Starting indoors.

Last year I gave in to my spring fever and started indoors in early March. You green thumbs know that is FAR too early for some plants and many of mine ended up spindly.

So far this year I've maintained control...but it is time. I will be starting seeds today!

Here's what I am planting:

Mini cukes











Tricolour Swiss Chard















Alpine Strawberries

Thumbelina Carrots












AND Strawberry Spinach. If you haven't heard of Strawberry spinach before, you aren't alone. This is the first year I have seen it in the seed store. It looks so lovely that I have to try it. Here's a blurb about it:

Strawberry Spinach
Description Chenopodium capitatum
50 days.
Unusual and doubly enjoyable first as an edible green and later, the berries. Triangular, pleasantly textured, green leaves have spiky edges and grow in attractive, open rosettes. Mature plants produce berry-like, 1/2 inch, enjoyably nutty, ruby-colored fruit. Plants are heat loving for an excellent addition to summer salads This is a very rare ancient vegetable dating back 400 years! It was rediscovered at old monasteries in Europe.

It is similar to Lamb's Quarters in habit, although smaller. Grows 1 1/2 Feet high. Triangular, toothed leaves are thinner than spinach, very nutritious and high in vitamins. The tender shoots are used in salads or cooked like spinach. But the real surprise is that at each leaf axle there is an abundance of sweet, strawberry-like fruits which some say resemble mulberries. Will reseed vigorously.

We are getting all geared up to build our raised beds. Still not 100% sure what they will look like, or even what we are doing, but we're having fun and growing our own food. More seeds to come!

What did YOU plant this year?

Accidents, rain and silver (gold) linings...

Soo...I was involved in a little accident on Monday. Actually, my car was written off and I had a CT scan (n visible brain damage...but it's the invisible stuff we are most concerned about).

I hit my head and suffered through three days of something called a "post-concussive" headache (basically open skull, poke brain with sharp object repeatedly). It was terrible... I took narcotics.

I went and saw Dr. Rob at Gateway, who fixed me up and when I woke this morning, my headache was mostly gone. No more percocet.

I still hurt, but it is a reminder of how incredibly lucky I am to have walked away with only a concussion and whiplash (medical disclaimer: that we know of). The person who rear-ended me at high speeds actually flipped his own vehicle and was transported to the hospital on a spineboard after being extricated by EMS.

Here is the back of my car.

Liam's carseat could not be extricated... thankfully both boys were safe, at home, with their dad.

The silver lining in all this is that we will get a new car...mine is totalled! WooHoo!

I am hoping to purchase a lovely crossover vehicle frm some friends who are offering it to us for a VERY reasonable price... please cross your fingers for us that this will work out.

On another topic...RAIN!?

While it is great for my garden, it feels like fall... I feel like I should be making soup right now.

The garden

I am so excited! After all that snow and cold and rain I worried that my sweetpeas were never going to come up, but this morning I spied GREEN poking out of the dirt. We won't be here to enjoy them while they are in bloom this year, but I will drive by and peek.

My ranaculus are sprouting, finally. This is my first year for this plant and I am excited to see all the colours! Here is what it will look like when it blooms:

It is supposed to make a beautiful cut flower and I LOVE to have fresh flowers inside. I am hoping they smell better than my beautiful (but malodourous) Shasta Daisies.

Once I cut and arranged a lovely vase of them for a sick friend. I brought them inside to tie a ribbon around the vase and thought that, perhaps, Alan had forgotten to take out the garbage. I was wrong. Shasta daisies are lovely and grow like a dream, but they smell horrific.

I left them out on the step and had many compliments from visitors

I would like to experiment with some native plants in our new place. I am cosidering Alberta Wild Roses, Wild Sage, crocus' from the Ranch and wild strawberries.

Anyone have experience working with native plants? Any favourites?

Sunshine

I am SO enjoying the beautiful sunshine streaming through my window today. It finally feels like spring and I am SO ready for this!

I've decided to transplant my beets and carrots into two large terracotta pots. The greens will look pretty for the next two or three months and when they are big enough...we can start pulling them out!

We have been spring cleaning, de-junking and organizing in anticipation of a new fmily member!

Yes, we are anxiously awaiting news of a 7 year old girl who will hopefully be joining our family in the next few months.

Please say a little prayer for us that everything will fall into place and she will be where she needs to be and have a stable, happy life.

More gardening

So, I know there is 25 cm of snow outside. I tried to will it away today, but it hasn't worked... so far! I am in a full 'start your seeds indoors', gardening frenzy.

We have planted 5 different varieties of tomatoes, including these, called "Golden Queen":

We also planted scarlett runner beans...thay have taken off in such a big way that we will need to set up a trellis indoors and slowly take them out on warm days to harden them off.

We planted purple carrots:

Sevreal different varieties of Coleus

And beets of course...

Now...if this snow would all melt, we'd be a good shape to start!!!

COME SPRING!!!

Spring Fever

Ok...so, how about a little sunshine in view of my recently gloomy rantings and ramblings?

I am DYING for green grass. The paperwhites on my windowsill have grown and blossomed (Alan couldn't stand the smell so he cut all the blooms off...lol), the boys planted tiny patches of green grass, I have been sprouting alfalfa.

IT ISN'T ENOUGH!!

I am itching to visit sunnyside and plan my garden for this year.

Last year we planted a few new things that I absolutely LOVED. Purple Morning Glories, Scarlett Runner Beans and purple potatoes. While our harvest was less than bountiful, the boys enjoyed watching everything grow and loved picking beans off the vine and digging out the potatoes at year end.

This year I think we will double up and plant twice as many seeds. We have chain link fencing and it makes the perfect trellis for climbing plants and veggies.

A personal favorite that I think we will plant this year are sweet peas. I purchased a packet of a beautiful varigated multi-coloured variety and am just waiting for the Mother's Day weekend to plant them.

So...do you garden? Veggies, flowers or both? What are YOUR favourites? Any hints you want to share? Are you dying to get your hands dirty?

I think we will take a little drive to sunnyside, just for a green fix.