Spring??

When will spring ever arrive to Eastern Ontario??  We need the rain to stop for now.  We likely have enough moisture to last till June!  The grass is finally starting to turn green (prompting complaints about having to cut it by Colin) and the lilac trees are starting to leaf out, other than that there are few signs of spring.

Outside that is: 

In the greenhouse things are looking more like spring.  Some of the first tomatoes that Colin and Ella planted have started to flower.  These plants really want to go outside.

Colin’s wild and crazy heirloom pumpkins have jumped up and started too.  We like to grow some really funky pumpkins.  People don’t realize that pumpkins used to be much more interesting in the old days.

Another sign of spring -new kittens in the barn!!

Our ‘new’ kittens from last summer are starting to have kittens.  These little ones belong to one of the ‘Midnights’ (2 all black cats we can’t tell apart and so Ella named them both  Midnight)  There are 4 little kittens and the mother is taking good care of them -always a concern with first time cat-Moms.  When Daddy gets home from cleaning we’re going out to the barn to see them.

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Autumn Garden

I’m off to the Petawawa Taste of the Valley/Farmers’ Market today.  It’s the last Market day which is a little frustrating considering pumpkins and squash are just starting.

I thought I’d share a couple of pictures from my garden, which is desperate for a good weeding.    Gotta love ‘kick-ass’ old fashioned roses.  They just keep going and going with no fussing (besides water) required.  The name of this one escapes me.

Fall wouldn’t be fall without a mass of Brown/Black-Eyed Susans.  I didn’t realize these flowers spread.  Nothing crazy, but they do pop up in other parts of the garden.

My Cape Breton rosebush is covered with hips this year.  I wanted to bring home a rose bush from Newfoundland when I was there doing family tree research, but you can’t bring plant life/soil off the island.  I wouldn’t want to destroy mainland Canada’s agriculture.   I dug this bush (twig really) from the side of the road in Cape Breton, it was actually growing in the gravel and would have been run over by the snow plow.  They are crazy vigorous.  In Newfoundland, in the old cemeteries, you couldn’t not walk on the roses.   Beside the rose you can see the rowan tree, or ‘mountain ash’ as they call it up here.  It’s been bright with fruit for quite a while now.  I think we’re having an early winter this year, at least that’s what the plants are telling me.

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Summer’s Bounty

The gardens have been doing really well this year.  Most things are early.  Our tomatoes and cucumbers are maturing too early, but that’s because we haven’t had enough rain.  The tomatoes have been splitting from uneven rain.  I’m going to have to make some tomato sauce to can and use up the extra tomatoes.  We have corn coming out our ears  🙂  Colin will likely have corn well into September.  Right now he’s supplying our local Freshmart grocery store.  We’ve had lots of vegetables to sell at our table at the Petawawa Farmers’ Market.  They sure make our table look great.

Ella and Daddy were out last night picking the last of the cucumbers.  Daddy has a big box of tomatoes for the farm stand.  Ella is such a help with her little wheelbarrow.

I love, love, love our new camera.  I took this picture of Ella at her garden.  I’m sitting on the front steps, at least 50 feet away.  The camera has amazing zoom and a really good anti-shake.  It even has a button that takes 30 shots per second.  I should be able to get a good picture of Ella with that!

Ella picked a couple of carrots from her garden.  She brought me a couple of cherry tomatoes too.  Her garden has done really well.  Daddy made sure it was well watered in the spring so that the seeds would come up.  The ‘experts’ say children will eat vegetables if you let them help grow/prepare them.  I guess these ‘experts’ never met Ella   🙂  I can usually get her to at least take a bit of her vegetables, but she certainly doesn’t dive into them and clean her plate.

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Stuff

We’ve had a busy few days.  We’ve made garlic dills, spicy dills and old-fashioned garlic dill.  I made pickled beets a while ago.

I’m desperately trying to keep up the garden.  This pile of beans went with supper and was yummy.  We’ve actually got some peas that are getting too big.  I should have taken them to market on Friday, but Colin didn’t notice them till I was getting ready to leave.

This crock is full of a Fletcher favourite.  I call them Renfrew County pickles because I never saw them until marrying Colin.  Really they are icicle pickles.  They are a pain in the neck to make and take about a week and a half.   But I’m the only one of the family that is willing to make them and they are Colin’s favourite.

Peep and the babies are doing well.  The little ones are getting their wing feathers.  It’s a little cool today and so they are huddled up trying to keep warm.

Garlic Dill Pickles

In sterilized jars, put in a small bunch of dill, a clove or two of garlic and then pack jar with cucumbers (sliced or not).  On top of each jar, put 2 T sugar and 1/2 t salt.  Cover with hot vinegar.  Seal for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

For Spicy Dills, add 1 t pickling spice to jars.

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Greenhouse Update

The radishes are doing great. We were hoping to have some fresh vegetables for OVF this month, but I don’t think they will be ready. Order week starts tomorrow and the radishes look like this:

The onions, lettuce and spinach are even further behind. The cold/snow that we had last week really slowed them down.

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