February thaw

This warm thaw saw us outside all weekend enjoying the mild weather, strange as it may be for February.   We started to organize the greenhouse, pruned some vines, planted new greens into the cold frames - all the while with our chicken companions happily following along behind.

Mid May weekend

This has been a full weekend - hosting two workshops, participating in the local Jane's Walk (and baking bread in the cob oven for the tour), chicks to move outside, tending to our sick hen (Maya reading to her), seedlings to transplant, garden seeding, guests in the B&B, and of course celebrating a little for Mothers Day.  Interestingly, Mothers Day in North American actually originated as a pacifist response to the Civil War, with social activist and feminist Julia Ward Howe writing a Mothers Day Proclamation in 1870 calling on mothers to stand together for peace.  Happy Mothers Day, in the truest sense of the celebration.

Warm March breezes...

Spring is definitely in the air! We've been enjoying the balmy weather all weekend and it was difficult to head back inside (to the computer!). I noticed the greens in our cold frame tunnel have really perked up - parsley, chard, kale, various lettuces, arugula, Asian greens, chives - these seeds were planted last October, had just enough time to germinate and then sat as if in a refrigerator, all winter long. Now, with the longer hours of direct sun, they are thriving - the temperature inside the grow tunnel was near 30C yesterday at the peak of the day! These cold frames, whether grow tunnels like we have with hoops and plastic sheeting pulled over the entire raised beds, or just old-fashioned glass windows hinged onto a wooden box frame, are amazing aids in helping to extend our growing season. By April we should be eating fresh salad out of the grow tunnel!

We've also been doing quite a bit of tree pruning, including some fairly large overhanging branches which were casting increasingly more shade over the periphery of the garden each year. We'll have our work cut out for us, cleaning up the brush, and chopping and stacking firewood before we need to get into the garden soil! However, during the next warm spell, when we can't do much gardening yet but long to be outside, this is the perfect kind of work.

Chickens!
While working outdoors in the yard we have also let the hens out of their run, into the wider yard so they can truly roam around. They love this blissful warm sun, and frolic in the muddy patches scratching at seeds and the odd grub or tuft of green grass, and generally being their usual sociable selves. When we took a break to sit on our patio and soak in the sun, all five hens gathered around our feet preening their feathers and gently nipping at our pant legs to remind us they like to be petted, and looking up hopefully for a snack. We can't say enough good things about hens - they make great company, are child-friendly, provide hilarious entertainment, have quirky personalities, lay wonderfully tasty healthful eggs, keep insects at bay in the garden, help till the soil , eat kitchen compost wastes and turn it into rich manure, are loveable... In case anyone reading this is considering getting a few hens, now is the time. Usually around Easter time (early April) the day-old chicks are available from local hatcheries, and very affordable - about $1 per chick! Frey's, in St. Jacobs, is where we got our hens.

Just wanted to mention that all our herb seeds are now up - although lavender and rosemary are the slowest, and with a poor germination rate so far. These tend to be difficult seeds to start, at least in my experience. The basil is starting it's second set of leaves (or it's true leaves) so I am hopeful for a small batch of fresh pesto by early May! We have two indoor growing racks, each with three sets of shelves and full spectrum lights. We've wrapped plastic sheeting around the racks (or an old shower curtain could do in a pinch) to hold in the heat of the lights and give those seeds extra warmth as they get started. We also tend to water them with warm water, as our house is cool. In a warmer house this wouldn't be necessary.

We're hosting a seed starting workshop here next Saturday - facilitated again by Angie Koch, our friend who operates a new and very successful Fertile Ground CSA (community supported agriculture). More on the details of this workshop after it happens! We've written about her in other posts, and check out her site at: www.fertilegroundcsa.com

It's apple blossom season

This week has seen busy days of pruning fruit trees and rose bushes, transplanting rhubarb, cutting fresh asparagus and lettuce daily for meals, transplanting final seedlings for our sale, weeding the flowering strawberries for a more abundant harvest, mulching herbs, starting more lettuce, basil & kale flats, planting radish, carrot, chard, beets, harvesting nettles & sorrel, building a potato bed with strawbales, keeping an eye out under our hops patch for the daily fresh egg that our hen Buttons has taken to laying there (a nice safe nesting spot!)...and we also took some time to admire the beautiful blossoms in our yard and around the neighbourhood as apples, pears, cherries, and service berries are now in bloom. Urban foragers and fruit harvesters, take note now where the fruit trees in your neighbourhood are!