Thursday, August 31, 2006

The Sad Greenhouse


Here is a collage of my sunflowers and morning glories. They don't look too bad but
the greenhouse has been looking sad lately as I have been so unable to repot plants or pay much attention to them...so today, I tackled the job of tearing apart a philodendrum plant that was largely overgrown with tons of yellow crunchy leaves all over it. I salvaged some pieces to root, but it had Mealybug infestation, which I hate, so most of it went to the composter and accompanying it was a Wandering Jew plant with the same disease.
I repotted a couple of ferns- two begonias and have started to tear apart a Plectranthus plant which is leggy and ugly.
I had to stop after sweeping up the debris due as my wrist was starting to feel a little sore.
Now that I can see the plants, I realize, I must get busy and work out there...the weather is cooler now so the greenhouse doesn't retain the heat like before.
At the IGA today, they were selling - ornamental cabbage and kale, mums, ornamental pepper plants, heather, icicle pansies and some other colourful pots - I resisted -
I told myself that I need to clear out the garden -not plant more stuff - but it was hard to walk away from such great plants at bargain prices.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Jamming

Not musical jamming! That's my son's department. I have made yummy jams this week-plum conserve & peach/apple conserves....these are recipes from my 47 year old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. There is something wonderful about creating these delicious jars of fruit with your own hands.
The garden is doing so well - sunflowers are finally blooming - beans have blooms on them - the rain last weekend and cooler weather has brought a lot of tomatoes to ripen. I am so pleased with my garden. Today, I picked swiss chard and celery. The chard is for supper and I will dry the celery leaves for next winter's soups and salads. I also picked more summer savory and wrapped it to dry - for Thanksgiving and Christmas dressing.

Friday, August 18, 2006

August in my garden


Things are drying up in my garden-but not the weeds-I actually got rid of some of them yesterday -trimmed buggy stuff off the celery and swiss chard -I also picked a lot of my herbs - they are all cleaned, bagged and hanging to dry in the garage.
I even made rhubarb jam - I am really feeling like Mother Earth!! Why is September racing towards me - I haven't did any pickling yet and I know the tomatoes are ripening fast - chili sauce time is approaching.As you see, my fleurs are gorgeous at present, thanks to my hubby and his watering wand.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

One Armed Gardening

My garden is not up to par due to having my left hand in a splint for the past 3 weeks - injury to tendons - it is getting better and now I can do some repotting of my greenhouse plants. You never realize how much you use your left hand until something happens. Twice a week therapy and the splint have made my life much more bearable. I can't wait to do actual digging and pulling of weeds and plants.
Enough complaint - overall, the garden is doing well. The beans and radishes are growing - tomatoes are delish - I eat them for breakfast with my toast. YUM! Flowers are amazing. I have been cleaning out dead fleurs and yesterday I picked rhubarb - I chopped 10 cups - see - the hand is better - and today I made a rhubarb orange coffee cake with cinnamon topping. Tomorrow, I will make rhubarb jam with rhubarb, crushed pineapple and strawberry jello. Today, I also rode my bike a distance. Our weather is wonderful but forecast shows heat wave with high humidity coming soon. Better enjoy my energy level now - it will be gone when the heat arrives and I will sit on the patio, read my book and drink cool drinks.
Enjoyment: Chopping chives to dry!

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Mary!


Here is a photo of Blessed Mary - a new statue in my garden - given to me by my brother and his wife when they were visiting from Alberta. My sister in law had been looking for a "Mary" for her garden and after lots of searching, she found one, purchased it, put it in our garage while we were on vacation together....unfortunately, "Mary" was too heavy for the plane trip home - so my sister in law got a smaller "Mary" and transported her to Alberta. I received this Mary as a gift from them and I am thrilled. You must agree she is suitable to my garden - so the garden will be a more spiritual place now.
More garden info to come....