Okay... This post IS about gardening but it's also about giving..
How many of us have been unemployed, sick, disabled, in need of help at SOME point in our lives, hmmm???
I am raising funds for The Good happenings Food Bank in South River, Ontario. It's a village that has high unemployment due to lack of industries and lack of public transport, the nearest big town/city is 40 miles away and if you don't have transport, how can you commute to work.
Even though people do get monetary aid (ha ha) from the government it's never enough to pay all the bills and to feed you healthily, you live on canned foods, processed foods... in other words crap...
Take it from one who knows, I've been there, actually I am still there, my husband is fighting for disability...
The Good Happenings Food Bank does a wonderful job with what they are given, again, mostly processed crap. They desperately need fresh fruit and vegetables, on a regular basis.
I have set up a fund raising page that explains it all... if you can donate only a dollar or two that's great... more of course would be fantastic but all donations very gratefully received.
The Good Happenings Food Bank Garden Project
*hug*
aran
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Thursday, 26 January 2012
It's Getting Closer.... Spring That Is.....
Although our spring doesn't arrive here yet, I know that it's on its way because one of our cats, Smokie, has actually been sitting out on the deck rail this morning; and another one, Biscuit, actually stuck his nose outside the window for a few seconds...lol
Spring won't be here until April at the earliest but at least the cats are showing an interest in the outside.. only another 8 cats to go outside and it will be spring....lol
So, what am I doing while I wait so calmly and peacefully?(NOT!)
I'm reading the Square Foot Gardening Forum, reading/rereading the SFG book, I am reading and rereading my Seed Catalogues (yummy... drool...), Reading various, numerous, MULTITUDINOUS gardening blogs... Can you tell that I LOVE gardening? Impatiently waiting for MORE Seed Catalogues.. Talking by email with a neighbour about seeds and more seeds, we both love growing veggies and my Christmas gift to her was for her to order some seeds from, yes, A SEED CATALOGUE...lol We're trying to co-ordinate our seed orders, I've already sent my first order in and there will be some duplicates between us, so we'll share a packet here and there or try a few from other packets...
I already have a lot of seeds from last year but, hey, you can never have too many seeds, right???????
I want to grow lots and lots of Tomatoes and Peppers, all shapes, sizes, colours and flavours. I want to be able to can, preserve and freeze for the winter. I want to pickle and jam and jelly from my garden.. I want to store Pumpkins, Taters and Winter Squash. I want to grow cute little patty pan squashes, slice them, dip them in home made breadcrumbs and coatings to freeze, same with Zucchini and Eggplant and other scrumptious goodies from MY GARDEN... I want to make my own pasta sauces to freeze or to can, make vegan pies, puddings and crumbles... There is just so much I could do and want to do and will do...
Spring won't be here until April at the earliest but at least the cats are showing an interest in the outside.. only another 8 cats to go outside and it will be spring....lol
So, what am I doing while I wait so calmly and peacefully?(NOT!)
I'm reading the Square Foot Gardening Forum, reading/rereading the SFG book, I am reading and rereading my Seed Catalogues (yummy... drool...), Reading various, numerous, MULTITUDINOUS gardening blogs... Can you tell that I LOVE gardening? Impatiently waiting for MORE Seed Catalogues.. Talking by email with a neighbour about seeds and more seeds, we both love growing veggies and my Christmas gift to her was for her to order some seeds from, yes, A SEED CATALOGUE...lol We're trying to co-ordinate our seed orders, I've already sent my first order in and there will be some duplicates between us, so we'll share a packet here and there or try a few from other packets...
I already have a lot of seeds from last year but, hey, you can never have too many seeds, right???????
I want to grow lots and lots of Tomatoes and Peppers, all shapes, sizes, colours and flavours. I want to be able to can, preserve and freeze for the winter. I want to pickle and jam and jelly from my garden.. I want to store Pumpkins, Taters and Winter Squash. I want to grow cute little patty pan squashes, slice them, dip them in home made breadcrumbs and coatings to freeze, same with Zucchini and Eggplant and other scrumptious goodies from MY GARDEN... I want to make my own pasta sauces to freeze or to can, make vegan pies, puddings and crumbles... There is just so much I could do and want to do and will do...
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Gotta Love the Weatherman...
So, the weatherman tells us to expect 6+ inches of snow, he got that right, the plus part I mean... We got about 18 inches of the white fluffy stuff within 12 hours...
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Books, Seeds and Still Dreaming...
The books arrived Thursday afternoon and I completed reading them by early yesterday afternoon and that was when I tried to read slowly.. almost impossible for me to do....lol
I love both books, lots of info...
As I said in my previous post, I won't be using logs, I would lose too much space doing that. I've decided to go with econostuds, they're 2 by 4's... By using them two high that will give me 8 inches of raised bed, and I can add more as money allows...
I'll dig some of the too rich nitrogen soil out and add topsoil, compost, and peat to bring the excess nitrogen down so I'll also have more than 12 inches of workable soil to begin...
Because the econostuds are 8 ft long that is the size of the beds that I'll go with and make the 3 ft wide cos I have lower back problems and can't stretch too far over... 8ft by 3ft, a nice workable size.
I've been going through my box of seed packets, wow! I hadn't realised how many I had...lol Plus I have some arriving in early February..
I'm working on my Garden Plan, figuring out what goes where and how many and what companion plants to go there too.. I want to have everything worked out in advance, then I'll know what needs doing, when, and why....
All this gardening stuff is actually helping to keep me sane this winter... usually by the end of winter I'm ready to commit murder or suicide...lol.. living in close quarters with hubby and father in law is very stressful to say the least.. It's also helped them to stay sane too I think... We've had less arguments and tantrums and sulks than usual thank goodness.
I'll be back later with my gardening plan and seed list to show you...
I love both books, lots of info...
I'll dig some of the too rich nitrogen soil out and add topsoil, compost, and peat to bring the excess nitrogen down so I'll also have more than 12 inches of workable soil to begin...
Because the econostuds are 8 ft long that is the size of the beds that I'll go with and make the 3 ft wide cos I have lower back problems and can't stretch too far over... 8ft by 3ft, a nice workable size.
I've been going through my box of seed packets, wow! I hadn't realised how many I had...lol Plus I have some arriving in early February..
I'm working on my Garden Plan, figuring out what goes where and how many and what companion plants to go there too.. I want to have everything worked out in advance, then I'll know what needs doing, when, and why....
All this gardening stuff is actually helping to keep me sane this winter... usually by the end of winter I'm ready to commit murder or suicide...lol.. living in close quarters with hubby and father in law is very stressful to say the least.. It's also helped them to stay sane too I think... We've had less arguments and tantrums and sulks than usual thank goodness.
I'll be back later with my gardening plan and seed list to show you...
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Reading, Dreaming and fantasizing....
I love reading, I love gardening, so I love reading about gardening... works out perfectly doesn't it?
My two books arrived today, The New Square Foot Gardening Book and the one about Companion Planting... Guess what I've been doing? READING!...lol
Now, I am a speed reader, it's just something that I do well, I can read a 500 page book in a matter of a few hours... However, with the SFG book I'm deliberately slowing myself down so that it sinks in deeper, but faster.. Because I speed read, normally I have to read a book 3 or 4 times for it all to sink in... This time I REALLY want it to sink in...
I am so looking forward to Spring, the book provides me with seed sowing dates and transplanting dates, so that I can get as much as 12 weeks head start on the season by starting seeds inside then transplanting them when the weather is warm enough...
Already I have made a change or two to my plans for the beds... I was going use logs to create beds but I was concerned that I would lose some space because the logs can be 18 inches across...
I've decided NOT to go with logs but to create the beds right in the ground and use cardboard, newspaper and wood to create 12-18 inch paths between the beds this means I will actually gain growing space.
I do want to be able to grow quite a lot of produce, for pickling, preserving, jamming, jellying, freezing, making Salsa's and Chutneys and sauces etc....
I also want to grow winter squash to store in the shed during the winter as a cold room/root cellar...
FIL and hubby went and bought the lime for white wash and the 2 double fluorescent lights to be fitted as growlights... they bought all the fittings, brackets, screws etc for making the potting/work benches, the wood will arrive in a couple of weeks...
By the time March arrives the potting shed will be completed benches, shelves and all and I can start some seeds off and hopefully the snow will be on its way out and I begin making the square foot beds....
Can't you tell that I'm excited?....:D
My two books arrived today, The New Square Foot Gardening Book and the one about Companion Planting... Guess what I've been doing? READING!...lol
Now, I am a speed reader, it's just something that I do well, I can read a 500 page book in a matter of a few hours... However, with the SFG book I'm deliberately slowing myself down so that it sinks in deeper, but faster.. Because I speed read, normally I have to read a book 3 or 4 times for it all to sink in... This time I REALLY want it to sink in...
I am so looking forward to Spring, the book provides me with seed sowing dates and transplanting dates, so that I can get as much as 12 weeks head start on the season by starting seeds inside then transplanting them when the weather is warm enough...
Already I have made a change or two to my plans for the beds... I was going use logs to create beds but I was concerned that I would lose some space because the logs can be 18 inches across...
I've decided NOT to go with logs but to create the beds right in the ground and use cardboard, newspaper and wood to create 12-18 inch paths between the beds this means I will actually gain growing space.
I do want to be able to grow quite a lot of produce, for pickling, preserving, jamming, jellying, freezing, making Salsa's and Chutneys and sauces etc....
I also want to grow winter squash to store in the shed during the winter as a cold room/root cellar...
FIL and hubby went and bought the lime for white wash and the 2 double fluorescent lights to be fitted as growlights... they bought all the fittings, brackets, screws etc for making the potting/work benches, the wood will arrive in a couple of weeks...
By the time March arrives the potting shed will be completed benches, shelves and all and I can start some seeds off and hopefully the snow will be on its way out and I begin making the square foot beds....
Can't you tell that I'm excited?....:D
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Chickens Shed to Potting Shed...
Today we went down to the old chicken shed and cleared it out of litter and nest boxes.. Brushed the ceilings and walls down....
Tomorrow Hubby and FIL go and pick up Lime to make whitewash to paint the ceiling and walls.. and to pick up wood and stuff for making my potting/workbenches... They'll also install 2 4ft double fluorescent lights that can be raised and lowered to use as growlights, less expensive than proper growlights...
The room is about 12 by 12 more or less... there will be a workbench around all the walls, with 2 outside doors and a door leading into the old attached feed shed. One corner will have my kettle and teapot...lol ...and shelves will be added on the east wall where no windows exist.
Received notification that the Square Foot Gardening book and the Companion Planting book have been shipped they should arrive tomorrow or Friday, I love reading my books and learning...
I'll be able to get seeds started much earlier in the season than I have in the past 8 yrs since I arrived here... I've found it difficult to adapt to such a short growing season... In England I could be out in the garden as early as February/March sowing Cabbages, Planting taters or sowing Carrots and Parsnips and Peas... Here in Northern Ontario, I'm lucky if I can sow in May some years....
By changing the purpose of the chicken shed to potting and seed starting shed and using plastic covering outside, I can get as much as 3 months start on growing stuff and at least a couple of months at the end of the season... And by adding shelves and various containers we can use it as a root cellar/storage shed in the winter months for storage of some of our harvest... I'll also be able to use the shelves for storing pickles, preserves, jams and jellies too, it will be a cold room for my canning and preserving... I'll be doubling my growing season...
I am so looking forward to working in both my gardens (yes, I will have 2 now) and picking straight from the plants, Tomatoes, Green Onions, Sugar Snap Peas, Snap Beans, or going around with a basket or box selecting my lunch that I'll eat immediately, fresh from the garden and warm from the Sun....
I'll be growing my Tomatoes and Peppers in Plastic Barrels, we have about 12 55 gallon plastic drums that I used for water storage in the past, we'll cut them in half to double the number and I'll grow 2 or more plants in each half barrel... I also have some polystyrene container/buckets that I used a couple of years ago for growing tomatoes... We have 2 or three metal feeders that we used for the chickens that I can use for Tomatoes or other plants... An old bath tub can be used for an Asparagus bed.....
We have LOTS of cut down trees that I'll be using for the walls of my veggie beds...
I love working things out and organizing but it's so much better when I'm growing my food...
Happy Gardening....
Tomorrow Hubby and FIL go and pick up Lime to make whitewash to paint the ceiling and walls.. and to pick up wood and stuff for making my potting/workbenches... They'll also install 2 4ft double fluorescent lights that can be raised and lowered to use as growlights, less expensive than proper growlights...
The room is about 12 by 12 more or less... there will be a workbench around all the walls, with 2 outside doors and a door leading into the old attached feed shed. One corner will have my kettle and teapot...lol ...and shelves will be added on the east wall where no windows exist.
Received notification that the Square Foot Gardening book and the Companion Planting book have been shipped they should arrive tomorrow or Friday, I love reading my books and learning...
I'll be able to get seeds started much earlier in the season than I have in the past 8 yrs since I arrived here... I've found it difficult to adapt to such a short growing season... In England I could be out in the garden as early as February/March sowing Cabbages, Planting taters or sowing Carrots and Parsnips and Peas... Here in Northern Ontario, I'm lucky if I can sow in May some years....
By changing the purpose of the chicken shed to potting and seed starting shed and using plastic covering outside, I can get as much as 3 months start on growing stuff and at least a couple of months at the end of the season... And by adding shelves and various containers we can use it as a root cellar/storage shed in the winter months for storage of some of our harvest... I'll also be able to use the shelves for storing pickles, preserves, jams and jellies too, it will be a cold room for my canning and preserving... I'll be doubling my growing season...
I am so looking forward to working in both my gardens (yes, I will have 2 now) and picking straight from the plants, Tomatoes, Green Onions, Sugar Snap Peas, Snap Beans, or going around with a basket or box selecting my lunch that I'll eat immediately, fresh from the garden and warm from the Sun....
I'll be growing my Tomatoes and Peppers in Plastic Barrels, we have about 12 55 gallon plastic drums that I used for water storage in the past, we'll cut them in half to double the number and I'll grow 2 or more plants in each half barrel... I also have some polystyrene container/buckets that I used a couple of years ago for growing tomatoes... We have 2 or three metal feeders that we used for the chickens that I can use for Tomatoes or other plants... An old bath tub can be used for an Asparagus bed.....
We have LOTS of cut down trees that I'll be using for the walls of my veggie beds...
I love working things out and organizing but it's so much better when I'm growing my food...
Happy Gardening....
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Square Foot Gardening
Well, we no longer have the chickens and ducks so I'm taking over their old run and sheds for a new fruit and veggy garden plus potting and seed starting sheds... I plan on using the Square Foot gardening method, I've always grown plants closer together than the prescribed distances and spacings.... I'm not interested in growing ginormous plants, just lots and lots... we have 3 freezers downstairs and I want to fill them all with home grown produce... as well as canning and pickling and jamming and stuff...lol
If you don't know what SFG is all about check out this link here: http://www.squarefootgardening.org/, there's also a great forum here where you'll find lots of people interested in gardening and they will be helpful too... http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/
I'm going to be keeping a Garden Journal as well as posting in the forums and this blog, that way I'll have records to look back on in later years....
I'm really looking forward to spring this year, now that I'll have the potting sheds and using fluorescent lights as growlights, I'll get a good start on my usual 12 week growing season...
Yaaaay.... I LOVE GARDENING....
If you don't know what SFG is all about check out this link here: http://www.squarefootgardening.org/, there's also a great forum here where you'll find lots of people interested in gardening and they will be helpful too... http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/
I'm going to be keeping a Garden Journal as well as posting in the forums and this blog, that way I'll have records to look back on in later years....
I'm really looking forward to spring this year, now that I'll have the potting sheds and using fluorescent lights as growlights, I'll get a good start on my usual 12 week growing season...
Yaaaay.... I LOVE GARDENING....
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Oh Happy Days...
Welcome to my world...
The sun is out today finally, which is good, it reminds me to drink more water... the past few days I haven't and I am feeling it...
Jade is still sleeping in my arms at night, which makes it difficult for me to turn over since she hooks her claws in every time I try to move.. She'll get over it eventually, it definitely makes me think she was locked up in someone's shed for the 3 days she was missing.... It's going to be very interesting again this coming winter, all these cats trying to snuggle up to mom in bed...It was like that last winter, each night I would end up with 10 cats on the bed as well as Rob.. wish they'd all move in with father in law in his bed, there's only him in it..
I've been checking out Bette Bliss's artwork the past few days, I think I'm going to get my colours and papers out again and try drawing/painting again... I haven't tried for the past two years, I had operations on both wrists for carpal tunnel syndrome, and there was a lot of bad nerve damage.. I'd had the problem for about 25 yrs and never had anything done until the pain was keeping me awake most of the nights... After the ops I lost fine motor control in both hands and couldn't draw or paint... But I think I'll have a try and try and figure out a new way, maybe less precise, a looser style might work.. I was always a pernickety painter and tended to overwork my pictures... I have to learn to 'let myself go'.. I've always tried to be in control of everything, my life, my body, my art the only thing I don't really control is my way of writing, that works for me nicely....
I'm still looking at Heirloom seed catalogues.. I'm trying not to wish the winter away before it even gets here, it's like wishing my life away when I do that... I have to learn to 'let things flow'... Go with the flow girl, go with the flow...lol
So the Mantra for today is: "Go With The Flow"....
The sun is out today finally, which is good, it reminds me to drink more water... the past few days I haven't and I am feeling it...
Jade is still sleeping in my arms at night, which makes it difficult for me to turn over since she hooks her claws in every time I try to move.. She'll get over it eventually, it definitely makes me think she was locked up in someone's shed for the 3 days she was missing.... It's going to be very interesting again this coming winter, all these cats trying to snuggle up to mom in bed...It was like that last winter, each night I would end up with 10 cats on the bed as well as Rob.. wish they'd all move in with father in law in his bed, there's only him in it..
I've been checking out Bette Bliss's artwork the past few days, I think I'm going to get my colours and papers out again and try drawing/painting again... I haven't tried for the past two years, I had operations on both wrists for carpal tunnel syndrome, and there was a lot of bad nerve damage.. I'd had the problem for about 25 yrs and never had anything done until the pain was keeping me awake most of the nights... After the ops I lost fine motor control in both hands and couldn't draw or paint... But I think I'll have a try and try and figure out a new way, maybe less precise, a looser style might work.. I was always a pernickety painter and tended to overwork my pictures... I have to learn to 'let myself go'.. I've always tried to be in control of everything, my life, my body, my art the only thing I don't really control is my way of writing, that works for me nicely....
I'm still looking at Heirloom seed catalogues.. I'm trying not to wish the winter away before it even gets here, it's like wishing my life away when I do that... I have to learn to 'let things flow'... Go with the flow girl, go with the flow...lol
So the Mantra for today is: "Go With The Flow"....
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