Gardening Thread

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Carolla said:
@Beloved - have you ever made rose hip syrup? We had some in NFLD and it was lovely on some blintzes for breakfast. I was just looking at a recipe - I think we'll try some this fall - we have lots of roses growing in parks nearby.
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I make rosehip syrup and jelly. It is delicious. You may need to ask around before picking the hips in a park - like roadside ditches they are sometimes sprayed with chemicals.
 
Yesterday while outside enjoying the sun (providing I had shelter from the wind) I spotted a single fragile green spear. Maybe a dandelion - they are usually the first things to show up. No point in checking this morning as we have a blanket of snow.
 
Oh goodness ... Posts like this @KayTheCurler make me appreciative of living "down south" in Ontario! No snow here - very windy & cold tho the sun is shining. We had rain overnight. I've got quite a bit flowering in my garden at the moment - spring is a favourite time. My seedlings are coming along inside. I've started hardening off some sweet pea plants, but I think maybe I won't put the pot out today - it would most likely blow away! My planters of 'cold weather crops' are coming along - snap peas, radishes, some lettuce mixes. But ooo so chilly!! I think I will stay inside.
 
Weather here is finally nice. The beginning of April was super cold this year. We had most of the snow sticking around from winter for a long time. There are still a few spots of snow that can be found in the shade where it piled up a bit, but it's pretty much all gone now, lots melted this past week. 19C now.
Windy though, so not going to put out any plants outside today.
 
Today I took a teabreak on the patio in the sun. Very enjoyable even though a warm jacket was required. Whilst idly gazing around I noticed the faintest hint of green in the haskap bush. I SO wanted to go and check but didn't feel like wading through three feet of snow to get to them. Good thing there is always another day! Yesterday there was no action on the early dayliies - today several three inch spears.
 
KayTheCurler said:
Today I took a teabreak on the patio in the sun. Very enjoyable even though a warm jacket was required. Whilst idly gazing around I noticed the faintest hint of green in the haskap bush. I SO wanted to go and check but didn't feel like wading through three feet of snow to get to them. Good thing there is always another day! Yesterday there was no action on the early dayliies - today several three inch spears.
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I had looked for buds when we still had a fair bit of snow, put on boots to check them out. Wonder if they do now. I don't really want to be outside a ton just due to the wind & allergies, lots of stuff blowing around.
 
Potatoes are planted. Years of me bugging Chemguy to get the boxes prepped early. He spends a few months at home more than usual (and he is going into work at times, plus working outside the city) and he's like I wanna plant them now. :rolleyes:
Hopefully they will do fine, he has promised to cover if they come up and it gets a bit too cold.
We just picked up all the soil & compost yesterday. I feel like it's often sitting around for weeks.
I threw some peas on paper towel, last few years germination hasn't been great outside, not sure why. So those should get out soon too.

I'm hoping after the awful early spring we can have a nice warm late spring with no snow.
 
Ahhh ... I spent most of today in the garden - it felt so good to be outside in the sunshine, even tho it was a bit chilly - it IS still April after all. Mostly I dug out things that had spread a bit too broadly, and put 4 bags of manure around some of my 'hungrier' plants or things that are relatively new. I got the manure in the fall, but didn't get it onto the garden - so now that's done. I've still been resisting cutting down too many old stalks - not wanting to disturb any insects overwintering in them. A friend with 'cabin fever' came over & we sat in the yard enjoying a cup of tea together - chairs pulled far enough apart. It was great to have some conversation in the sunshine.

Potatoes @ChemGal - that sounds exciting! And such a willing garden assistant this year LOL.
 
Carolla said:
Ahhh ... I spent most of today in the garden - it felt so good to be outside in the sunshine, even tho it was a bit chilly - it IS still April after all. Mostly I dug out things that had spread a bit too broadly, and put 4 bags of manure around some of my 'hungrier' plants or things that are relatively new. I got the manure in the fall, but didn't get it onto the garden - so now that's done. I've still been resisting cutting down too many old stalks - not wanting to disturb any insects overwintering in them. A friend with 'cabin fever' came over & we sat in the yard enjoying a cup of tea together - chairs pulled far enough apart. It was great to have some conversation in the sunshine.

Potatoes @ChemGal - that sounds exciting! And such a willing garden assistant this year LOL.
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Potatoes are in about a month earlier than usual so ... haha. We'll see if they make it through the next 6 weeks or so.
 
That is for the link

it is early for potatoes, at least where I live. keep newspapers ready to put on them if it gets cold.
also hardened yesterday. Pruned some bushes, tried to weed some wild roses. Not very easy

if it stays above 8 today I may put my first peas and lettuce in.
 
Carolla said:
I just stumbled upon this excellent website -
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I owe you all here an apology ... but most significantly @ Carolla ... turning my attention from the planet at large to the place where I live and to the needs of the present was very sound advice ... I should not have belittled the privilege as it has been afforded to myself and others here 'to do the right that we are able to do'.

So thank all of you for this gardening thread ... which takes a turning from all the big picture stuff to the small scale, from the global to the local, to what I can see and touch and feel.

In the place where I 'actually' live, the little plot of land where our home sits, with our yard and our garden that is where I should start the work (or, in some ways, the un-work) of what I call re-wilding myself in our forest yard.

After ten years of trying to tame this plot ... with organic integrity ... it still has it's own ideas about what I am allowed to harvest or not.

I will continue to source this thread for inspiration and motivation towards figuring it out.
 
Ritafee said:
turning my attention from the planet at large to the place where I live and to the needs of the present was very sound advice
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"Think globally; Act locally," continues to be a wise idea, I think.

Most of the trees here are budding now and the forsythia are out. Need to do some cleanup in the yard and garden but that can wait for the weekend. We don't do much planting, mostly have trees, shrubs, and perennials, but hopefully garden centres can open in some form by Victoria Day so Mrs. M can do the deck boxes. We were discussing redoing the deck, esp. those boxes, this year but (a) the contractor I wanted to use died at the beginning of the year, and (b) Covid happened. So it is probably now a 2021 project, assuming I can find someone to do the work that I trust (the guy who passed away did work for my employer and some of our executives so I knew him to be reliable).
 
Finally we had a spring like day here. Hit 11 I think

so I planted peas on my new trellis, lettuce seeds of various types, spinach, ......... and radishes

cant wait to start seeing sprouts. Garlic is doing well, rhubarb up about five inches. Coffee grounds put on blueberries

gosh it’s lovely to be back in the garden
 
I divided my rhubarb yesterday to share it with my son- it was just barely coming up. Never divided before in 8 years or so. I never knew rhubarb has such huge roots. I hope my plant will recover, gave him a good heap of compost.
 
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