A little tour

Ah, the guilt of being a lax blogger.. this summer is rather busy. Not only am I trying to keep up with magazine deadlines and the weekly radio show, but the manuscript for my 2nd book is due in 5 weeks! Yikes!! That means my lovely summer days are spent working madly on my computer and the garden has suffered tremendously. Firstly, the deer have been making nightly pilgrimages to the garden.. my beloved beans have been desiccated. Secondly, the dry weather has made the soil like dust. We did finally get a rain 2 nights ago, but when I snuck up to plant some leek seedlings yesterday morning, the soil was still dry 3 inches down.

I knew that this would be a busy summer, so I tried to plan ahead and choose plants that wouldn't need me so much - tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, pole beans (damn deer, sniff), kale and such. The heat has been kind to the tomatoes, which are over 6 feet tall, but my lack of time means that they are inadequately staked. Oops! Maybe this weekend I can get out there and do a bit of work. I did find time to start some fresh trays of seedlings indoors for fall/winter though. I have more kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, endive, lettuces, swiss chard and a few other tidbits coming nicely under the grow lights. Soon, they'll be moved into the garden.

And I also sowed two beds of winter carrots. I still need to tidy up the cold frames and get them enriched for the late season crops, but again, it's on my list!

Lettuces, endive, Swiss chard and more - 1 1/2 weeks old!

One part of the garden that I'm thrilled with is the high bush blueberry patch. The plants are 3 years old now and bearing their first heavy crop of super delicious berries. Last year we harvested about a cup from each bush. Now, they're 4 feet tall and we've gotten 2 cups from each already with many more to come. The staggered ripening process means daily handfuls of the berries and I already have plans to greatly expand that bed next spring.

Next season - no book deadlines (or so I tell myself) as I want to get back to the pleasure of gardening and not 'speedy gardening', where both the crops and the gardener suffer!! :)

I promise to be a better blogger! Thanks for hanging in.. much appreciated!

Five types of kale, 2 quick maturing cabbage and kohlrabi

A Rainy Day Garden Tour

I know, I know.. I've been very slack in updating my blog lately. To be honest, I'm also very slack in getting anything done in the garden! Thankfully, it can (mostly) take care of itself.. I do need to get in more peas for fall though, as well as start a few things under the lights for autumn (kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.) Plus, in just a few weeks, it will be planting season for fall/winter carrots!

The rains just paused for a few minutes, so I ran up to the garden to breathe in the fresh air, get away from deadlines and take a few photos.. Here they are!

Who invited aphids (and the accompanying ants)
to my spinach!! The seeds will be ready to harvest soon! 

Blueberries! The low bush are just starting, but the high bush
have another week or two before the big berries are ripe.

This is the Beet and Chard Braising Mix from Renee's Garden. I've
been using the baby leaves in salads non-stop and love tossing a few
handfuls in stif-fries at the last minute. So good!! I've planted
it under a pole bean teepee.. 

My first Bojangles marigold has finally bloomed. I grew these
from seed and think they're so cute.. Not as striped as I would
have liked.. but fun!

So.many.garlic.scapes. This garlic plant
produced 2 scapes.. first time I've seen that!!

Part of my garden edging - Drunken Woman lettuce, Red Lollo lettuce
and a butter head whose name has escaped me.. 

Drunken Woman lettuce in the rain.. I got the seeds from
Hope Seed last autumn.

Poppies.. this ones looks a bit down about
all the rain!

My peanuts are growing! I planted them 3 weeks ago and
have about 20 plants - already 6 inches tall!!

Another poppy.. electric red/pink colour!!

Another lettuce border.. that deep red
Lollo Rossa lettuce is hard to see.. but it is one
of my very favourites and not often bothered by
the slugs.. maybe because of the super frilled foliage?

Speaking of slugs.. and snails.. what does this little guy think
he's doing to my chard!!

Little bugger!! 

Cosmos 'Pink Popsocks' from McFayden. The flowers are small,
only about 2 inches across and the plants
are slow growing.. but very pretty blooms.

My pea/marigold/nasturtium/eggplant/pepper
garden on my back porch.. it's very hot and usually
sunny!

Two mini bell peppers of an unnamed variety that I'm
testing for a seed company. They've begun
to flower.

I love my herbs - this is lemon thyme, rosemary and lemon verbena
on my back deck.. great for marinades!! 

A Super-Early Preview of the Sept Issue of Gardens East!

I just got the latest issue of Gardens East magazine in the mail yesterday!! So exciting.. it's always packed with so much info. And this issue featured 2 of my articles! One on an amazing Oakfield, NS garden and the other was on some of my favourite veggies for autumn. That may sound funny, but it's time to start to think about what you want to harvest this fall. Our fall/winter carrots will be planted in about a month and I've already tucked more kale seedlings into the garden.

Anyway, on to the topic at hand. I'm currently procrastinating, oops, I mean working on the Sept garden profile for Gardens East and thought I'd share a few of the photos that I took at this gorgeous Dartmouth garden.. just a few tidbits to pique your interest!! 

Hens and chicks in a chair that is painted with hens and chicks!! Love it.. Also, I'm really into the lime green/purple colour combo of campanula and lady's mantle. Finally, look at the big seashell below, planted with sedums.. I could have stared at it for hours.. so many colours and textures..

The sun is peaking out, so hopefully our dreary weather is over.. get out and play in your garden!!

Check out my latest Proven Winners blog post!

Lobularia 'Blushing Princess'

My latest blog post for Proven Winners is now live! For my take on Lobularia 'Snow Princess', click here! (spoiler alert - this has been one of my top container picks for years!)

And for my 2 minute video profiling some of my container gardens, click here! Two of the new plants I am trialing for Proven Winners are soon-to-be-released Lobularia's - Blushing Princess and Frosty Knight. So, far, they are outstanding.. for photos, just scroll down to my recent post on my planters and pots.

Check out my 1st video!!

My first ever Proven Winners video is up on youtube!! It's only a short 2 min piece on my container gardens, but it was a lot of fun to do (I should have kept the out takes - much swearing!!).. hmmmm.. might have to do a few videos for this blog..? Thoughts?

My Potted Garden - Edibles and Ornamentals

Red lolla lettuce with Lobularia 'Blushing Princess' and
Lobularia 'Frosty Knight'

I have a lot of container gardens. It's not my fault! Because I blog for Proven Winners (see that funky badge on the right side of my blog? It will take you to my posts), they send me trial plants a year in advance so that I can test out (and write about with confidence) the soon-to-be-released plants..

This year, I had already potted up about a dozen medium sized pots, planters, window boxes and hanging baskets when the Proven Winners plants arrived.. I had to scrounge around for more containers (I'm a frugal (aka, cheap) gardener, so I wasn't going to spend big $$$ on more pots) and now have a back deck that is home to about 18 containers, a few window boxes and 2 large planters.. yikes!!

Of course, I like to combine my ornamental plants with edibles, so tucked in many of my planters is a variety of leaf lettuces, 'Bright Lights' swiss chard, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants (the like the heat of the back deck) and peas. I love the way leaf lettuce really fills out a container, plus, it's only a quick jaunt to the deck to pick a few leaves for my lunchtime wraps and sandwiches..

But, I love my container gardens and they really add a lush look to the back deck.. Plus, they attract hummingbirds and butterflies like crazy! So, I just popped out and took a few updated photos of my pots, as well as a shot of my tomatoes underplanted with arugula. Thought I should document that before I start harvesting tonight for supper!!

Happy Summer!

Another shot of my lettuce and the two 2013 Lobularias.. Also,
note that electric reddish-pink Supertunia called 'Watermelon
Charm' in the back of the photo.. he's coming next year too!
If you look super close, you'll also see some green leaf
lettuce at the top of the photo too.. 

A mini sweet pepper combined with Lobularia
'Blushing Princess', Supertunia 'Watermelon
Charm', Superbells 'Lemon Slice' (another 2013
introduction) and various tidbits..

Another shot of the pepper.. can't wait to try the sweet
fruits - some are about 1-inch already!

Here's a new 2012 petunia called 'Pink Lemonade'.. It's not as low
maintenance as the Proven Winners Supertunia because I need
to deadhead the spent flowers, but I do love the colour combo!

A bit sunny out, but here's a look at my tomatoes (and a rogue borage)
that are underplanted with a thick layer of arugula - 22 days from seeding.
Time to eat!! :)

Daylily Daze is coming soon!!