Our 2026 Garden: a harvest, some transplanting and direct sowing

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

But first, the cuteness!

Colby is one of several cats that just love that garden bed cover. So adorable!

And yes, those are garlic scapes on the netting beside him. Those are from the few garlic that are growing in the wattle weave bed. More on that later.

Today was our first market day at the large animal rescue. My younger daughter and I loaded up the cab of the truck, then headed out to arrive at around 9:30. They are only a mile away from us, so it was a quick drive.

A couple of vendors were already setting up, with vehicles all backed up to the spots they were setting up in. After pulling the truck in, along the row of vehicles, I went into the large shelter where there is a gift shop, admission is paid, and a petting zoo.

They have three kittens; two orange and a grey tabby that were free ranging. They really, really enjoyed the attention they got from the vendors! The kittens will be available for adoption at the end of the season. I expect they will have a waiting list of people interested by then!

I found someone and got instructions on where we could set up and where to park the truck after we unloaded. It didn’t take long to get everything out, then I moved the truck. Thankfully, the splayed leg style of the canopy tent we have was not an issue. We set that up, then the table with a cloth over it, then my daughter and I set out price tags on my inventory and made the display look pretty.

Thankfully, there was a pleasant breeze, and we had our shade. A couple next to us just had an umbrella, and it kept getting blown over. We took turns checking out the other vendors – there was 7 of us altogether on this first market day. I was told more are expected next weekend.

It was extremely quiet, and most of us made zero sales. I bought things from two different vendors, and those were very close to being the only sales for all of us today! We had plenty of time to talk and get to learn about each other, which was nice. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized one of the vendors is the mother of the woman that runs the rescue. Which means she’s the mother of our mechanic and his younger brother that drove the tow truck (though not anymore; he’s moved on to somewhere else). Too funny that I keep meeting more and more members of this family We had a great chat.

We were super appreciative of the shade and the breeze, as we hit 26C/79F. Things shut down at three, but we didn’t start packing up right away. The truck would have blocked others from being able to get around to load up then leave.

I got quite a laugh when I finally did bring the truck over. The vendor next to use had finished loading and was in her car with her family, waiting patiently as I turned and backed up to our tent. Then I reached out the window to open the door, and one of the guys in the car with her started to laugh and opened his window to say, “you’ve got a broken handle, too?” Sure enough, one of their doors was missing the handle on the inside, and they have to open the window to reach out and pull the handle from the outside, too.

While we were there, we kept the family updated, and I started to hear from my brother. They have their grandsons with them and today they visited my mother. They even managed to get her outside to enjoy the sunshine in a park that is right alongside the nursing home property.

Just as we were finishing loading the truck, I got a message that they’d be swinging by the farm to drop off some stuff, including the second solar powered, motion sensor noise maker they ordered for me. They got here shortly after we did. We’re leaving the truck loaded, except for the box of the truck, as we wanted to be able to put the cover back. I was still outside when the arrived and I was able to chat with my SIL and the grandkids while my brother rushed to get things out of the back of their car and into their caravan. The mosquitoes and horseflies were insane, and he didn’t want them getting into the vehicle. I got the box with the noise maker – I told my SIL that I plant to set it up by the corn, in hopes it will keep the raccoons away. Raccoons are very good at decimating corn, just when they get ripe!

We also talked about where to set the bin they are having delivered to haul away junk. My SIL was telling me they’re feeling quite frustrated. They hadn’t knows they’ve had their grandsons with them for so long before they’d ordered the bin. They’re having a blast with the grandkids, but it means they can’t come here to do any of the stuff they had planned to in preparation for the bin. We talked about where it should be dropped off, as I’ll likely be the person meeting with the delivery people.

They were in a bit of a hurry, so when they were ready to leave, I went ahead to the gate to close it, so they wouldn’t have to stop. Then I went straight to working in the garden.

With the heat of the day, I wanted to do some watering, but first I wanted to do some transplanting.

There were two that I decided to try and transplant. The largest, in the first image of the slide show above, is a Golden Hubbard squash, while the smaller one is a Gille’s Golden Pippin. They both got planted in empty spots in the bed along the chain link fence. Then I started watering everything out of the rain barrel.

As I started on the East yard beds, I remember I’d bought some fresh bush bean seeds (actually, my daughter bought it, along with the other groceries we picked up the other day). The square garden bed is down to four surviving plants!

The Arikara Squash on the middle is looking good! Big enough that I removed the protective collar.

I picked the Gold Rush variety to plant this time. I just wanted a yellow variety, as they are easier to see. Hopefully, these will back it. I have remarkably few bean plants this year!

That done, I continued watering in the main garden area with the hose. I’d picked the few garlic scapes that were on the wattle weave garlic They were much smaller than the ones in the main garden area with a hose.

While watering, I noticed the pods on the Spring Blush pea were looking very good. After i finished watering, I checked them out, then very carefully removed several.

Along with the scapes, I was concerned about the next bed. The red noodle beds are looking like they are doing what they did last year; growing just a few inches, then nothing. I harvested some of the largest turnips, as the greens are getting big enough to shade out the sun.

The turnips were pretty small, but the leaves where useful – and they are edible so we at least have that!

Not too bad for a first harvest. There are the turnips, scapes, Spring Blush peas, and a handful of herbs. Oregano, lemon balm and sage.

They made a nice addition to supper this evening.

Tomorrow morning, I plan to be back to watering the garden earlier in the day, before the heat hit. We are expecting the heat to potentially get up to 32C/90F tomorrow. Nowhere near as bad as other areas, but still not something anyone should be working in, if they can avoid it!

So… in the end, I would call today successful, even though nothing was sold. All the vendors were talking about coming back next weekend. It should be fun, and there should be more people.

We shall see!

The Re-Farmer

Sweetie is back!!!

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Most of today went to plan.

This morning, my younger daughter and I headed into town. Our first stop was to visit my mother which… went as well as can be with her, I suppose. She did try to launch into how my brother basically needs to be her slave because she “gave” him “two farms” (the remaining two quarter sections of the family farm) but now he does nothing for her. Which is so completely opposite of reality it’s mind blowing. Then she tried to say that she “gave” us a “roof over our heads”, as if we owed her something, and I had to remind her that we had an arrangement (and she definitely got the better end of the deal, we learned after we moved out here). She actually asked me, what arrangement? *sigh*

After the visit, we made several stops along the way. I picked up a few things for tomorrow’s market and a float, while my daughter picked up prescription refills for herself and her sister. Then she got us some food. It was past 1pm by then, but it was breakfast for her, and lunch for me. We made one more quick stop at the grocery store, which she also paid for, then a bit of gas before heading home. Just in time for the rain to hit.

By the time we were done in the grocery store, my pain was back and I was having difficulty standing. As soon as I could, I made use of the topical pain killer, though it took quite a long time to kick in. I remembered to call the pharmacy about getting the prescription for that extended. I don’t have any refills on this. I’m not out, by my doctor is going to be away for 2 weeks, making today the last day that the pharmacy can fax in for the extension before she’s gone. If this keeps up, I might run out before she gets back, so I wanted to make sure I could get a refill, if needed.

I was having difficulty staying upright, whether sitting or standing, so I asked my daughters to take care of the outside cat feeding again. After a while, though, I did have to get outside. My younger daughter helped me get the outside folding table I’ll be using at the market cleaned up and in the box of the truck. It’s longer than the box of the truck, so we had to roll up the cover so we could lean it on the tail gate, and my daughter crawled in to strap it down securely. Everything else can go into the cab.

Once that was done, I brought out my inventory to check on it and get things ready in the cat free zone, to load into the truck in the morning. I won’t be using grid wall to hang things, so I’ll be finding other ways to display the wearables.

It was still a while longer before the pain went away, and I wanted to go outside for a walk to get some fresh air and a bit of exercise, since I did no yard work or gardening today. As I did, I noticed that all the kibble trays were empty. My daughter had fed the cats, which means the skunks and raccoons had already cleaned up the remains. It seemed that some of the cats hadn’t had any and were hungry, so I got out some more kibble.

Which is when I spotted her.

Sweetie came back!

I first spotted her behind the isolation shelter. I zoomed as I took pictures, then looked back at older photos to confirm that it was her. She has a distinct dark patch on her nose.

While she was back there, I skirted around her to put kibble in the trays in the catio and under the shrine before going the isolation shelter, just so I wouldn’t startle her. she didn’t run away – but then Bobert came along. I was heading back to the house when I started hearing scrambling and growling. Bobert had gone after her and chased her up a tree!

I got him to scoot away, but I couldn’t see her. I decided that I would make up some cat soup to try and lure her back. I made more than usual with the freeze dried mix and made sure to pour some into trays in the sun room, first, to lure the other cats in. Otherwise, the super friendly cats like Havarti and Curtis push their way into the isolation shelter for pets, while others like The Grink go in to eat up the cat soup. I wanted Sweetie to have a chance!

While I was coming over with the cat soup bowl, I heard scrabbling noises and saw Sweetie coming down the tree. I put some cat soup in the two food bowls under the shrine, and that was what she went for.

She still looks nervous, but not anywhere near as terrified as she looked when she first came back. I made sure to give her space, but I also didn’t stay too far away, and she still came down. She was clearly hungry and willing to go for the food even though I was still relatively close.

I’d had messages from the rescue chat earlier in the day and I was honest in saying that I was starting to lose hope. I made sure to send photos to the chat right away. Everyone is so relieved and happy she is back!!!

Now we have our work cut out for us, to slowly get her to trust us and know that it is safe for her to come closer to the house for food and shelter, rather than hiding wherever she was hiding in the outer yard.

It is so good to see her coming back and eating!!!

Now, we just have to make sure cats like Bobert will leave her alone!

The Re-Farmer

Our 2026 Garden: flowers, tomatoes and strawberries

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Today turned out to be a bad pain day, so I didn’t get much accomplished. I did my morning rounds, as usual, but as the day wore on, things just kept getting worse – and I was mostly just sitting at my computer, crocheting some new items for the market on Saturday, not attempting anything active or physical!

I did remember to call my doctor’s office to make a telephone appointment to go over my ultrasound results. It turns out the doctor is leaving for holidays for 2 weeks, so I wasn’t able to book it until the 20th. The fact that the clinic hasn’t contacted me for an appointment by now means either 1) nothing showed up in the ultrasounds or 2) the doctor hasn’t seen the results yet. All I can say is, there is something wrong and it causes problems that fluctuate in severity.

It was bad enough that I asked my daughters to take over the evening feeding of the outside cats (still no sign of Sweetie). One of the things on our to-do list was to pick up prescription refills for both my daughters, but in the end I asked them to call them in for pick up tomorrow, because I wasn’t up to the trip into town. I have a couple of other places to go at well, and I really should visit my mother, too.

Thankfully, by around 7pm I was feeling well enough that I could go outside to walk around and get some fresh air with my younger daughter – until the mosquitoes drove us inside. We decided to give the last few garlic scapes another day before a final harvest, but I also spotted a couple of firsts, today.

Our very first nasturtium flower has emerged. These were direct sown using seeds we saved from last year. All the flowers in that bed are doing much better, now that they have a straw mulch around them.

In the next photo of the slide show above, I have a couple of Albion Everbearing strawberries. I’m not expecting much from these at all this year, so it’s nice to see at least a few strawberries developing.

It was while I was walking with my daughter in the early evening that we spotted our first tomato! (Which you can see in the next image.) I hadn’t even noticed any flowers, but we have one Manitoba tomato plant with a few flowers and a developing fruit. With the weather we’ve been having, the tomatoes aren’t actually growing much, so seeing this was a nice surprise.

The last image isn’t a first, but more of a last – the last of the flowering bushes. The mock orange has just exploded in blooms! It is definitely liking the weather we’ve been having.

The sad thing is, we’re going to have to move it at some point. My mother planted it against the laundry platform, and it’s in the way when we try to hang things. Not that we’ve been able to use the clothes lines much this year, but it is something we want to use as often as possible in the summer. The other thing is, we’re going to have to do some maintenance on the platform itself, including lifting it and replacing rotting wood. It needs to be on bricks or blocks or something, so that it no longer has direct contact with the soil. I suspect it has actually sunk into the ground a fair bit. The bottom step is almost lower than the patio block that is butted up against it, and is quite rotten. Some of the boards on the floor of the platform need to be either replaced or reinforced. To do that, we need to access the platform from all sides, and the south side is completely covered by the mock orange. So, it will need to be transplanted at some point.

I’ve just been watching the Gardening in Canada video released today, and it was interesting to hear her comment about the super El Nińo we’re supposed to be getting this year. It depends on where you live, of course, but she talks a bit about how it will mean a cold, wet summer, and a long hot fall. Something to consider, when it comes to planting in July.

Right now, I’m thinking of re-sowing bush beans in the square raised bed. Only a few of the seeds I planted have come up, and a few of those look like they got munched by insects. The seeds I used are older, so I’m not surprised by the low germination rate. I’ve also got more seeds germinating in that tray of winter squash and melons! If we really do get a long, mild fall, they might actually have a chance to reach full maturity. Either way, I plan to give them a chance. I’m also looking to plant spinach again – we have yet to have any spinach or chard succeed this year, though we do have a few new seedlings right now – and more peas.

It’s going to be a strange growing year.

The Re-Farmer

Scapes, peas and a huge step

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Today was another day of off and on rain, though more off than on, thankfully. The last storm did a lot of damage in areas, including at least one tornado touching down at the edge of the city. We have much to be thankful for.

While doing my rounds this morning, I was able to harvest some more scapes. The largest one yet, which you can see in the first to images in the slide show below. There will be only one more small harvest after this, unless I find some I missed. The girls and I have already talked about dehydrating whatever we won’t use fresh, and my plan to grind the dehydrated pieced into powder, and that should get started soon.

While checking the old kitchen garden, I can’t help but be amused by the dwarf peas. They are incredibly tiny – I don’t know how big they are supposed to get, but I’m sure it’s supposed to be a lot bigger than these! – and yet they are producing pods! You can see some of them in the last image of the slide show above. The plants themselves are less than 6 inches high.

I’m glad I planted other peas, and am thinking of where I can succession sow more in the next little while. The Spring Blush peas are producing pods, too, and the super sugar snap peas I sowed not long ago are growing nicely. One more succession sowing would not go amiss.

Today is Canada Day, and it was a big deal for us for a change. It has been so long since all four of us went out together! It meant clearing out the back of the cab so we could put down the rear seats in the truck. I was able to put our emergency supplies in the box, along with the cane collection and other items, and secure it all on one side, so there would be room for my husband’s walker on the other.

We went to the cottage of my husband’s brother, in a little town on the lake. Talking to my SIL about how I don’t think we’d ever been there before, and she was pretty sure we did – though it would have been about 25 years ago! As an added bonus, their adult children were able to join us, as did my husband’s sister and her significant other. It has been so long!

We had a fantastic visit. Their cottage is very close to the lake, and the girls and I had a chance to walk to the pier, finding it had a set of steps to the shoreline.

The views from above the water level were gorgeous.

The area has a lot of large rocks set in place to reduce erosion, but there are a few tiny beaches in this area of the lake.

My BIL BBQd, though he had to check on the meat with an umbrella a few times when it started to pour rain. We had a great meal and great company, with lots of catching up to do. Thankfully, my husband thought to bring his “as needed” painkillers, though, as that’s the only reason we were able to stay for about 5 hours, plus driving time of about an hour in total. My husband usually can only manage about 2 hours, including driving time.

We had made sure to feed the cats before we left. When we got home and the girls helped get my husband inside, I stayed out to do my evening rounds. The outside cats were acting really hungry, even though some of the outside kibble dishes still had food in them. I topped up the empty ones, and they were still running around, like they were expecting more.

They were waiting for the cat soup I’ve been making with the freeze dried cat food and cat milk included with the hot water.

So I made some up for them. I’ve been making more than I had been, before, and pouring it around more food dishes besides the one in the isolation shelter.

No sign of Sweetie anywhere. I feel so sad for her! I hope she finds her way back, even if she does remain feral. She must be so scared.

The inside cats were also swarming around and I figured they wanted their wet cat food, too, even though they still had plenty of kibble. I decided to make them some cat soup with the freeze dried mix, too. They keep trying to dig into the boxes to get at the bags inside, so you’d think they’d be happy with that.

Nope.

They sniff at it. I sometimes see a cat taking a few licks, and that’s it.

If the cat soup is still there in the morning, I’ll just take the trays outside. The outside cats can’t get enough of the stuff. They’ll finish it off right away!

The inside cats are so spoiled that they can be fussy like that! 😄

Anyhow.

Tomorrow, it looks like we’ve got a rain free day. We should be able to get the corded electric chain saw out to clean up that big piece of maple tree that broke in the storm, It’s going to be cut to lengths for the fire pit. Maple is an excellent wood for cooking over. We’ll also need to go around the yard with the wagon or the wheelbarrow to pick up all the smaller branches that came down with the storms and high winds, before we can mow the lawns.

I’ve also got the first market day coming up soon, so I want to prepare for that, too. I wasn’t able to find the straight legged canopy/market tent, but we do have a splay legged one, so that’s what I’ll be using. I’ve also been crocheting small things to add to my inventory from when we used to do the markets every summer, back in the day. It should be interesting to see how the market goes. If it goes well, the large animal rescue will extend the market dates into August, too.

All in all, I’d say this is the best Canada Day we’ve had in a long time, simply because the entire family was able to get out, and my husband was able to see both is brother and sister again.

Being broken sucks, but when there are good days, we sure to appreciate them more for it!

The Re-Farmer

Stock up shop: This is what $190 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Today’s stock up shop was very strange, and quite small. Doing the Costco trip first made a big difference.

I had picked up a 40 pound bag of kibble after going to the post office, to activate my replacement debit card, so that was just over $50

Once in the city, my first stop was Canadian Tire. I looked around a bit, but only got two 40 pound bags of litter pellets. That totaled $18.88 after taxes. After that, I hit a gas station on the way to the Walmart and got $40 in fuel.

I had decided to go to Superstore after the Walmart, so there really wasn’t much to get there. I was only after one thing, specifically. I had decided it was worthwhile to get the straight sided 10’x10′ gazebo tent to use for the market days I’ll be doing in July, instead of using the splay legged tent we have now. I couldn’t find any in the nearer Walmart, which is still under renovation, but I’ve been seeing displays of these for months. I didn’t think I’d have trouble finding one in the city.

I was wrong.

Normally, I see them in aisle displays, but there was nothing. I did find the shelf section it would have been in, in the camping tent section, but there wasn’t even any empty shelves with price labels for it.

I finally found a staff member. I started off saying that I knew this was not her department, but was there someone that could help me? She asked what I was looking for and I told her.

She seemed very confused by it. She thought I was talking about one of the gazebos in the seasonal section. I told her, it’s the kind you can fold up. Still very confused. Did I want he to page someone to seasonal? This is an evergreen item, not seasonal, but I said yes. I figured someone in seasonal would have some idea.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Finally, I picked up some distilled water and sugar pills for my husband, which was right next to the seasonal section. Still no one.

So I found another staff member and, when she was no longer up a ladder, asked if there was someone in the camping section that could help me. She asked, and I told her want I was looking for.

She was confused. Not her area, but as she started walking with me, she saw someone else and called her over.

They went to the tent section I’d already gone through, looking confused. I kept describing what I was looking for, in detail. When I realized they thought I was talking about a “tent” tent, I described it as a market tent.

They both looked confused.

Once thought I had seen it online and started telling me that they don’t have everything that’s on the website, and I said no. I’ve been seeing them for months. Usually in an aisle display.

She then started saying that the aisle displays are not things they order, but what the company just sends them. She repeated that a few times and I let it slide. In the end, neither of them could remember ever seeing what I was describing and acted as though this was something they had never carried. Ever.

We’ve gone through three of these over the decades, all bought at Walmart. I have never seen them NOT carry this style of tent.

I finally gave up, thanked them, and bought my husband’s stuff. It cost a whole $33.38 in total.

Then I went to the Superstore.

This is what $190.82 looks like.

This has got to be one of my smallest “stock up” trips. ever.

This is what I got – the receipt is very hard to read!

From the top, under “grocery”, there is a small jar of whole grain dijon mustard. Then a 6 pack of facial tissues. I got a case of 24 small water bottles, as something to keep in the truck.

Next is a large jar of stuffed olives, then a cold Monster for the road home. I was excited to see they stocked Beaver Buzz again, so I got 6 cans in two flavours – Citrus and Saskatoon – for my daughters and I.

Under Dairy, Frozen and Produce are a couple of pounds of no-name salted butter, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, a 5 lb bag of carrots, a bag of yellow onions, bananas and finally a 20 pound bag of russet potatoes.

Under meats, there is a bag of chicken nuggets for a quick heat and eat, and a frozen pork roast. Under seafood is a bag of seafood mix for my daughters, and a fresh, whole steelhead trout for the girls.

Bakery is next. I got a caramel apple pie and a rhubarb strawberry pie. Those are our contributions to the Canada Day BBQ we hare having at my BIL’s cottage tomorrow. I also got two big bags of torpedo buns.

I love those torpedo buns! I got one for fresh eating and one for the freezer.

Under deli is a pack with green and red grapes along with cubed cheddar and mozzarella cheese. I was feeling pretty hungry by then, not realizing it was past 3pm by then, and I’d forgotten to eat lunch! I chose it as something that would be easy to eat while driving.

So, that was my shop today. The gas and litter pellets went under a different budget from the Walmart and Superstore purchases. All of it together totaled $202.80

Not much of a stock up trip at all, but enough to make it worth the trip to the city.

I do wish I’d gotten that tent, though! I have the splay legged one that will be fine, but market spots are usually 10’x10′ for a basic spot, and I don’t want to crowd out other people with the splay legged design.

I do hope the market works out. Not only because every little bit I can bring in is going to help pay down all those vehicle and plumbing repairs we had to put on credit card, but for the large animal rescue that is hosting it. They are not charging for spaces or anything, but the more people who come for the market, the more will be willing to pay for a tour of the rescue, and those admission fees help pay for the care of the animals a lot.

Every little bit helps.

The Re-Farmer

Storm damage and an escape

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Last night, the storm hit.

Not as bad as in other areas. Especially to the north and south of us. It was also quite brief but, for the time in where here, it hit hard.

The first sign of things was losing our internet. Thankfully, we did not lose power, though I later learned my brother did, briefly. Then I started hearing a lot of footsteps rushing around upstairs. A leak started at the window. This leak has been a problem in the winter, where an ice dam would form. It has never leaked during a rain storm. The roof is still under warranty, though, so we’ll be able to contact the company and see what they can find. That portion of the roof cannot be seen from the ground, and none of us are able bodied enough to climb up there to look.

Even I started having a leak in my bedroom window. The one that did not get replaced by a new window before we moved out there because my mother suddenly decided she was not going to pay for that one last window. This is an original window from my childhood, but I don’t know if it’s original from when this portion of the house was built in the 30’s. I know the molding around it is more modern, but when it installed.

When it started to develop problems, as did pretty much all the other windows, instead of fixing or replacing them, my parents installed panels of what is probably Lexan, not Plexiglass. This window is two parts, side by side. One side has a screen and a handle that could be turned to open the window, while the other side is just a plain double paned window, and each side has its own panel. Once the panels were installed inside, the screen side of the window could no longer be opened. In the last couple of years, I discovered that when the rain was driven from the north, a drip would start from the frame between the panel and the glass window, on the side without the screen. Last fall, I used spray seal around the entire window frame. It hadn’t leaked again until last night – and the leak was on the inside of the room, not between the window and the panel! It wasn’t much, but it was also a first.

Checking the sun room critter cam at one point during the night, I saw both a skunk and a raccoon at the kibble trays. They were both so completely soaked, I didn’t have the heart to chase them off! There were quite a few cats in their shelf at the window, sheltering from the storm, and none of them were the least bit bothered by each other.

When the storm passed by, we still had high winds all through the night, and through all of today.

When I came out to do the cat feeding this morning, I was very saddened to find this.

That is one of the sliding panels that forms both a window and a door on one side of the isolation shelter.

Sweetie is gone.

My guess is that, during the storm, the thunder and lightening scared her enough that she blaster herself into the window. The panel is flexible, and it would have bents and popped off the tracks completely.

Poor Sweetie!

There was no sign of her, anywhere, but there are many places she could hide, too. I put the panel back on, then opened the ramp door and the other sliding window a few inches while adding some kibble to the bowl. Then I made sure to mix up some cat soup and leave some in there. I’m hoping Sweetie will find things familiar, and remember that the house is where there is safety, comfort and delicious food she doesn’t have to hunt for.

Once the cats were fed, I did extended rounds, looking for storm damage – the first of which was really, really obvoius.

The first two images are of the West yard. The dead portion of a huge maple finally broke.

I was not surprised. If anything, I was surprised there wasn’t more. This tree is part of a row of three. The one in the middle is already dead and, when it broke in the winter, the piece fell on my market tent we had set up by the fire pit. Part of it embedded itself into the ground, and I wasn’t able to clear it until spring, when the ground thawed enough. The third three in this group is at least half dead, and I am fully expecting the dead parts to fall in high winds, too.

I had actually checked everything else, including around my brother’s stuff, when I came back into the inner yard through the gate by the fire pit. That’s when I noticed Colby sitting in a maple and paused to take a picture.

Which is when I realized, the tree he was on was freshly broken.

When I cam closer, I found it had come down in two large pieces. One of them landed mostly on the branch pile we have as fuel for the fire pit, and both where mostly hidden by the tall grass and weeds in that area. I simply couldn’t see them, earlier!

I checked the garden beds, of course. A branch and partially fallen on the tomato bed in the east yard. That bed has the box frame on it, which protected the bed and the branch fell mostly into the path, instead.

Everything else held.

While checking on the beds, I spotted these.

The Spring Blush peas have quite a few pods on them. They are underdeveloped, still, but they already have the pink blush on them.

Everything else in the garden held out fine.

I made sure to update my brother about the damage. He has all the paperwork for the roof.

By late morning, I started to head out to the city, making sure to stop at the post office, first. My husband’s forms to renew his Disability Tax Credit was ready to mail. I also picked up our mail and found my replacement debit card was in – the one they mailed a month before my old one was supposed to expire still hasn’t arrived. The card could be activated by a purchase, so I bought a 40 pound bag of kibble that I wanted to pick up, anyhow.

From there, I went into the city and did our shopping, which will be covered in another post. While I was gone, I was kept updated by the family on the continued severe wind conditions.

After I got back, the truck unloaded and parked, I stayed out a bit longer. The girls had already fed the outside cats, but I used some of the freeze dried cat food mix to make a cat soup. I put most of it in the isolation shelter, in hopes of luring Sweetie, and poured the rest into the sun room trays. The cats were very excited for the treat!

I did see a skittish tabby in the white lilacs when I came back from parking the truck, but I wasn’t sure if it was Sweetie or another tabby. Possibly Flopsy.

I so hope she is doing okay, and learned to come back to the house for food and water!

In the time since I did the damage check this morning, quite a few smaller branches came down – especially the willow – but there was no other large drops like that section of the giant maple that came down last night.

One thing I can see I am very happy about it the chicken coop. One of our concerns was that it would blow over. It did not. It was well sheltered from the wind by botht he house and the surrounding trees.

The last thing I checked was the old kitchen garden, where I found sprig.

This morning she was among the cats eating on the cat house roof. I was able to put my hand on her back and even rub her shoulders a bit! Then she ran off. Not far, though. Just to the next pile of kibbled on the roof.

Progress!

This evening, she was in what seems to be her favourite place, now that the netting here has been redone.

She really, really loves to be on or near the garden netting!

While I was gone, my older daughter got some good news. A call from a doctor. She now has a pre-op consultation with a referred doctor.

In a clinic in the city, of course. Not a close one, either. No matter! Surgeries can take years to happen here in Canada, so if this is being expedited, we are thankful!

The consultation is in the second half of July, so we have time.

After this consultation, it’s a guessing game to know when she will actually get her surgery. I don’t know what kind of waiting list this procedure has. It could be weeks, it could be months, it could be years. Canada is a place where people die on waiting lists. Thankfully, her condition is not life threatening anymore, now that she knows what is happening and can take medication for it. The surgery is the alternative to being on medication for the rest of her life!

Now, we just need for the truck to hold out.

The Re-Farmer

Terrified baby is back

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Poor Sweetie!

A couple of the volunteers from the rescue dropped Sweetie off today. The isolation shelter was ready for her. She will be there for a few more days – she’s 10 days post spay, but mostly to get used to being back in a familiar place and get special food while she’s there. She was with the foster for a couple of months and was terrified the entire time. Even bit the foster again! The same foster has Frank and Sir Robin. Frank had a really hard time, too, but is now completely socialized and ready for adoption. They’re even giving discounted adoption fees for anyone taking them both. Sweetie, unfortunately, never settled at all.

So she is back.

When I checked on her later, she had moved to the bottom of the shelter. The next image in the slide show above was when I came out to do the evening feeding.

The rescue also brough over nine cases – NINE!! – of donated cat milk. With so much, we can give both the inside and outside cats some as a supplemental treat. When I mixed up some of the freeze dried cat food for Sweetie, plus extra for the rest of the cats, I used a cat milk as well as hot water to rehydrate the food.

It went over very well.

With the evening feeding, I did allow other cats into the shelter. Cats Sweetie would have been familiar with. I did let them out again later, as she didn’t seem ready for more just yet. We’ll have to keep checking on her, but will also keep allowing these other cats that she used to cuddle with in to visit every now and then. After a few days, I hope to be able to open up the shelter so she can come and go as she pleases. It’s been a couple of months, but she should still remember this place.

Poor thing. I so hoped she would be able to get adopted and get to enjoy the indoor life. That’s two, now, that have had to come back. I’ve heard that Blot is also having trouble adapting, too, though not to the point of attacking people.

We shall see.

The Re-Farmer

Our 2026 Garden: more scapes, garden tour video and a couple of surprises

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Today, we’ve had rain off and on throughout, with a brief period where the sun actually came out. As I write this, we are under a severe thunderstorm alert, which is a whole lot better than the tornado alerts other areas were getting. Large swaths to the south and west of us got storm damage and at least one tornado touching down. We are very fortunate in our location. Even today, I could hear thunder, but all the storms went around us. Our weird climate bubble has protected us again!

I did get a chance to do my morning rounds, if a bit on the late side, in between rain. I was able to harvest more scapes.

At this rate, I’ll have enough to dehydrate a bunch, which will then be ground to a powder. I did that last year and it was the handiest thing ever!

Some time back, I had moved the seed tray of winter squash, melons and cucumber off the portable greenhouse frame and set it in the open on our front steps. I don’t know why I bothered, and yet…

Look what I found today.

The first image is of a Golden Hubbard seedling from the second sowing that finally germinated. The second image is a Canary Yellow melon.

Yes, I’ll transplant them somewhere, even though the chances they will produce fruit that reaches maturity is very low. Especially the Hubbard squash, which needs 95-110 days for maturity. The melon needs 80 days. We have maybe 70 days before our average first frost. Still, we have had years where we didn’t get frost until well into November. This year is supposed to have a Super El Nińo which, in our region, usually translates into heat waves and drought.

I actually poked around in the seed starting mix in the tray, and it looks like we will actually have more things popping up!

Yes, I will transplant anything that does. Chances of them reaching maturity may be low, but possible. I’d rather give them the chance. It certainly doesn’t hurt to try.

This afternoon, during that brief period we had sunshine, I got out the shake and feed fertilizer we picked up during our Costco trip. The instructions say to work the granules into the top couple of inches of soil, but that’s not really an option. Especially with the mulched beds. So I just scattered it. This stuff can also be applied in water. Between the rain we’ve been having and watering the garden in between, the plants will get something out of it. The granules are supposed to be a slow release over 3 months. Every little bit will be a help.

We shall see soon enough, I guess!

Meanwhile, I finally got around to editing the garden tour video I took on the last day of spring. I got one of my daughters to watch the video when I was done to check for any errors I missed or let me know if anything should be fixed or changed. When I messaged them to ask if one of them could come down, my older daughter was able to do it.

Apparently, it’s hilarious. She burst out laughing several times. Mostly because of the cats, but a few other things, as well. I wasn’t trying to be funny, which is probably why it actually was. It just finished uploading onto YouTube, so here it is now!

I hope you enjoy it.

The Re-Farmer

Our 2026 Garden: more maintenance, and we have scapes!

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

The rain started last night. The forecast has completely changed.

According to the app on my phone, we’re expecting to have rain and thunderstorms for the rest of the week. The app on my desktop shows a more moderate forecast, with today’s threat of thunderstorms already over (it’s not yet 11am as I write this) and rain off and on through to tomorrow, then no rain for the rest of the 10 day forecast. If I had to choose, I’d say my desktop weather app is more accurate than the one in my phone. I think the app in my phone is using weather stations further to the south of us.

While doing my morning rounds, I did get rained on a little bit, but just barely. That gave me time to get a few things done in the garden.

In the first image of the slide show above, you can see I finally mulched the high raised bed, around the bush beans and onions.

We don’t have a lot of bush beans. The ones I sowed in the square raised bed are coming up, so there will be more, but it’ll be a while longer before we can see how many made it. We do have pole beans, but I am still concerned we’ll have the same thing we had last year, where they only got a few inches tall and then stagnated. You can actually see them in the background of the above photo, beside the much larger turnip leaves. They are looking way too yellow.

In the trellis bed, I checked on the carrots and they are starting to germinate, so I moved the boards aside. I’m leaving them leaning against the inside of the walls to act as both a weed suppressant and a place for the frogs to shelter under. More than a few times, I’d lift the boards to check on the carrots, and as many as three frogs would come jumping out at once!

The is no sign of the Uzbek Golden carrots germinating in the other bed. I would not be surprised if none make it. They were old seeds. Carrots are one of the things I can still sow again, though, even in July, which I might do.

The last image is of one of the Spring Blush pea flowers. The peas are very sparse; they should be bushier and have more foliage, but they are pretty much just long stems. Still, they are blooming (well; the ones that didn’t get chomped by deer, at least), and they have the pretties flowers!

I also got a couple of first harvests this morning! I’ve been eyeballing the garlic for a few days now, and today I had my first harvest of scapes.

I also harvested our first Golden Boy celery. Yes, it’s on the small side for harvesting, but they are fairly crowded, and thinning by harvesting will be helpful.

As you can see through the netting under the scapes and celery, the purchased cabbage transplants are doing well. I can’t say the same for the nearby melons, though. They are definitely struggling. *sigh* While my daughter was at her blacksmithing workshop yesterday, I checked out one of the nearby garden centres. They don’t have much left at this stage. For edibles, I saw they still had lots of cabbage, pepper and tomato transplants, plus some herbs, but zero melons or winter squash left, which are the only things I’m after at this point.

Today, I had been thinking of visiting my mother. She called a couple of days ago and, right from hello, she was on me about how none of us have been visiting her. She just got out of quarantine. She was really laying it on thick, to the point I was ready to hang up on her. She just can’t seem to understand how much her behaviour drives people away from her. I told her I might be able to visit her on Sunday (today), but now I don’t know that I will be up to it. I’ll phone her, instead. Rainy and overcast weather like this always makes me feel ridiculously sleepy, and I don’t want to drive in it if I can avoid it.

I think today is a day to catch up on sleep.

The Re-Farmer