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As we drive around, I notice a whole lot of people taking part in No-Mow May. There are lawns with crocuses popping up, some with dandelions, and some are just longish grass. I kind of love the natural look but No-Mow May is a bit controversial. Here are some other ideas for ways to reduce your lawn . You all know about my pollinator strip garden that will reduce the lawn and help feed our birds and pollinators, but I am also thinking about making a wee mini meadow block in my very tiny front yard. I just finished watching Floret on the Magnolia tv station and was so inspired by Erin, yet again. She is currently collecting and growing on over 2000 roses that are on the brink of being forgotten in time. Listening to her talk about the roses, the collection, and the two farms where she has taken the cuttings from, is so very inspiring. I love her passion about all the things that she takes on. These are no small tasks, and she has taken on several. Here are some short videos and gardens about a topic that I am very passionate about.. saving our bees, birds, and beneficial insects : ) Bring Bees Back Bringing Nature Home Boring Lawn To Pollinator Garden (such a pretty garden! Love to get ideas from video's like this) And, of course, this one from Floret.... Attracting Pollinators Into The Garden And hey, while we are at it... Do synthetic fertilisers harm the soil? Growing nasturtiums , everything you need to know. I took to calling them nasties back when I was selling them at the greenhouse... not because I don't like them as I sure do! I love them, but just because it was a lot shorter to write nasties than nasturtiums when you had to do it over and over again ; ) This gorgeous cottage garden from spring till fall. How to mulch up your garden. .. no more mulch volcanoes, please! I loved the pictures in this read, and the hardy flower recommendations. Easy Flowers To Grow For Beginners. These 18 lilac varieties to grow . I really, really want to add more lilacs to my yard. This handmade table and patio at Nana's ... and check out her lovely garden in summertime ! These are the heavy duty solar string lights that she recommends. If they're for the patio, you might also like these ones as the lights are not super close together and they come in several lengths. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Disclaimer. As an Amazon affiliate, if you were to purchase an item(s) from the links, I will get a wee small amount of money to support my blog. It does not cost you any extra to purchase through my link than if you went to that item on your own. Many thanks for your support! H omemade Bug Spray recipes to keep those mozzies away. Or, even better yet, check out the nice smelling, deet free, all natural bug spray at Mint ! Homey Inspo I always enjoy looking at kitchens, dreaming of building a cottage style one in a cabin some day. Check out these top 12 different kitchen colours and pick your favourites. I cannot choose, I love them all for different reasons! This bathroom renovation. I love that floor! The Ninja Creami - Oh, My, Goodness! Check out that Ninja Creami! I am putting this on my birthday wish list. It makes ice cream, gelato, frozen yoghurt, sorbet, vegan ice cream, or even frozen margaritas. Tell me I didn't get you with the margaritas, eh? Greek orzo salad! Like a macaroni salad, but better! The perfect blueberry muffin loaf. Rhubarb Sauce ! Great timing for anything and everything rhubarb! Last weekend the weather was so lovely that we got the deck stained and set up for summer... but is too cold to enjoy it this weekend. (ignore the table in this picture, I ran out of spray paint!). I had this rug purchased for my living room but I decided that the blue tribal pattern (it also comes in peach & grey) did not work indoors. However, it sure looks great out on the deck! This is one of those machine washable, rubber backed rugs that can be used pretty much anywhere. Is cosy under foot, can toss it in the washing machine whenever vacuuming it is not enough. Love these rugs so much. Happy long weekend! Hope you are having a great one, despite the cool weather ~ Tanja

The long weekend is upon us. It is gardening (or camping) weekend all across the country. This is when it is traditionally safe to plant up the garden... mostly. However, this year, the long weekend is very early! Many of us tend to call it the May two four weekend, but the 24th is not till next week. Use caution if you were hoping to plant now as it looks we're going to have a very cool weekend across much of the country. Rain, cloudy, windy, night time temps nearing zero are predicted here on the prairies, below 10°C on the island. Yikes. This kind of weather is fine for sowing peas, carrots, beets, all your brassicas, onions, potatoes, more lettuce, peas, even your beans... everything except the warm season veggies can go out. I've yet to plant or sow much of anything in the ground though, other than some flowers, peas, plus brussels from seeds and plants. That is just about all. It has either been rainy, windy, or I have been busy with something else... I sometimes start to panic, thinking that I am late, late, late.. and then I realise that it is just the middle of May and I have a good month of planting time yet. Whew! I am very used to planting my warm season crops (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers) in June anyways as my wee ngp greenhouse was open till after the May long weekend, leaving me no time to plant until I closed the gates on the spring season. My only worry planting them out the first week of June here on the prairies is that we have a shorter summer than we had on the west coast. Will they have time to ripen? I guess we are going to find out! I will put the longest maturing types in the greenhouse and cross my fingers. The weather is not the only reason for my planting tardiness though. I am also pivoting a bit, taking stock and making changes as my plans have changed somewhat. The plan was to quickly expand the foundation planting by a few feet, making it into a pollinator strip this spring. Then in summer to work on the rest of the side and backyard. Hubby got started on the digging and we both thought 'ugh, what are we two oldies doing?' This is a lot of hard grunt work, we are no longer in our 30's.. or even our 40's, hahaha, this is going to take us a month of Sundays, a lot of aching muscles, and we won't finish till the end of summer yet again. So, it looks like we are going to get someone to do it for us. What would take us all summer will just take them a few days to do. The job will be complete and I'll be able to get on with my planting. I have a whole lot of Floret dahlias waiting to go in that pollinator strip ; ) I'll tell you all about the yard plan once we have things in the works. That fence is very rotten though so can tell you that it is coming down next week. The neighbour and hubs are going to replace that whole south side fence. You might remember that I keep saying we are doing the fence in phases? That still holds true. South side this year, back already done, so hopefully north side next year... The hanging baskets and planters are in the greenhouse till the night time temps are more reliable. Thrillers, fillers, and spillers are hanging out in the mini greenhouse, just waiting to get potted up. The tomatoes are in the greenhouse hardening off. I just moved them out there three days ago but am now contemplating bringing them back into the potting shed again.... Since writing that, I decided to leave everything be and put in a small heater that will go on low just for the overnights (because last night went down to 0.9°C). I also planted up the strip in front of the green raised bed with onions, snapdragons, and celery. I see little seed starts coming in some of the cracks, too. Am pretty sure those are the little tagetes marigolds, the Mandarin Gems that I had in there last year. Yay! Cannot wait to see the palooza of flowers. Oh, I've stuffed some bubble wrap into the gap of the Dutch door to retain more of the heat. We'll do a better set up for next year. To make the baskets, I line the bottoms with paper plates. You can also use a real plate, a plastic plate, a saucer... anything that will help to keep the water from running right out the bottom of your baskets longer. I use plates in moss baskets, coir lined baskets, and also these burlap baskets (as I no longer have access to all that lovely moss from the woods). Fill the baskets with my secret soil recipe (5 parts potting soil to 2 parts compost or manure). Do not stuff it into the basket but rather fill it up, give it a thump or two on the table to settle the soil, fill to the brim. The soil level will settle once you start planting it up and then settle some more as you water. Leave it loose for the roots to spread. Top with a tablespoon or two of slow release fertiliser. This helps to keep the plants happy all summer, even if you forget to feed them now and again. Plant up 12 to 14 inch pots with 6 or 7 plants. One in the center and 6 around them. Or, just the 6 in a circle. Do not plant right at the edge. Instead, plant them 2 inches from the edge so they fill up the entire pot, grow outwards and soon spill over the edges. These pots were made up last weekend and so were outside last night, not covered, when we went down to less than 1 degree in the greenhouse. I am going to assume that it was the same temp, or colder, out in the yard. Not even a bit of damage on the plants. In the pots, I have petunias, alyssum, verbena, geraniums and (white) bidens. Plus one mojito mint in the pot in front. I did a little bit of what I call chaos gardening, today. I tend to like formal plantings of rows or blocks, everything in it's place. Rows of veggies with a row or two of flowers between. Well, this time, I decided to do a trial in one of the beds. I tossed some flower and vegetable seeds together into a small bowl and mixed them up. I then ran a rake through the bed to loosen up the soil (the one behind the blue pots in the picture above) and then scattered the seeds throughout the bed. I firmed the seeds down with the back of the rake, watered them in, and now we wait. Oh, I also planted up two sheets of the seedy paper that I made earlier in the year. One sheet has alyssum seeds, the other has cosmos. Anxious to see what all comes up in the bed. I got this fun idea from this insta page. The Latest Q&A's Question #1- I have a large yard and the landscaper put down weed barrier and then river rock on top. So now I stumble around weeding these rocks. The rocks are going and I would like to put down cardboard and then mulch. What is the best mulch to put down? Tanja - For moisture and best for the soil and plants, arborist wood chips is the very best mulch that you can use. It is not always easy to get a drop off though (sign up with Chip Drop) and not everyone likes the look of this mulch as it contains twigs, evergreen needles, plus the chips. To buy mulch at the landscapers, I would look for a medium shredded wood. Not all fine and pulverised, but rather has some larger shreds and a big finer shreds. This will look nice, plus give you great weed protection and moisture retention. Question #2 - What brand of soaker hoses do you use? Tanja - No particular brand at all. I like the flat ones (like these) that look like they have a woven fabric covering. The round rubber black ones are rubbish. I use a 50 foot long soaker hose in each 12x4 raised bed. We have the grandies this weekend while their momma is working at the nursery, so no further planting will likely get done now till Tuesday. I am on hold for the weekend, just going to enjoy my time with Grampy and the kidlets, while I anxiously await what the landscapers bring for price quotes. You all have a great weekend, eh? ~ Tanja

There has been a lot of talk about this summer being a drought year. So far, things are looking pretty dry here on the prairies. Of course, we never know what mother nature is going to throw at us, but is prudent to take heed and plan for water restrictions while still in the garden planning stage. These top 5 veggies will give you a great harvest and do not require much water or time to care for. Easy to grow. 1st is Onions (also Garlic) They like the hot and dry weather, only need a good water once a week to bulb up really nicely. Water them twice a week when you first plant them, to get them established, but in the heat of summer watering just once every 5 to 7 days is plenty. 2nd is Carrots Carrots have a long tap root that goes after the water deep in the ground so only requires water once every 5 to 7 days, as well. When sowing the seeds, you need to keep the soil moist till they germinate. I like to cover mine with a burlap sack or doubled up burlap to help keep the soil moist till I see green. Make the sowing trench, water the trench, sow the seeds, cover them up with 1/4 to 1/2 inch of soil, water again. Cover with burlap, soak the burlap, water through the burlap daily until you have germination. Peek under the burlap each day to see when you have small greens poking up, remove the burlap. This can take anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks. Seriously! After germination, water twice a week for a few weeks till all the carrots have all germinated and are coming up nicely, then cut back to watering less often. 3rd is Beets Another root crop that is extremely adaptable to the conditions is beets. Most varieties are ready to harvest in 55 to 60 days so you can grow 2 to 3 crops a year, depending on how long your growing season is. I grow only one big batch per year, sowing in May and harvesting in August. The family loves beets so we boil or roast them on the regular, plus make pickled beets, too. I guess I should clarify that I grow two different patches but both are sown at the same time. We usually grow the long Cylindra beets for pickling and the round ones for cooking/eating. Soaking the seeds overnight will give you faster germination. Sow the seeds 1/2 inch deep in trenches, 2 inches apart, and water in. Keep them moist till you see germination happening. Beet seeds actually have 2 to 4 beets per seed, so you will be thinning them out as they grow to 4 to 6 inches apart. Water well every 5 to 7 days. 4th is Peppers! This one may come as a surprise to you, as many people like to water them daily. Peppers actually thrive with less water, especially the spicy ones like jalapenos. They will also taste better, have more heat and flavour when watered less often. I have had the best luck growing my peppers in pots rather than in the garden. I use 3 gallon pots and grow the peppers in the greenhouse, so they stay nice and toasty every day. These guys are fine with all the heat. Both hot and sweet peppers love hot and sunny. Water very thoroughly once a week, giving them a really good deep soak each time. Peppers produce better in pots but pots require a good soak to wet the soil all the way through. Feed potted peppers with a liquid vegetable or tomato fertiliser once a month. Disclaimer. As an affiliate, if you were to purchase an item(s) from the links, I will get a wee small amount of money to support my blog. It does not cost you any extra to purchase through my link than if you went to that item on your own. Many thanks for your support! 5th is Zucchini and all the other Squash (winter or summer) Another surprising one. With all those big leaves and abundance of cropping, one would think they are thirsty plants. However, they really only need one or two good soaks a week. Water twice a week to get them established and then once every 5 to 7 days is just fine. As they shade the soil so well with their large leaves, the soil does not dry out as fast. Bonus drought tolerant vegetable ideas... Both kale and chard require very little water, thrive in dry conditions, and look pretty in your potager garden, too. Sow the seeds in early spring, 3 to 4 weeks before your last frost date, as they like cool temps. Sow a half inch deep 2 to 6 inches apart. Water daily till you see germination and then start tapering off to twice a week at first and then just once a week afterwards. Ideally not grown in the hottest part of your garden, they can handle a bit of shade. Thin seedlings to 6 -12 inches apart when they are 4 inches tall. If you are starting from starts, buy when the seedlings are small (around 4 inches tall) so they transplant well. Larger ones tend to be rootbound in the 6-packs and often do not root out well. When it comes to transplanting, bigger is not better. Plant 6 to 12 inches apart, water twice a week to start, taper off when rooted in. You can also grow other items if you are able to water twice a week. I deep water my tomatoes only twice a week, every 4th day. Potatoes also only need water once a week, but should get a bit more when they are flowering, and just afterwards as that is when they are growing your spuds, sizing up. Beans also only need water once a week. When watering, use drip systems to minimize evaporation and water waste. If you are not able to set up the drip tubes, I like these flat weeping hoses. Not the round rubber ones, not sure how eco friendly those are, plus they tend to explode and water everywhere! Rather these flat ones with a woven outer cover. I hook mine up once or twice a week, depending on the veggies in the bed, let it run for 15 to 20 minutes. Though the surface of the bed may look dry, if you stick your finger in, it is certainly wet soil to the bottom of the raised bed. If you are concerned about the dry topsoil, or along the sides where it dries fastest, go along with your watering wand and give them a quick soak. It is possible to grow food in a drought year. Lots of food. Most vegetables require a lot less water than we think they do. Don't be afraid to push the limits and give things a try. There is no harm in letting your plants go dry for a bit longer once they are established. Dry gardening is a thing! Your plants will actually grow deeper roots, require less water, be healthier, thrive and taste better when you water less often. A secret tip? No bare soil. Plant or sow your veggies just a little bit closer together so that they create a thicket of foliage... no soil showing means less evaporation, slows down the drying out process.. and no weed seeds blowing in either. Happy Gardening ~ Tanja

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas! This is my first one without my own momma to visit or chat with, but I have such lovely memories from last year. My brother and I visited with her at the home, enjoying a lovely afternoon coffee and cupcakes together. Mom never had much of a sweet tooth when she was younger, and was never a big fan of chocolate. A chocolate bar would sit in her cupboard for months as she ate one square now and again. One square, lol! We always made Finnish cakes, which are very different than north American ones, so she was not a big cake/treat eater either. Well, I tell you... that day, we watched her eat an ice cream sandwich and two strawberry cupcakes without batting an eye, licking her fingers clean afterwards. She was smiling and happy, joking about, had herself giggling. My momma always told the worst jokes. Jokes that made no sense to anyone else, but she herself found so very funny. Made us happy to see her enjoying herself. She went through a weird phase after dad passed away where she lived on carrots, European wieners, and frozen vegetables. For several years! Dementia and depression are horrible to see happening to a loved one. I was so lucky to have that final year with my mom, and super happy that we had that lovely Mother's Day afternoon coffee with her, when she was happy and smiling. Our house is in chaos, the yard is chaos... everything is a mess. The past few days have been super busy as we took advantage of the lovely weather to do outdoor stuff, so no housework has been done. We stained the deck so the furniture is all out in the yard. The mister took everything out of the shed so he can build shelves and hooks and things, make it user friendly, so the tools are all out there, too. We then decided to start our pollinator strip, so everything from furniture to gardening tools, plants and an arbour, are all lying about on the lawn! I don't know why we do this, get a wild hair and do it all at the same time, but here we are again. Worst of all, I don't do well with any kind of mess, yet the past two years have been nothing but chaos! Anyway, the grandies are coming to hang out with us for the afternoon and their momma (my baby girl) will be joining us a bit later on, so we'll get the littles help us set things to right again. Bits of Gardening Inspo! 25 garden bed ideas to inspire your garden design. We are putting in our pollinator strip garden this summer (have started tearing things up already), and are implementing several of the ideas in this post. What is chaos gardening? What is cat-facing on tomatoes? Why does this happen? Vines instead of hedges? Sure do love the look of that honeysuckle! Just (re)watched this Homesteading episode on Growing a Greener World. Love the compost bin idea! I was going to get another tumbler, but might make one of these instead... much more affordable ; ) These 17 bug-repelling plants. Insert heart emoji here : ) Bits of Homey Inspo I absolutely adore this kitchen, but the entire home is delightful. The green, the herringbone flooring, that ribbed sink. Just perfect. Love this bathroom renovation. So pretty. Love that vanity and the tub. I would need a bigger shower though.... These springtime bedrooms are so pretty. The coverlets, the bedside flowers, all so serene and calm. I wonder where they keep their alarm clocks, their creams, air purifiers, kobo's, all the things that clutter up my bedside table ; ) I am in love with this bedroom. I like the colours, love those sheets, the waffle weave blanket. It looks so serene. While I cannot find any pretty daisy sheets to share with you all, I will tell you that those striped sheets that I bought for our bed last month are the best sheets I have had in a long, long time. I have not had to flip my pillow even once! Stays cooler somehow, does not hold in the heat like other sheets do. They are at a great price point, too! *Disclaimer. As an affiliate, if you were to purchase an item(s) from the links, I will get a wee small amount of money to support my blog. It does not cost you any extra to purchase through my link than if you went to that item on your own. Many thanks for your support! I'm in love with this diy - so pretty! The how to is in Finnish but I think the pictures are pretty self explanatory so decided to post it here anyways : ) Bits of Recipe Inspo Hubby is making the Mother's Day supper today for my daughter and I. We are both veggies so he's going to recreate the crispy tofu bowl from the Cactus Club Cafe. It is one of my absolute favourite meals. Whenever we go to either Calgary or Edmonton, we make sure to plan it around lunchtime so I can eat this bowl! I am thinking this Strawberry Chamomile Paloma sounds like the perfect mocktail (or cocktail) to accompany the meal. These Mediterranean diet snacks. This New York Times recipe for Strawberry Shortcake. It is rhubarb season! Yay! This rhubarb cake looks like a great, easy idea for a coffee break treat. With my sourdough this weekend, I am looking at maybe making these Swedish Cinnamon Buns and maybe these Danish Pastries, too. These look like so much work though, so I just don't know... I love to bake but I like simple recipes ; ) Have a great day! Eat some cake, Smell the roses, Sit Back, Enjoy Your Day~ Tanja

The weather has been just whack this spring. We go from double digits to snow and back again a couple days later. My poor plants in the greenhouse! However, if you read my Five Things Friday on FB the other day, you will know that even though the temps in the greenhouse went down to 1°C degree (33°F) during the week, the wee tomato starts in the raised bed look perfect. Still perky, still green, still happy. The flowers (basket stuffers) in the mini-greenhouse (inside the greenhouse) look just as good as the day I bought them. The past couple of days have been very nice so I was able to get much done in both the greenhouse and the potting shed, and a bit in the yard, too. I planted up the Vancouver Mystic Gem clematis on one side of the potting shed, with a bellflower to keep the roots cool in summer. That hardy climbing rose (John Davis) will go on the other side, plus a bellflower at the roots. Bits of Gardening Inspo! These pictures from Rainsong Garden! I am looking for ways to incorporate my zinnias into the raised beds, hahaha. Such a pretty garden. Have you heard of the Chelsea Chop? Here is a better explanation of what it is and why you do it. I wish they had more pictures along the way, but is a good read. You know when you put the shovel into the ground and see this line of what looks like grey mould? Have you ever wondered what that is? Read all about it here : ) How to build a raised garden bed. This is a good read. Are you interested in listening to a Canadian garden podcast? Check out The Grow Guide. I am so glad they are back, I like listening to them chat about all sorts of things. These great creative container herb garden ideas... love all the pails, buckets, and berry baskets! *Disclaimer. As an affiliate, if you were to purchase an item(s) from the links, I will get a wee small amount of money to support my blog. It does not cost you any extra to purchase through my link than if you went to that item on your own. Many thanks for your support! How to choose the right strawberries for your area, and your garden. I love June bearing as you get the big berries all at once (okay, over about a 2 week window) so they are perfect for making jams and freezing. However, they do send out the most runners. Then, after you have chosen your variety, how to make a strawberry bed. With bare root strawberries. This is one of the most asked questions that I get... how to grow carrots. Great read, great information. Bits of Homey Inspo! The ultimate guide to drying flowers. I have pinned a couple of lovely pitchers on the page today, for mother's day ideas, that I think would look fabulous used as farmhouse style vases. They would also look amazing with these dried flowers in them. Budget friendly farmhouse projects you can build. I like the potting table. It is basic but perfect. Bits of Recipe Inspo! This yummy looking one pan orzo bake! I love little to no dishes to wash up. This creamy strawberry smoothie. I've shared this strawberry pound cake recipe before but am sharing it again as I like it so much that I will be making it again today for our family dinner tonight. Easy and yummy. Are you a key lime pie fan? The mister does not care for them at all, whereas I will always choose it if I see it on the menu. These mini no bakes may just be what you want to serve on Mom's Day next weekend? I am posting this now to look back on later. 50 Things To Bake When You are Bored. I do this! Does anyone else bake when bored? Especially now that I have my sourdough starter... I put that s### in everything, hah! A few mother's day gift ideas pinned for you this week, things I really like. They are kind of farmhouse, kind of rustic, very pretty! Have a great Sunday ~ Tanja Psst, I have to ask... what do you think of that last font, my sign off font? My daughter hates it, I love it, so really interested to hear what you think?

There is much talk about drought across the western provinces this summer. While it changes the way we do things, drought does not mean we have to give up on having a thriving food garden, or even one's colourful flower garden. However, it does mean changing how we do things, doing a wee bit of preplanning, and adopting some of these sustainable gardening techniques. Waterwise gardening tips to take your garden through the rising temperatures, heat domes, heat waves, watering restrictions, and drought conditions. Step #1 - Improve Soil Texture With Organic Matter. Adding compost, manure, or leaf mould, to your soil will improve the soil texture which helps to retain more moisture in the soil, especially in sandy soils, plus it add nutrients to feed your flowers and vegetables. Even heavy clay soils benefit from organic matter as the compost improves aeration to better the root growth of your plants. Add compost or manure rather than peat moss. Peat adds no nutritional value, is a non-renewable resource, and is quite acidic. Only use peat if you are planting blueberries, as they need acidic soil to thrive, but add a bit of compost, too. Digging in the organic matter is not required, the matter can just be layered on top of the bed and the elements will disperse it through the soil. If you have poor soil and want to plant into it right after amending, scratch the compost into the soil with a rake or a tined cultivator hoe. Adopting the no-dig gardening method will vastly improve your soil texture and water retention, and the health of your plants. Layer some compost over your bed (1 to 2 inches) in fall after your garden clean up has been done. Step #2 - Water Efficiently. Water deeply at the roots. Use weeping/soaker hoses or install drip systems to get the water at soil level so the water gets right where it is needed.. at the roots. There will be no water loss due to evaporation or runoff. I use these flat weeping hoses that look like a woven fabric has been sewn over an inner tube. The 50 foot long hoses will nicely water a 12'x4' bed. Do not use the black, round, rubber weeping hoses as they are apt to blow holes, resulting in water waste and possible damage to your soil or plants. Water less often. Plants require a lot less water than we might think. In times of drought, is prudent to water less often but deeply (6 to 8 inches) so that the soil remains damp at the root zone for longer. Plants will grow longer, stronger root systems to go deep for the water, which in turn gives you healthier, sturdier plants that will survive water restrictions. Shallow daily watering creates weaker plants with surface roots. Hand watering - If you have an allotment garden, or farm garden, where it is not possible to set up weeping hoses, spot watering deeply with a watering can is equally efficient. Use ollas (take a regular clay pot, use a cork to plug up the hole in the bottom, sink it into the garden bed, fill with water, place the saucer on top) or clay watering stakes ( that you place a bottle of water into) to slowly wick water into the garden, or your pots. Water priorities - Give thirsty plants like tomatoes and cucumbers water twice a week, root vegetables and squash just once a week. Drought tolerant annual flowers like cosmos, zinnias and sunflowers require just one good drink a week. Well established perennial flowers, perennial vegetables, raspberries, fruiting shrubs, herbs, will require water once or twice a month. Established trees, shrubs, native plants, and drought tolerant perennials are watered very rarely. Water if you see wilting or leaf drop. Timing - Water in the morning, early mornings are best. Avoid watering in late evening as that may cause powdery mildew and other fungal issues. If you have a timer, set it to go off around 4 am. If you cannot get to the garden in the morning, water early in the evening so that the plants and leaves are not wet going into the night. Water at soil level to keep foliage dry. Step #3 - Collect Water & Use Grey Water. Set up water barrels to collect water from sheds, greenhouses, and homes. Lids or screens keep small animals from falling in, plus collect debris to keep your water clean. Asphalt shingles are generally considered safe to collect irrigation water from for all your garden plants, including edibles. Collect grey water, dishwashing water, cooking water, bathwater, and veggie washing water. Avoid using the water if using a lot of soap or products with additives. This old veggie washstand was made with an old Ikea cutting board island. We removed the cutting board and placed in a sink from the Habitat for Humanity Restore. No need to go buy anything though. A wash basin on an outdoor table works just fine for washing the worst of the soil and grit off the veggies. Save that water for your plants. Step #4 - Mulch to Retain Moisture. Mulch flower beds, trees and shrubs with leaves, straw, or bark chips. Lay down 4 to 6 inches of mulch to actually make a difference in moisture retention. The very best mulch is arborist wood chips. Yes, that pile of twigs, green wood, pine or spruce needles is the best mulch for your gardens. This mulch will break down rather quickly to provide nutrients for your plants, supresses weeds, improves soil structure, keeps the roots cool in summertime, helps prevent disease, and best of all, retains water and prevents evaporation. Other organic mulches to use are aged straw, chopped straw for pet bedding, shredded wood chips, composted pine bark, shredded leaves, grass clippings in light layers, wood shavings from pet bedding. Make sure to not bring it right up to the trunk of the tree or the base of the perennial. Leave a few inches of space all the way around. Also, do not dig this in. Digging in wood or fresh organic matter will tie up the nitrogen in the soil as it breaks it down, robbing your garden of nitrogen. Just layer it on top. Organic mulch for your vegetable garden - light layers of grass clippings (if you do not use chemicals on your lawn). Spread evenly around your beds, let the grass dry before adding another layer. Straw and shredded leaves are also good. To prevent diseases, do not mulch during the rainy season (on the coast) or in spring while the ground is still cool. You can also mulch with compost or manure. This does not help as much with water retention as it does with preventing your soil from becoming hydrophobic (water repellent). Inorganic mulches for your vegetable gardens can be landscape fabric or cardboard laid on top of the soil. Not as attractive to look, until the plants fill in to hide it all, but retains moisture very well, and keeps weeds at bay, as well. Ground cover plants helps keep in moisture, as well. No bare soil! Wood mulch and Creeping Jenny ground cover in this bed means I rarely have to water in summer. Potted Plants - To extend the time in between watering your flowers or vegetables in pots and planters, they too can be mulched up to help them dry out slower. Using the clay watering spikes in your pots will keep them thriving while you go camping for the weekend. These stakes can also be used in your vegetable garden, beside your tomatoes, cucumbers, or melons. *Disclaimer. As an affiliate, if you were to purchase an item(s) from the links, I will get a wee small amount of money to support my blog. It does not cost you any extra to purchase through my link than if you went to that item on your own. Many thanks for your support! Step #5 - Intensive Planting Plant flower and vegetable beds closer together to help prevent water evaporation. Bare soil loses more moisture to evaporation. As a bonus, you harvest more crops in less space. Plant your veggies just a little bit closer than you normally would. If the tag says to plant 4 to 6 inches apart, go with the lower end. If the rows are 8 to 12 inches apart, plant them 8 inches apart. Another way to do it is to plant low growing crops, or root crops beside your taller plants, or root crops with upright plants. Like growing cucumbers to shade the lettuce. Succession sowing is also intensive planting. To always have something growing in the soil. For example, planting tomatoes beside your spring spinach. The spinach has been picked by the time the tomato grows and fills out the space. This is by no means a newfangled concept, it has been done for many decades, centuries even. Check out French Intensive, Biointensive, and Square Foot gardening. Psst, leave out the double digging part though, no one needs to do that much work now that we know about no-dig! Keep in mind that you need good airflow around your garden or raised beds to prevent powdery mildew from taking hold. Zinnias and cosmos are very drought tolerant annual flowers. Planting them closer together helps prevent bare soil, water evaporation, and better moisture retention. At the acreage, we were building a new privacy bed along the front of the property. It was difficult to water this area, had to count mostly on rain, so we needed drought tolerant plantings and a thick layer of mulch. This was year one, so we had to water everything once a week to get the plants established. Bonus Tips for Gardening In a Drought Year. Create shade for your plants. Grow cucumbers, tomatoes, squash up a trellis on the south or west side of the garden to provide some shade. Build a pergola, arbour, or gazebo to give your perennial beds some shade. Plant drought tolerant annuals, perennials, and vegetables. Root crops and greens are far more drought tolerant than plants that make big, juicy crops. Sunflowers, cosmos, and zinnias are very drought tolerant annuals. Rudbeckia, echinacea, gaillardia, pavement roses, sedums, laitris, yarrow, geraniums, dianthus are all drought tolerant plantings once established. Check drought tolerant plants for your garden zone for more ideas. Allow the lawn to go brown and dormant for the summer. Do not fertilise. Fertilisers can stress your plant when water is scarce as your plant will require more water and resources. This may lead to a weak plant or even the death of the plant as it is unable to support the new growth during the drought. The salts in the fertiliser may build up in the soil to cause root burn and damage to your plant. Plant vegetables and flowers with like needs together. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and other brassicas have the same water needs, plant them together. Rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries have the same water needs and can be grown together. It is an amazing feeling to harvest homegrown vegetables and flowers from your garden. By making a few modifications to the way we do things, we can keep our flowers, keep our vegetable gardens, enjoy our sanctuaries... even in a drought summer. Happy Water Wise Gardening ~ Tanja

I went to the nursery the other day to beat the weekend crush as all the independent greenhouses seem to have their grand spring openings this weekend. The pickings were still kind of slim in the basket stuffer area, but I managed to find a boxful of plants that I 'needed', as I begin to stockpile for all my baskets and planters. I had to get the lime green ipomea while they had it, just in case. It always seems to sell out so quickly! Also a deep purple sweet alyssum, some petunias, verbena, and tall, spikey salvias in pink and blue. But... what I really wanted to share with you all is this lovely little white flower! Isn't it lovely? It's a Bidens! Can you believe it? We always think yellow (light, dark, double.. but always yellow) when we hear Bidens, but check out how super cute this white one is. I am sad that I only picked up two of them, need to go back and get some more. Am thinking this may become one of my new favourite basket stuffers! I never really loved the white bacopa much so this will become my replacement, if it does well this summer. I love the blue and pink bacopas though. I have no idea, don't ask me why they white doesn't do it for me ~ no clue. Inside the greenhouse, the min-max thermometer shows that it is just 19.6 °C (66°F) right now, during the day, and it went down to 2.8 (36°F) last night! Brr! Luckily, I don't have much planted in there yet though. I had those basket stuffers and other flowers in the mini-greenhouse, the one that sits within the greenhouse in spring (later goes onto the deck). Everything in the greenhouse is just fine. Onions in the ground are fine... and check out this tester... *Disclaimer. As an affiliate, if you were to purchase an item(s) from the links, I will get a wee small amount of money to support my blog. It does not cost you any extra to purchase through my link than if you went to that item on your own. Many thanks for your support! Yep, a tomato seedling. Actually, 3 of these Gardener's Sweetheart tomatoes are planted up in that pretty green new raised bed to see how they fare. I had a few seedlings left in my tray that I was just going to toss in the compost. I know that hurts some of your hearts, but I always start more than I need, plant up a few packs of extras, then toss the rest. I decided to use a few of the extras as sacrificial tester plants. The soil in the bed is nice and warm, all 3 seedlings look awesome, despite the cool overnight 2 C degree temp. What a win! This new bed is going to be worth every penny. Now that I know, I will plant out more next spring, maybe using cloches from the dollar store to cover them... push the limits even earlier. My motto is that you never know unless you try. In the yard, all sorts of things are starting to pop up. This spinach was sown last fall, the day before our first snow. I have a feeling it will go from little to bolting in short order, but am trying to think positively. Hoping to get a few pickings before it does. It's in a part shade bed, so am cautiously hopeful. Neither a pretty, nor an inspiring photo. However, it is going to be! This is the before pic, if you will. This is where my new pollinator strip garden starts from. It's about 2.5 feet wide, not huge, but will be covered in blooms all summer, planted up with bulbs in fall so that there will be colour from spring through fall next year. That very sad pile of sticks is a honeysuckle vine... it is going to need a new home, a much better home. The little low growing green things are crocuses, not yet in bloom. We will be amending this soil. It is very poor, very sandy, the water just goes right through it. We'll incorporate a lot of compost, build it up into a mounded bed. Pick up the rubber steppers and make a proper walkway... or a hopscotch game pathway. Our 2 year old granddaughter has been learning all kinds of things at 'school', including how to play hopscotch. I found another hardy climbing rose (see how tall it is already?) and this gorgeous clematis to go somewhere in the yard. Perhaps in the pollinator strip? or maybe climbing up the front of the potting shed? I have no idea yet. I just stockpile plants in spring, knowing I want them in the yard, but not exactly where they will go. I do know that the creeping campanulas will be planted at the base of the clematis, as it does not like bare soil. I'm waiting on the bare root strawberries from the 4H to arrive. Whenever you are planting anything bare root, usually sold in small plastic bags at the nursery, don't forget to soak them in a warm water/liquid seaweed or kelp bath for an hour or two. It rehydrates the roots so they all take off nicely. Here are this week's Q&A's... Question - I have read that I can put 2 peppers in 1 pot, that they provide support for each other. Have you ever tried planting 2 different peppers in a pot together? Tanja - I have often planted 2 peppers in a pot together and they do just great. Twice the peppers in half the space. I have always planted 2 of the same variety though, so I can use just one plant label (hahaha, totally serious) but to gift someone a pot with 2 peppers, like maybe a hot and a sweet for salsa making, would be a wonderful gift! They will love living together. Question - Good morning, Tanja. What premium potting soil do you recommend? Tanja - I use either Sunshine #4 with Mycorrhizae or Pro-Mix of some sort. I prefer the organic one, if I can get it. I never use seed starter mix and nothing with moisture beads or other stuff like that added to it. Just a good porous potting mix, add in some compost or manure, and you are good to go. If you are planting up flowers in hanging baskets, I would add a slow release fertiliser, something like this one. It just helps to keep them happier for the whole summer. Question - Can you comment on both the traditional wooden raised beds vs the metals one? I am partial to wood for esthetic reasons, knowing that metals ones are probably better for the pocket book. Tanja - This is my very first metal bed so I am going off of what I have read, and heard from my customers back at the ngp greenhouse. On the island, many of my customers used troughs and such for their gardening as they lived on a cliff, on shale, or hardpan. They loved them. One customer bought a couple more each spring to break up the cost. I also shared this a bit ago, a trial that another blogger had done with wood versus metal beds. She liked them. I think the one think that I like best is that I will get less ants and pill bugs eating my veggies. Pill bugs are attracted to the wood as it starts to rot, and then often will eat the strawberries, or whatever I have in the bed, as well. Anything touching the ground as they are the clean up crew, they break down organic matter into compost. And, ants... well, what can I say, they are a constant (pain in the patoot, lol). So, for what it is worth, I am a big fan. I love the green one in the greenhouse and too do it again, I think I would have put up these white metal beds in the yard, too, had I thought of it at the time. I will now have to wait till they rot down... and by then will probably be too old to garden ; ) Have a great week, see you soon again. Thank you for the questions! Tanja

Our weather has warmed up a bit but the wind is cool and makes yardwork less of a fun thing. Everything is blowing around like mad in the backyard so I keep waiting for a better day. Luckily, I am in no hurry to get anything done in the garden. I do stuff on the nice days, and bake sourdough on the yucky days.. I have become obsessed, hah! We've also been working on our bedroom revamp in between all the other stuff going on. It's not a huge transformation like the grandies room was, just a few things to make it feel homier. The lovely wallpaper is up on the wall behind the bed, the drywall has been fixed up from the new slider door install, and I found some beautiful linen curtains that go all the way to the ceiling. The room is not yet ready though, still hunting for a new ceiling fan, the baseboards still need filling, sanding, painting.... It's a slow go. I need to tell you all about those new sheets, they are so soft, so cosy, I am in love with how they feel, and they are affordable! I found some great gardening bits for you guys this week. So many good reads, and some are just great because of the pictures. You all know how I love to snoop in other people's yards.. whether in person, or via photos and articles ; ) These ideas for plants that will hide the yellowing foliage of your tulips and other bulbs as they die back for the year. Great advice for growing potatoes. Is funny. I have been growing spuds forever, but I still like to read tips like these to see if I can learn something new, up my yield... never quit learning : ) Here is one about growing rhubarb. I am picking up a rhubarb plant from a friend next week as she has two and only needs one, while I only have one but would like to have two. Now to choose the perfect spot for this thing! I really enjoyed this article about gardening for the pollinators. I had no idea! and I am big on planting for the pollinators. How to grow cilantro and coriander. I love to grow cilantro. Not for cooking. We really don't care for it, but I love to grow it for the bees! You can harvest the leaves till it bolts, which it tends to do very quickly when summer arrives, then allow the bees to enjoy the flowers till they finish off, go brown, make seeds, then you harvest the coriander (it's a win, win, win). Are ground covers really better than grass? Plus this one 'How to make your lawn wildlife friendly'. I love the pictures and ideas in this quick read. Do you have a problem with whiteflies in the greenhouse? They are a very common pest in greenhouses, on your fresh little baby seedlings. Keeping the greenhouse clean is one of the best things you can do for pest control. Here are some other tips that you can try. I always recommend that you stop using the yellow sticky traps as soon as you start leaving the door open, windows open. When you start to get bees and birds in the greenhouse, is time to remove them. How to create a wildlife friendly garden, and then.... great ideas for how to stop snails from eating your plants. This was a fun watch. I have always loved Floret Farms, kind of wanted to do a bit of flower farming along with my vegetable growing, but here we are... no more acreage ; ) Still love to watch how they plan their plantings though. We need to redo more of our fence again this summer, including at least one, if not two gates. The back is done and now we have to do the south side. We seem to be doing it in sections. Partly due to cost, partly time, but maybe we will do the north side, too... will see what the quote comes in at. Anyway, way to make a short story long, Tanja! Here are some really great gate and arbour inspirations! These DIY Bits How to diy these wooden garden tuteurs for your beans, peas, cucumbers.. anything vining. Maybe flowers, if you like, too. Diy painted pots with vintage French seed labels. These flower pots are cute! I, personally, would buy inexpensive pots (like these) for this diy and use them only for flowers. Nothing edible, just in case. *As an Amazon affiliate, if you purchase an item from one of these links, I make a teeny bit of money to support my blog. It does not cost you a penny more than it would if you went to the item on your own, without my link. Huge thanks : ) Recipe Bits This no-bake, strawberry, lemonade, ice box cake. Sounds yummy! So... my whole wheat sourdough is coming along nicely. I have been baking with the discard, really enjoying it. Made the yummiest focaccia bread ever! Made some boules, and now thinking of making these homemade pop tarts for the grandies. I am intrigued, plus homemade is always healthier, especially for kids with adhd who cannot have dyes. I have made some other recipes, like discard banana bread and these cinnamon buns above, but though they looked great, they were not amazing, so I won't share them till I find a better recipe for you. This is the whole wheat sourdough starter that I made. It is simple to follow as she gives step by step instructions for each day. So far, I have not found it to be super sour. I can taste the sour, but it is not in your face. Which is good as I am really not a fan of a strong tasting sourdough bread. This is the discard bread that I made a lot of during the sourdough making process, hahaha. We like it! I still need to work on making them pretty, but for now am happy if they taste good. Here is the focaccia that we made. It is out of this world good! We used fresh rosemary, garlic, and tomatoes on top. Happy Sunday, friends! Have a great day & an even better week ~ Tanja

A potager is a fancy kitchen garden, one might even say that it is a bougie food vegetable garden... one that is both pretty to look at and functional. While the term potager may sound fancy and difficult, it is actually just the French word for kitchen garden. One grows flowers, herbs, fruits, and vegetables all together for a garden that looks elevated, a step above the rest. The best thing about potagers is that they appeal to the bees so you have better pollination, too, which means even more fruits and vegetables. Here are five easy steps to create your potager garden. Step 1 is Location Your potager should, ideally, be located close to the kitchen, making it easy to bring in your herbs and vegetables. Vegetable gardens need good sun, you want 8 hours of sunshine each day. It does not all have to be at once. It might be 3 hours in the morning and 5 hours in the evening. The key is to have a lot of sunshine. All fruits and vegetables, even rhubarb, taste sweeter when they get lots of sun. Step 2 is to Choose Your Design Once you have determined where the best sunny spot is in your yard, you'll need to decide how you are going to lay out the potager. Is it going to be the back half of your backyard? A corner? A long one along the side fence? Is it going to be a fancy design like a knot or circle garden. Maybe a formal one with four beds, one in each corner and a fountain in the middle, or a small apple tree, maybe? This is a very popular potager layout. Back in the day, potagers tended to be ornate and a bit formal, but casual and carefree cottage garden style is becoming more of a thing. Maybe it is a blended garden concept as we learn more and more about permaculture? Fences, borders, pathways, strip gardens are potager hallmarks, giving them a bit of distinction. Brick pathways, pots to make a border. Local stone, wood, slate, tiles, bricks, are usually easier to access and add a bit of local flair. Step 3 is To Build Your Gardens Now that you have a design, an idea of where to start growing your potager garden, build your in-ground beds, raised beds, or container gardens. An in-ground garden is the least expensive option, while raised beds add formality, and container gardens add more flexibility. Small yard potagers might be mostly all containers or planter boxes. To make an inground potager, mark off your garden area. Add a cute little fence if you want to give it some presence, or place pots on the border to create an ornamental border to your garden. Make long beds that are 2 or 3 feet wide for ease of access from both sides, with a narrow pathway in the middle for harvesting, watering, tending to the beds. Mound the soil in the planting area, flatten the top so that it is easy to water and the water will not fun off. Taper the sides down to your pathway. Flowers can be planted in the tapered bits, or lettuce, onions, etc.. Or, build raised beds. Build up the beds with wood, metal, rocks, bottles, cedar shakes, old bricks. Anything that will raise up your bed a little bit and define the beds. In just 10 to 12 inches you can grow anything at all, even if you build your bed on a bed of shale so you cannot go down. As in the picture above. Our last garden was built on a bed of shale so we went up. Our new garden is on prairie soil, so the the roots of the veggies can go nice and deep. Therefore, the bed does not have to be very deep at all. We just filled it with a good compost garden soil blend. Containers - are the answer if you can build anything permanent, make changes, or maybe you have a very small yard. Any kind of pot, bag, or planter box can be used to grow your planting in. Fill them with good soil, vegetable seeds or starts, add some flowers and you have a lovely potager. For example - Plant a tomato in the center of a pot, plant 2 marigolds and a basil plant as companions = instant potager type planting. Tip - The key to any kind of successful garden is great soil. Potager are organic, wildlife friendly gardens where you use healthy soil to feed the plants rather than chemical fertilisers. Bring in great garden soil with compost blended in. If you have an inground garden, add compost/manure to your bed and turn in lightly with a garden fork. After the initial turning in, adopt the no-dig method and layer compost on top of the beds when needed. For raised beds, it depends on how deep your beds are. If tall, you can fill the bottom with garden trimmings, grass clippings, straw, Guinea pig bedding, any sorts of organic matter that will break down with time. Top with a good garden soil blend, or make your own with topsoil and compost or manure. For container gardens, you want to use a soilless potting mix for healthy roots and plants, mixed with a bit of compost or manure. I like a 5 to 2 parts ratio. Step #4 - Pick Out Your Plants The fun part! Choose your fruits, herbs, flowers, and vegetables to grow in your potager garden. Fruits - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, dwarf cherry bushes, saskatoons, haskaps, and dwarf fruit trees are all perfect for your potager. Plant what you like to eat. If you are planting a fruit tree, keep in mind where it will cast shade for your vegetables. Apple trees now come as small dwarfs so are easy to fit into your yard. Yes, they do need a cross pollinator, but as long as someone on your block has an apple in their yard, the bees will pollinate your apple. Herbs - Grow them in pots, grow them in your beds, grow them everywhere. The bees love herbs. Chives, oregano, and thyme are perennial (grow back year after year) in even cold zone 3 gardens so can be planted in your garden beds and borders. Dill is an annual (needs to be planted each year) but often self seeds so will grow new plants each year. Parsley, lavender, and rosemary will overwinter in the warmer garden zones, but not in our cold prairie gardens. Vegetables - grow the ones your family likes to eat. Don't waste your garden space on broccoli if the rest of the family does not eat it. Lettuce, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, beets, carrots, and cucumbers are some of the most popular, easy to grow vegetables. Choose pretty vegetables that add colour or texture to your potager garden. Lettuces, for example, come in all sorts of pretty colours... lime green, red, frilly, speckled. Plant a mix, or in rows to lean into the fancy of potagers. Plant dinosaur kale beside frilly lettuces or purple cabbage. Flowers - add flowers in between your rows, at the ends of the beds, along the sides of the beds, in pots and planters. Bee favourite flowers are alyssum, calendula, gem marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, calendula, sunflowers, sweet peas, and nasturtiums. However, plant anything you like to grow! Plant johnny jump-ups, pansies, violas, salvias, tulips... You want a rose bush in the garden? Plant it up, they will love that. The only rule is to not dot the smaller plants here and there, but rather to plant them in blocks or rows, as that is what the bees and beneficial bugs prefer. That will keep them in your garden to pollinate and eat the bad bugs. Step #5 is to Add Interest To Your Garden. Make your potager special. Add a birdbath to attract songbirds, a shallow plate of water with pebbles to feed the bees, maybe a pond or fountain for the sound of trickling water. Add height with tuteurs, trellises, pergolas, or arbours to grow your vining flowers or veggies. Fences and pathways add more distinction. Make it organic and wildlife friendly. Add a bughouse, a mason bee home, toadhouse, or maybe even a bat house. Plant lots of flowers to attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and songbirds. Leave small piles of logs for frogs, toads, and other small critters to overwinter in. Choose flower colours that suit your tastes and your garden, or make it a colourful cottage garden. Make your potager a haven that looks pretty, feels calm and serene, is a healthy happy space for you to wander and putter in, growing great tasting, organic food crops. Happy Potager Planning & Planting ~ Tanja

We've had a wonky weather week, but the mister put together that lovely raised bed in the greenhouse for me. It came in something like 12 pieces and about a million bolts. It was relatively easy to put together, though a bit time consuming, and it sure is pretty! In The Greenhouse We filled it with compost from Kamen Landscaping in Red Deer (yep, straight compost - we used it in our raised garden beds last summer and they were awesome, so going to try it again). One yard filled it to the top. It will settle a bit as I plant and water. I am super happy that this bed fits just perfectly, like it was made for this spot : ) This is the one I have, but you can get other configurations, like this one that is 6' long and 3' wide. Or maybe this one in dark green, it is a bit less money for the same size. *As an Amazon affiliate, if you purchase an item from one of these links, I make a teeny bit of money to support my blog. It does not cost you a penny more than it would if you went to the item on your own, without my link. Huge thanks : ) The raised bed is 11' long while the greenhouse itself is 12 feet, but the foundation takes up a few inches on all sides. The bed is a bit taller than most, at 1.5', so it raises the bed up substantially for more light and earlier warm in spring. We have placed it on the north side so that it gets all day sun from the south side wall. We may buy another bed next year for the other side, but will see how it goes. I decided to go with this 2' wide bed so that I still have 1 foot in front of it to grow flowers to attract the beneficials and pollinators, plus lettuces, spring onions, and greens. All sorts of things. Maybe sowing radishes there this weekend? I will be planting up this bed with cool season crops today. They do not need additional heat in the greenhouse so are great early season ideas for the greenhouse. Then I'll start some watermelons (in the potting shed) to plant out into this bed after all risk of frost is over. I think the melons are really going to love the deep root warmth of this bed. I'll let you know in August if this worked out the way I want it to ; ) In The Potting Shed The Potting Shed is nicely holding it's minimum temp at 10 degrees, so I know it is a reliable heater. Will move the min/max thermometer out to the greenhouse instead so I can keep an eye on what the temps in there are... or maybe I just buy another one, eh? I think I will try this one so I can keep track of the temp on my phone, and hey, it's on sale, too. We had another week of wonky weather. Go figure. It's April. Sometimes cool, sometimes double digits warm, sometimes snow... that just melts right away. Today is sunny and warm, if it were not for that very brisk wind! Starting dates and last frost - In Nanaimo, I stuck to the April 28th last frost date even though some claimed that is was April 10th due to climate change. The timing worked for me as the only thing I remember losing was one flat of alyssum that got frosted as it was not put in the hoophouse for the night. I am keeping track of the daily temps here in my new prairie home, will see how late the last frosts are when I have about 5 years under my belt, hahaha. Till then, keeping the May long weekend in my mind as a goodish planting time for tender plants, but planting the cool spring things early, pushing the limits with those ... but not with my tomatoes, hah! You all know the saying about planting out the heat lovers, eh? Plant out your tomatoes (cucumbers, squash) when it the soil is warm enough for you to sit on with a bare bottom. Now, I am not advocating that folks go around baring their bums in the garden, hah, but rather that the soil should be nice and warm when you plant for your tender plants to thrive. What To Start Now... Your brassicas, if you have not already done so - cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, collards, broccolini, rapini... all the gassy veggies love cool weather ; ) Lettuces, mesclun, bok choy, chard All the melons - watermelon, honeydew, cantelope Flowers - calendula, alyssum, marigolds, tagetes, zinnias, cosmos, nicotiana, stocks, any other annuals and biennials that you want to prestart indoors ahead of time. Gladiolas already, set them in a shallow pan (pie pan, etc..) with water so that they get a head start. I ordered mine from Vesey's but they will not ship them till it is warmer here, so not sure how much of a head start they will get but I will soak them as soon as I get them! Dahlias, lilies, cannas, callas, all the bulbs can be started in pots now for a head start on summer blooms. What To Direct Sow This Week ... Lettuces, chard, kale, and other greens. It may be late for spinach but no harm in trying if you did not get it in earlier. Brassicas - take a chance and direct sow.. especially in an unheated greenhouse. Seedlings will also do just fine in the greenhouse. Radishes Carrots and beets, if you want. I wait till May, when the soil is warm. Beets sown into cool soil do not tend to make big roots, are grown mostly for their tops as greens. Peas - snow peas, snap peas, garden peas Calendula I found a John Cabot climbing rose the other day, will pop it out in the potting shed to flush out nicely before I plant it outside. I'm also looking for a couple of John Davis climbers, and maybe a white Iceberg, too. While not as flashy as the warm zone roses are (or as scented) they are lovely in their own right. I found a bit of burlap at the dollar store that I will be using to try as a snail roll to grow seedlings in. You never know until you try : ) Baby Girl works at a local nursery now (yay!) so I got a head's up that they have their basket stuffers in! Start the car! Heading to town to buy my plants. I want to plant up my baskets and pop them in the greenhouse to fill out asap so they are nice and full looking by the time I put them out. What else can I tell you? We have not done much in the yard as we have had very cool, blustery weather, as Pooh bear would say. We are hopeful that the wind will die down this weekend so we can start raking and prepare to make new beds and fix up the lawn. This spot above is where my pollinator strip garden is going to go. A pollinator strip is a three-season, long, narrow garden that is for the bees and other pollinators. You plant it up with bulbs and early bloomers for spring, annual and perennial flowers for spring and fall, so there is always something in bloom to feed the birds and bees. We're going to take up the grass between the steppers and the deck to make that into a nice, wide strip garden. Well, not super wide, it will be under 3 feet wide, hah! The garden will wrap around the deck and go to the corner of the house, where it then will turn into a vegetable strip instead. Lots of plans... just need some warmer weather. These steppers were just tossed on top of the soil in year one, when the yard was a mucky mess. This year we will lift them, add some gravel to make the ground level and stable, lay them out again. We might go double wide this time, or maybe a hopscotch pattern for the grandies. The rubber steppers are so easy to move about, super versatile. This Week's Q&A's Question - What are your thought about cucumbers? They are starting to outgrow their pots but it is too cool outside to plant. I know that they do not like their roots disturbed so do I replant into bigger pots or leave them till the weather warms up? Tanja - If possible, I would pot them up into bigger pots without touching the roots. Just pop it out of the pot and straight into a bigger pot as rootbound plants will not thrive. With any luck you can transplant it into the ground in a few week's time into a nice, big hole. Ideally, one direct sows cucumbers and squash into the beds when the weather is warm (see above for the bare bottom comment). Or, start them just 3 weeks before the last frost date so they are nice and small, transplant well, but you still get that head start. Tip - I succession sow cucumbers as they tend to peter out with powdery mildew before first frost. So, I sow some in May, and then sow a few more at the end of June/early July for fresh cucumbers till the very end of the season. Question - We are still getting frost and it is cold, should I hold off on seeding my zinnias and cosmos? Tanja - If you are direct sowing, you can sow the seeds about a week before your average last frost. This means mid to late April on the west coast and 2 weeks later here on the prairies. Question - Does this mean that if we started them inside we can now plant them out, after hardening them off. Tanja - Sadly, no. The seeds are underground so are safe from any late frosts, while seedlings would be exposed to the elements. Zinnias/cosmos/dahlias do not like frost. Harden them off after your last frost date and then plant them out. Question - When do you pot up your dahlias? Or do you just plant it right out into the garden? Tanja - I wake up my dahlias just 3 or 4 weeks before last frost by potting them up into a 1 or 2 gallon pot (depending on the size of the tuber). This means earlier blooms in summer, rather than waiting till August. Question - Do you soak your asparagus roots before you plant them? Tanja - Yes! Rehydrating the dried out roots and root hairs is key to getting them off to a good start. Often, if you just plant them as is, they fail to take off and die in the garden. I soak them in seaweed water while I make the planting trench, so soaking anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour or two. Use warm water and add a 'glug' of liquid seaweed or kelp. Even warm water will work but the seaweed helps them do even better. Tip - I also do this with bare root strawberries. See the picture above. I have ordered a whole bunch of strawberries from the 4H'ers so both my brother and I will have a good sized berry patch this year. Happy Gardening ~ Tanja

We have had yet another really busy week, time gets away from me as I run to appointments. It seems that, unlike when I was young, by the time I get back from my running around, I no longer have the energy to start a project after supper. Getting old really sucks sometimes, hah! You know those inexpensive crates they usually have in front of the Rona shops? Deeper crates than the ones I used for shelving in the grandies' bedroom, the ones that are more like wooden trays. I picked up the last 4 that they had on the shelf. Am going to use them in the potting shed to hold stuff. Decided to stain them this lovely blue called 'Worn Navy' by Varathane. I love them. Yep, love them. I don't always know exactly how things will be used but when I get an idea, I am like a dog with a bone... cannot let go of it. So glad I went with this one. I think they will be super helpful for corralling plants, pots, and other bits. We have started our bedroom renovation. I cannot even call it that, is more like a spruce up. We are not doing any major changes, just a few cosmetic changes, if you will. We had the new patio door put in over a month ago but are just now getting around to fixing the drywall, touching up the paint, adding new curtains. The wallpaper will be going up first, and then a new ceiling fan. I have my heart set on a certain one and have not yet found anything that suits, so am beginning to think a compromise is required... though not happy about it (dog/bone, you know). With the dust from the drywall work going on, I finally remembered to order a new filter for my Blueair air purifier. Check out the difference in the old one versus the new one, eh? Holy smokes! I sure do love this machine! It makes breathing a whole lot easier, hah, as it sits beside my head in the bedroom. If you have asthma, allergies, other breathing issues, pets in your bedroom, you need one of these in your life. What I found this week .... Gardening Bits & Tips I've always dried my roses after enjoying them in the vase... now I want to try the same thing with dahlias (considering the fact that I have 25 of them! How to dry dahlias. What do you think of this idea? Aye or nay? No more weeding, try no-dig gardening instead! I started with this no-dig in 2011, or thereabouts, and would never ever go back. It is so much easier and so much healthier for planet earth, too! Give it a try! Here is a really good article about how to care for Heritage raspberries (and everbearing type). Check out this post about how to grow celosia. They have now come out with so many beautiful varieties of celosia that it is a whole new ballgame than it used to be. *As an Amazon affiliate, if you purchase an item from one of these links, I make a teeny bit of money to support my blog. It does not cost you a penny more than it would if you went to the item on your own, without my link. Huge thanks : ) How to thwart the carrot rust fly. This row cover will help a whole lot! Also, plant alyssum and/or calendula to attract beneficial insects to eat the eggs, and plant with other plants, like onions, that will disguise the scent of the carrot foliage (which is what attracts the fly to your carrots). Try not to disturb the foliage ( no thinning!) as that will help the flies find your crop. How do you feel about mustard greens? I am kind of a fan. I like a bit of that spicy in my salads and on my tacos. Here is a how to for growing mustard, though it is dead simple to grow so you might not need it. Sow some seeds today and you'll have greens before you know it. Here are 32 fantastic raised bed ideas. I love sooo many of these ideas! We have 3 tall raised beds that are 12' x 4' and a whole bunch of low ones, all built with wood. The fir boards are my favourites for some reason. I love the pale colour. They are also 10" tall so just needed to go one board high to build the beds as we are open to the ground below. We just ordered this pale green enamel coated metal raised bed to go into the greenhouse. It cost a bit more than I wanted it to (always the way) but it is a bit taller and the perfect size, so we are going for it. Will be the perfect addition to the greenhouse. Isn't it lovely? Check out this amazing London garden. Pots on the patio, potted plants on the way to the greenhouse, cosmos in planter boxes, and the cutest rustic greenhouse you ever did see. And then all these lovely greenhouses for inspiration. Other Bits How to make pompom pillows. I am kinda taken with these pompoms... not sure if I want to make the pillow or just make about a zillion pompoms! This pompom maker has 4 different sizes, or even more if you like, is affordable, and looks like one of those fun projects one can sit and do in front of the boob tube (for those of us who do not know how to knit ;). This is my favourite go to drink. Yes, it is non-alcoholic. I was making them for my workshops before I even knew they were a thing! Thought it was just a me thing ; ) Have a great week, eh? Thinking of you, wishing you all the great things ~ Tanja

Can you believe that is already mid-April? Feeling the pressure to get yardwork stuff done before the weather tanks again next week for a little bit. Apparently it tanked last year at this same time, according to my brother's record keeping. Not that wonky weather in April is unexpected anyways, eh? Expect anything. Can I just show you how great my garlic still looks? I leave them in this little enamel bowl on the counter year round and still they are keeping super well! I also need to show off the beautiful tradescantia. Isn't it just the prettiest thing ever? I have taken cuttings from it to use in my hanging basket, this one will go into a bigger pot this summer and sit on the deck with me to show off it's lovely colours. In The Greenhouse I have had a million Dr's appointments these past two weeks so did do anything gardening related until just this weekend. Last year, I already had plants in the greenhouse... inside the mini greenhouse within the greenhouse, but still! Feels so good to finally have time to get out and do a bit of yard and garden puttering. On a positive note... I purchased a lovely new enamel coated avocado green metal raised bed for the greenhouse. We were not able to fill it yet as Kamen Landscaping is closed on the weekends so I will show it off to you guys next week. I am so in love with it! The bed is 11 feet long so fits perfectly along one long side, 18 inches tall, 2 feet wide (11'L x 2'W x 1.5'H). It is open to the ground so all the earthworms and microbial soil life will be able to get in there. There will be a foot of planting space in front of the bed for marigolds, basil, onions, and other goodies. It was like this bed was meant to be! *As an Amazon affiliate, if you purchase an item from one of these links, I make a teeny bit of money to support my blog. It does not cost you a penny more than it would if you went to the item on your own, without my link. Huge thanks : ) Air Temp & Soil Temp Have you all heard that the time to plant tomatoes in the ground is when you can comfortably sit on the soil with your bare bottom and not catch a chill? I mean, I would use the palm of my hand, hahaha, but that is how the saying goes. Soil temp is everything! I had dahlias in black grower pots sitting on top of the in ground bed last year, right on top of the soil. The top of the pot was soaking up all that heat, was toasty and warm, while the bottom was soaking up all that cold from the ground. The poor dahlias really did not take off any faster than if I had waited to plant them outside in spring, hah. Lesson learned. Keep tender plants off the ground in early spring! Even a piece of cardboard underneath would have made all the difference. I am thinking that this pretty new raised bed will warm up faster so I can plant it up earlier, but you can be sure that I will be sticking my finger down into it to make sure before I plant anything tender in it. I hope to get out to the nursery to pick up some basket stuffers sometime soon, to get a head start on my hanging baskets. I like to start them up early (like we did at the ngp workshops - I am a creature of habit) and then hang them in the greenhouse till May long weekend, or whenever it is nice enough to safely leave them outside. The air up by the top will be nice and warm, they do not sit on the soil, so thrive in the greenhouse. These baskets from last year were planted up on the 28th of April and I used no additional heat source to keep them warm. A greenhouse will get much warmer during the daytime than it is outside, on a sunny day, it will be about 10 degrees warmer in the greenhouse than the air temperature outside. However, at night, when things cool down, the greenhouse will be (at most) 2 degrees warmer than the air outside. In The Yard & Garden Beds In the warmer parts of the yard, the crocuses are coming up, rhubarb is popping through the soil, grass is greening up, and my fall sown spinach is coming up nicely. I got my peas and sweat peas into the garden last week. Whew! I really wanted to get them in so I wasn't waiting as long for flowers and peas! The sweet peas I sowed in last fall (as a trial) have yet to poke through the soil, but it is early days yet - I am hopeful and fairly optimistic. I always sowed the flowers in November and edible peas in February on the island, btw, for those of you looking for earlier blooms and fruits. I have direct sown some brassicas (broccoli, brussels), radishes, lettuces, and mustard greens in a raised bed to see how they all make out. I am uncertain on the brassicas but confident that the others will be honky dory. Will sow a few broccs and brussels inside to put out at the end of the month, just in case ; ) In The Potting Shed Tomatoes have been transplanted into 2 trays of Vesey's 3.5" pots. That is only 36 plants though so am not sure that will be quite enough. Eek! So hard to decide how many to grow now. I still have quite a few extra seedlings so may pot some up into the large cell packs that came with the starter trays, as a back up plan in case I want/need some more later on. I have moved the tomatoes out to the potting shed and that is where they will stay until the (unheated) greenhouse is ready for them. The heater is set to 10°C (50°F). This morning the min-max thermometer showed that it only went down to 11 degrees last night, pefect! Here is a similar one that is on sale right now, or this one that is very similar to mine. I still have the dahlias, peppers, eggplants, and thunbergias to transplant into larger pots. Hoping to get those done today and pop them all into the potting shed so that I can get all the plants out of the grandies' bedroom. The onions will go into the greenhouse. A note about seedlings. As soon as your seedlings germinate, remember to remove your humidity dome so that you do lose them to damping off. You also want to start keeping them on the dry side. If they are constantly moist, they will be more prone to fungal issues, but also will not be able to access nutrients in the soil. Let them go quite dry in between each watering. Not bone dry so that they wilt, hah, but almost that dry! Also, a foliar spray is a nice, mild fertiliser that will not burn your roots or leaves, gives them a boost. If you are on the island, get Reindeer liquid seaweed. It is the stuff of miracles, as they say. Reindeer is a small mom and pop that is located mid island (Cowichan) and is bar none the best I have ever used. Even dahlia growers rave over it. I tried a whole bunch of others (you know how I have to do my trials), and can state with confidence that Reindeer is amazing and far surpassed the others. This one comes highly recommended for those of us who do not have access to Reindeer. To do a foliar spray, you mix the seaweed in a spray bottle (according to the directions) and spray it right on to the leaves. I like to do mine when the sun is shining so that it absorbs right away and does not sit on the foliage for any length of time. You will be able to notice the difference very quickly. When I am transplanting (or planting up pots and hanging baskets), I use my 'secret' recipe (shh) of 2 parts manure or compost to 5 parts of ProMix or Sunshine #5 potting soil. The potting soils do not have much for nutrients, so adding the compost keeps them growing and flowering, thriving. That way, I do not have to worry about finding liquid fertilisers. My grower friend uses a Cal-Mag fertiliser, which may work better for you if you do not have access (or space) for bags of compost. I have been unable to get the compost yet this year so I am instead using a bit of Acti-Sol hen pellets (compressed, dry chicken manure). I really love this stuff! Plus added a bit of worm castings just for my seedling transplanting. This is a trial, I have never used castings before so will let you know what I think as they start to grow. You all... please do not be afraid to try things! You never know what works and what doesn't if you don't give it a go. You learn new things all the time by trying. Even if you read a million blogs and gardening books, like I do, not everything is applicable to your situation. Don't be afraid, if it feels right to you, just do it! Q&A Question - How do I prune my raspberries. ( I get this one a lot, lot, lot) Tanja - Your summer fruiting raspberries are super easy to figure out in spring as the old canes will be splitting and have last year's fruit caps on them. They will literally look old. Cut those off at ground level, leaving only the new stalks that came up last year. They are tall, and straight, will be putting out new leaves right now. No fruit caps or splitting bark. Everbearing/fall bearing are more complicated. See this how-to. Question - When do I prune back my raspberries? Tanja - In spring but after the air and gardens are warm enough for the overwintering insects to have left their winter homes in your leaves, straw, and even from inside the old canes. Leave your perennial flower beds standing till end of April, also. Question - Do I start watering now that the sun is out and the snow has melted away. Tanja - You can, in south facing dry areas, but probably will not have to do it yet for the other areas yet. While the ground is dry on top of the soil, underneath is likely still damp, and might even be frozen if it is a shady area. I would wait for a few weeks. The tulips and crocuses that are blooming under your eaves can probably use a drink though as they never get a lot of snow on them and the flowers will soon dry up and die off for the year if it is super dry. Most all of my week ahead is free so I really hope to get more done this week, even though they the weather is supposed to be cool and yucky for a few days. Hope you are getting lots done! But hey.. remember if you are not, does not matter. Still super early in the season, no hurry. Hubby will be doing all our raking and dealing with straw, snow mould, etc.. this year as I have been super sick. Pick your battles! There are people you can hire if need be : ) Happy Gardening, Dear Friends ~ Tanja