Gardening That Grows With Me
I planted my Cornus Florida ‘Rubra’, flowering pink dogwood, in 2009 and have been waiting, not always patiently, ever since for it to bloom. With all the cold weather this year many of our spring blooming trees and shrubs have been a disappointment. The magnolia blooms have been hit by freezing temperatures more than once… Read more »
I’m starting to think perhaps I have too many garden beds. OK never mind, that’s just not possible but 83 yards of mulch does seem a little crazy. So we started out like this: 20 yards of mulch, delivered twice to our driveway, and spread out by ourselves over two weekends. Then we ended like… Read more »
The people friendly Red Admiral butterfly is back in Ontario. I’ve seen quite a few in the garden since early April but several were out today, I guess enjoying the return to good weather as was I. Red Admiral caterpillars feed on nettles, and while I don’t have any in my garden I know they… Read more »
Always eager to try something new, I decided to try growing our own celery this year. I thought it would be nice to see if we could have our own fresh celery to add to potato salads during the summer and to my Neapolitan Tomato Sauce at the end of the season. Celery has a… Read more »
It’s getting a little bit crowded in the neighbourhood. While planting potatoes in the back vegetable garden today my husband spotted a rather lazy garter snake. Despite making noise the snake didn’t move so of course my husband had to investigate. What he found thrilled my two sons — a garter snake in the middle… Read more »
Once again the rabbits enjoyed the tulips in my garden more than I did. In the past I’ve tried repellent and this year did drop a wire planter over a couple patches but with almost two acres to garden I don’t have the time, or the energy, to run around and cover everything up for… Read more »
Well it has been a busy couple of weeks. The early arrival of spring in our area pushed many plants ahead at least three weeks pulling forward my spring pruning schedule. Then the cold weather returned which meant watching the weather network nightly to check for the need to cover plants seeded early in the… Read more »
A classic Quiche Lorraine recipe with a slight twist — I use tarragon mustard instead of dijon and add red peppers. This recipe makes two pies, one of which I freeze for another day. This is not a low fat recipe but with homemade ingredients I think it’s worth it and way better than any… Read more »
I like things to be as easy as possible when I garden and I’m always on the lookout for easier, and quicker, ways to do things. Right now high on my priority list is looking for better ways to protect the vegetable garden from frost and pests. I recently came across these supports for a… Read more »
We are about to pay the piper. You just had to expect that the summer like weather wouldn’t stay and that we were likely in for a return to more normal temperatures and sure enough, here they come. Tonight they are forecasting a low of -3C and by Monday night -5C. The freezing temperatures are… Read more »