This point in winter, just after the Solstice and during the general holiday season, always seems to me to be the most contemplative time during the year. At least in terms of my life as a gardener. Oh, yeah. I’m still digesting the experience of last year, thinking about what I want to do in [...]
Filed under: Nature, Rural Living, Soil Management | No Comments »
There is “gardening” in the literal sense of the word, and in the metaphoric. In the literal sense, for me right now it consists of harvesting the last of the lettuce and kale from our sun-heated greenhouse. There’s no supplementary heat in there, and considering that our nighttime temps have gone below -12, it amazes [...]
Filed under: Food, Organic Gardening, Rural Living, Vegetable Gardening | 3 Comments »
My gardening involvements at present consist of managing and harvesting lettuce and other leafies from our sun-heated greenhouse. On the mental-work side, there’s planning for next year’s planting, and also researching information about how Kootenay food gardeners can succeed in the face of challenges like solanaceous blights and clubroot! (These pursuits are ongoing, and I’ll [...]
Filed under: Environment, Food, Natural Resources, Nature, Rural Living | 1 Comment »
Here’s a handy little garden tool that can be made in a home shop. I designed it as an alternative to the common three-fingered small garden claw. Experienced gardeners know a number of tools and pieces of equipment can be valuable for dealing with garden weeds – examples being the rototiller and hoe for the [...]
Filed under: General Practices, Rural Living, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
We’re growing a variety of corn – Hooker’s Sweet Corn – that is able to form ears even in a year like this one, with its cool nights, lots of overcast and rain late into the gardening season, high humidity, and a minimum of truly hot days. The ears of corn are forming now on [...]
Filed under: Food, Organic Gardening, Rural Living, Vegetable Gardening | 5 Comments »
The Slocan Valley Garden Tour has taken place for many years, and Lou and I have usually gone on it to enjoy seeing other people’s places. This year, organizers asked us if we’d put our place on the tour – and we decided to try it. Sunday June 19 was the designated date for the [...]
Filed under: General Practices, Rural Living | 6 Comments »
Pear buds are quite swollen, and apple buds just a bit behind. I’m glad I’ve got my pruning done. Actually, today I spent time pruning our grape vine – which is not budded-out yet, though in cutting any of the larger vine branchings the vine will bleed a fair bit. No matter, it seems. I’ve [...]
Filed under: Food, General Practices, Organic Gardening, Rural Living, Tips & Tricks, Vegetable Gardening | 6 Comments »
Sunday, the 10th. Today began with me chainsawing a lot of 36-inch sections from 6×6 timbers, toward a set of outdoor steps for the slope down to our pond. While I was doing that, Lou (my partner) worked over in the greenhouse, where she transplanted about six dozen of my green-onion starts into the edges [...]
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Not sure which is the more exciting facet of spring here at the moment… I’ve got young ‘plant starts’ showing themselves, and I’ve also tapped a maple tree and am boiling-down some maple sap as I write this. Well, first of all, very satisfying to see the little sprouts and leaves in our seedling-start trays [...]
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Mmmm… A great piece of toast just now – provided by a delicious loaf from Au Soleil Levant. And time to contemplate things. An especially snowy winter, eh? We had a great day last weekend skiing the groomed track near Lemon Creek to meet up with a lively crowd at the annual Slocan Valley Heritage [...]
Filed under: Rural Living | No Comments »