Weekend warrior

Just in case you don't think I know how to have fun on a sunny weekend.....

The Little Beet Seedling that Could

6 cold days after planting, there was no stopping this little one.

SFG "Greenhouse"

My dh built this a la the SFG book.  It's a wood frame with chicken wire, which will keep out the cats, squirrels, groundhogs and bunnies--I hope--and for now, are covered in plastic.  Not very pretty, but I am hopeful that it will keep the freshly planted seeds from washing away in this  heavy rain.

Cooling my Heels

What to do on a lazy, rainy Saturday afternoon when no gardening can possibly be done?  Nothing to do but wait for the semi-frozen bog to warm up and dry out.  So I decided to stroll around and see what plants were bravely showing their faces.

My orange coral bells are a welcome sight.  Forget their name, but these little guys should be growing wheels instead of roots because of the number of times they got moved last year.  They were to go in the sunny rock garden but were getting burned, so off to increasingly shady spots, and by the end of the season they were failing to thrive.  

Ice Breaker: SFG

Ice-Breaker: Square Foot Gardening

Last year my dear husband built me 4 raised boxes within which to grow vegetables.  The idea comes from the book Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholemew.  His main idea is to grow plants in a grid pattern for maximum produce in a small space.   By the time the boxes got built and ready for planting it was the end of May, so this year will be my first foray into the perilous pastime of early spring gardening. 

Step One:  Shovel snow off raised beds

Step Two:  Cover beds with black garbage bags to warm up soil

Step Three:   Remove bags, replenish soil

Step Four:  Make 1 foot square grid pattern using nylon twine

Step Five:  Plant hardy bulbs and seeds.  I planted garlic, onions, (bulbs) spinach, swiss chard, chicory, mesculun, beets, radishes, and parsley(seeds).  I transplanted a parsley and a sage plant that lived through the winter.  You go girls!

Step Six: Build a chicken wire cage to keep out varmints, and cover with heavy plastic to keep out the bad weather.

Steps 1-6 took place within a week.  I know, I know, what's the rush, but I just can't help myself. It's a sickness.  My dear husband (dh) calls it Ice Gardening.

Welcome to the blog!

Welcome to green thumbs, all thumbs, dirty-nailed typists, eco-voyeurs, anyone who enjoys gardening or just the idea of it!  Living in Ottawa, Canada, the world's second coldest national capital (after somewhere in Siberia I think) the short season makes gardening a longed-for pleasure.  This year has been especially brutal and there has been snow on the ground from the end of November until now, where only the ghosts of drifts remain.

Once the snow begins melting a familiar mania returns.......the itch to get outside and see all the sleeping babies come back to life.