Late Garden!

Today I started planting the main garden. This is the latest I think that I have ever started! The ground is still wet. But Ed ploughed up the soil twice and I left it a couple of days since the last ploughing because of the rain. The creek is flooding and since the garden is just a foot or so higher than the creek it is very wet. Usually the creek is about a yard lower than the garden ( there is a distance of a good 100 or more feet from the creek more like yards I guess).

Any way I planted several 18 ft rows. first was beets, then carrots 15 feet, and 3 feet of romain lettuce, then a double row of peas 18 ft each, with just enough space between the rows to put up my pea fence. then comes a 18 ft row of spinach. There is room for at least another 3 rows in that area.

Next is a space about a yard and a half for a path between the sides of the garden, and then I started a row of potatoes ( seed given me by Dot and Ed) I planted about a 45 foot row then space for the roto tiller at the end of the garden for ease in turning. The garden proper is 70 feet by 45 feet ( close as I can pace out).This is the south end of the garden and the furthest away from the creek. I plan on planting another 1 or 2 rows of potatoes there, then 4 short rows of corn, I still have beans to plant Scarlet runners and some yellow wax beans ,Zuchini, acorn squash just a couple of plants for me as dh doesn't like them, Then another little row of beets and carrots. Some dill, and more later plantings of lettuce, oh and transplant my tomatoes out of the green house to the garden, also need to plant some cucumbers and radishes.

The green house has 3 tomatoe plants in bloom, 4 green pepper plants ready to bloom, 3 med. hot pepper plants just planted and so far not doing anything, lettuce up and soon ready to eat, lettuce planted a week ago and not up yet, basil, several hanging baskets of small tomatoes, and I need to plant some cucumbers in the green house at least 2.

Picture is last fall the North end of the garden and the raspberry plants.

Company has arrived and so will close for today.

Another year!

Since my last post so much has happened and the time is gone! It goes so fast and the older I get the faster time goes! Last June DH had his second hip operation. Not only that he suffered a Heart Attack on the operating table. It has been a very hard year on him. So with his many different health issues we just go one day at a time and enjoy each day as much as we can. With our wonderful friends we have managed to stay put and with luck will do so for a few more years. But who knows what the future will bring. I am planning a little smaller garden for this summer, but looking forward so much to the warm weather. Just now it is snowing yet again. The past few days has been snow, rain, snow, sun and for a short time this afternoon we even had hail! For goodness sake this is April already! What got me thinking of the Blog today was my stove! what a connection, and yet there it is, I got up this morning and baked bran muffins. But they took forever to bake. That's when we found the bottom electric coil was broken, so we had to order a new one and that will arrive tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime supper had to be done without using the oven. ( no big deal, but did mean a change in menu). Yesterday on an unexpected trip to town with DH I stopped at our grocery store ( If I am in town I always stop, rather than have to drive into town again for a forgotten item..... I keep a list on the go all the time of things we need or that are running low, just in case I am in town and I can skip the next shopping day). While in the store looking for onions, and mushrooms I saw huge Cauliflowers on sale for $1.69 each! They looked nicer than any I have seen in a long time. I bought 2.) So that made me think today of Cauliflower soup, and Tina's Cream of Cauliflower soup is one I wrote up on my blog a couple of years ago in July. So to the blog I went to retrieve the recipe. I did change and instead of milk and cream I just used 1 tin of evaporated milk. And the soup...... wonderful! We both enjoyed our supper very much and will have another bowl of soup a little later before bed as a bed time snack. Oh, and another treat, we used our new dishes, DH got me with our little income tax return. Our old dishes were pretty sad, an we were using 2 old sets that were getting worse for wear and breaking quite often lately. Our old dishes served us well for between 24 and 25 years ( I can't quite remember when we got them, but when we moved to the house before this we already had them! So I know it's over 24 year ago.) Now I must head off in another direction. My friend Mary Ann is always telling me I should write, as she likes my rambling ways. So dear freind Mary Ann , this is for you, and I will try and be more faithful in writing than I was previously.

The sore Old Lady, gardened blissfully unaware that more rain and thunder was on it's way. First with a little help pulling the rope on the roter tiller, she finished turning the new grown weeds ( the garden had been done almost a month ago, but the rains hadn't let her finish the planting. In fact only some of the tomatoes had found their new homes from the green house to the garden.) So on she went intent on getting the rest of the garden planted and without the ground turned the weeds would make looking after the garden next to impossible. Just as she reached the half way point in the garden she heard a noise and looked up, there was the neighbour from next door. Ed waved her away and took over to finish the garden. Poor Ed, was known around as the Friendly Giant.
Ed is about 6 foot 4 or so and pushing the mid 350's having lost about 50 lbs in the past few months. Ed hobbles as his knees give him much discomfort, but there was no way he would let a lady work like that, Why he didn't let Dot ( his wife) work like that and he wasn't about to let the Old Lady work like that either!
About that time the Old Lady's husband arrived home from his daily tour of the town. He was in worse shape than the Old Lady, and The friendly Giant. The friendly giant hobbled over and the two old gents sat under the car port sharing coffee that was brewing on the coffee pot that sat in the carport ( you know the one that's never off ...?). The Old Lady once they both were settled with their coffee went back to the garden and worked on and off for the next couple of hours. Satisfied that she had done what she could for that day she surveyed the garden, there were 21 tomatoe plants, Cobra's, Rudgers, Sub Arctic's . and some other unidentified that had been given to her, and she couldn't let a plant go to waste, why that would be sacrilegious! Then there was the short row of spinach, the three short rows of Spanish onions, the 10 gladiolas ( what lovely names they have, Chocolate truffles, and Can Can. Makes you drift off and see the girls dancing in the Yukon Follies, and eating lovely truffles later! )plus 3 zucchini > Finally the carrots, a lovely row of carrots ...... but that made the Old Lady realize that her memory wasn't as good as it used to be. You see her friend Gege stopped by and was heading to town and wanted to see if she needed anything or wanted to go. Well, this time she couldn't go, she needed to get this work done in the garden, but she didn't have any carrot seed or peas could Gege pick some up for her. and Gege obliged...... But it bothered the Old Lady and the put her thinking cap on, and went and checked a couple of spots and sure enough she found her carrots and planted them. Later Gege would come with more, and they could be planted tomorrow. Yes that's what she'd do she'd plant 2 rows and eat lots of baby carrots. Once that was done it was time to get a lunch on!
His Nibs had beaten her to the kitchen and was in the process of making corn pancakes, so she set the table, and they dined on lovely sour dough corn pancakes. Then the dishes went in the sink to soak, and the two Oldsters headed for
a well deserved rest break!
And that dear friends it the way my day went! Tomorrow is another day and there will be more gardening for sure. And this Old Lady will be up to her ankles in dirt!
Hope you all had a satisfying if tiring day too!

October and we've already had snow!

Here it is the 10 th of October and we had snow 2 days ago. Gardening is over for this year. I did manage to pot up some chives, a garlic ( for cut greens for my dishes over the winter) and a couple of walking onions. I also have a nice parsley plant that I brought in. They are all sitting on the window sill in the kitchen, the only good window in the house for growing plants.
We had a good harvest and many tomatoes, although it seemed they just did not want to ripen. I have lots in the back room just taking their time. Tina brought me several plants this year and they turned out to be yellow tomatoes. I only had 2 plants of red cobra tomatoes, and one heritage tomatoe that turned out red and green stripped! Most unsual looking.
Monday October 12 is our Canadian Thanksgiving. We will make our Turkey dinner on Sunday the 11th. I already have the Turkey out thawing, and I will cook potatoes ( mashed), and make dressing, gravy, cooked carrots ( from the garden as well as the potatoes),Cranberry sauce ( done with a little orange juice), and Coleslaw. We will not have desert. It will just be the two of us for supper, and I know us, we will both be stuffed with turkey and dressing! LOL.
There will be lots of trukey left for my favorite, Turkey sandwiches, then soup and casseroles. Should be just lovely.
Now summer is past, I should be back blogging a little more.
Come the 24th of October I am going to go to visit my friend Gloria, it has been years since we saw each other. We will get to visit from the 24th till the 28th. of the month. Then I will head home and she will head to her home in Victoria. I am looking forward to catching up with all her news and family.
Now I'm off to help bring in the wood to stack it up under the car port. It was all cut up and now needs stacking, we still have over 1/2 to split and that will be done next week, till then we will stack what's ready.
It is nice to have the wood heat in our colder than usual fall. We have had to have the fire going since September.
Oh, yes, I almost forgot to mention. Ron got an Elk, second day of hunting season. We have enjoyed some nice Elk meat he gave us. Ken is still looking. He hasn't gotten anything yet, but We are still hopeing he will.

Here is the garden as it is today. The Cosmos are all self seeded from last year, and transplanted into rows. The Rocky Mountain Spinach is quite easy to spot with it's burgundy leaves this is the first time I have planted it, but I will get seed from it this fall ( I hope) and plant it again next year. The leaf lettus is putting out really well. Just now I am using the lettus I'm thinning out for salads. There are lots of Tomatoes in the Green house, the 2 Cobra tomatoe plants are producing lots and we have had 5 ripe tomatoes so far, with another just about ripe. The tumbler tomatoes 2 plants, are just about finished. We have eaten tumbler tomatoes for quite a while now and are getting a soup bowl of tomatoes a day. Also in the green house are 3 Heritage Brandy Wine, and 2 sets of 3 tomatoes that I don't know what they are. They are tomatoes Tina brought over and she had mixed them up and couldn't remember what they were. The do look like the are indeterminate and are growing quite rapidly now. All 6 are in bloom. Also in the green house 4 tiny tims in baskets,and they are in bloom, 1 already has 2 tomatoes setting they sould be ready to take over when the tumblers are finnished. Then I have 4 green pepper plants blooming and 4 small hot pepper plants that have already set fruits.
The garden is producing enough that I am only buying my potatoes, large onions and mushrooms and fruit from the stores now. Otherwise it is the garden and what ever is ready. A couple of days ago we had the first picking of Chard.
A couple of disappointments so far this year in the garden. The radishes were wormy when I pulled them and so that was the end of the radishes. The regular spinach came up a couple of inches and went to seed! So that is a right off. But there is always next year.
If you have some ideas for the radishes please tell me, and I could put in a few more, otherwise I think I'm wasting my time.

July 11, 2009

What a nice surprise we had yesterday. Our good friend Glen from Rolla stopped by and stayed to visit till this morning! It was such a treat to see him and get all the news from our old home town. Glen helped us move down here 7 years ago. I have been back twice and Glen has been down twice, last time with his wife and 3 daughters, Ken got to see them, but I was away at the time to my Daughter's wedding. So missed their visit.

As luck would have it we had invited Jack to dinner and had bought some steaks ( a rare occurrence for us), I quickly went in the freezer and found a couple more small steaks and thawed them for supper Friday night. sliced potatoes and onions with salt, pepper and butter on foil made into packets and cooked with the steaks in the BBQ and a salad from the garden made our supper easy, and we enjoyed visiting on the deck as our supper cooked.
The salad was made with lettus from the garden, a few leaves of the Rocky mountain spinach, some green onions chopped up with the help of scissors, and tumbler tomatoes.
This past week we had some much needed rain, and now we are again having 30 degree C. weather in the daytime. However nights are still cool around 9C.
The garden has finally started to grow, and tomorrow I want to rototill between the rows, I hope it will be dry enough to do. The peas are flowering and I noticed a few pods forming. Ahhhhhhhhhhh, soon to be eating fresh green peas, put in new potatoes mashed. I love the peas added after the potatoes are mashed. Just raw peas, it's a treat we look forward to each year, sometimes made even nicer with some cheese mixed in with the mashed potatoes before the peas are added. Heaven in 1 simple dish.
Oh, and we have a new to us Jeep truck 4x4. Ken has been working on it for the past week, and has a little body work to do to it, and then it will be ready for painting. It will be white, with black on the bottom of the truck and the trim. Right now it is red. We have taken the canopy off the back for the summer, and Ken made side rails for it. This means we can haul more wood home in it, and also when we go in the bush Zoey can ride in the back and be safe. I must remember to take some pictures of the truck before it is painted, for before and after shots.

June 8th!

Where does the time go?
The garden is in and comming up, Tina and I waited till the 3rd of June to plant sensative things like the tomatoes, peppers and corn in the garden spot. Wouldn't you know it we got a touch of frost on the morning of the 6th! Some of the plants got a touch of frost, and the others are OK. I decided to just see what happens. If they make it fine if not those that don't can get a later planting of carrots, lettus and things like that.
This year I am trying Purple Mountain Spinach. My friend Erika , saved some seed for me from a plant she grew last year. I am looking forward to eating some, and seeing how it tastes and to also saving my own seed.
Makes for an interesting summer, when you try something new .
I will have to take pictures to follow the Purple Mountain Spinach's growth. More to follow ( and hopefully sooner rather than later!).