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Recent Entries to this Blog
Spring has almost made it to Southern Ontario
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jillh's Blog
Garden Update Mid-June
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:20 am The garden is growing! It's finally warmer here so things are doubling in size. Below are the cukes (tiny things in front left), potatoes just showing out of the ground, rhubarb behind, zuchs to the right and raspberries behind. 
( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) Here is the main garden. Lot's of stuff in here now. 
Garden on June 16 ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) This is our main flower bed and it's just about to burst with poppies and peonies. I have to move a bunch of things because the Japanese maple and magnolia have doubled in size in the last 5 years. 
Flower Bed ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) 
Peony ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) 
Mom Wren (not happy with me) ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) Here is the wren just coming out of her house to fetch another caterpillar (hopefully out of my lettuce). I went up close to the house to see if I could see any babies but it was too dark inside. The mom was scolding me terribly! Last edited: Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:25 am This blog entry has been viewed 303 times
Tree of Life
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:29 am It's one smallish, perhaps 8 year old, 13 foot high red maple that the wren house is hanging in and wouldn't you know, out of all the trees and shrubs in our yard (hundreds) a robin chose the same tree and has a nest 5 feet above the wren house! I discovered her on Saturday when I noticed that robins were chasing each other around the yard and quite often starting or finishing their chase in this tree. It think that must have been some mating and now she's happily sitting on the nest and feeding from my bug supply. I hope they both continue to eat well from the vegetable garden which is just a few feet away because there are a lot of caterpillars this year and some have already made holes in my lettuce!! Photos to come of the robin after I figure out how to get a decent shot. The zoom lens has trouble focusing on one little thing in the middle of the lens. The baby wrens (number unknown) can be heard clearly from the house which is 15 feet away so they are obviously growing well. The male is feeding them this year which is something that we didn't see last year. They are getting a bug every 2-3 minutes whereas last year it was every 5. The garden is looking great. Potatoes showing some green above ground now. Lettuce in full swing, spinach too. Salad for dinner tomorrow night, our first big meal from the garden this year. The peas are almost at top height and some have flowers. Runner beans are starting to climb up the trellis. Gourds have 4 leaves now...it just got warm here. The tomatoe plants I bought are a good size, those I started from seed are a bit small. Beets, carrots, 2 inches up, Bush beans had to be planted again because only 2 grew. Zuchini are at 4 leaves and cucumber is really slow for some reason. This blog entry has been viewed 287 times
Baby birds!
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:59 am They finally hatched! The mother wren has been flying in and out every so often over the last 3 weeks and finally there are the quietest peeps coming from the house (I pressed my ear to the back of it to hear them). So far it sounds like 2 babies. It's really cold out tonight so I guess mom is in there covering them up. The real action in the yard will start now with her picking all the inchworms and caterpillars, moths etc from my gardens to feed the fast growing babies. It only took about 2 1/2 weeks, maybe 3 max, for them to fledge and then leave the nest. I'll get photos when I can. They are such amazing little creatures. This blog entry has been viewed 319 times
The Gourd Trellis
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 1:29 am We have a neighbour who trimmed out a bunch of dead cedar hedge so I asked if I could have the wood for a trellis. They were happy to give it away! After doing some reading and looking at photos I realized that I was going to need something more substantial than a small section of the chain link fence. Some of these vines exceed 10 feet in length and I put 5 plants in the ground....hmmmm. I plan on being out there in the evening with my paintbrush pollinating (I'll wear a black and yellow jersey to trick the plants!) so that I can maximize my yield. A few years ago I tried a birdhouse gourd plant and got only one gourd. I wasn't sure why the flowers kept on falling off but now I know. They weren't pollinated and I also didn't know the males from the females. I've got it down pat now. There are some great websites out there now. So here is the trellis and a close up of the little plants which just went into the ground last week. Wish them (us) luck! The wren will have more houses to stuff next year if I'm successful! 
Gourd seedlings ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) 
The Gourd Trellis ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) This blog entry has been viewed 1771 times
June 5, Garden Update
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 2:09 am The seeds have been in the garden for a few weeks now and some things are bolting (the peas!) and some are slow (the tomatoes). We need some heat and sunshine I think. I'm not sure what to do with our spinach. It is normal size spinach so should I leave the leaves that are there and wait until they are a bit bigger or can I pick some of the smaller ones to use early. Will more leaves grow if I pick some of the first leaves away? 
Lettuce, spinach, beans and snap peas ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) My cucumbers have sprouted but are not growing too quickly at all. I hope they'll pick up. The zucchini are doing well as are the beans (all these are from seed). The snap and snow peas are 3 feet tall at least and I see flowers on a few plants. The trellis is being built tomorrow. I now have enough cedar to build a fairly large structure. There are 4 gourd plants, 2 planted on each side of where the trellis will go. I had to dig up some grass for the garden spot and our soil is naturally sandy (we live about 500 meters from Lake Ontario) so I added a wheelbarrow full of our compost to it. The house wren is still singing non stop around the little house, trying to woo his sweetheart even though I think she's already sitting on HIS eggs! She chose house # 2 that he stuffed full of uncomfortable twigs. I'm still waiting for the day when she is coming in and out every 5 minutes to bring food to the babies. 
Male wren "wooing" ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) 
Female wren on her way to the house ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) 
Female wren at house ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) Last edited: Sat Jun 06, 2009 2:10 am This blog entry has been viewed 285 times
The Vegetable Garden May 2009
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 1:24 am That wonderful time that we have all looked forward to during the winter is finally here. The seeds were purchased back in April and the peas, lettuce and spinach went in 3-4 weeks ago. This year I bought some vine snap peas since the short ones I had last year didn't produce too much. The snow peas were terrific, they were 6 foot vines so I found some 6 foot tall snap pea vine seeds. We also decided to save some more space and chose some scarlet runner beans this year as well. The lettuce is now up in the first row and the spinach has made it's first baby leaves. At the Canada Blooms garden show in March I bought some $3.89 birdhouse gourd seeds (12 in the packet!) and started those indoors as well as some heritage yellow pear "cherry" tomatoes. I sowed oh, about 18 tomato seeds and I'll never ever be able to grow (or eat) them all. We have limited space! I've given a few seedlings away already. 5 of the gourd seeds have sprouted and now after reading one post by a gardenstew writer who only planted 1 seed and had a vine cover her entire chicken coup!!! I think my 5 seeds will be plenty for my small alloted space for the gourds in our yard. Next task: make a trellis to support the vines and keep them off the lawn. I need some creative advice now. Ready? I have 4 48" tall old cedar hedge trunks which are quite strong. I have a couple of 36" long thin cedar hedge branches and one 6 foot long trunk that is skinny. Hmmmm, how to put these all together beside our chain link fence so that the trellis that is built is supported also by the fence and the gourds can grow down through the "roof" of the trellis. I can get some heavy gauge wire mesh (really heave chicken fence) from my husband for the roof. I think I'll make it 2 feet wide and about 6 feet long. The 48" poles can be the posts at each corner and the other branches can support at the sides. Any other crafty ideas??? We have wrens who have nested in our wooden houses each year for the past 3 now and I'd love to give them some more homes. 
( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) 
Bringing twigs to the nest ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) 
Here comes the next twig ( photo / image / picture from jillh's Garden ) Last edited: Sat May 23, 2009 1:41 am This blog entry has been viewed 371 times
Harvest, glorious harvest!
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:48 pm This has been so much fun. I am completely addicted to my garden and like many of you I'm sure, am already planning next years rows. Over the last 2 weeks we have picked more beets, another handful of beans (I pulled all the plants out except one) 6 brussells sprouts! 6 lbs of tomatoes, many of which were dented and bruised from the hail in August. These tomatoes were skinned, bad bits removed and frozen in ziploc bags for soups. We've eaten another 2 meals of pan roasted cherry tomatoes and I've picked 4 good sized zucchini. There are still more to come! We also picked a bunch of our carrots which were rather stubby and wide at the top. The longest was about 4 inches, maybe 5 but a good 1 1/2 inches across the top. Our soil was so airy and soft this year that I thought we'd have long skinny carrots. Any ideas? In our effort to eat locally I bought 3 baskets of Ontario peaches which were excellent and large this year and processed those into large jars for winter. I think I will do pears this week-end since the peaches look so good. When the kids saw what I was doing they both said "oh you're making those kind of peaches, we love those!". It will be nice to compliment the apples we'll be eating all winter. I may take our Arctically challenged contributor's advice and bring the root veggies in to keep in sand over the next couple of months. We don't have any potatoes to store (they were put into a Shepherd's Pie by accident when Hubby was cooking) but we'll have lots of beets and carrots. Here is a mid-Sept dinnertime harvest. Note the Weiner dog trying to steal a tomato..... 
Last edited: Sat May 23, 2009 1:13 am This blog entry has been viewed 493 times
It's finally drying up in Southwestern Ontario
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:51 am I am back after being away for 9 days and am pleased to say that the garden looks great. The zucchini plants have grown new leaves and are acting as if nothing happened at all. If zucchini had water glasses they would always be half full! 
I had a friend pick some things while I was away and she brought in 2 nice sized zucchinis. She also picked a half full 4 quart basket of cherry and grape tomatoes so we had those for dinner as follows: From the Barefoot Contessa at home cookbook by Ina Garten (great name huh?) Garlic and Herb Tomatoes 3 T olive oil 2 t minced garlic 2 pints cherry tomatoes 2 T chopped fresh basil 2 T chopped fresh flat leafed parsley 2 t chopped fresh thyme leaves 1 t salt 1/4 t pepper Heat the oil in a saute pan large enough to hold all the tomatoes in one layer. Add the garlic to the oil and cook over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5-7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to lose their firm round shape. Sprinkle with a little fresh chopped basil and parsley and serve hot or at room temp. I actually added zucchini to the pan after I scooped out the tomatoes and that was delicious too. There have been 7 or 8 full size tomatoes ripened up over the last week and they are delicious. Most of the ones with the hail damage rotted on the vine except a few which I'll cut up into something. Check out the bean below, it was left on the bushes and I just found it today. It's about 9 inches long! My kids split it in half and ate it...a little fibrous??? The snow peas are still producing even though the vines are drying up. 
I dug up my 3 potato plants that were in the garden today and this is my harvest. We had some for dinner and the flavour was so much better than the ones I grew in the 2 black pots. 
I had a pleasant surprise today as well as seeing the good harvest, my raspberries are starting to ripen. I bought some canes from a nursery a few years back and have moved them at least twice trying to find a spot that I like for them. This year they grew very large and they seem to be a really late variety. They ripen in Sept. I live near Toronto and that is about 6 weeks later than the usual raspberries around here. I'm not sure what variety I bought, I'm just happy that they are going to make fruit! 
This blog entry has been viewed 427 times
Shredded!
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:03 am Well, it seems that things were pretty badly hit. I didn't take any photos today (our first day back after the week-end away) since the garden hasnt' really perked up the way I thought it might after that storm. A lot of the veggies have holes in them (green peppers) and the zucchini and tomatoes have dents that have made blemishes. The underground veggies have their green tops half flattened. I think they will still be fine. The bean leaves look like they have been through a mulcher and the snow peas suddenly look tired and are browning. My potatoes look miserable! I think I'll go digging tomorrow and may just dig them all up now. It's been since June 7th or so that they have been in the ground, does that sound like long enough to do what they should? They have flowered (about 3 or 4 weeks ago) and one of them has those little buds on top that I thought I read meant that the spuds should be picked asap. I'm not giving up! There are lots of tomatoes on the vine still. We ate a huge red one tonight in a simple salad with feta, chopped fresh basil and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was excellent. The zucchini look like they still have plenty of new flowers along the vines. It was sunny and beautiful here on the week-end and as soon as we arrived home today it started to thunder and rained a few drops, now it is rumbling again. I actually yelled out loud that it had rained enough already and to quit it. I had a glass of wine after that..... Last edited: Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:03 am This blog entry has been viewed 422 times
HAIL (not Caesar, but the cold damaging kind)
Category: Vegetable and Flower Gardens | Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:39 am We have had crazy weather this year but today's hail storm seems to have taken first prize. It came down once, small gravel sized balls, not too bad, for about 3 or 4 minutes. Then it let up a bit, started again and lasted 20 minutes. It was so forceful that the lawn looked like it was making popcorn. The deck and places where the eaves come to a corner and are chutes for rain had piles of hail on them. It got really windy at one point (a little scary for the kids and us too) and the hail was being blown through the trees shredding them with their force so there was leaf matter flying all around the yard for about 5 minutes. It was a bit like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz! Here are some photos of the aftermath. Thank goodness it did not turn into anything serious. The leaves: 
My poor zucchini! 
The snow peas in the big garden: 
The beets, carrots and brussells sprouts whose leaves just snapped right off. Argh! 
The hail did this to the tomato stems which were exposed and running horizontally: 
Look at all the cherry and grape tomatoes it knocked off! There were 2 full size ones on the ground too. 
Yesterday's harvest, before all this crazy hail hit! 
I'm hoping that over the next few days it will dry up and the leaves will stand upright again. It is supposed to be dry here for 3 days in a row. That's a first for the last 2 weeks! We've had daily storms. This blog entry has been viewed 422 times
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