What!!! you say, haven’t you been gardening? What’s wrong with you?
Well, this year in the garden, has been the year of the rabbit … [...]]]>
What!!! you say, haven’t you been gardening? What’s wrong with you?
Well, this year in the garden, has been the year of the rabbit … specifically, the rabbit we haven’t been able to catch.
Go figure, fenced off yard, 2 Shiba Inus patrolling the perimeter most of the day, and yet … RABBIT BEAN CARNAGE!!!! At least the green and yellow snap bean varieties. They’ve even been nibbling the pole beans down to little nubbins as soon as they get a couple of sets of leaves on them.
So, I have been tucking in bean seeds all over the place over the past few weeks, hoping that if they’re planted in enough places, the rabbits will leave some alone. So far, these Blue Lake pole beans in pots are the only ones to have really thrived, BUT, they are only just starting to flower.
On the bright side, however, the rabbits don’t seem to like any of the dried bean plants. Go figure! Dont know if the plants themselves are more fibrous, but in any case, they havent touched any of this bed:
I planted about 4 varieties of dried beans in total, including Montezuma Red (just starting to colour up in the pods here). These little ones cook up very similar to black beans.
I also planted black beans, Jacobs’ cattle beans (which are pretty and speckled), and these bi-coloured beans called Orca, which are just starting to get their distinctive colouring. The dark parts will get jet black, and look suspiciously like orca markings!
Dried beans are really easy to grow, and I’m really happy with the prospective yields per plant of all the varieties I grew this year. I’m going to be devoting more garden space to them next year. Having grown and cooked them in previous years, the taste of homegrown dried beans is also nicer than those you buy in the bulk bins, and they generally cook up a little faster, plus you can get all kinds of really cool heritage varieties with interesting markings on them.
Finally, there is something really satisfying about having jars of dried beans at the ready for the dead of winter!
]]>Things have been very strange this year — broad beans only just ripening (usually we’ve harvested them and moved on by now), and difficulties even getting decent seedlings started for squash, cucumbers and melons. The good news is that things like the broccoli seem to be quite happy.
So, lets get started in the patio:
and on to the main square foot beds
and finally, the greenhouse and the square foot beds under the window
Even though the wild growth in the garden may make it look like I’ve abandoned cooking, there has been culinary activity in the kitchen (gardening too, as I mixed up a batch of nematodes in the pyrex measuring cups!), just not a lot of opportunities to take pics. The next post will be something food-related, I promise!
]]>Weather is warming up and veggies are finally starting to grow! Yay!
April Garden [...]]]>
Weather is warming up and veggies are finally starting to grow! Yay!
April Garden Tour Part 1
April Garden Tour Part 2
Thats all for now. The tomato plants have about 2-3 more weeks of growing to do before they get planted out. I dont intend to plant them out until the Victoria Day long weekend. Same with the squash, cucumbers and melons. if things keep warming up, I may get the beans planted in a couple of weeks.
Next video update in May! See you then. Stay tuned for Shiba shenanigans
]]>Small seeded fava beans are [...]]]>
Small seeded fava beans are finally coming up, jerusalem artichokes havent begun to poke thru yet, the strawberries are showing new growth, and the rhubarb looks like it will have lots of new growth on it this year. We also thinned out the lilac tree growing by the artichokes, so there will be a bit more light coming thru.
Planted on Sunday:
regular broccoli will spend another 1 week in the greenhouse, plan to do another round of planting on April 8, just before the full moon. Tomatos, peppers, eggplant also started in the greenhouse, but wont be out in the garden until 4th week of april at the earliest.
Next update on empanadas — i need to test empanada dough recipes!
]]>Notice that Kimi is poking around here. I had planned to hose down the tarp, and fold it up, but before I could get that far, she commandeered it for her backyard surveillance. It wasn’t particularly warm, or really even any drier than the lawn. I think it was just a Shiba thing!
Now that it’s not quite so bitterly cold, things are starting to poke through the soil in earnest. From left to right: sweet cicely poking its new shoots thru the earth (i think they look a little like aliens); brand new blossoms on the super dwarf peach tree we planted in the patio; and lots of fresh little tarragon shoots emerging. I grow the tarragon in a pot, where it seems to be quite happy. I’ll harvest a lot of these shoots in the next couple of weeks to encourage lots of branches on the plant.
The dogs have also been happy that the rain is abating, as it means they can poke around in the yard while i am out working, without getting wet fur — Shibas hate getting their fur wet. I have discovered, however, that Shibas dont always make the best garden helpers.
Good thing they’re cute!
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