Bits of This & That #7

Happy Sunday morning! Are you all hunkering down for winter? Crafting? Preparing for the holidays? Or browsing through the seed links from the other day?

If you are itching to get planning and ordering your seeds, I posted my favourite seed sources the other day. You can find that post HERE. This is for seeds of all sorts, from veggies to flowers.

I just got an email this morning, from Tomato Fest, saying that they have a seed sale going on till the new year! Here is the link to that. If you have never shopped there, and if you love growing tomatoes, you will be going wild with all the choices! Happy shopping!

Don't forget to plan for the pollinators and beneficial insects when you are putting in orders. From my old blog, here are the top flowers to add to your potager for a pest free, thriving food garden. It is an old post, but the flowers remain the same. Adding flowers to your food garden is not a waste of space, a worry that some have; put them in the corners of the beds, in pots, in between veggie rows, fit them in as they are important. Flowers play a huge part in my integrated pest control program (great fall clean up, flowers in spring and summer, no sprays ever). They attract pollinators to the garden for better fruiting, feed our native bees, bring in predatory insects to eat the bad bugs, and they look pretty, too.

If you are in the Nanaimo area, Superior Farms is going to be selling my pollinator packs in spring, they have taken up that torch and will be running with it. They sell bee safe flowers, (no neonics ) so you can feel good about anything you buy there.

Pick up some extra seeds to sow here and there, things that germinate easily, like zinnias, calendula, and sweet alyssum, to have even more for the bees and beneficials. Sow these in mid-April on the island, a few weeks later on the prairies.

http://blog.gatheringtogetherfarm.com/2016/05/17/dry-farming-project/

Okay, on to other fun things....

These are things that caught my eye this past week. There is only one garden related item this week, but it is a good one! So good!

Check out this really great podcast with Jesse Frost, all about soil health. Healthy soil means healthy plants, which in turn means less bugs as they prefer plants that are struggling. There are a lot of great points in the podcast, several rabbit holes that you can go through, but the one that really piqued my interest was dry farming. I am going to give this a try this year in my tomato bed. You all know that I am always telling you to water less anyways, less water means tastier veggies and stronger, healthier plants.

Dry Farming No-Till Gardening & Farming | Living Soil Handbook | joegardener®

In spring, I sold the Tondino di Manduria tomato, a tomato grown in Italy using dry farming methods. Did you try this tomato? How did it fare for you in your hot, dry summer? I was moving in mid-summer so grew no tomatoes, but this one is high on my list for next year. Here is the link to that tomato if you want to try it, if saving water is also high on your list : )

Christmas related things that I found and liked.

Have you started your Christmas prep? Decorating? Shopping? I have not done one lick of prep for the holidays. I set up in mid-December and take it all down on the 26th. However, I liked these ideas, these crafts, so have pinned them all to (maybe) try ; )

All types of garland ideas, not just the traditional. Love the pompoms! Christmas Garland Options: Deck the Halls (town-n-country-living.com)

Here is the how-to for making pompoms! I want to make a bunch and put them everywhere! I love tassels, fringe, and pom-poms. Remember the jackets with the long fringe? Boy, did I ever covet those... and still do!

Here is a how-to for making cute little stockings as and advent calendar, or use them as decorations on the tree, if you prefer. She also gives ideas on what to put in them, ideas other than candy!

Are you kinda crafty? Here is how to make your own adorable Christmas runner. I have pinned this, need my sewing room set up so that I can get making! it has tassles ; )

Yuletide movies to watch.... Lindsay Lohan's Christmas Movie: Holiday Rom-Coms To Watch (thekit.ca)

Decor related stuffs...

Well... I don't really know what to say about these, so I won't. Here are the 2023 Paint Colours of the Year: 10 Expert-Approved Picks (hgtv.ca). Let me know in the comments what you think of them.

Check out this absolutely beautiful colonial country home. I would move there in an instant. It still has walls, thank goodness, they have not been taken down to make it all into one big room, making each room cosy and just perfect.

And, for flu season, here is my Anti-Flu Brew (Cough and Cold Medicine) recipe! Make Some Organic Anti-Flu Brew! (thenittygrittypotager.blogspot.com). It works and it tastes so great.

Happy Sunday Rading & Relaxing ` Tanja