Friday, December 30, 2016

Good Bye 2016

And to all a good night .......

December 18 More Snow

The title says it all ..........

December 12 - Snow

We have snow ....... looks like the end of the gardening season for this year




October 8 - Plot 5 Revisited

It has been a while, so here we are in early October and the Plot 5 Dahlias are finally taking off, but the rains have come as well .......... The purple dahlia is "Vancouver", not my usual colour choice, but this was a bonus give away from a local garden store .......

and some lovely butter yellow marigolds from a Butchart Garden mix; the salad greens were unfortunately rather bitter, so were not used .......
 and a pic of Plot 5 in October .... 

October 7 - Container Garden Update

Well, these plants took their time, but look amazing now that Fall is here ..... the coleus just kept getting better and better this season ..... and the red Chrysanthemum was a return from last year

Tomatoes are now gone, but the peppers and eggplant are still looking good.  Three of the emptied tomato containers were planted with West Coast Seeds Mild and Winter Blend Mescluns and Renee's Braising Mix


September 8 Seed Saving Begins

Time to start saving seed from the Dwarf Scary growouts ......saved seed from F2 plants are now F3 generation; Scary Plant 4 was my favourite for taste, may check out a few from this seed in 2017.  Tomato seeds, juice and pulp are added to jars and lids used to prevent fruit fly egg laying as well as minimizing fermentation odours ....



and here are the rinsed and dried seeds, stored for future use

Thursday, December 29, 2016

September 3 Van Dusen Dahlia show

change of pace - so beautiful - my favourite flowers .... Irish Pinwheel, Karma Lagoon, Ms Scarlett and Hot Cha Cha

and Coleus at Stanley Park

September 1 Already September

Where did July and August go ...... ah well, that means more ripe tomatoes - here is a beauty "15th and Vine" a lovely red heart and a lot of them too

and another harvest pic ...... this one shows kale, green beans, radish, parsley, 15th and Vine tomato and one of my favourite salad tomatoes Maglia Rosa
 

August 8 - Six Dwarfs

Well, there are only five Dwarfs, as Plant 8 does not qualify ........ top to bottom Plant 1, Plant 7, Plant 3, Plant 8, Plant 2, Plant 4





and the harvest fruit from each - l-r top to bottom Plant 1, Plant 7, Plant 3, Plant 8, Plant 2, Plant 4

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

August 1

Dwarf Orange Cream and a black variant of Green Krim Cherry, and below the harvest to date

July Comes to a Close

So here we are at July 31, just a quick update on a few of my other container gardens, and some pics of the various ripe Scary's





July 24 Plot 5

The mixed lettuces are looking good, and check out this tomato "15th and Vine" the plant is loaded with huge hearts; bottom pic is a black variant from Green Krim Cherry, which originally was from a black, so not yet stable .......


Mid July - Ripe Tomatoes

Considering the weather this summer, these cherries are on the very early side - it is not often I get any ripe tomatoes before mid July ....... so the first ripe Scary's, and I even have a ripe red pepper - check out bottom pic, left hand container!!



July 2 and 3 More to Harvest

More potatoes, along with potato onions and walking onions ..... and now space to sow some beets and green beans along with a variety of mixed lettuce















had to include an update on the Dwarf Scary project - Plant 4 has finally decided to set fruit


Tuesday, December 27, 2016

June 27 Harvest Time

What a great harvest - check out the potatoes, broccoli and even cauliflower!!  The Caraflex cabbage was delicious stir fried with a pat a butter and an orange bell pepper with fresh ground black pepper to taste .....

June 21 - Officially Summer!!

Summer's here, and the Dwarf plants are in their prime; most have set fruit except for the stubborn Plant 4 ..... the peppers and eggplant are enjoying the longer sunny days as well