nudes in the garden

I pulled up the last of the creeping charlie in the new
(in 2010) tomato patch and put down student figure
drawings that had been thrown in the recycle bin - I
figure (pun intended) that since all the drawings are
done with conte which is clay-based that it's better
than the inks used on newspapers. I could be right ...
Right?


... then I put the red mulch from Lee Valley down. I get
three rows out of one package which costs about $12 - and
then there is the 'pretty factor' and have been able to use
old ones - cough cough (the ugly albeit practical factor) by
folding them in half length-wise (see in between and below).


... 4 sweet peas which aren't sweet peas at all but rather
(one of my favourite little currant tomatoes)


There are 21 tomatoes in this patch - 8 went in three days ago -
most are pastes - all are good for canning (4 san marzanoes from
Fiesta and 4 I grew from seed, 7 red fig & my first hybrids, 4 early
girls - from Fiesta). Of the 55 that will go in, 8 are store bought - I
somehow thought I might fall short this year - heheh - compared
to last year when there were 64+, I suppose I have. I am rotating
where everything goes each year and I feel good about this. I feel very
lucky to have enough garden space to allow me this wonderful obsession.


All in all - a great day - tomorrow will be too - it's our 3rd Annual Plant Swap @Melamalies.

i worked in the rain

The original tomato patch (last year used for vegetables) before shot.


... under the red mulch are piles of student drawings. Hopefully no
weeds will make it though. I put in four San Marzanos and four Early
Girl Tomatoes. I'll add basil along the center once they are hardened off.


... I used a trellis I found in the garbage for the peas to climb up
and put in some lettuces, broccoli and rapinis.


Here's a close up shot of the peas and veggie patch.


Julie gave me some of her ground cover ... it stays really low to the ground
and is covered with little light purple coloured flowers - I'm going to fill my
chicken wire pig with it maybe along the bum bits & ornamental wooly thyme
- in an effort to make it look like the pig is wearing a pretty pair of floral undies


Here's a shot of the herb patch with Julie's ground cover in the middle
on the path between it and the lettuce, rhubarb, peas & veggie patch.

I've only done half the herbs with brown paper mulch because I still need
to remember to bring duct tape to fix a gaping hole in the soaker hose.

.

I've put cucs all along the fence where once the tomatilloes reigned.

and last but not least ...

the weed pile I'm going to cover with manure ...

twice as much creeping charlie gone as planned

I thought I'd only get a fraction of what I got done today
... the board is the halfway separation and you can
almost see the compost corner I've set up (I still have
to haul lots of gnu poo over to it so it'll decompose)
way over in the far corner of the lot ... I put up a piece
of wood so it wouldn't be too unsightly and some small
guage chicken wire so it will still be able to breathe ...
Julie convinced me that piling the manure on top of the
creeping charlies I've pulled up will create an amazing
compost pile that I can use later.


I found a place for the little lime hostas ... drumroll please
ta da - right next to the conchicum byzantium - perFECT-ya!

I also plante about 7 French Gourmet Shallots along the front
of the hut leaving plenty of room still for lettuce to grow in shade.

I also bought $20 worth of herbs and whatnots on my way home
from lunch with a friend at Teronni's - I couldn't help it - nyuk nyuk!
lemon balm, more sage, rosemary, basils, peas, thyme, lavender, etc.



I brought home a handful of mint and made a tea to infuse all the
water I'm trying to drink these days ... I think I'll try some creeping
charlie tea as well - it's supposed to contain tonnes of vitamen C ...
cure cancer, HIV, the flu ... THE FLU! So now I discover this - go figure! I still
have more than enough to harvest and to grow in a hanging basket on the roof.

seedlings repotted finally

... and the house is full of bugs from my going in and & out and leaving the door opened ... well not FULL ...


I finally had time to get most of my seedlings repotted and into some good mushroom compost. Hopefully the next week (or 2) will give them the boost they need to harden off before going into the ground. It's supposed to be nice tomorrow and Wednesday so I'll be weeding two more patches and planting some seeds and a few plants that have already hardened off ... then hopefully there will be time to get two more patches done before these seedlings are ready to go in.





The peppers were given a shot of mushroom compost awhile back but they still need to be separated and repotted - Thursday ... yeah I'll do it Thursday - it's supposed to rain.

this time last year

woah - the cooler weather has really slowed things down ... my first tomatoes went in on the 23rd of May last year (and they were hardened off and about 6" tall already) and I got a patch dug ...

Two days later more toms went in ... and vegs everythings is at least a week or two behind this year ... staking and a few more plants go in during June ... WOW ... it looks like I might be heavily supplementing with nursery grown plants this year either that or there will be lots of room between my plants this year - which might not be such a bad thing.

Day 6 - the right side is finally done!

... the big accomplishment of today - the big tomato patch is weeded - finally!


... how tidy will this patch stay over the course of the Summer I wonder?


... pretty central circle of thyme and mint (I now question putting the mint in) ...


... weeds left to dry up and die in the center path - YA!

I can't believe it's only been 6 days - it feels like forever BUT it's
half done (and I have done a little over on the left side already -
that said it has always been in worse shape than the right side)!

Day 5 - the (old) tomatillo patch - DONE

... this was the big accomplishment of the day - I got the
tomatillo patch and the far right side edges weeded today
- all in about 2 hours! I'm really glad I went because I was
thinking of not because my hands have been painful lately.


I am really looking forward to finding the perfect place for
the hosta plants Barry gave me. I love the lime colour. I will
figure out another couple of hosta plants that will complement
them as well. I made a lovely floral center piece for Mom that
one day I might think about doing do for myself ...

... wonder of wonders I located a shot of the arrangement from
years ago! it's all held up by a lattice of scotch tape over a bowl ...


... the tulips are just beginning to fade.


As I looked back just before getting into my car to drive off
for home, I noticed how pretty my allotment is ... pretty pink
crab apple blossoms and red tulips - even the lime green Ikea
faded & folded up umbrella looked rather colourfully inviting.

rain rain go away

... what else can I say other than it also needs to warm up again as well ...

Day 4 - a BIG pile of new gnu poo from the zoo arrived

... the creeping charlie weeding is done on the center path (it took a day and a bit)

I wanted to make sure it NEVER comes back and so I armed myself with weed cloth


... and a folio full of newsprint


drawings left behind by students a couple of years ago which were never picked up


... this path is paved with good intentions ... and ... 'yes - a worm ate your drawings' ...


... ta da!

Day 3 - creeping charlie - oh my aching fingers & arms

I can hardly type after todays path clearing ... BUT heh heh I did manage to free the hose from the creeping charlie ... photos to follow once I find my battery charger! I tweeted last year and got the name of it from a photo on gardenbre3. It appears that the best way to get rid of creeping charlie AKA glechoma hederacea is to do as I am doing - to pull it!

the next day Day 2 of 15+ prep days

... the traffic into the allotment through High Park was the busiest I've ever seen it ... I actually wrote in my journal while we bumper-to-bumpered along (lots of people lost their cool and did U-turns and left ... which was useful to the rest of us who didn't)

... I enjoyed some cherry blossom watching & taking a few shots while I wasn't writing in my journal ... "Hi Ma Happy Mother's Day - you should see my new fascinator!"


... two more (the herb and san marzano) patches are now ticked off my 'to do' list! Oh and the hoses I left in place all winter long still work :)


and two more makes three total ... YA! twelve more to go ...


... the old door (I never did paint it periwinkle blue did I)?


... two new bits of wood that I found in the recycle put to excellent use :)



Todays catch (onions, dandylions - I'm thinking of trying out my new actifryer on the onions to make onion jam - while I vacuum and clean, the actifryer does all the work. I just need to keep an eye on it as it's not on a timer) ... I'm so tired right now that I'd like to just toss them all into the dishwasher to clean them (but I won't) ...


Yesterdays job well done.


Hmm ... from a distance the first weeded patch doesn't look like much (maybe that's why I didn't get sore Saturday and was able to come back today without any back issues)? I don't want to get ahead of myself. 'Easy does it', said the turtle.



I took this shot because I noticed I need to thin the onions on this side (another addition to the 'to do' list)! Tom in the garden next to mine is a machine - I can't believe how much he's done to his plot ... not a weed left in sight - just great looking soil ... the turtle sure doesn't know what to say about that!

Day 1 of 15+ ... lettuce patch done 14 more patches to go

I'm planning to go back and weed again tomorrow as long as I can still move. I began in the far top right corner and really made sure I got all the stinging nettle out. I mended the fence a little - sinking two sticks into the soil after winding it through the wires.


Todays catch (not the least of which are the weeds to the left on the round makeshift soil sifter aka something from a light thing at school that was being thrown out during the studio reno)