see on the far left side the small cement pathway into the center

of a stand of Manitoba maples.

The pathway leads to Owen's collection of special sticks...

some are for walking, some are for climbing...

and some are swords...for fighting, of course!

All in all, the garden is recovering nicely from 

the epic and seemingly never-ending winter we just endured.

Soon it will be overflowing....and I'll be in heaven...

PS.  for the record...the creeping jenny was purchased and placed

in an area we wanted to stay low to the ground...ground cover plants specifically

designed to be Owen-proof.  We succeeded...perhaps a little too well...

Jenny is taking over!!!

The new digs...

So we've moved and the settling in begins...

We are definitely loving the new place.

The puttering is neverending...and we love it.

I'm in love with the front yard, its slightly enchanting...and I can't wait to fill it with more ferns and mosses.

I sit on the back porch and dream about the years to come.

I think about all the vegetation I want to introduce.

Fruit trees and pathways.

It was so open when we first landed here...all of our stuff seemed so small in comparison.

The original garden was over top of the septic access.

That was one of the first things on our to-do list.

Ches scraped back the top layer of grass and raked it out evenly with the terrain.

Ches and I organized the railway ties we just couldn't leave behind at our old house.

All of the excess top soil that was shovel out of the old garden was transported by

wheelbarrow to the new section.

In between each project, we took breaks on the dock. 

Listening to the frogs and their wonderful songs.

The cattails were yummy! 

When we had only been here a week, Ches picked out some cattail that hadn't pollenated yet.

Boiled and buttered, they seriously taste like corn on the cob!

I haven't had 2 seconds to read the section in Steve Brills' book about wild orchids.

I have some..now what is it I do with them again?

So much to do!

The old garden is almost completely levelled at this point.

We had to save some of the existing plants...the chives and the rhubarb

The bees were happy about that...

Ches went and extended the proposed garden area...by a whole railway tie length...

(I do love that man!!!)

This is the pathway to our dock on Holleford creek.

It was alright, but we were finding it getting harder and harder to get through.

The wildlife was starting to take back its territory.

We grabbed some more railway ties (I had no idea how many we actually had!)

and some free chips (compliments of the travelling hydro crews working in the area)

and beat back the wild vines.

We also gave the willow tree a trim!

A big improvement that didn't use any unnatural products.

Don't forgot the boy in the tree.  He loves it there!

So like I said, we are in love with our new property and house.

The garden might not make it this year like we planned..but we are making due with some jimmy-rigged spots around the property.  Updates to follow.  We're also concentrating on composting and buying up the cheap peat moss (seems its nearly the end of season).

The key right now for setting up the larger garden is conditioning the soil for use next year.

A fun fact is that there is nothing wrong withsoil anywhere.  The problem lies with the person trying to grow something there that doesn't belong.  Anytime you plant seeds, you are essentially forcing nature's hand.

By conditioning the soil, you are preparing it for your needs.  You add essential nutrients before you plant, so that you should never need to add things like miracle-gro (don't even get me started on that business!)

Patience is key.

I'm learning to have more of that stuff.

How many of you have started a garden this year?

Spring has Sprung!

Although I have been struggling with the idea that we are not putting in a garden this year...spring has decided to remind me of how lucky we all are.

Spring happens whether we want it to or not!

I was taking a look around our decidedly barren backyard...thinking about all of those thing I would be up to right now.  Starting seedlings in small peat pots...starting seeds in carboard egg crates...planning our trip to the greenhouse.

I was thrilled to find some things had already started growing....reminding me that nature continues on...no matter what's happening in our menial lives.

Our chives are back!  Bring on the baked potatoes...

Seeing these oniony green shoots coming up from the ground just makes me wanna barbeque!

(lucky for us, they come up right next to it!)

Here is a shot of the garlic chives we found growing on our property.  We originally found them shortly after we turned our garden for the first time.  After the first year, we moved them over to the garden plot beside the barbeque...mainly so they would be easier to harvest (right outside the kitchen door) but also to keep the regular chives company!  These chives grow very much the same way regular chives grow.  Two main differences between the two plants, one; being the wider, flatter leaves that shoot out of the ground and two; they taste more like garlic that onions. 

The rhubarb is also coming out nicely.  We transplanted 2 rhubarb plants to a sunnier location.  We had located them in a corner of our property and only seemed fit for spider consumption.  The leaves were miraculously lacey!  In their new home, they seem happier, and less holey.

Can't wait to crack off some leaves of rhubarb, boil them down with a bit of white sugar and spoon it over vanilla ice cream!

Last but certainly not least...the garlic mustard!  It's lining just about every fence we have on our property.  This bunch was right outside our side door and next to our barbeque!  We've already tried it in salads mixed with baby spinach...next we'll attempt to eat some cooked.  (I'd still like to try garlic mustard pesto...)

So let this be a reminder to all...no matter what's happening in your life...nature continues on...

What have you got growing already?

Digging potatoes is like digging up treasure!

We have never attempted potatoes...in hindsight I wonder why is that?  They are ridiculously easy to grow and are very satisfying...their yield per plant is decent!  So as a gardener, your time feels well spent.  We've done virtually nothing but water our potato plants...and not very often I might add...they still turned out great!
Then we did some research and discovered how you can store potatoes using no hydro electric power whatsoever...you just need buckets of dry sand or dry peat moss.  The same goes for carrots and parsnips, but the peat moss or sand must be damp in that case.

The concept really got under my skin.  I did more research on root cellars and they have been around for a long time.  Of course I had heard of them before...but with the cost of hydro these days....it really makes sense that we invest some time and effort into this concept.  Now if our own basement didn't have moisture issues...I'd throroughly consider a root cellar option for storage in our own home.

We decided to try potatoes this year in the garden...some brown skinned with white flesh...some red skinned with white flesh.  In the thrill of planting, I forgot which ones were which.  It happens. 



A row of some kind of potatoes


The best part is when you notice your green plant parts dying off, because I've read that is the time to dig em up! 

So since we had one row of potato plants that seemed to be dying off...I went to work with my kid's shovel.  I dug a trench coming in at the side of the plant...just to get a peak at how these tubers grow!

It was one of the coolest things!!!  Like you just found out that someone stashed a bag of potatoes under this plant!  I was giddy...which is probably a weird thing.



the tuber still attached to one of the roots

And boy did they just keep coming!  I found many under one plant...and we probably would have had more from each plant if we had bothered to mound them up as most books suggest. 


I just kept brushing the dirt aside and there were MORE potatoes...

This was the result of one plant and it still felt like a big score.  We scrubbed them up and added some fresh cut chives from our garden.  We always microwave our chopped taters for 4-5 minutes before we toss in butter and salt and bake in the oven for 20-30 min. 




After chopping, you can put chives in a freezer bag and use them all winter long!


For a quick, no-nonsense side dish...I merely microwaved the chopped taters...tossed them in butter...sprinkled with sea salt and fresh cut chives...baked at 350-375 degrees in the oven.  You can also do the same prep work, wrap in foil and throw them on the BBQ too.  A very good alternative to heating up your kitchen these days.



YUM!

 These were so yummy, and I can see me using more potatoes in recipes from now on.  Next year we'll may leave a large section of the garden for ALL KINDS of potatoes.  Either that or we'll invest in barrels to for potato growing.  More on that in another post...because it sounds like one of those weird experiments we'll either love...or laugh about later.

What did you try in the garden that was new for you?

Perennials...the easy way to garden!

The wonderful thing about owning land is that you can finally get started on those plants that take a long time to establish.  You have time on YOUR side!  I love the idea that you can plant some things, virtually forget about them and they'll keep on giving you wonderful gifts EVERY YEAR!

I thought I would dedicate this post to the plants and things that you can purchase now, plant and enjoy for years to come.  Now since I've already discussed asparagus so far, I will avoid them for right now.  Just note that asparagus also falls into the "easy garden" category. 



My neighbour's apple tree in full bloom!

APPLE TREES:

I have been reading Suzanna Moody's sister's book "The Canadian Settler's Guide" by Catherine Parr-Traill.  There is a whole chapter on how the apple tree or orchard can add so much to the home.  Back in the 1830's they dried their apples and rehydrated them for use all winter long...that was....as long as the mice didn't find them first.  Poor Suzanna's neighbour dried out her apples but when she went to collect them the neighbour only gave her 3 bits of dried apple...saying the mice found them under their bed and ate a feast.  (Under a bed???  Surely the rafters would have been a better place in those days!)  Apples store well over the early months of the winter.  They also freeze well for later use.  I was so intrigued with the dehydrating idea, that we may be looking for a dehydrator come this fall. 

There is a great debate over whether or not you must spray for bugs with apple trees.  My mother in law swears by the stickey cup method to attract bugs away from the precious fruit.  Plant an apple tree and let me know how that turns out.  For now we are happy to pick our neighbour's tree (with her permission) and seek out the local U-pick farms.  Its a GREAT family activity.



10 plants turned into THIS...



Strawberries in bloom May 20-2011



 STRAWBERRIES:

Strawberries are wonderful to have at home.  They take a whole season of care for only a few weeks of fruit.  Nothing in the world beats going out to your patch in the morning to grab some fresh berries to add to pancakes or just to sprinkle on cereals or yoghurt.  We planted 10 plants a few years ago and they EXPLODED!  Its been quite a challenge to keep the plants from taking over our parking lot!  (top pic you can see the bumper of my car)  The runners are a naturally produced survival technique.  Each plant may produce an infinite amount of runners per season.  Our first year we let the runners go wild....the second year we picked any runners we saw.  You can never get all of them, but it definitely helps the plants produce more fruit than plant.  All of its energy is spent on fruit production rather than making a bigger, greener plant.  Last year, the berries came way too early and the rains kept us inside most of the time.  The robins were thrilled....they got most of the berries before we had a chance to pick them.  That's nature for you! 

Originally this bed held flowers of all types, but we aren't flower people, so we dug them all up and decided what we were going to put in the bed.  We chose a perennial for the bed, as its very tough to turn that soil in the walled in space in the front yard.  Its also impossible to get a tiller in there.  We picked strawberries for that bed because strawberries like a slightly acidic soil.  We were able to cover the soil with cedar chips without fear the acidity would affect other growing things nearby (its just berries there!) 



Owen poses with the wild black raspberries we trained across our fence

  RASPBERRIES:

When we first moved into our home, we noticed a corner of the parking lot that had wild black raspberry canes peaking out from around the fence.  We decided to let them flourish!  By keeping other plants and vines at bay, the canes are able to take as much sun and rain as it likes.  After the first year, the canes were starting to bow towards our cars!  Thats when we started training them down our fence (using gloves of course....ouch!)  Raspberry canes are quick thorny...so take care.  Luckily you won't have to fuss with the canes much.  They do their own things and by mid june we'll have scads of berries!  We usually freeze some and pick and eat the rest fresh.  They are certainly longer lasting than the strawberry counter-parts.  We can pick raspberries for almost 2 months before the August heat does the poor guys in. 

I absolutely adore it when we send out the boys with a basket each and they pick their own....still in pj's.


Our disappointing blueberries

BLUEBERRIES:

We had another awkward area for planting.  We had tried lettuce and herbs in the area previously...but the big manitoba maple blocks out a substantial amount of sun throughout the day.  I grabbed about 6 blueberry shrubs and only 4 survived.  The are still only twigs after 3 years.  I feel like there is something we are missing when it comes to this patch as well as blueberries in general.  We treated the soil with natural cedar chips as well.  Blueberries love the acidic addition to the soil.  So far they have only produced a few flowers each and the robins nab the berries before we've been able to taste a single one. 

Our experience with blueberries has been disappointing at best, but my husband is still optimistic.  Me?  I'm getting tired of weeding the area without any return.  (I'd love to dig them up and relocae them to someone else's property, personally!)  Our sad experiences with blueberries makes me jealous of those who live in the hwy 7/Kaladar area...they seem to be sitting on a gold mine of blueberries!



Garlic Chives



CHIVES:

It doesn't matter the type of chives you grow...they all rock!  A baked potato is nothing without these green lovelies.  We FOUND them growing in the area that is now our flat bed garden, now tranplanted beside our BBQ right out the door from our kitchen!  Snip as you need them, they grow back bigger and better all season long.  Snip, wash and chop.  Add to a freezer bag and you have chives all winter long.  You can dry them too, but the frozen kind always taste more fresh.  

We have continued to cultivate garlic chives.  They are a broader leaf variety and sound snooty.  Not just chives, but garlic chives.     



Rhubarb is getting bigger!



RHUBARB:

I'll be doing another rhubarb post shortly...ours is getting out of control!  Rhubarb also freezes well, since when you cook with it, it turns to mush anyway.  Freeze them chopped or whole, both are just as easy to cook with.  They are a great source of vitamin C and other anti-oxidants.  Not a fan of the taste?  Add white sugar and try not to love them. 

All of the above-listed plants and trees are a great way to get into gardening.  There is very little expense put into them and they last for many years.  Talk about getting the most bang for your buck!

Have you got perennial plants in your garden plan?