Sunday Bits #41 (climbing zucchini, chop and drop, attracting beneficial bugs...)

Whew, what a busy week it has been. My most favourite son is visiting for the week, which makes my momma heart so happy. Not to fret, he is my only son, no one is being left out ; )

We also have my mother's celebration of life ceremony today so I've been busy prepping for that. Some of our things are still in boxes so has been a bit of hide and seek to find everything, like the photo albums that I scoured through to find pictures of my mom throughout the years and the cute cottage-y drink dispenser. Trying to make it a really lovely, sweet gathering to honour my momma.

I will share all sorts of garden catch up stuff next week, when life settles back into a semblance of order, but boy, do I ever have a lot of really great links for you this week!

This article about heat tolerant veggies, short season veggies that are drought tolerant to grow in short but hot summers, is a really good read! So many good ideas to take from this read. Grow great food no matter where you live.

One of the things that I have been doing for a while now is growing several varieties of crops that I like so that I have an extended harvest season. Take broccoli, for instance. I grow Artwork broccolini (56 days), and one or two types of heading broccoli, like Gyspy at 62 days and others in the 60 to 70 day range. Extends the harvest for crops I love. I do the same with garlic, grow earlies and lates plus types that store longer, and tomatoes in a range of maturation dates, of course.

I am growing a new variety of zucchini that climbs! My usual varieties (see above, lol) tend to get really wide rather than vine so I thought I would try this new variety to see what I think, find out if I can go vertical with my zukes rather than taking up raised bed space. Here is an article about growing them vertically.

This is not my picture, is from the internet, but is what the climbing one looks like. I have not yet removed the bottom leaves.

The climbing zuke that I have is called 'Incredible Escalator' from Renee's garden Seeds... and here is a chocolate zucchini cake recipe to go with your bountiful harvest ; )

Do you wonder how to store your garden harvest? This read will give you all sorts of really good how-to information, with temps and humidity info, too.

I'm going to sound like a broken record about this but please do not spray. Not bugs and not the lawn or weeds. The less bugs we have, the less song birds we will have. Those baby birds need a lot of bugs to eat. Instead go a bit more carefree and instead plant herbs and flowers to attract these beneficial insects. My favourites are ladybugs, of course, spiders, and hoverflies, but some of the parasitoids blow my mind! Yes, this picture above is from my very own brussels, hah! I squish or let the wasps get them.

These great tips for keeping your garden happy in late summer.

Have you ever considered doing a chop and drop with your rhubarb leaves? Read more here... and 11 other plants you can use to create mulch.

This is my galvanised planter from when we lived up on the mountain in Nanaimo, and I started the Nitty Gritty Potager.

If you are ordering bulbs, don't forget that Vesey's pre-order specials end on the 16th! Pick up a few more bags for your garden. I like to add a bit more each year. Oh, and the longest lasting tulips that bloom every year are Darwins.

This candleholder DIY is fabulous and looks super easy to make, too!

This kitchen! Yes, hahaha, I am still looking at, and loving, all sorts of kitchens, even though our renovation is finished (thankfully). I just like to look, get little ideas, maybe. I love that gold coffee cup rail with hooks. Maybe when I have lived with my kitchen a bit longer, I will be okay with putting holes into the cabinets and installing one of these (super handy) bars. They look amazing but my kitchen is too new for me to make any holes anywhere as of yet.

Recipes

These five iced tea recipes!

I am still on a make your own treats and dessert kick. Eating real food. Right now, it is raspberry season! They are so ripe they are falling off the canes! Here is a lovely raspberry muffin recipe to help you use up some of them. Have a nice treat with your cold or hot cuppa tea.

Check out these great salads... I am all about the salads in summertime. Nothing tastes better than a salad made from the goodies in your gardens.

https://www.stonegableblog.com/scrumptious-arugula-salad-with-lemon-salad-dressing/

And this antipasto salad and this Bruschetta from your own garden tomatoes.

And to end... I have been ducked! For my very first time! So thrilled. You all probably know about the Jeep wave, right? We wave at other Jeep owners as we pass them by... or not wave really, but we lift a hand in solidarity and recognition of their awesomeness ;) Well, during Covid, to make another Jeep owner's day, a lady in Canada (yay!) placed a yellow rubber duck, with a note, on another Jeep to make their day a little bit better. The led to Jeep ducking... all I can say is that I sure do love Jeep Peeps! #duckduckjeep

Have a great day, you guys! and a wonderful week, too!

And if you also have a Jeep, I hope you get ducked real soon ; )

Blessings ~ Tanja

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