What we have done in the last couple weeks

I am entering a container gardening contest for kids, so we have been working hard at planting tons if different items in whatever we can find!  Here are some pictures.

Different items found at Dollarama, garage sales and in our pile of stuff ready to go to the dump.

Under the weather...

Mom stopping by to make sure he gets a post on today... He was a little worried about it, but is not well, so off to bed he went.

A little hint as to what his special project is.....

OUCH!

Today we did some more planting as the weather got nicer... We got our herbs, tomatoes and pepper planted. We still have the zucchini, pumpkins and tomatoes that we started from seed to plant.

We gathered together our pop bottles and returned them to the depot, and got $36.05 that can go towards our garden projects. So we went to Superstore and picked up some materials for a special project I am working on.

Then my brother stepped on a rake and it hit him right between the eyes... He doesn't think it is funny, but I do!

Ants, Ants, and more Ants

Well I went out to check on the garden today... still really wet and squishy, nothing green growing yet... but we did notice a new ant hill starting... so out came the corn meal! I wanted to try something different, as this is right beside my potatoes...

The first ant hill on the other side of the yard, has seemed to calm down... a few ants, but they are slow and sluggish... The Cayenne Pepper did nothing on those ants, but the icing sugar and borax seem to clear most of them out.... I will probably put more down again tomorrow, and hope it kills the rest off....

Tomorrow the rest of the herbs are going in... and possible the tomatoes and peppers if I get that bed all prepped, but we will see... Our tomato seedlings need more time, so I will leave space for them... but the zucchini seedlings are ready, so if isn't to muddy we will plant them also.

Harvest Sale

Information for the Fall Harvest Festival at Heritage Park... We attended this last year, and came home with our car overflowing with produce, and a weeks worth of canning!

We plan on attending again this year, but will be much better prepared....

I recommend that you come with the following:

Cash... set a budget... I spent about $100 last year, and that includes admission to the park

Wishlist... know what you want and can use, you might pick up some extras but you do not want to forget something your really needed... The deal are AMAZING!! But get there early as things do run out.

Trolly.... one for each person on your team, split up the work.. As the haul from the location of the produce to the parking lot, is a long trek.

Muscles.... bring atleast one man with you, as 50lbs bags are very hard to manage alone.

Water bottles... beverages are insanely priced, and you are going to get a work out.

Cellphone... so many people, and it lets you locate the rest of your party easier.

Hats, Sunscreen and have fun!



Calgary Produce Marketing Association's Harvest Sale
August 28th-29th
9:30am-5:00pm

Join the Calgary Produce Marketing Association and Heritage Park Historical Village as we partner together to offer Calgary's best deal on fresh fruits and vegetables in the city of Calgary. This year's Harvest Sale will take place on August 28 & 29 at Heritage Park. Truckloads of fresh fruit and vegetables will be available at turn of the century prices!

Monies raised at this event will go to support local charities. While you're stocking up on healthy food at old-fashioned prices, you're also supporting the local community!

The first 500 guests who pay regular admission and arrive between 9:30am and 10:00am will enjoy a complimentary pancake breakfast, served hot off the grill in Gunn’s Dairy Barn.

Keep your fingers crossed.... better weather should be on its way!

Well we have survived our end of May snow fall.... Not lots, but still worrisome when it comes to plants. I have been told that our seeds should be ok, as we just planted and had not had a chance to germinate yet. So I am hopeful.

The new herds that we planted a few weeks back also appear to be ok, as we have kept them covered, in hopes that the frost would not kill them off.

Tomorrow is meant to be wet and cool, but it looks like we might have some nice weather on Wednesday, and if so, hopefully we can get some of our parking pad cleaned up (the pile of sod has to wait another couple weeks), possibly start a container of potatoes and get the soil worked on the tomato/pepper bed (depending on how wet it still is)

Please tell me this is a bad joke!

Of course our first hurdle.... it is forecast to snow between 10-20 cm over night! This is not fair!

Keep the fingers crossed that nothing is lost, and it melts off quickly

And now the Questions begin!

So we have the garden all prepped, I think the soil is pretty good (only time will tell)... So where do you start? This is the confusing part! I had 4 different bulbs, 9 different seeds, tomatoes we had already started from seed, as well as zucchini's and some store bought tomato and pepper plants... My head began to spin!

How do you plant potatoes? What are bush beans, and do I need to trellis them? Pickling Cukes, to trellis or not? What can tolerate the drier (desert zone) soil? Can I trellis along the fence? The list of questions keep going on and on!

So what does a person do? Well if you're me you turn to Facebook!! YES, I am a facebook junkie. I asked lots of questions, got tons of different answers to the same question, and was more confused then I was when I started! So next I started surfing... looking for local information when possible (which is next to impossible)... The information continued to be very contradicting!

So as a last resort I started searching each seed and bulb and seeing what I could find out about them. I did manage to find out some info about a few, but decided I would document what I did with each, simply as a reference for next year.... So if it worked, I can do it again, and if it does not... we we can try something new!

Red Pontiac Potatoes (Peak of the Market)---- Searching these really didn't give me much info other then they don't store well (so watch I will get a bumper crop, and end up with potatoes coming out my yingyang that need to be eaten up immediately!)

Potatoes in general, are actually kinda neat! I always thought they were a "root" veggie... but no! They grow off the stem of the potato plant, so the more stem that is underground, the better your harvest should be. So I decided we would dig a hole 3" deep and hill each seed potato, and as the green grows we will cover it up with mulch and compost, building our hills as high as we can. We are also considering trying some container planting of potatoes... Which, if found I will do in burlap sacks (I have a friend her in Calgary, who has some "farming" contacts, and is trying for me), but I have some black rubbermaid totes, that we might drill some holes in and give them ago.... I will keep you updated on this if we proceed.

Garlic (McKenzie Garlic Bulbs) ---- Theses came with minimal instruction. Spacing was provided, and we followed it, but whether our location will work, is a whole other question!

Mulitplier Onions (McKenzie Multiplier Onions, early green) ---- Again theses came with minimal instruction. Spacing was provided, and we followed it, but whether our location will work, is a whole other question!

Cucumber, National Pickling (McKenzie) ---- Spacing information provided, and that they require soil rich in compost.... So we sprinkled the seed (I have no patients for laying tiny seeds individually, and will thin once seedling come in), and as stated previously I think the soil is good! But the confusing part!! How much sun and to trellis or not? Well... after struggling with a layout that would work for everything, I decided to trellis against the fence.. this is probably not the best idea, but with very limited space, it was the most suitable. So if it works, great! if not... we will try something else next year!

Peas, Sugar Sprint -Edible Pod (McKenzie)---- Spacing information provided, and that was it! We followed the suggested spacing as stated. So after searching the net, I would out that Sugar Sprint are a bush pea, and do not require trellising! This is great news, as I was trying to figure out were I could fit another trellis in without blocking to much sun.

Zucchini, Dark Green (The Garden Corner) ---- These we started in the house, just for the heck of it! As I told the boys they are easy to grow.... and I didnt lie! We had 23 seeds in our pack, and 20 of them germinated... nice strong seedlings! A little leggy, but that is my fault for not providing them enough sunlight. the instructions state to plant these in hills and 3-4 per hill, so we will be doing so once we get some nice weather.

Turnips, Laurentian Gold (The Garden Corner) ---- Again, these seeds are so tiny, and I have no patients, so we sprinkled them and will thin once the seedling start. Package recommends placing 2-3 seeds every 4", then thin, to 1 every 4", so we will do that once the seedlings come in. Now when I researched these online, they say they are rutabaga, not turnips, but honestly what the heck is the difference?

Beets, Detroit Dark Red Supreme (The Garden Corner) ---- Again itty bitty seeds! So we sprinkled them again, and will thin, but as stated we will utilize the greens and thin them down so the remaining can grow and mature fully. I have no clue what beet greens taste like, but hopefully we will find out this year! The beet root will become pickle beets, as I have never liked beets (not that I have had them much in my life thou).... Pickle beets are yummy!

Beans (Bush) Round Pod Kidney Wax (McKenzie) ---- Well, for the heck of it, we started 2 of these in peat pucks, and both germinated. We also start some in wet paper towel.. a few of those have germinated, but several did not. Those were just for fun! But we have planted them outside straight in the ground (as this is actually recommended as bean seeds rot easily) We will thin these down once the seedlings grow a bit, to about 5-6" as the spacing is recommended.

Yellow Onion Sets (Peak of the Market) ---- Again these actually came with directions, idiot proof pictures, which are wonderful! They also state that they are good for any normal garden soil (whatever that means)

Radish, Sparkler White Tip (McKenzie) ---- Sprinkle sprinkle sprinkle... Does anyone actually place these seeds individually? It is actually recommended on the package to plant these in the same row as onions or parsnips (gross!), so I have planted these side by side with the Yellow Onion Sets.... and will possibly reseed in mid July also, for another harvest.

Lettuce, Early Curled Simpson (McKenzie) ---- Sprinkled again... and will think to about 6-8" as recommended when seedling start popping up!

Spinach, Long Standing Bloomsdale (Garden Corner) ---- Sprinkled and will thin. I really hope this one comes.... I can just imagine how good garden spinach would be!! These are meant to be spaced 1" apart, so not much thinning should be needed.

Lettuce, Romaine (McKenzie) ---- these we sprinkled again... and will thin to about 8". I am a little concerned about the hot summer days that lay ahead, but we will have to see what happens..... Next years I might plant the lettuce behind a low trellised object to help provide some shade on those hot hot summer days.

Last but not least:

Carrot, Tendersweet Long Hybrid (McKenzie) ---- We planted these were we did as the soil is sandy right there (we had a sand box for the kids right beside this for many years, and tons of sand found its way into the ground in this area. My research on these carrots are that they take forever to mature, but when they do, they are huge and very very sweet... so hopefully we will have some luck, and get some yummy carrots, that we can simply pull, wipe on the pants and eat!

Going on a Poop hunt!

So we are now at day 3 of our project... and I am off to find manure... Never thought I would find myself hunting for poop, but the hunt started bright and early, calling around to see who might have some in....

Well low and behold, Golden Acres has tons of Steer Manure... so off I go! But who can go and only pick up manure.. NOT me... I also picked up 4 tomato plants (2 roma's, 1 champion, 1 lemon boy) as the tomatoes we started by seed long ago, just don't seem like they are anywhere close to being ready to go outside, and don't want to be without any tomatoes. oh, and 3 more jalapeno plants and a cilantro... as somehow I forgot it when I was shopping for my herbs!

***About our tomato seedlings, they are so tiny... my recent research tells me, they weren't getting enough light! and being that they are Beef Steak Tomatoes, they are slower at everything as is... So only by a miracle will we actually get a tomato off of them... but whether we do or we don't, we have learn alot about starting plants by seed!***

So upon getting home, with my manure, I got right to work! The boys were at school, so I figured I may as well enjoy the great weather! I hand forked the garden bed, and worked in 100kg of manure... hope it is enough... I had NO clue how much to use. This was labour intensive! So I did the bed 1/4 at a time, and took a nice little breaks in between...

Not only may we get some yummy veggies... but I might actually miss place part of my butt in doing so!! Double whammy for me!

So I got all the manure worked in the bed ( the tomato/pepper plot, can wait as it is way to early yet to plant them in Calgary)... Now to measure it! what I thought was 10'x10' ended up being 12'x12 1/2' so a bit bigger then we figured! mmm more veggies!!!

Blood... Check.... Sweat....Check... but thankfully not Tears

It took us a full days work, but we were able to remove what I figured was 100 sq feet of sod for the "garden" and another 40 sq feet for our tomato/pepper plot. Not bad at all! The boys jumped right in and got dirty and loved every minute of it!

We headed off to Home Depot pick up the manure (poop, as the boys like to call it), some seeds, now that we had lots of room to plant in! and a dog fence.

The dog!! oh my!! Iggy will be a challenge to keep out of our gardens, as he is a digger... so the dog fences, was a must! Well, there is nothing on the market directly meant to keep the dogs out... so we are trying Deer Fence, and we will see how that goes this year. Ideally we would fence off the area with a 6' chain link, but that is just not in the budget.

Seeds... wow!! we got tons, probably way to much, but we want to try it all! We would have been smarter to start this year with only a few items, but I figure, ahhhhhh, why not plant what we want and see if we can get anything to grow!

Manure.... Can you believe Calgary almost run out of poop! I was shocked, but Home Depot and Superstore city wide, was sold out... Calgarian, must love their poop! But we were able to get some "garden soil" and the much needed peat moss for up near the house. (the desert zone)

How it all began

This whole projected started with my sons desire to plant some seeds. Each year he asks and we pick up something... We have tried sunflowers, carrots, strawberries and beans over the years... With very little success (other then a few massive sunflowers one year)... but his determination never gives up.

This year I had decided I would take that little patch along our back walk way, and plant a herb garden, as nothing is better then fresh herbs! Well this got my son upset, as this was his planting space. So the search began!

Urban Gardening... there are Tons of options, but the one that really interested me was "African" gardening. This looked like something my boys would love to do, and with our very limited space, it would work ideally.... Well I hunted for the burlap sacks, and had no luck, so have had to put that idea on hold (but not forgotten), as we gave such a short growing season here to begin with...

But Sunday May 23rd, out of the blue, we decided we would rip out 1/2 our yard, so that we would have a little plot to plant in, and make dreams come true! So the work began!