Category: gardening

  • State of the Garden, June 27

    garden, June 27

    Things are coming along quite nicely in my container garden! It’s been alternately very rainy and very hot and sunny, so the plants are doing really well. The containers do dry out quickly, but I’m using some moisture control soil and being diligent about watering (sometimes twice) on hot, sunny days.

    peas

    The peas are finally making pods, though because it’s already very hot I don’t expect to see a ton to harvest. That’s okay – I love just eating fresh peas straight off the vine, it’s one of the pleasures of vegetable gardening for me.

    bell pepper

    Tiny bell pepper!

    cucumber

    Slicing cucumbers are starting to get going.

    purple calabash

    Purple calabash tomato – I think. I’m always terrible at labelling my varieties, but they do have a pretty distinctive shape and I have the seed packet.

    tigerellas

    Tigerella. I’m trying to be more aware of the nutrient needs of my containers this year – I need to remember that container soils only have what you add! I did a round of crushed eggshells and coffee grinds for all the tomatoes, and I’ll probably pick up some kelp meal and plant tea soon.

    Matt's wild cherry (I think)

    Matt’s Wild Cherry.

    I wasn’t quite fast enough with my camera to get a better photo of this bee, but I’m glad to see him checking out the tomato flowers. Now I just need to keep the squirrels out of the planters until I can harvest! I had to chase the same squirrel off the balcony three times today, grrr.

    bee!

    It’s a long weekend up here for Canada Day, and I plan to drink iced coffee, quilt, knit, and relax. Have a great weekend, long or not!

    P.S. My pattern sale ends Sunday night (June 30th) – now’s the time to buy if you’ve had your eye on anything! You’ll automatically receive 25% off your purchase of $5 or more when using the Ravelry cart.

  • random tuesday

    Seedlings are happening! After last year’s critter carnage in my container garden, I’m trying to plan for ways to protect everything once it’s out on the balcony . Need to buy more chicken wire. Unfortunately it’s not pretty, but I’ll take functional if it prevents everything from being eaten by squirrels!

    tomatoes

    Various heirloom tomato seedlings – I’m terrible about labelling my seedlings, but I’m ok with that. I mean, it’ll be clear once the fruit comes in, right?

    mint

    Tiny mint sprouts.

    cilantro

    Cilantro, though now that I think about it I should start a dedicated pot and plant lots of seeds for maximum edibles.

    Knitting:

    scrumptious lace

    Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace that I bought in the UK in 2011. I’ve been waiting for the perfect idea and I think I have it!

    madelinetosh pashmina

    Madelinetosh Pashmina in Stovepipe.

    cascade heritage silk

    Cascade Heritage Silk. I’ve been working on this one for ages and just had to rip out the upper body (sleeve cap issues)…here’s hoping it’ll be done soon so I can wear it!

  • urban farmer

    First of all, thank you all so much for your awesome response to Afternoon Tea volume one!
    I’m hard at work on the next one, which will shoot in late August. Kind of tough to work on fall/winter stuff in the summer, but such is the life of a pattern designer. I’ve also been super busy working at lettuce knit, and dealing with some family medical issues (good vibes for my dad’s recovery from heart surgery would be appreciated).

    But luckily I have a lovely spot to sit and knit now – my apartment (which you may remember I moved into late last summer) is on a second floor and has a nice big porch out front. I’d been without outdoor space for a couple years before moving here, so I was really excited to start up a container garden again! It’s been a pretty slow process of getting things ready, finding containers and everything, but now that it’s warm out the plants seem to be humming along.

    First thing I planted in late April was peas, in just a plastic container from Ikea – I have a pretty random assortment of containers, mostly plastic pails. The peas are flowering now and there are few pods too. There won’t be a huge harvest or anything, probably not even enough for a meal, but raw peas straight off the vine are such a treat!

    peas

    The chard I planted is doing pretty well, though it was slow to germinate. It’s Rainbow Lights, so the stems will be different colours.

    chard

    Poor romaine. It got nibbled at pretty well before I got some chicken wire (the peas too). It’s finally growing pretty well, but I need even more chicken wire!

    romaine

    Basil – I love basil and I have about 8 plants! The container on the left is what I grew from seed, the rest I bought.

    basil

    Just planted beans last week and they’ve popped up really nicely! I’ve got tendergreen and royal burgundy.

    beans!

    Left to right: Early Girl tomatoes, Husky tomatoes, Bambino eggplant and basil. I know I’m pushing my luck with 2 tomatoes in the same planter. I can’t decide whether I want to spend money on more planters, more soil, and more plants – it’s a slippery slope.

    tomatoes, eggplant, basil

    I got a nice folding table and chairs from Ikea and we’ve eaten dinner outside a few times. It’s quite lovely.

    front porch garden

    Today’s first harvest – baby spinach, baby chard, a few leaves of romaine and some basil. A tiny salad?

    first porch garden harvest

    In fibery news, I’m knitting a lot, and I’ve been crocheting a lot on this blanket:

    ripple

    It’s almost done now!