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The harvest season is really upon us! I know, I know, everyone says that summer is over and gardening is done for the year. It's not over here, not by a long shot! This is when everything is coming in hot and heavy. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be canning, baking, dehydrating, and freezing all sorts of foods to fill the pantry and the cold room. Is such a wonderful, though busy, time of year. Just think... in 3 or 4 weeks, all of these beds will be empty. Eek! The first thing I am trying to do is take lots of notes and tons of pics. What I love, don't love, but mostly, what I going to move where next year. I will do up a garden review at the end of the year, a report card of sorts, and fill you in better about all the things I have noticed. But for now... here is the vegetable garden recap for the end of August. I topped all my tomatoes and removed much of the extra foliage to help them ripen up. Topping them (taking off a few inches of the top growth) puts energy into ripening the tomatoes already on the vine rather than continuing to grow and make new blossoms this late in the season. This is most important for indeterminates, but also helps your determinates if they are not ripening. I have done it to all my tomatoes, including the Martino's Roma in the picture above. Another thing to do to help them ripen faster is to water less often. I have gone from watering every 4th day to just once a week. You can even stop watering altogether. Mine are just starting to blush so still need a couple of nice weather weeks. This is super scary for me! For the past decade, I have been harvesting my first batch of tomatoes in mid-August, second batch a week or two later, and the third and final one in early to mid-September. Looks like just one crop this year, maybe two if I am extremely lucky with weather. The tomatoes growing under the hail guard are all indeterminates have been topped, too, with much of the extra foliage snapped off to help these beauties ripen up. These sunflowers were planted on the other side of the hail guard but those June rains must have moved them migrate over to this area. The baby spaghetti squash are planted in the tomato bed to the left of the picture but climbing up the sunflowers. In wanting to grow 'all the things' in this backyard plot, I have created this fun jungle of food crops. I have three Howden pumpkins, that I know of, growing for my grandies to carve at Hallowe'en. I hope to find a few more hiding amongst the leaves when I start pruning and tidying up the vines. They are taking over the yard but sure have been fun to grow. My task this weekend is to remove all the extra leaves and nip off the tops of the vines so they stop growing, concentrate on ripening. You know fall is coming when the squash and cucumbers start to get powdery mildew. They will going along fine and then a few days of cool weather come along with a heavy dewpoint and boom... you get powdery mildew. It is not a big deal. They are almost done for the year. Take off the worst of the leaves, leave your pumpkins/squash to finish ripening and then remove the whole kit and caboodle when done. There will be no stopping the mildew once this time of year hits, absolutely no point in spraying. These beds are jampacked... Determinate tomatoes and a lone spaghetti squash in the left bed. Onions, beets, carrots in the middle Zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkins, beets, and carrots in the right hand bed. I have cut back on watering to just once a week now. The onions are starting to fold over so will be harvested over the upcoming week sometime. They will be hung to dry and cure before being braided for storage. Do not braid your onions while the stems are green and fresh, they are too damp and may rot. We have been harvesting beets, carrots, onions, potatoes and zukes on the regular. Our dogs also get lots of veggies daily. We make them a 'stew' of carrots, zukes, and ground meat to put on top of their kibble every meal. I read somewhere (years ago) that if you feed them green and orange vegetables, they are 70% less apt to get cancer. Seems like an easy and yummy thing to do for my babies. Our beets and cucumbers are amazing this year. We have pickled a batch of each so far, 9 litres of beets and 3 half litres of refrigerator pickled gherkins. So many more to come. the fridge pickles are so good! Recipe to come this week! Check out the beets! We grew foot long Deep Cylinders and softball sized Lutz Green Leaf beets. Some are for roasting but will make one more batch of pickled beets, too. I pulled some of the medium sized onions from in between the big ones, allowing the big ones to get even bigger. They will go into the cold room to use throughout the winter. My Tall Utah celery are so nice! Big fat stalks, juicy and crisp. We will use a lot of it for making ketchup and salsa. Watered twice a week, in case you are curious. I do not blanche mine but you can pop a 2 litre milk carton over top when the plant is little to keep the stalks white and tender. If you are growing these on the island, a zone 7 or above, just harvest the stalks but leave the plants in the ground. They will keep growing until frost takes them down and then then will start growing new stalks from the center in February-ish again. Remove the plants in late spring, plant new ones. The second bed of potatoes is starting to die off... slowly but surely. Some people will keep watering while the tops die back but I rarely do. Just letting them do their thing. You know me, thrifty with water. When the tops have fully died back, I lift the potatoes and lay them out to dry/cure for a few days, and get a good thick skin. Then they can just be tossed into a cardboard box and stored in a heated garage or a cold room that stays just a bit above freezing. I will do up an end of year recap with a report card of sorts for all the veggies and flowers that I grew in a few week's time. Some things are amazing while others will not be make it onto the grow list again. Anyway... hey, what about that sunflower, eh? See you all real soon. Things change so much in the garden each week that I have all sorts of new things to tell you about already! See You Soon & Happy Harvest ~ Tanja

We have had a busy week. Hemingway had surgery on his paw, is now hopping around with a big bandage on his foot, but seems none the worse for wear. Whew! Now to just get the big boy healed up, back up and running. We've also started our canning and food storage. This will go on for the next 4 to 6 weeks as we harvest and clean out the gardens. We made our first batch of pickled beets, will share the recipe after we taste it... make sure it is delish. Of course, we have somehow misplaced the recipe we used 2 years ago and so are on the hunt for a new one that we love. I have a half dozen recipes pinned on my Pinterest canning board but none that say I made this and loved it. Why, oh why? I made a few jars of refrigerator pickles, too. Aren't they pretty? Canning gives one such a sense of satisfaction. We will make canned, shelf- stable ones with the next batches but I really just wanted some that were ready now, something fast and easy. The cukes are coming in hot and heavy so lots more canning to do yet. I have an assortment of this and that for you this week... a few garden things, some decor stuff (you need to check out those retro backsplash tiles!), and yummy recipes, of course. I'll be sharing canning recipes very soon, too, plus a garden recap in a couple of days... things sure are happening on the daily in the garden. You all have probably heard about good ladybugs versus bad ones? Native ones versus non-native? Here is a good read about them, a little bit of food for thought. Now... I know that I won't be squashing anything any time to come, but I also don't buy ladybugs. What about you? What are your thoughts on this? After you have harvested, dehydrated, frozen, and canned, what to do in the garden? This is a really good write up. Don't forget #9 while everything is still fresh in your mind. These 5 things to do for/in your garden right now. I'm off to do #4 ; ) Which also leads into these things that you do in your garden next month... These three next posts are all from the same blog... I went down that rabbit hole, you all ; ) Love it all so much that I signed up for the newsletter. I love this small cottage (in-law suite) with the shiplap walls and all, but those tiles in the kitchenette and on that coffee bar are to die for! I am trying to figure out how I can use them in the new fancy she-shed we are building. This kitchen storage blurb, so many great ideas, and (not to pat myself on the back, but) we have many of the same things in our new kitchen. I will post about our kitchen and bath reno after gardening season is done. These whimsical decorating ideas. I do not do much colour in the house, it would stress me out, lol, but I do add pops of fun and colour into the home. Adding those pops with some of these cute whimsical ideas would work so fine! This one is a couple of weeks too early, I think, but I'm sharing now so that you can pin it or save it for what to do with your surplus of produce, especially tomatoes. Less time consuming and laborious than canning into sauces. You really have to check out this recipe for Tomato Junk... a tasty and easy way to deal with all the things in the late summer garden. Here is my own recipe for Green Tomato Chow-Chow. This relish is so delish that we make sure to harvest at least one batch of unripe tomatoes each year, sometimes more; ) We use it on so many things but love it on fish burgers, veggie dogs and sausages, normal sausages, hot dogs, and burgers... so many things. We will be making some this week! You want to use nice, firm green tomatoes, don't make it with tomatoes that are blushing. I have some really yummy fall dessert recipes to share with you all... no more berries! We are now into pumpkins, squash, and apples.... even though it still feels like summer out there. Check out these apple-cider cinnamon rolls! And these 22 apple recipes, too. This beer bread sounds so super easy to make, and yummy, too. I wonder if I can use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose? Hubs is diabetic and I would hate to make a loaf just for myself.... or would I? Hmm. Let me know if you make this and if you love it... would you tweak it? Maybe make it with half and half? This is on my must make list. See what the grandies think of this... they love canned Zoodles, so maybe homemade spaghetti-o's would also go over well? And to finish... Here are all of the Starbucks fall drinks rated from worst to best. Now, I don't do generally do fall flavoured bevies.... but after reading this, even I am tempted to try the #1 pick. Hope you all are having a lovely, productive weekend ~ Tanja

Those of you who have followed me for a little bit know that I hate to start plants indoors. All that fussing with pots, soil, lighting, heating... If I can direct sow, I always choose that option. Luckily, though zinnias can be fussy to start indoors (are prone to fungal issues), they are dead easy to direct sow and grow in the garden. Direct sown zinnias always work out. They germinate and grow beautifully as long as they get heat and sunshine. They're super easy to grow, come in a wide range of colours, the blossoms last forever, and make beautiful bouquets. Best of all... they thrive on neglect! You don't even have to deadhead if you don't want to. If you are great at growing cacti and succulents, rarely remember to fertilise, are much too busy with life to fuss in your garden, zinnias are the perfect flower for you! How To Grow... Buy loads of seeds for the biggest impact. The seeds are inexpensive. For the cost of what you would pay for one basic bouquet at the grocers, you can get 5 packages which gives you tons of bouquets. If you really, really love them, as I do, buy more ; ) Sow the seeds in early spring, about 4 weeks before your last frost date. On the island, I always direct sowed in mid-April, unless the weather was super soggy. In that case I waited a week or two, at most, till the beds were drier. Here on the prairies, I can sow at the end of April, early May at the latest. I am a no-dig gardener so I always feed my beds with some manure in fall so they are good to go in spring. If you do not, you can always rake in some compost or manure in spring. Spread some manure/compost on top of the soil, rake in lightly. Done : ) Rake the bed smooth (with a bow rake, not a leaf rake). Scatter the seeds on the soil. Try to get them well spaced out at about 4 to 6 inches apart. If you are a really dedicated gardener, you can go along and push the seeds into the soil about 1 cm deep (half inch). Or you can sift some soil right on top of the seeds so they stay in place and are covered. That is what one should do... me, I am a lazy gardener with terrible arthritis so I try to never ever bend down if I don't have to. So I run that bow rake through the seeds, pushing it to-and-fro a bit, which seems to bury the seeds to the right depth. Tamp down the soil with the back of the rake to keep the seeds in place when watered. Water the seeds daily till they germinate, unless you planted in rainy season, then only water on the days you get no rain. You'll get better, more consistent, faster germination if you keep the soil damp-ish till they germinate. Once the seedlings come up, if they have moved around during the watering time/rainy season, they are super easy to move. Dig up the wee seedling and move it wherever you have a pocket of space. Water in well and it will quickly root into it's new home. Thin out the seedlings. You want to have the seedlings spaced 6 to 12 inches apart. I push my luck and have mine 4 to 6 inches apart. The seedlings are easily rooted into a new bed or pot, no need to waste the seedling. When they are 6 inches tall, you can pinch the tops to make them branch out. Again, as I have arthritis, I do not do this as it means more bending ~ hah! I just leave them be and find that they branch out just fine on their own and even more each time you harvest some flowers for your vases. That said, if you have time and remember to pinch them at this stage, they will bush out more from the bottom so you need less seeds/seedlings to cover the bed. Zinnias will keep on going well into fall. And honestly, they look pretty amazing even when they start to fade with the season. I leave them go as long as I can, till they go black from frost. Seed Saving You can easily collect your own seeds from the spent blossoms. Wait till the flower is brown and dry, harvest the blossom, leave to dry in a warm, sunny place for a few days. Then pull the petals out of the flower head, or you can rub the flower between your fingers to loosen the seeds from the flower head. The seeds are the arrow shaped bottom part of the petal. Remove the petals from the seeds and place in a shallow bowl. Leave the petals to dry another day or two before you winnow. I just blew across the top of the seeds. Anything that blows away is either debris or are sterile seeds. The heavier seeds, the ones that stay in the bowl when you blow across it, or into it, those are the viable seeds. Package the seeds into an envelope, label with the name and colour you think they will be. Many zinnias are hybrids so the seeds will not look exactly the same as the parent flowers. They will be pretty nevertheless, totally worth saving and growing. Seed Suppliers You can buy zinnias that are all the same colour, are all in the same colour family, or in various combinations of colours. In the picture above, I have planted them all in blocks of solid colours. My favourite zinnia seed suppliers are... Some varieties will have few seeds in the package, such as the new Queens (Lime, Red, Orange). So few seeds per package. Others will have lots, like the ones I recommend at the bottom of the post. For the best seed packages that are affordable and great quality, I love Renee's Garden Seeds. They have been my go to for 2 decades or more. I love their zinnia packs as they have such great colour combos, from cool colours to hot colours, or buy them in single hues, as well. Floret Flower Farms is my next go to but they are harder to get seeds from. They sell in spring and fall only and sell out super fast, like in one day. You have to sign up for their newsletter in order not to miss out on that sales day. I love their seeds though as they do not do a lot of mixed hues, and the seeds are of great quality. They also have some of their own pastel blends coming real soon - I can hardly wait! See their new breeding info here. Baker Creek Seeds is also a fantastic source for zinnias in all sorts of colours. The new Queens are very pretty but keep in mind that there are very few seeds in each package so in order for them to make a punch, you will need several packages to plant in a block. Stems Flower Farm is a bit like Floret in that they sell really wonderful flower colours and combos, but are also quick to sell out. Quick note... zinnias come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Some pompoms, some singles, some that look like cupcakes. They are all pretty and I love them all. I prefer the lilliput and dwarf types in containers and the taller ones in cutting gardens, but anything goes. You grow what you like. Keep in mind that if you are growing them for the pollinators and hummingbirds, simple blossoms are better. Happy Zinnia Growing ~ Tanja

You all... it is so cold! Two days ago we were baking in the smoking hot heat, but today we need a parka on! The plan was to work out in the yard but gosh, I think that can wait a little while. I got quite a bit done during the week - have topped all the tomatoes, took off most of the blossoms and foliage so that the plants put their energy into ripening the fruits, I harvested another big batch of zucchinis, cucumbers, and carrots, and I got the front yard looking ship shape. One of the very best plants for attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, too. So pretty and easy to grow. Whether you buy annual or perennial salvia, they are all fabulous. I love them all. For those of you who do not follow me on Facebook, I shared my front pathway garden earlier in the week. This area is a tough one! Parts of it get no sun at all, are in deep shade, while the other parts bake in the heat of the late afternoon sun. We get visits from deer, snow heaped on the beds in winter, ice-melt used on the pathway that can leach into the beds... it is not an easy area. I wanted to add colour, feed the bees, hummingbirds, and the (thus far, non-existent) hopefully some day butterflies. The bed on the left and close to the house, gets no sun. Nada. The front part and the other side of the pathway bakes in the heat, especially as the concrete soaks up the heat. I planted coneflowers and liatris that are doing fantastic, some annual zinnias for filler plants this year. Recently added some gorgeous pink and purple dianthus (thank you, Kathy!), a couple of Veronicas, and some more salvia, of course. Then I mulched it all in to make it look clean and tidy, help retain moisture (as I never water up front, lol), and keep weeds at bay. It took me two days to get rid of all the thistle and dandelions in these pathway beds. Those zinnias will be replaced with catmint (nepeta) next year. Along the 'what to plant where' theme... Check out these 30 gardens to get ideas. Lots of easy, carefree ideas, not fussy. You all know how I like to just let things go, spread, do their thing. You will like these flower and veggie garden and yard ideas. Are you new to growing garlic? Always wanted to grow your own because you know that your own fresh garlic is sticky, zesty, tasty, and a whole other thing than that subpar stuff you find at the grocers? Here is a how to about garlic growing. Are you over or under fertilising? Read all the seasonal tips in this good read. Do you save your own seeds? Are you wanting to but not sure how? Here is an easy how to. How to grow Jalapeno's (and other hot peppers). Great how to. If you find that you are getting bland tasting peppers, you have likely over-watered them. They like hot and dry. Peppers and eggplants are the perfect plant for busy gardeners. They need no fussing, and water just once or twice a week. Yes, even if grown in the super hot greenhouse. If they are in the ground, water once a week, if in a pot, maybe you can do twice a week (I only do once). Here is the how-to for sweet bell peppers. They need one extra watering, if you compare to the hot peppers. Peppers are super easy to grow.. but have to be super started early (like January-Feburary). Great fall planter ideas. I am sharing this post mainly for the plant list that they provide you with. I have to say, for some reason, I have never ever thought of using marigolds in my fall planters. What have I been thinking! They come in perfect fall colours, tough and hardy, bloom for a long time. Ideal for fall planters! Also, if you have Lamb's Ears in your garden, you know that they spread like mad so take a clump and pop it in your fall planter for that pretty silver pop. Growing flowers for fall - I think I will save my marigolds from the tomato bed, get some violas, start some lettuces, and add a bit of Creeping Jenny for a trailer. Easy peasy and I already have all the plants except the violas. I hope you all got your bulb orders in before the bonus cutoff date? Last year I added a ton of small bulbs, like muscari, squill, puschkinia, and crocuses, so this year I bought mostly tulips. So many tulips! Also bought another 100 muscari to plant as they multiply nicely and needs no further care from me. Here is a post about the 5 best bulbs to plant in fall. She names the Pink Impression tulip, which is a lovely Darwin. In case you missed it when I mentioned it before, the Darwin's are the closest you can get to a perennial tulip. So worth your while to get : ) If you love colour first thing in spring, you will really want to check out this garden (in the picture above)! Isn't that the prettiest spring yard ever? Though I don't think I will ever get the entire yard blooming like one in the picture, I'm going to keep adding bulbs and early perennials each year to get as close to it as I can. Let's feed those early bees and birds. Don't forget to add some early blooming fruiting/ornamental trees and shrubs to add layers of colour. How to dry hydrangeas. The secret is in the timing. Bits to Make and Decorate This garden trellis DIY is easy, pretty, and cost effective to make! I adore this amazing home in the south of France with it's gorgeous mix of old and new. I would live there in an instant. That orangery (greenhouse) is amazing! Follow Kristin's insta page, too. This new blog that I found. I have not yet had a chance to go through to find all the best ones for you, there is so much to see and read. I signed up for her newsletter and hope you like it, too. Are you busy, busy now that the school year is just about to begin again? Check out this command centre for all the super ideas to stay on top of things. I don't really need a command centre per se, but I use a lot of these ideas in my office to try to keep myself on track~ hah! This designer from Victoria, BC. Wow, just love the bright, airy homes with lots of white and light coloured wood. Check out all the homes for ideas, but this one is super pretty. Recipes I am trying to decide whether to make this yummy looking squash pizza. It looks amazing and sounds so delish. My dilemma is whether I want to eat cheese (being a veggie, I try to eat little to no cheese) but honestly, that is literally the only thing holding me back from making it right now. Trying to come up with a yummy alternative but had to share with you as I think it looks so very good! These mini blueberry muffins. Am I driving you crazy yet, with all these blueberry recipes? My favourite berry this year, it seems... though I do love those strawberry cupcakes I shared before, too - have made them twice already ; ) Yet another zucchini bread recipe. Tis the season! I harvested 11 zukes last week and 5 this week, lots more on the way. Eek! How many zucchini breads can I make and freeze? A pickled beet recipe. My cylindrical beets are really big already. As soon as hubby comes home we are going to be pickling beets to fill the pantry. I like pickled beets even more than cucumber pickles! This recipe that I am sharing makes one jar so if yours are coming along slowly, or you just want a little bit, this might be the perfect recipe for you. Will share ours when we deal with our beautiful beets : ) What the backyard looked like a year ago today... we've come a long way, baby. Happy Sunday, My Friends ~ Tanja

You guys! I am so excited! I have hummingbirds coming to my flowers! It is all really happening. My goal this summer was to attract the bees, birds, and beneficials to my garden and I have done it. I have bees buzzing in the flowers, especially that borage. I have seen a few songbirds, chickadees, some magpies, of course (that is my dad looking out for me), starlings, and blue jays now and again, too. Other than the occasional dragonfly and ladybug, I have not seen many beneficial insects, but they are there, somewhere, taking care of business, as I have found very few pest problems. While I see dozens of those pesky white cabbage moths flitting around the garden daily, I have very few holes. I should have tons by now, but I don't. I turn over my brussels leaves and nothing. No caterpillars there. A couple weeks ago, I turned the leaves over and found a few... now when I do it, none to be seen. Super happy that the task force is here taking care of the bad bugs for me. All you have to do is squish and wait, organic pest control takes time. I cannot say this often enough... if you plant it, they will come. If you plant flowers in your veggie patch, in your potager, you will have bigger harvests and healthy, pest-free plants without doing a thing. No need to buy ladybugs or other bio methods that disrupt nature, no spraying, nothing. Though you may not see them, the good guys are there. All you will notice is pest free plants and a bountiful harvest. Wondering which flowers to grow? See that post here. I have not seen the bees in my zucchini blossoms but they must be there as I am harvesting many zukes a week. Yesterday I picked 11 of them! All in one day. A couple got away from me and are huge. I did not see them hiding in the bottom of the plants as my zukes are very big, lush, and happy. Today is zucchini loaf making day. Going to try a couple of those recipes that I have posted over the past weeks. I just read this super interesting article about gardening on difficult land. How to grow more food, better food, healthier gardens. I really enjoyed the bits of helpful information in this read, and I think you will, too, especially if you are one of my readers from the coast. This read is great, too, about a Canadian gardener. While I can say with all honesty, gardening does not cure all that ails you, will not fix a broken body, I can say that it brings peace, joy, and a sense of well-being. Read all the tips in this article for growing a great healthy, organic garden. Totally worth the read. Sharing this link in case you all are looking for more spring colour in your garden, more spring flowers to feed the early pollinators (plus those hungry hummers!). This is the Vesey's fall bulb order. Their deal special ends on the 16th so you gotta get your order in asap to take advantage of the sale. Depending on how much you buy, you can save as much as $100. I compared to the free shipping deal on Bontanica (they have the Menton tulips that I love so much) but their deals cannot compare, so no Menton for me this year. I am, however, ordering lots of Darwin tulips as they keep on blooming for the most years in a row, without lifting, some more muscari (you can never have too much, it naturalises, and the bees love it), plus a few scented lilies to plant along the pathways and around the patio for colour and fragrance. I am hoping to get in at least a short pollinator strip this fall, will make it bigger next summer. I am hoping to have blooms from spring till frost in this strip, mostly bulbs in spring and perennials in summer, but may need some annuals to start to keep those bees happy. I have fallen in love with catmint. It is hardy, the bees, butterflies, and hummers love it, and it is easy to grow. The pretty blue flowers are airy and pretty. Makes a great border plant along a pathway or garden bed. Here is a read about the different kinds of catmints. Yes, cats do like them, btw, but I find that mine only eats them when the plants are little. As soon as the plant gets bigger or starts to flower, the cats are no longer interested. I have a basement cold room in this new house but have no idea how good it is going to be, how well it will store food. I do not quite understand all the measures we need to take to make this a really good cold room. It has shelves, Styrofoam insulation and a vent, as mentioned in the article. is this going to be good enough? I have no idea, lol, even after reading this article. Not sure if I need to add more to the ventilation? A fan? No idea. Time will tell. See what you think after you read the article. Are you good? Décor Bits Love, love, love this article about how to make your home feel better during difficult times. Small things to bring you peace and calm in turbulent times. This read for transititioning your home to fall. Now, I am not ready for fall by any means but I found these ideas to be simple, organic, pretty. I will be bringing some of these items into my home this week. A short read this week, but a really good one. The links are super, I hope you check them out. Especially the two about growing/gardening for your health. Have a great week ahead and happy Sunday ~ Tanja

August is a funny thing. To me, is still smack dab in summer but I hear so many people saying that it is almost fall! I am not even worrying about that, just living in the moment, enjoying the sunshine and happy that we still have like 5 or 6 weeks of good growing time. Boy, let me tell you, I need every minute of it! I got much of my stuff in late as the beds were not ready, or they were after thoughts, lol, so bring on the summertime heat! The potager garden is going crazy, everything has exploded with growth and most things are growing exceptionally well, better than ever, while others are just weird. What to Sow Now! First of all... if you are growing late summer veggies that can grow in October here on the prairies, you need to have them in the ground now or be planting them right away, like today, right after you finish reading this. My broccoli, broccolini, rutabaga, cabbage starts are in the garden. You have a bit more time on the coast though need to get them in pretty quick. Sowing seeds, do them right now, doing starts, the sooner in the ground, the better. This is NOT the time to be planting CARROTS, it is the wrong time of year no matter where you live. On the island, your next carrot sowing will be around winter solstice (December 24th to very early January). Order your seeds now. Sow as per usual, maybe a titch deeper, cover, walk away, no need to water. Label the spot so you remember in spring. When they start germinating, water weekly if you are not getting regular rains. You will be harvesting whoppers just after spring solstice. Here on the prairies, you will be sowing seeds in October. Sow deeper than usual, about double the depth. Sow a bit heavier than usual as not all will germinate. I know this works well in an in ground garden, not sure about raised beds (though it should). Will let you know in spring as I will sow a patch in both spots to trial them. Lettuce and Spinach - on the island, you can sow these in the next week or two, for crops this fall and in spring, too. Spinach grown outside can be harvested this fall, goes soggy in the winter rains, but will reappear in early spring for you to enjoy. Grown under cover, it will produce longer in fall and earlier in spring. Winter lettuces will thrive in the cooler temps, providing you with fresh greens till a really hard frost. On the prairies - wait to sow until October. I sow my lettuce seeds close to a wall so that the snow melts in spring, waters the seeds, they start to grow when temps are right (plus in the greenhouse). Spinach I will sow in greenhouse and in-ground beds, plus will try a few in the raised beds, as well. In this new yard, I need to trial all the places to see where it thrives the best. Shallots - if you can get them, seeds or bulbs, plant them this fall. In both areas. On the prairies, just go a bit deeper than you would if planting in spring, and never close to the edges of raised beds. I loved to grow Renee's purple scallions in winter and spring on the island. Easy to grow everywhere. Sow now if growing for fall and spring harvests. That is about all we can sow or grow for winter here on the prairies for next year, other than garlic. If you are on the island, please refer back to the ngp for what to sow and grow in August. Check the other years, the other months. I will keep it up forever, you just keep on going back to it like it is all brand new ; ) In The Food Garden My tomatoes are going crazy. Tons of blooms, lots of growth, but nothing ripe. Sigh. I was hopeful that they would ripen in mid August, as they did on the island, but I think with the cooler nights, we are looking at early September. Honestly, I do not even care when it happens, just as long as it does happen so I can turn these tomatoes into some nice sauce, chow chow, and ketchup! The 3 remaining brussels are doing well. Yes, they are holey and have had caterpillars, the white moths flitter about daily over here. I have squished some of the caterpillars and have also seen wasps buzzing about in there, so they are doing their thing to help be get rid of them, too. I read something saying that baby birds eat hundreds of caterpillars (and bugs) daily so other than squishing, I am doing nothing to them. I just keep reminding myself that I am not growing leaves, I am growing sprouts. My zukes and cukes are producing like mad. We are picking one or two zucchini every few days and they are just loaded with blossoms, both male and female. This climbing zuke, in the picture above, really intrigues me. Will keep you updated on how they make out. Right now, I have 2 lovely zucchinis on it and lots of flowers. If I love it, will stop growing the regular ones so that I have more garden bed space for beets, carrots, brassicas... something. The beets and carrots look really great! Cylindrical beets are ready to made into pickled beet slices but hubby not home at the moment so will be pickling in two weeks time. I never do my canning, except jams, without hubby as he is a chef so everything goes faster and better with his help ; ) I never thin carrots, btw, I just try to sow fairly evenly and then harvest carrots growing close together. These are the close togethers ; ) My celeries are huge. I have to start harvesting as I have lots of it... way more than any one person needs. I have heard people say that celery needs a bog, needs tons of water, is hard to grow... all sorts of things. Let me dispel those myths. Super easy to grow, even in drought seasons. I plant my starts wherever I have room for them in spring. This year they are in the tomato bed, sometimes they are in the squash bed. They just end up tucked in wherever I have room for them to grow. I place the weeping hose right beside them so that they get lots of water when I turn on the tap. I deep water them twice a week and they are always spectacular, even in sandy island soil. For tender pale stalks like you see at the grocers, you can blanche them by placing a milk carton around them while they are small and young. Some blanche with newspaper but that sounds a bit trickier to me. I never blanche. I like the dark green stalks, and that deep flavour. We use the celery in our canning, it adds great flavour to tomato sauces but I have read lots of great ideas for what to do with it all. That will have to go into another post as this is getting a bit long to read already. The onions - I had just made the decision that last weekend was to be my last time watering them so that they cure better after they are harvested, and then we got an inch of rain this week. Eek. So, no more additional water from me from now on, just what comes from above. As with garlic, you do not want onions bloated with water when you lift them, or they are more apt to go mouldy, will not store as well or long. Potatoes... the Red Norland tops are yellowing and dying back. We harvested a row already for fresh eating, are leaving the last row till the stems die off so that they get a nice thick skin for storage. The Jazz potatoes are still going strong. No yellowing yet. We will harvest as we needs spuds, and will just leave the rest be till they die back. Then they get cured for a week or two before going into storage. Garden Clean Up The front garden bed is full of weeds going to seed. I won't share that picture, hahaha, but here is small corner of the bed. I have not been able to deadhead, weed, or plant it up with the new plants I bought, as Yellow Jackets come after me each time I go out front. I think I finally got them to move on, am now just hoping their new home is not somewhere else in my yard. I have some lovely purple dianthus that was gifted to me, veronica in two colours, some salvia and pink dianthus that I bought at full price, just days before it went on sale. Sigh. These are all destined for the small garden up front by the pathway to the front door. August is early clean up time. Lots of weeding to do, pulling out tired looking plants, replacing them with a new seed, a new starter veggie, or a pretty annual flower. Pinch off spent flowers to get a big new flush of blossoms in 2 weeks time. Will rejuvenate your tired looking baskets or planters. If the flowers is done for, just too much trouble... pull it out and pop in a fresh new plant. This is a great time to renew tired looking planters. My long English cucumbers are all growing on the lower part of the vines. They never did grow tall and climb, stayed compact this year due to the cool temps in June, but they look great. No mildew in sight. Now to figure out how to get them off the ground! If your cucumber or squash leaves are starting to get mildewed, cut them off and get rid of them. Take off the bottom leaves and remove as many as needed till you get to the fresh looking green leaves at the top. Leave those ones be, the plant needs them for nutrients, leave the flowers and the fruits. Throw them in your compost bin or the green wheelie bin. May your garden bring you much bounty and joy ~ Tanja

I went to see our local community garden the other day and what a lovely place it is! This is a perfect time to see it, as well, with all the beds and plots full to bursting with veggies. One lady had rows upon rows of beets in her garden plot in the ground. Wow! She lets a few go to seed each year as she harvests her own vegetable seeds. I am in awe of both the garden and the gardener. While there, I went for a poke through of the greenhouse and noticed powdery mildew starting to rear it's ugly head on the melon and cucumber leaves. (Not this one in the picture, this is mine from a couple of years ago. Growing in the hoophouse). If you get powdery mildew in the greenhouse, you have to deal with it pretty quick or it rapidly spreads from plant to plant, creating quite the nightmare. What is powdery mildew? It is a fungal disease that looks like grey fuzz or flour that has been dusted on your leaves. It usually starts in small spots, like in the picture above, but spreads quickly over the whole leaf. How do you get powdery mildew? The spores are spread by the wind, mostly in the late summer when conditions are warm and dry, but the air is humid. Like our weather was last week with the heat but daily threats of rain. Perfect weather for mildew spores. When do you get powdery mildew? If it happens in mid-summer, while your fruits are still just forming, you want to try to stop the spread. If it happens in late-summer, when your butternuts, pumpkins, spaghettis, are finished growing and you're just waiting for them to colour up, then you needn't do anything at all. The mildew will not hurt your fruits as they finish ripening off. Prevention is the best way to control this fungal issue. 1. Plant squash, melons, cucumbers in bright, sunny locations. 2. Ensure that there is plenty of good air flow around them, good air circulation. 3. Water at soil level, try to keep the leaves dry. 4. Water in the morning as sitting in cool, damp soil overnight will promote the growth of the fungal spores. If it is in the greenhouse, you want to try to stop the spread quickly. 4 Ways to Deal With Powdery Mildew 1. Cut off the leaves as soon as you see the fungal spores happening, to prevent spread. Have a bucket of soapy water with a titch of bleach in it with you and dip the pruners into the bucket between each cut to prevent spread. 2. Milk - Mix a solution of one third milk and 2 thirds water in a spray bottle. Spray till leaf is dripping. You can use a higher fat content if that is all you have at home but it is a bit less effective, and is quite smelly as the milk sours on top of the leaves. This milk spray works really well on the smooth foliage of roses but is less effective on the hairy leaves of squash, cukes, and melons. This spray will only kill fungal spores, does not harm insects or foliage. Works better as a preventative spray than a cure, but it works. This is the remedy that I use most. 3. Baking Soda - Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 1 litre (quart) of water and spray till dripping. The baking soda will kill only the fungal spores, does not harm the rest of the leaves. Is also better at prevention rather than a cure. I'm afraid that once you have it, you have it (insert sad face here). You can also add a bit of soap to the spray to help it stick but be aware that this will also harm any beneficial insects, so only use while they are not active, and do not spray the blossoms. If in the greenhouse, close the door while you spray and until it is dry. 4. Wood Ashes - This is a new-to-me idea but was shared by a very experienced, long time gardener with loads of knowledge, so I am sharing it with you all here as another option. Mix 6 teaspoons of wood ashes and a drop of dish soap in a litre of warm water and spray the mildewed area liberally. This will also harm beneficial insects so use when they are not active. If in the greenhouse, close the door while you spray and until it is dry, do not get on the blossoms. In this picture above, you can see how Charles Dowding just removes the old leaves from the cucumbers as they yellow and age, leaving just the fresh, new leaves at the top for photosynthesis. New flowers are still forming at the top and along the stems. He does not spray with anything. Do not be afraid to prune! Check out this article here for more pics and information. Tips - do not fertilise and prune off extra foliage to improve air flow around the plant. Still having problems each year? Look for mildew resistant varieties of vegetables! They are out there. Happy Growing! Enjoy the process and remember that organic growing does not mean perfect. You will have holes, you will have spots, but you will have amazing harvests -Tanja

You guys, I have had a week! My head was in a whole other space as our mastiff, Hemingway, went to Edmonton to see a vet to find out if surgery is an option. All I did all week was worry about him going through all this without his momma. They are always our babies, even if they weigh 250lbs. Though it gives me great angst, we have decided to give surgery a try, with any luck all goes well and we have another 4 years with our big guy. The gardens and planters have exploded with all the heat and rain the past two weeks. Such a glorious time! Remember to water your baskets and planters daily, even if you have rain days, as not much of that moisture actually hits the soil. I will start with the most important news first. It's pretty exciting, you guys! Tomorrow morning Floret Flower Farm opens up for their seed sales. It is a one and done, you guys. Their seeds sell out real fast. I make my list ahead of time so all I have to do is punch in my order in the morning. Here is the link to the seeds, go check it out, make your list : ) By the way, the selection of sweet peas she has this year, is phenomenal! Pick up a few packs and don't forget the calendula (one of the very best flowers for organic pest control). These sweet peas in the picture are not from Floret. You really need to check out the fabulous colours that she has on offer! Amazing hues! I want them all but kept it to just 3... maybe. I found this article with a collection of small gardens, like this one in the picture above. Is that not super sweet? Love that little greenhouse at the back with potted plants leading the way. Get tons of ideas, affordable and doable ideas from this great read. Here are two reads about creating a cohesive garden that I really enjoyed. This first one has super tips about how to design a garden from scratch. So many smart ideas. Then, this other one is things to think about that pull the yard together, make it look lovely and relaxing. You all know that I do organic, no-dig (less carbon), pollinator and critter friendly gardening but I got more ideas from this article to make my gardens and gardening more environmentally friendly. I love the last bit of the write up the most, where it says to care less ; ) Definitely prefer carefree gardening over here! Do you have a lot of shade and wonder what crops you can grow in 3 or less hours of sunshine? Get some ideas here. I have a small shade bed that gets only 2 to (maybe) 3 hours and all I can say is that things are slow there, lol. They are coming but they are slow. I think maybe I should start with starter plants rather than directly from seed, as it took forever for them to germinate. How to make your own compost in an easy read. My compost tumbler is the best thing ever. We like it so much that we are picking up a second one. They are perfect for lazy composter types like me! Pretty much rodent resistant, too, as long as you give it a spin every day or two, so they have no time to set up house in your bin. Are you having issues with your tomatoes? Check out this really good read with Craig Lehoullier. Practical advice, seed saving advice, and best of all, he normalizes imperfect tomato issues caused by nature rather than nurture. Recipes and Thoughts Bits... Totally off topic, but are you all watching Season 3 of Sweet Magnolias? I sure do love the friendship that those ladies have! And everyone is so nice! If you haven't watched any of them, start from the beginning, you are going to love it! I've read the books, btw, but still really love this Netflix series. I pulled one row of potatoes yesterday, some lovely red Norlands (my favourite) and then I saw this tasty looking amazing potato salad bursting with as many veggies as spuds, so it went on tonight's supper menu. Fresh dill, spuds, cukes from our very own garden! Here are 40 popular summer meal ideas, some desserts, too, that you might like. Pretty much all of these recipes have meat or dairy in them, so not for us veggies without making some changes, but they look so good that is worth our while to give it a go. If you like to cook with cheese, you will love these ideas. See the picture above : ) If you are looking for a fool proof recipe, the strawberry cupcakes and the blueberry breakfast cake that I shared earlier, are super fast, easy to make, and taste fantastic. You cannot go wrong with either one. I do not make the icing for the cupcakes, nor do I use the red food colouring, etc. I just use the real ingredients to make real food... even if they are sweet treats. I think that is all for this week's Bits. There are so many little things that I could talk to you about, like how much I love the new annual salvias, how the moths have found my garden, but not a butterfly in sight, how sometimes too many bees are just too many bees, hah! All sorts of baking, canning, and house things, too, but will leave it all for now and see you during the week again for a garden up date. Have a Great Sunday ~ Tanja

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. 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. 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 ,

Happy Sunday! We have a couple of scorcher days heading our way, but pots and baskets have been watered, are loving the heat. I have three female flowers on my squash... not a male in sight though. Hoping that before the day is done, one of the males opens up just in time to get the job done, hahaha. I am happy to say that I now have seen a ton of pollinators and a few smaller song birds, too. No hummingbirds or butterflies yet, though, still working on those. The good news is that I have a lot of bees now, the bad news is that they have made a home in a crack by my front door ; ) Gardening Bits.... I have a whole lot of gardening articles to share with you all, and a bunch of summery recipes, too. Scan through them and see what catches your eye. Check out these articles about wildscaping. How to add native plants, make your yard a haven for both you and the critters. It doesn't have to look wild to be wildlife friendly! You can incorporate these plants into your regular landscape, be wildlife and bee friendly, without looking like a meadow or an overgrown weed patch ; ) https://awaytogarden.com/how-conservation-starts-in-your-yard-doug-tallamy-on-natures-best-hope/ https://awaytogarden.com/the-wildscape-around-us-with-nancy-lawson-the-humane-gardener/ https://awaytogarden.com/surprising-native-annuals-and-how-to-find-your-regions-with-alan-branhagen/ https://awaytogarden.com/natives-in-a-formal-garden-with-stoneleighs-ethan-kauffman/ How to attract butterflies to your garden. I love all these ideas and am working on it. Just a reminder to think about where you put your flowers.... remember what butterflies start out as. If you are one to spray for caterpillars... this article is probably not for you, hahaha ; ) Make a rain garden! This has always been something I have wanted to do but not yet been able to figure out where to put one. How to grow Brussel Sprouts! these are mine, I have some lovelies coming along for Thanksgiving dinner. You all know how much I love cutting gardens! Here are the best and easiest flowers to grow for your own cutting garden, and how to grow them. I have talked about hügelkultur before and how much I love it. My brother is (still) working on this over on his farm. A fantastic way to grow food with little to no watering or care! If you have the space, it does not get any easier than this. Growing cabbage... did you know that you can save the roots from this year's crop and plant them in spring next year? I had NO idea! Always learning something new! Check out this read! Here is an article about growing zucchini, with ideas how to deal with any issues you might be having... like powdery mildew. One Cleaning Bit.... Cleaning the tracks of your windows and doors. I thought this was going to be a bit lame, but had to read it anyways. Turns out she has some really great ideas. My patio doors are always looking like heck-a-doodle as the dogs track in who knows what from the yard and their lips. Recipes.... It is fruit and berry season. Love this time of year! Here is an article with 4 ways to preserve your harvest. I love #2 and #3, we do both of these a whole lot! Then there is this recipe for Blackberry freezer (or fridge) jam! Jam without pectin. Here, also, is my recipe for small batch raspberry jam with no pectin from the old blog. I make a lot of these small batch jams and look forward to making them again this summer! Or, how about this lovely sour cherry jam? Are you growing one of the Romance Cherries, like Romeo, Juliet, Valentine, Cupid, or maybe one of the tree form cherries, like Evans? These guys all make wonderful jams! Or pie fillings. Or juice. We just planted a Romeo this year so a few years to go yet before we get enough for jam ; ) How to make jelly. They give 7 recipes, I would only make the first three, but you all might want to make some of that mint jelly, too? Freezing and storing herbs... I know you all know this already, but might not have thought of it right at the moment, while you are wilting in the heat and your herbs are growing like mad and can use a quick haircut ; ) Here are a couple of summer salads that I thought looked really yummy. I love panzanella (with artisan bread) salads, and this carrot, halloumi, chickpea one looks really yummy, too. This tomato, peach salad looks amazing. Looks more like a salad charcuterie board, lol. Hope you are having a lovely weekend, enjoy your Sunday! See you again soon ~ Tanja

A Short Tongue In Cheek Story About Tomatoes. Remember when we had that wee seedling in our hands and were getting ready to plant it? How we took off the bottom leaves, made a deep hole (or maybe you planted it sideways), and popped that seedling into the soil right up to it's neck. Cuz we wanted that lovely tomato seedling to grow up big and strong. We wanted it to make roots all along the buried stem, roots that went nice and deep to take up lots of water and nutrients from the soil. Saves on watering for us! Yay! Tomato is happier and thriving - Double yay! Summertime - That tomato plant sure is getting big. We know those roots are going deeper and deeper so we are watering really nice and deep with a weeping hose. Running it for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Yay! Our tomato is getting water right down to it's tippie toes! It is so happy! We water deeply so we only have to water every 3rd day. Some of us are only watering every 5 days. Wow! Cuz we know those roots go deep and there is water in that soil if you dig down a bit. That soil on the top is dry but we know that the soil is nice and wet deep down. The roots are drinking it up and taking up the nutrients from our lovely nutrient rich soil. Oh, you were really wise and mulched with grass or something, also, so the roots are staying damp even longer, thus extending the days in between each watering? You are so wise and the planet thanks you. Hugs and kisses from planet earth! Darn. The leaves are limp during the heat of the day? Well, we get it. It happens. We droop in the heat, too, but perk up again in the cool of the evening. The daytime heat of the sun is so great though, we are loving it! It is filling our tomatoes full of flavour. Bottom leaves getting yellow? Whew, they sure did hang around for a long time. Those things are old! We just take them off and toss them in the compost bin. We hear about others finding tomatoes with BER, bland tasting like grocery store tomatoes, or kinda grainy and mealy, but not us. Our tomatoes are amazing and taste like summer. We are so happy! Mid August and holy doodle, we can hardly keep up with the tomatoes, they are coming on so fast. Yay! All our dreams for that wee seedling came to fruition! Can't wait to do it all over again next year. Happy tomato growing, my friends ~ Tanja

What a great week I have had. The weather has been cooler with a quick rain shower pretty much daily. The rains do not last long, no more than 10 minutes and then the sun is shining again. This has been wonderful for my trees, shrubs, and perennial beds, as you know I never water those, hahaha. They have to be tough to live at my house ; ) As the weather has been so lovely, I got so much done during the week! Several baking days in a row, painting, cleaning, crafting, and some gardening in there, too. Totally thrilled with everything I got done so far, and hoping to do more yet. Of course, I have over done it this week, forgot that my body was broken... but, I would still do it all over again ; ) Gardening Bits Today marks exactly one year since we moved to this new home and boy, have there been changes! Both inside and out. I am so happy to be able to putter at my own pace with no worries about who is showing up to work on something each day. Just me and my brand new kitchen, bath, and landscaping. To see the outdoor renovation - what the yard looked like then and what all we did, with the how's and the why's, see that post here. This is the AFTER, the NOW... Psst, see the background? Is smoky again today. BEFORE - While we absolutely loved the cosiness of old patio, and the privacy, sadly many things were scary rotten. There are lots of great reads in this week's Bits, so much I want to share... I will start with this one... Stems Flower Farms has all their seeds on sale this month. I just got the newsletter (sob!) so this is a bit late, but still lots of great sales to be had. Stems is the Canadian version of Floret Flower Farm, so many great seeds. They also carry dahlias and soon to come are the German Irises! Btw, Floret will have seeds available in August this year as their seed gal is having a baby and will soon be going on mat leave. Mark you calendars, if you're like me... gotta try new things. I love their apricot cosmos! Check out this lovely yard renovation. They make a wildlife friendly yard but it looks tidy, organised, a bit like a formal cottage garden, with different garden rooms, a water feature, seating. Is a haven for wildlife with a tamed look. I love how they blended their patio stones into the garden... kind of like we have done (picture above) but love how their rectangular pavers work with the landscape - so lovely! This rose article is really good. Rose disease identification and treatment. I love tip #5, so important - Don’t over-fertilize. Only fertilize shrubs, landscape, and species roses once in the spring with an organic fertilizers such as compost or an all-purpose 10-10-10 fertilizer. Hybrid teas should be fertilized three times a year: in early spring after pruning, during the first bloom, and in mid-July. Do not fertilize after late July. Here is a very comprehensive read about mulch and whether to use bagged or bulk. I LOVE mulch everywhere.... for keeping weeds down, making the beds look super tidy, and retaining moisture. I only water my perennial beds once a month (yes, even on the island during the droughty summers) so a good thick 3" layer layer of mulch is important to save on water. I see some folks putting down mulch but continuing to water as per usual. Yikes! Watering too often creates problems like fungal leaf spots, mildew, yellowing foliage, or even root rot. You want to water a whole lot less as the ground is staying damp for much longer under that straw or bark (which was your intent to begin with, right?). If you usually water once a week, spread it out to every 2nd week. Or longer. Your plants will thank you for it : ) Yes, you have to top up mulch every 3rd year or so as it decomposes, but that is the intent. Is great, it feeds the soil life. Perfect! That is, it is perfect as long as you did not make the mistake of putting landscape fabric under it. Eek! Mulch will break down into compost on top of your fabric, creating a great place for weed seeds to germinate. Okay, enough about mulch, lol. Regarding watering... just a reminder to check for moisture when you get rain. Sometimes it is hard to know whether to water or leave it for another day. You can often find me out there watering in the rain, or right afterwards. Sticking to my watering schedule of every 3rd day with tomatoes and such. Pots and baskets will always need water, there is no way that rain is penetrating through all those plants to wet your soil unless it is a day of a good soaking rain. Those quick showers though? Not watering the beds that look like the one you see in the picture above. If you have open soil in your beds, you are probably/possibly just fine. I do not water my shrubs, roses, perennial beds, they are grateful for the moisture, but I check my veggie beds. Not sure? Stick your finger in the soil. If it is dry, you need to water. Do you have lots of grass clippings? On the island, the lawns have likely all gone golden brown some time ago but here on the prairies, we have had some rain, so the grass is still looking green and lush (for those who have nice lawns, lol. We do not.). Here are three tips for what to do with those clippings. Following up with that is this article about how to make fertiliser teas for your garden. If you attended my workshops in the past, you will remember manure tea and alfalfa tea, both are really great for feeding your roses and veggies. Are you a TikToker? Check out @simonakeroydgardener. He is so good. Short little videos(?) reels(?) whatever they are called, lol, with really smart money-saving gardening tips, or just fun things to try. Decor Bits... Check out these pics for great cottagey inspiration, or maybe like me, just to ooh and ah over. Are you all Sarah Richardson fans? Did you know that her sweet summer cottage is available to rent! Remember when she showed up the reno? and Tommy's guest room? Recipes That Are Perfect For July Is almost peach time! Check out this Peach Cobbler recipe and tips for the best, ripest, yummiest peaches. Here is another peach cobbler recipe made with brown sugar. And these raspberry recipes. Is raspberry season! My favourite berry of them all. Here are a bunch of recipes, including a peach and raspberry pan dowdy, and a mojito recipe, too. Or perhaps you prefer these blueberry recipes? Or this lovely strawberry pound cake. I love pound cakes, they remind me of both my mom and my grandma. Both always had a poundcake on the counter, ready for guests or just to go with your cuppa. My dad loved his tea and cake in the afternoon. Okay, you all check out this summer entertaining recipe idea and tell me what you think. Please! I mean, I think it sounds delish... but how do you feel about the hands and the sharing part? Is it just me? Let me know! I love summer salads. In fact, now that I am back on my healthy eating thing, whew, a salad a day is making me feel so much better. Always on the look out for easy, yummy ideas. So, check out these ideas... and for all my TikTok friends, @fayette_nyehn has a ton of great recipes. She makes them for work lunches, in jars, but I just toss it all in a big bowl. She is my latest fave, as is Auri for her cleaning. If you know, you know ; ) Remember that small 10" calibrachoa hanging basket I got as a house warming gift? Check it out now... I transplanted it into a big galvanised pail (with holes for drainage) added a bit of fresh potting soil around it, and it has not stopped flowering and growing ever since. I saw fresh new cali baskets at No Frills (the small town version of Superstore) yesterday, in yellow and a tri-colour of yellow, white, and pink for just $16. If you need a fresh pop of colour for your yard, pick up a basket or two, pop into big pots or baskets, and BOOM, blooms to take you till the end of summer. Happy Sunday, my friends ~ Tanja