Garden Art

I'm a bit behind on my blogging. It is such a busy time of year. Basically I had to run out at least twice a week and water which in itself shouldn't take too long. Usually, however I would be there at least an hour and a half watering, picking things, tying up stuff, always lots to do. My tomatoes were pretty pampered. I have diligently been taking photos but with the fall coming and harvesting everything as well as working there always seems to be a shortage of time.

I really really wish I had the time to pick blackberries this year. I would have loved to have made some blackberry jelly. Oh well, maybe next year. And pickles too!!

I wanted to try and do some painting as well and didn't quite get to it. I finally have my painting area in the basement set up and ready to go. I would have liked to do some painting outside but again ran out of time. At least I have taken lots and lots of pics so hopefully in the winter I can get going.

I have to satisfy myself with the creativity at the garden. It is nice to see all the bits and bobs and scraps that give a garden it's character. Even some of the tacky bits look bright and colorful in a garden setting.

As I have said before I love to go wandering and seeing what people are up to. Sometimes I'm too tired and I don't always like to lug my big camera around so some of my pictures don't turn out as well as I would like. Looking around though I think I need more art in my plot.

Love this little rusty gate.

Winding down

My little garden is starting to wind down. The lettuce has bolted and the remains are now in my compost. I threw in some more spinach and lettuce seeds in the hope of a fall harvest.

I was told by a fellow gardener that I had better get cracking and get my beds ready to plant my winter garlic. I actually have bought my garlic but there is no rest for me it seems. Apparently you are supposed to get it prepared a month ahead with composted manure. There isn't much left and I was told to use the old stuff, NOT the new stuff that they will be getting when it is gone. The pressure, I tell ya. Honestly I'm not going to worry about it too much. I might just shake it up a bit and put in some sea soil too.

I'm very pleased with the garden this year and the soil can't be that bad as you can see from my sunflower. I do wish the flower part was bigger for the birds. Maybe I had too much manure. I know it was my second batch of seeds that I think I bought at Home Depot so they probably weren't the freshest. Next year (here I go again) I will special order ones with big heads of seeds for the birds. If only I can get them to not eat them before they sprout.

The nights are getting cooler and I can tell that my cucumbers and eggplant are slowing down. I think next year I will start them in my mini greenhouse to give them a better start. Over the winter I am going to try and figure out a better structure for my tomatoes. They really are a bit of a pain but I do love them so will probably continue to grow them until I get frustrated. My eggplants are so cute. I don't know if I will get much out of them but I have to say they are the coolest thing I have ever grown. So smooth and perfect. This is the japanese eggplant which is smaller than the regular one. I chopped one of them up and pan fried it with some mushrooms and it was delicious.

My potatoes are almost all dug up and stored in the basement. Again, not sure if I will grow them again. We will see. The fresh new ones you buy in the spring seem sweeter. Will see how long these ones last. The next week will be spent burying all the old plant material, throwing in some more manure and digging it in for the winter. Hopefully that should do the trick.

Inspiration

 The fields behind the gardens

I try and take as many pictures as I can in the garden but lets face it sometimes I am so tired all I can manage are a few quick snaps.

It was a nice cool day today so after I did my watering and picking I took my camera went for a walkabout and shot a few pics of the other gardens. I am always amazed at the creativity of my fellow gardeners.

This is from my favorite garden

 Pretty cool gate

The tin man

Someone even had grapes!

Mmmmmm

Oh tomatoes... how long I have waited for you.

Mmmmmmm

When I went to the garden on Wednesday night I was surprised at just how many there were.

I have an eclectic assortment of them. One Heirloom, one yellow and red cherry tomatoes and two early girl. They were so heavy a few green ones were on the ground so I am trying to ripen them in a paper bag. If that doesn't work maybe I will try fried green tomatoes. Whatever happens not one will go to waste.

Oh please, please let there be no blight until they are all ripe and picked!

The heirloom tomatoes are a bit strange. Kind of misshapen but they taste pretty good. This large one here made a very tasty salad for my husband and I. It was lovely, made with home made basil pesto and fresh mozzarella. It doesn't get much better than this.

Carrots

One of my deformed carrots

According to my mother my grandfather always said that you can't grow carrots in Vancouver. He would know, but I would love to prove him wrong. So far I haven't been so successful.

I bought a packet of assorted carrots in different colors. I have had some success with mostly the lighter colored carrots for some reason but the rest all have legs and look pretty strange. I don't know if color actually makes a difference or not but that is what has happened. They are also quite stubby. They still taste good but there just isn't much to eat. I am going to try again next year but after that I will move on.

Apparently they split like this because they hit a lump in the soil. My soil has lots of lumps being pretty new. Next year I might try putting sand where the carrots are going to be. They also don't like manure, one more thing to remember, pretty fussy I must say...

Zucchini!

Ah yes, zucchini, every gardener's dream and nightmare. You either love it or hate it. I have to admit, it is pretty rewarding to grow. In the right circumstances you can harvest an amazing amount from one plant. Stand there and you can almost watch them grow. It is rather incredible. You have to stay on top of it though. Miss a couple of days and you have that monster vegetable that makes you leave your home at midnight and depositing them on your neighbour's doorstep as you giggle all the way home. For the record I have never actually done that.

And yes, YOU ONLY NEED ONE PLANT!

Luckily I like zucchini but when they are small. I tried to give away a couple of small ones to friends as I thought they would love them but faces and comments were made like "they are rather slimy" or "eww it isn't a vegetable I would ever eat except in a loaf".

They don't know what they are missing. I'm one of those people who actually even buy it in the winter.

My usual way of cooking them is to sauté in a little butter and either add mushrooms or tomatoes. Deep fried zucchini sticks are good with a dipping sauce, but I never make them. I will however, if I do get an abundance (I hate to presume) try baking them. A little healthier.

Suddenly my planting scarlet runner beans around my zucchini doesn't seem like such a bad idea. I still manage to get a few zucchini but not as many as my fellow gardeners. My neighbour had bags of the stuff and HUGE!! She asked hopefully if I would like some and said "take all you want". I actually took two and gave one to my zucchini hater friend who hates zucchini but loves zucchini bread.

I grated mine and got 6 cups of shredded zucchini. A loaf of zucchini bread is always tasty and the rest goes in the freezer for those winter loaves.

Happy Baking!

Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes

I love this saying and I think it is very true. I so wish I had thought of it. I'm thinking of ordering the T-shirt.

It is fun to walk around and see what everyone is doing and saying in their plots. Usually it is just signs telling people not to pilfer their veggies and then you get this one....

The weather has been incredibly hot. My eggplant is doing well and loving the heat. Cucumber's too. Not so sure, however if I like eggplant so much but they say fresh is the best so I will try it. So far everything that I have grown is so tasty. I picked two cherry tomatoes and my hubby and I had one each. Oh they were so good! A couple more are starting to turn red so I'm hoping that my hard work will pay off. The heat is such a good thing for them.

I harvested a few potatoes last week and came home with a big bag. They are beautiful. Not quite as sweet as the little new ones you buy but really good. I think I like the red ones better, they seem sweeter but I only dug up a couple of them. You can only eat so many potatoes (even me) so I will leave the rest and harvest them later.

A pretty cool mason bee house