Did you know the following interesting facts about Kelowna, BC?

Did you know the following interesting facts about Kelowna: Kelowna was founded in 1905 and until 1925, it was entirely dependent on water transportation for all freight and passenger movement. The word Kelowna means Grizzly Bear in Native/First Nations dialect. Kelowna's total land area is 221.69 square kilometers. Kelowna is located in British Columbia's Central Okanagan Regional District. Kelowna is 471 kilometers east of Vancouver,BC. Kelowna BC is 606 kilometers west of Calgary Alberta, 78 kilometers north of Penticton BC, and 54 kilometers south of Vernon BC.

Interesting Unknown Facts About Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson is a biggest pop icon. Every one knows about his dance and voice. Beyond that, there are many more interesting facts about Michael Jackson. "Michael" means Messenger Of God. Tomorrow, Michael Jackson's new remixed album Immortal will release. Please support for the album.

Gardens East Love

I've got to give some love to Gardens East! My latest issue just arrived a few days ago, but because of impending deadlines (cue dark, booming music), I've not yet had a chance to flip through it.. well, now that I'm finishing up writing a garden profile for the Feb issue of the magazine (a very cool moss-hosta garden just outside Halifax), I decided to procrastinate a bit and brewed some tea and grabbed the issue you see in the photo.

I typically write two articles per issue - one is always a garden profile on a Maritime gardener (Tom Hall in PEI in this issue) and the other article is on another aspect of gardening.. from sweet peas to winter veggies and everything in between. (got ideas? Just make a comment below, I always want to hear suggestions from gardeners!) I also love that Gardens East employes some of my favourite Canadian garden writers - Larry Hodgson (seriously, the king of perennials! In the new issue he covers Garden Myth Truths), Brian Minter (Winter Baskets for the Holiday Season) and Ward Teulon, another veggie lover (Storing Vegetables).

As a gardener, I am so glad we have such a detailed resource - for the Maritimes.. and as a writer, I grateful for the opportunity to work for such fun folks. You can check out their website here. And a 1 year subscription is 33% off!! Hello holiday season!

Please let me know if you have any suggestions on NS, NB, PEI or NFLD gardens that should be included in the magazine - just comment below. And, Gardens East welcomes and encourages you to e-mail, snail mail, tweet, facebook your garden questions/photos/adventures which may end up in the next issue!! (e-mail - talkback@gardenswest.com) Tell them Niki sent you! :)

Fall Greens and Autumn Thoughts

Well, I think today is it. After this day is done, the 'real' November weather should be arriving and I better get the mini hoop tunnels set up and ready to go before the sun sets at 5 pm (thanks SO much time change) today. We've been very lucky with only a few lights frosts and one hard frost so far - it's Nov 4th for goodness sake - but after today, our lovely 12 C weather is sinking to just above freezing and I want to make sure our beds of hardy greens are protected and ready for winter. 

Speaking of beds of greens, these hardy plants have been thriving in the mild Oct and Nov weather.. I started none of them from seed or transplant - at least not on purpose. They're all reseeded (aka, volunteer) babies that I dug up and moved as they popped up in the beds in September. Some of them were moved in hot, dry weather, but they all took. Another reason to love these resilient edibles. Talk about easy gardening! Now, we have 3 cold frames full of crops for winter and about six 4 by 10 foot beds overflowing with hardy greens and root crops. I also late seeded a few more beds with assorted greens that will overwinter and be ready for harvest from mid March until mid-May when the 'real' garden takes over once again.

As for now, here's a few photos I took this morning as the most beautiful golden autumn light bathed the garden.. mind you, once I snapped the first photo, clouds appeared and that light was gone, but nevertheless, here is a glimpse of our garden.. 

Mixed Asian greens and baby kale in the fleeting light.

Asian greens just LOVE this weather!

Some of my new-to-me kales.. Lacinato Rainbow, a cross of
Lacinato (aka, Dinosaur kale) with Redbor, a curly-leafed red variety.

More Lacinato Rainbow with Winterbor in the
background.

Baby Pixie cabbage from Renee's Garden with
Lacinato Rainbow kale. 

Winterbor kale with sweet alyssum - still
going strong!

Curly parsley and sweet alyssum.

Glossy green Asian veggies

Look closely and you'll see the bolted mizuna
in the middle.. no worries, the flowerbuds and blooms
also take great!

Ruby Streaks mustard from Greta's Organic Garden in
Ontario.

Say cheese, Lacinato Rainbow! Not quite as
colourful as I had thought, but maybe that is a
natural variation or my seed source..