So a few things we'd talked about before have changed a bit, as we decided where to start planing the grape hyacinth (muscari). This is the area we settled on, before clean up. Two summers ago, this area was quite overgrown. Some of the lilacs and carigana I cut back have started to encroach again. … Continue reading Fall planting grape hyacinth, day one
garden preperation
Fall clean up: cucamelon surprise
The frosts we have had didn't quite kill off the cucamelons, but they are certainly beyond being able to continue producing. There were still a few left on the vines that were big enough to withstand the frost, though! They were still tasty, too. 🙂 After taking down the yarn net I made for a … Continue reading Fall clean up: cucamelon surprise
Potato beds put to bed
Today, we took advantage of the warmer weather and dug up our two potato beds. The first one got done fairly early in the morning, before we headed to the city. Having already dug up a few of them earlier, I had some idea of what to expect, but I have zero experience with growing … Continue reading Potato beds put to bed
New garden plot, ready! (video)
This morning, I was able to finish prepping the new garden plot! https://youtu.be/JFdJ9r7Y2H4 Woo hoo! It's done! Well... okay. Maybe not. But it's almost there. At this point, there are two things that need to be done to the area. One is a thorough watering before planting. The other is to adjust the acidity. Hopefully. … Continue reading New garden plot, ready! (video)
Spring clean up started
I finally got to get outside and start doing some dedicated clean up around the house. But first, I must share this adorableness. Two Face is getting all of the love from her siblings as she recovers from her visit to the vet. Speaking of visits to the vet, we discovered our inside mama cat … Continue reading Spring clean up started
Garden layout plans
Having received shipping confirmations for the seeds we ordered, the girls and I have been talking about just where we are going to plant what we're getting, and what we need for what we're getting. In the two years we've been here, we've been working at reclaiming neglected spaces before we could even consider planting … Continue reading Garden layout plans
Old kitchen garden, retaining wall progress
After finishing up at the old wood pile, there was time enough in the day to start on the retaining wall at the end of the old kitchen garden. Here is the start of it. We have not been able to get those metal fence posts out, so I was thinking of putting this first … Continue reading Old kitchen garden, retaining wall progress
Some manual labour, and getting things started
After dropping one daughter off at work, my other daughter and I did a whole bunch of manual labour around the yard. The first thing we did was haul away the stuff I'd clean up in the old wood pile area, including moving the pile of debris to the back of the outhouse, and sorting … Continue reading Some manual labour, and getting things started
Big garden area, progress
Today, my daughter and I got some progress done on the old garden area that we mulched with straw this spring. We didn't put anything under it, so things did start growing through it. This is taken from one corner, next to the gooseberry bush and raspberries. It looks a lot worse than it is. … Continue reading Big garden area, progress
Clean up: garden edging
A bit more progress on the garden today; my daughters used some pieces of the trees that were taken down to edge the area we mulched yesterday. The North end was left alone, since we won't be going into there much at all, and the South edges were left open a path between the raspberries … Continue reading Clean up: garden edging