From Tiny Things Come Great Salads Spring, despite all signs to the contrary and world sanity otherwise crumbling around us, will arrive shortly whether you’re ready for it or not. Admittedly not for several more months in MY neighbourhood but with the garden-in-a-closet I’ve made, year-round planting is a reality and I’ve learned to ignore the calendar to some extent. No … Read More →
Small (Cheap) Beginnings Grow Into Big Yields I wandered past an old post here where I planted a few discount lilacs. I seem to recall them being end-of-season markdowns around $8 each but that memory is fuzzy. You can see above what five years of full sun and good topsoil can do. All of them are easily six feet tall and burst … Read More →
A slow day's worth of peas. Usually double this every morning. Summer has finally shown up around here – late as usual. It’s not been the heatwave material other parts of the planet have seen this year but we’ve had a few respectfully hot days above 30C here and there (usually with a week of refreshingly cool, rainy grey days in between) so the tomatoes are … Read More →
Be Different, Start From Seed I’m regularly asked ‘how do you personally start plants from seed?’ Having just gone through the annual ritual I thought I’d document the method I’ve developed over the years. During my busiest seasons I’ve had as many as a thousand seedlings at one time with my little plant factory approach. Lots of incremental changes and … Read More →
One Pot Wonders If you swear you can’t grow anything, have no space, no time, or any of the other gardening-averse excuses, just go plant some peas already. While a giant trellised row with automatic irrigation would be my preference, any neglected pot on a modestly sunny stoop will work and yield a perfect handful for stir-fry every … Read More →
Potent, Ugly, Best Grown At Home You want an edible plant that’s impossible to kill in most any climate? Horseradish is your answer. If you’ve ever used ‘prepared’ horseradish from jars at the supermarket in your coleslaw, tartar sauce, or to dress a bit of roast beef, you only know half of the flavour. Freshly made from home grown crops has … Read More →
Snowballs on a Stick I haven’t had much chance to swing at landscaping efforts out at the farm this year. That gets expensive and I have other more pressing priorities. I’m also still facing weekly flood or drought out there since I don’t yet have a well and am at the mercy of the creek and hand-carried buckets. Back … Read More →
Fashionably Late Apple Blossoms I haven’t talked much about the farm lately primarily because without better funds in hand, I’m hesitant to make any big moves. Still, there is always room for little steps and I spent today planting for the future after being reminded that Mother Nature waits for no one. In fact she’s usually tapping her foot … Read More →
Pretty. Tasty. Insanely easy to grow. The first hints of fall are showing up early in the mornings. A little gust of cool air here, the occasional drop of leaves there. Apples are growing fat and sweet. Deer wander past holding ‘to let’ brochures looking for winter apartments in the forest. All it all it’s been a mild summer here but … Read More →
Actual Neighbour Eggs There’s an old saying that goes “you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family”. Somewhere in between those two extremes are neighbours. Certainly you can select your neighbourhood carefully but it’s never a sure bet on what might move in next door. I can barely fathom how people co-exist in high rise … Read More →
Green and not so green parts of the farm over the seasons. You can see our garden year starts late here in Canada but it also lasts well into the elderly months on the calendar. Photos from 2014. (click any to wide-o-rama and start slide show)
Farmers of past generations planted quite a few apple trees around the property. I stopped counting at forty. They need serious pruning but can be rehabilitated into the start of a proper orchard I’m sure. (click any to embiggen and start slide show)
A Dawn of Ideas I’m not sure if even I know this answer. And I’m certain it’s a moving target. The question “What IS North Farthing going to be?” is a huge Pandora’s box of ideas and potential. I’ll see if I can hit the high points without too many tangents. First it’s a place for me to live. … Read More →
