I'm done planting! Long live the Queen!

The Garden in all it's glory!!!

The other side

I love a good excuse for a holiday.  This gorgeous, sunny Monday I have off thanks to Queen Victoria and her birthday.  Long live the Monarchy - not only do I really (genuinely) love The Royals, but I REALLY REALLY love the bonus long weekend day off.  It's always just in time for our last frost free date and so this morning I finished planting the last vegetables in The Garden - two pots of Maxibel green beans from Greta's organic gardens.  It's been a long haul so far - we've gone from a horrid, empty concrete space to a true urban oasis.  Our garden boasts a fairly diverse list of produce spread over 31 pots.  In no particular order:

- One saved tree.  I think it might be a lilac?  But I'm not sure.  We rescued it from the woman who had our unit before
- Shallots.  All good food wants a shallot in it.  Except maybe apple crisp.  Obviously.
- Norland potatoes.  These are an experiment, which if we don't end up with a potato, at least look gorgeous.

- Romaine lettuce.  I broke down and bought these from the store - I should be able to eat some soon!
- Giant basil and purple basil.  Pretty, fragrant and delicious - what more can I say?
- Lavender.  You can actually use it like rosemary.  Just in case you didn't know.  Because I didn't.
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Sage
- Cilantro
- Rosemary
- Marigolds - though I don't tend to eat them.  I mean you can, but I don't like flowers in my food.
- Swiss chard.  I don't really like chard, but, I grow it anyway.  But, beware of leaf miners.  There are a lot of them in the GTA apparently.
- Spinnach.  Go Popeye!
- A purple grape, but I can't remember the variety.  It came from Canadian tire... or maybe Home depot?
- Raspberry plants (see above)
- Snow peas and snap peas - pretty, delicious, and rarely end up inside, since I just eat them all outside while working in the garden

- Tomatoes.  I broke down and bought a random hybrid version, though traditionally I grow heirlooms by seed
- Green peppers (The Man's favourite)
- Jalapenos (Also The Man's favourite)
- Several different types of seeded leaf lettuce
- Radishes (Philadelphia white box and Cherry Belle)
- French green beans
- Carrots (Some yellow ones and some purple ones)... though, these may or may not work, and I figure, at the very least, will grow a huge crop of carrot tops for Remy The Wonder Horse.

All in all, I think we'll have a good garden this year - whether we actually get a huge harvest or not is yet to be seen.  It's the first year I've ever had full sun for my container garden, and years past I've done fairly well.  However... it's the first year with full sun - I'm not sure if my smaller pots will happily retain enough water?  But, I figure it's all about the experience and the joy of growing.

Happy Victoria Day!