A Long Overdue Garden Update

 Hullo... I know... you might wonder if we even "have" a garden anymore... I haven't posted about it in forever... but we do!!!

We planted broccoli and cauliflower... this one is a bit of an early bird, we'll have to eat it!

But these are coming along nicely...

 We have some potatoes as well. These were "volunteer" potatoes that were popping up in weird places, so we dug them out and got them organized.

But the weird one this year is..

An artichoke plant!!!! Our neighbour gave us one last year and while it didn't do much last year... this year... we have artichokes!

There are two big heads a three small heads... We left one big one to see what the flowers will look like, and then ate the other ones. They were yummy!

The other creature who loves the garden is...

Koby the Cat!

He loves to roll around on the hot pavers and get covered in detritus...

Seee... he always needs a zoom-groom before he comes inside.

Honestly... some people's cats!!!

We also have a lot of garlic growing! Which are going to scapes... which need to be picked. No rest for this garden supervisor!

A Waste of a Good Beer

 Hullo! This post is from the spring. I know... it's a long story... anyhow... you might think from this picture that I am sitting at the campfire ready for a campfire... with my beer in hand... Well. No.

See... firepit is not in use right now...

No... the beer is for something far less fun and appealing...

See this pot... do you see any nasturtium seedlings?? No!!!

Why, you ask? Because the slugs ate all the leaves and left a few stalks and that's it!!!

And the dahlia???

Munched clean... argh!!!!!

It's not a good scene... soooo many plants and sooo many munched off!

Even in the greenhouse...

And yes... we have tried eggshells... they just roar right over them. Sigh.

Sad little stubs of plants...

So we are pulling out the heavy guns...

A beer trap! Slugs love beer (who wouldn't) and if you sink the container so it's level with the ground and fill it with beer... the slugs slither in and happily drown.

Or at least that's the theory...

we are also spreading more eggshells....

Gardening is hard work you know... Between deer, raccoons, rabbits, slugs and goodness knows what else... 

But it sure is pretty.

Harvesting the Garlic Scapes

Back in June we went out into the garden with an empty basket... it was time to harvest...

... the garlic scapes!!!

The garlic puts out these curly thingies that, if you let them grow, will turn into garlic flowers and drain the bulb/clove of all its oomph... so better to cut these off...

You have to do it before they do 2 full circles...

We almost left this too long....

And we have a good quantity of garlic this year too!

While Mama's doing that...

The strawberries did beary well this year...

Yum!!!

And the lettuce is bursting!

Seee!!!!

Potatoes are doing well too...

Here's the scape harvest (part of it)... some of the garlic was a bit slower (different type) so we'll have to come back for more scapes later. We could pickle these... or make garlic scape pesto or... so many options.

 

Spring has Sprung!

 Hullo! It is officially the first day of spring and...

The garden is in full bloom, well maybe not all of it... but the plum tree is for sure!

And you know what spring also means??

Lawn mowing!! It was almost 6 inches tall in spots! And I know some stuffies (Hello, Jerry & Ben) might still be up to their bearpits in snow but... here... we have greenery!

The hyacinths are just about ready to pop.

And the hydrangeas are putting out leaves.

Tulips are out of the ground too...

Ah-hah! Here we have... ummm... what's it called again? Hell's a Bore? Noooo... Hellebore! (Close enough!). They are beary pretty!

And our very own heritage primroses which come in 3 fetching shades of pink.

They are soooo hardy and start blooming in February!

And the plum treeeeee!!!! Guess what... I saw beeeeessss on the plum blossoms!

Let's see... what else... well the garlic is poking up.

The crocuses are on their final days.

The grape hyacinth are just starting. Did you know that Hyacinth in the Bridgerton series is named after Grape Hyacinths? Good thing they didn't call her "Grape Hyacinth"!

And the snow drops are long done.

Nothing happening in the greenhouse yet except some rogue foxgloves that need to get dug up.

But tomatoes will be coming!

So in the veggie section... really... we have garlic and... chives! Lots and lots of chives....

Oooh... do you see it? Up in the sky?

There... those little black spots...

Here... 30x zoom! There were two bald eagles (you can tell my their white heads and tails).

Right then... the weather is supposed to turn a bit cooler again but...

That is a perfect time to have a campfire!