Aside from the early days, when I accidentally flattened my only pumpkin seedling with my clumsy fist, this has been a terrific year in the vegetable garden. Sure there have been things that haven't worked - my peppers are not fabulous - but all in all, it would seem that whatever concoction I've rigged up this year is working.
I slathered the dirt with compost, and turned over the soil with my shovel for the first time this year. Every other year, I've rented this terrible tiller and bounced along with it, mainly just mangling the dirt. This year, I dug it down about a foot and flipped it all as easy as pie. I don't know why I didn't do this before.
Also, I moved things around a bit this year for crop rotation, in an effort to fool the bugs or at least keep them guessing, slowing them down on their path of destruction. Squash vine borers, earwigs, cabbageworms and aphids seem to have forgotten about my vegetable garden this year, and concentrated their efforts instead on my potted flowers and perennial beds. Ha! Perennials will come back, but there's nothing as devastating as waking up to a dead zucchini vine.
The real successes this year are (compare to the list I made in my first entry):
- Royal burgundy beans. These never cease to amaze me.
- zucchini
- cucumbers (am I going to have to start pickling them???)
- basil. Oh. My. God. I have a forest of basil.
- sweet peas
- mystery squash
- the acorn squash that I planted late in the season, from a small flat of yellow seedlings
- stocks
- fennel
- ground cherries
The failures this year have been the root vegetables:
- radishes
- carrots
...but I don't really care about those - I hate radishes and carrots are cheap enough at the store.
The jury's still out on the peppers, but there are flowers and some plants have wee little peppers on them, as-yet-untouched by earwigs (knock on wood).
I know I have gone on and on about the crazy squash and cucumbers in my garden, but I want to show you exactly what I'm talking about. Every day they are climbing up something new - up the garden ornament alongside the sweetpeas, up the remains of my rhubarb, down the path (uncannily well-aimed, I might add), up the beans, around the thai basil (which comes up to my knees at least), and over the fence into the lawn.
I'm at home, so I'll attempt to add pictures to this post shortly.....
In the meantime, the weather's beautiful, it's going to rain soon, people are trickling in for the wedding (Eric's family are gathering, my grandmother arrived yesterday, the maid of honour comes the day-after-tomorrow) and so far, I am nerve-free. It's all good...
7/21/05
All Systems A-Go...... or?
I recently purchased a nifty water timer so I can sleep at night when I'm away on business and it's eight thousand degrees outside. The only thing is, it's a bit tricky to operate, and I'm not sure if it's working.
I went to Canadian Tire and bought the only timer on the rack that can be set to come on every day at the same time and water for 15 minutes (or whatever). I set it for 9 pm just to see if it works, but then I left town and asked my boy to watch for it and see if it's working. He forgot each night, but it rained on the weekend so he wasn't concerned. Only thing is, since the weekend, every day has been around 30-32 degrees and sunny, and if the garden's not being watered we have a big problem. My tomatoes won't be happy.
So tonight I'm going to write a note on my hand and try to remember to look out the window at 9 pm to see if the timer worked. If not, I will swear at it and try to see what I'm doing wrong. I followed the instructions to the letter so I don't see why there'd be a problem.
In other news, I went away for 4 days and when I came back I discovered that the squash are truly out of control. I am growing zucchini, cucumbers, acorn squash, and mystery squash. I call it mystery squash because I think the seeds lived in my compost and they popped up all over the place where they weren't invited. They're the same size as the ones I carefully started in my basement, so I'm thinking maybe next year I can try to direct-seed all of my squash and free up some of my personal time and space (ha). However, I have no idea what they are. I hope they're pumpkins, perhaps from my jack o'lantern last october. Who knows. But this year for the first time (knock on wood) I haven't had any powdery mildew whatsoever. My garden is covered in squash. They come up to my knees and beyond. They've literally crashed the gate and grown out onto the lawn. They're starting to grow up the garden ornament/trellis that I got in early June. They've usurped my peppers and are threatening my beans and basil. I am going to have to start pruning the vines down if they keep trying to smother everything else.
It's also very difficult for a sprinkler to do it's work when it keeps hitting the bottoms of these giant leaves. Ah well - I love acorn squash, and I figure all of these things are good to grow because I actually eat them (unlike beets and radishes, which I really don't care for at all).
Needless to say, the garden looks like crap because it's a solid green lump and I can't weed in all of that mess. Perhaps I'll take an hour or a day or something this weekend and try to boss those vines around. I'll take some pictures of it too.
Wedding countdown: 9 days. I met my brother-in-law last night for the very first time (they live in Austria). Hubby and I have been together 7 years. It was very strange and surreal, but I loved every minute of it. I have a feeling this will be the most magical and surreal week of my life - the combinations of people who will be in my house at once will be unthinkable. It's really very special for me to meet his family, since my family is so close. And it's special for him too, to say the very least.
Tomorrow's my last day at work, then I'll be off-line until the end of this wedding blur.
I went to Canadian Tire and bought the only timer on the rack that can be set to come on every day at the same time and water for 15 minutes (or whatever). I set it for 9 pm just to see if it works, but then I left town and asked my boy to watch for it and see if it's working. He forgot each night, but it rained on the weekend so he wasn't concerned. Only thing is, since the weekend, every day has been around 30-32 degrees and sunny, and if the garden's not being watered we have a big problem. My tomatoes won't be happy.
So tonight I'm going to write a note on my hand and try to remember to look out the window at 9 pm to see if the timer worked. If not, I will swear at it and try to see what I'm doing wrong. I followed the instructions to the letter so I don't see why there'd be a problem.
In other news, I went away for 4 days and when I came back I discovered that the squash are truly out of control. I am growing zucchini, cucumbers, acorn squash, and mystery squash. I call it mystery squash because I think the seeds lived in my compost and they popped up all over the place where they weren't invited. They're the same size as the ones I carefully started in my basement, so I'm thinking maybe next year I can try to direct-seed all of my squash and free up some of my personal time and space (ha). However, I have no idea what they are. I hope they're pumpkins, perhaps from my jack o'lantern last october. Who knows. But this year for the first time (knock on wood) I haven't had any powdery mildew whatsoever. My garden is covered in squash. They come up to my knees and beyond. They've literally crashed the gate and grown out onto the lawn. They're starting to grow up the garden ornament/trellis that I got in early June. They've usurped my peppers and are threatening my beans and basil. I am going to have to start pruning the vines down if they keep trying to smother everything else.
It's also very difficult for a sprinkler to do it's work when it keeps hitting the bottoms of these giant leaves. Ah well - I love acorn squash, and I figure all of these things are good to grow because I actually eat them (unlike beets and radishes, which I really don't care for at all).
Needless to say, the garden looks like crap because it's a solid green lump and I can't weed in all of that mess. Perhaps I'll take an hour or a day or something this weekend and try to boss those vines around. I'll take some pictures of it too.
Wedding countdown: 9 days. I met my brother-in-law last night for the very first time (they live in Austria). Hubby and I have been together 7 years. It was very strange and surreal, but I loved every minute of it. I have a feeling this will be the most magical and surreal week of my life - the combinations of people who will be in my house at once will be unthinkable. It's really very special for me to meet his family, since my family is so close. And it's special for him too, to say the very least.
Tomorrow's my last day at work, then I'll be off-line until the end of this wedding blur.
7/15/05
I'm Afraid of My Garden
It finally rained the other day. Not like drizzle, or even a reasonable shower, but it rained, it thundered, it lightninged, and it actually even hailed. It rained all through the night and gave everything a really good soaking, which is quite a relief because it's been so hot here lately that the plants are starting to think they're desert plants. My sunflowers are about 4 feet tall, which is so rewarding since I've had troubles growing sunflowers (I know I know, long story).
However, there's one small problem. With all of this heat, regular watering, and the occasional storm, the plants are a bit out of control. I grew a lot of cucumbers and squash this year, and now they've formed something of a carpet over most of the veggie garden. The beans come up to my knees, which is unusual, and the thai basil (which I thought were ground cherries, but that's another story) is so prolific that I could start selling it. I practically need a machete to get through the vegetable garden and some plants have started making a break for it, threatening to climb the fence and start down the other side.
The perennials are doing super well too, at least most of them. The wedding flowers are still lagging behind. Ha ha ha Mother Nature, you're so funny, I get the joke - you can let up now. They've only got 2 weeks to pick up their socks and start blooming. If anyone's got tips here, please feel free to share them with me; I'll try anything at this point. Ah well, my neighbor (whose garden has won awards, I should say) has offered to let me come and pillage her yard for flowers so I'll at least have something. There's always Queen Anne's Lace and ferns.
I didn't count on the weather being so incredibly hot this year, so everything's blooming early. I have these beautiful buttery white lilies in the garden which would have been totally perfect, but they're almost done; I doubt there'll be anything left in two weeks.
So there's the update - I don't really have anything more interesting to say, though if you want some wisdom about weddings, I have these tidbits to offer so far:
1. You fight a lot more leading up to your wedding;
2. Don't try and do it all yourself;
3. Wine is your friend;
4. Get lots of sleep;
5. Let your husband pick his own tie.
Check back regularly for more nuggets from Genny as the next three weeks unfold...
However, there's one small problem. With all of this heat, regular watering, and the occasional storm, the plants are a bit out of control. I grew a lot of cucumbers and squash this year, and now they've formed something of a carpet over most of the veggie garden. The beans come up to my knees, which is unusual, and the thai basil (which I thought were ground cherries, but that's another story) is so prolific that I could start selling it. I practically need a machete to get through the vegetable garden and some plants have started making a break for it, threatening to climb the fence and start down the other side.
The perennials are doing super well too, at least most of them. The wedding flowers are still lagging behind. Ha ha ha Mother Nature, you're so funny, I get the joke - you can let up now. They've only got 2 weeks to pick up their socks and start blooming. If anyone's got tips here, please feel free to share them with me; I'll try anything at this point. Ah well, my neighbor (whose garden has won awards, I should say) has offered to let me come and pillage her yard for flowers so I'll at least have something. There's always Queen Anne's Lace and ferns.
I didn't count on the weather being so incredibly hot this year, so everything's blooming early. I have these beautiful buttery white lilies in the garden which would have been totally perfect, but they're almost done; I doubt there'll be anything left in two weeks.
So there's the update - I don't really have anything more interesting to say, though if you want some wisdom about weddings, I have these tidbits to offer so far:
1. You fight a lot more leading up to your wedding;
2. Don't try and do it all yourself;
3. Wine is your friend;
4. Get lots of sleep;
5. Let your husband pick his own tie.
Check back regularly for more nuggets from Genny as the next three weeks unfold...
7/11/05
Whoa Horsey
Is it just me, or is everything in the garden blooming way too early this year?
By the time my company comes at the end of this month, the garden will be past it's peak. All the lilies will have bloomed and fizzled out, and unless I can squeeze a second blooming out of the delphiniums, they'll be gone too. My dahlias haven't really been doing much either, except for two pots on the deck. The bee balm will also be looking crappy by then, as will the hostas. It's so hot out, they must think that perhaps they have become tropical plants. Now if only my wedding flowers would get a move on ...
In other news, I'm getting married in 19 days and the butterflies have officially moved into my stomach. I slept about 3 hours last night. Tonight, I am hitting the gravol or else I won't be able to work. This past weekend was my last free time before the big day, as I'm working next weekend in Toronto and during the week in Kingston and Ottawa, then our company arrives the weekend after that. It's a whirlwind.
By the time my company comes at the end of this month, the garden will be past it's peak. All the lilies will have bloomed and fizzled out, and unless I can squeeze a second blooming out of the delphiniums, they'll be gone too. My dahlias haven't really been doing much either, except for two pots on the deck. The bee balm will also be looking crappy by then, as will the hostas. It's so hot out, they must think that perhaps they have become tropical plants. Now if only my wedding flowers would get a move on ...
In other news, I'm getting married in 19 days and the butterflies have officially moved into my stomach. I slept about 3 hours last night. Tonight, I am hitting the gravol or else I won't be able to work. This past weekend was my last free time before the big day, as I'm working next weekend in Toronto and during the week in Kingston and Ottawa, then our company arrives the weekend after that. It's a whirlwind.
7/4/05
Warning: Rocky Road Ahead
Oh boy. So for all of you who are counting down the days until my wedding (what, you mean you're not?) we're sitting at 26 big sleeps.
This would be totally fine and dandy, except that my lovely place of work has thrown me some big curveballs for my last three weeks in the office, and I'm feeling a bit wracked. When I started working here, they told me summers are slow. They lied.
At home, the ranunculus are still pathetic and the RSVP cards have slowed to a dry trickle. The only things left to do are the really heinous things like moving furniture around and buying stuff, and fixing up our house a bit so more than 2 people can use it.
This is all to say that the blog will likewise be a bit patchy for the next while. If I seem unfocused, it's symptomatic of a greater mass confusion - my only hope is to keep hanging on, keep my head above the water and keep breathing. In a month this will all be over, and you will undoubtedly be able to enjoy more frequent postings as well as wedding photos.
In other news, I went to Newfoundland last week and had a real blast. I love that place. I love pointing out how different it is there when I get home, like "did you know that in Newfoundland, it's peak whale season right now? Did you know that in Newfoundland, they call small towns 'outports'? Did you know that in Newfoundland, the gardens are all about 2 weeks behind gardens here, yet the Queen Anne's Lace is already in full bloom?"
I went down there for some meetings and to witness the opening of The Rooms. It was fantastic, though I didn't know that the opening ceremonies were outdoors and I ended up with a real Rudolph nose. You could see the pattern of my hairstyle burned onto my forehead. Anyway, I am over that, but I am still excited to have met Rick Mercer in person. I am a real fan. Not in a have-posters-on-my-bedroom-wall-know-his-entire-personal-history kind of way, but I think he's a terrific Canadian and I'm proud that his brand of smart humour is popular across this country. He's like our version of Jon Stewart, for those of you south of the border who don't know of him. I've linked to his very own blogger blog at the side of this page.
Anyway, while there I went hiking around Signal Hill, which was amazing. If I lived in St. John's I'd do that every day and my gluteous maximi would be minimized. (For those of you who don't speak latin, that means I'd have a tiny ass). But in all seriousness, the landscape at Signal Hill alone is breathtaking - the water was a Caribbean blue, and the vegetation is so interesting that I was a total geek and took plant pictures. Unfortunately my camera isn't the greatest and they didn't really turn out. Some lovely soul in St. John's has taken the time to label the plants on Signal Hill with plant tags and latin names which, as a plant-nerd tourist, I very much appreciated.
The next day we took a quick drive up to Cape Spear and saw some whales. Again, I didn't get any satisfying whale pictures. They weren't exactly cooperating - most of the time all I saw were spurts of mist from their blowholes. I don't even know which kind of whales we were seeing, all I know is that I was cold and my lunch wasn't agreeing with me. Then we drove to the airport and I came home, many hours and half a bottle of Pepto Bismol later, to the stinking heat of Ottawa. It was 7 in St. John's when I left, and about 30 in Ottawa when I landed. How is a girl to dress?
Anyway, I went, I cooled down, I met Rick Mercer, I provided the people of Newfoundland with some comedic relief after realizing that I'd packed one high-heeled shoe for a black-tie gala (here's a plug for Gallery Shoes in downtown St. John's - they've got beautiful stuff and friendly staff who don't laugh too hard at people like me), and I saw some great short plants and some whales. Now I gots to get through the next few weeks, and then go and get myself married. No sweat.
This would be totally fine and dandy, except that my lovely place of work has thrown me some big curveballs for my last three weeks in the office, and I'm feeling a bit wracked. When I started working here, they told me summers are slow. They lied.
At home, the ranunculus are still pathetic and the RSVP cards have slowed to a dry trickle. The only things left to do are the really heinous things like moving furniture around and buying stuff, and fixing up our house a bit so more than 2 people can use it.
This is all to say that the blog will likewise be a bit patchy for the next while. If I seem unfocused, it's symptomatic of a greater mass confusion - my only hope is to keep hanging on, keep my head above the water and keep breathing. In a month this will all be over, and you will undoubtedly be able to enjoy more frequent postings as well as wedding photos.
In other news, I went to Newfoundland last week and had a real blast. I love that place. I love pointing out how different it is there when I get home, like "did you know that in Newfoundland, it's peak whale season right now? Did you know that in Newfoundland, they call small towns 'outports'? Did you know that in Newfoundland, the gardens are all about 2 weeks behind gardens here, yet the Queen Anne's Lace is already in full bloom?"
I went down there for some meetings and to witness the opening of The Rooms. It was fantastic, though I didn't know that the opening ceremonies were outdoors and I ended up with a real Rudolph nose. You could see the pattern of my hairstyle burned onto my forehead. Anyway, I am over that, but I am still excited to have met Rick Mercer in person. I am a real fan. Not in a have-posters-on-my-bedroom-wall-know-his-entire-personal-history kind of way, but I think he's a terrific Canadian and I'm proud that his brand of smart humour is popular across this country. He's like our version of Jon Stewart, for those of you south of the border who don't know of him. I've linked to his very own blogger blog at the side of this page.
Anyway, while there I went hiking around Signal Hill, which was amazing. If I lived in St. John's I'd do that every day and my gluteous maximi would be minimized. (For those of you who don't speak latin, that means I'd have a tiny ass). But in all seriousness, the landscape at Signal Hill alone is breathtaking - the water was a Caribbean blue, and the vegetation is so interesting that I was a total geek and took plant pictures. Unfortunately my camera isn't the greatest and they didn't really turn out. Some lovely soul in St. John's has taken the time to label the plants on Signal Hill with plant tags and latin names which, as a plant-nerd tourist, I very much appreciated.
The next day we took a quick drive up to Cape Spear and saw some whales. Again, I didn't get any satisfying whale pictures. They weren't exactly cooperating - most of the time all I saw were spurts of mist from their blowholes. I don't even know which kind of whales we were seeing, all I know is that I was cold and my lunch wasn't agreeing with me. Then we drove to the airport and I came home, many hours and half a bottle of Pepto Bismol later, to the stinking heat of Ottawa. It was 7 in St. John's when I left, and about 30 in Ottawa when I landed. How is a girl to dress?
Anyway, I went, I cooled down, I met Rick Mercer, I provided the people of Newfoundland with some comedic relief after realizing that I'd packed one high-heeled shoe for a black-tie gala (here's a plug for Gallery Shoes in downtown St. John's - they've got beautiful stuff and friendly staff who don't laugh too hard at people like me), and I saw some great short plants and some whales. Now I gots to get through the next few weeks, and then go and get myself married. No sweat.
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