The Wildlife is coming ...

Everyone always says that once the "wildlife" starts coming you know you have a good space.  Bugs, birds, and larger mammals love nice green areas.  So, now that I've set my garden, I've been eagerly watching for wildlife.  Imagine my dismay when the first "wildlife" to appear was a troupe of spiderlings.  Nothing in the world freaks me out more than spiders.  That said, I did spend about an hour trying to ID them.  Apparently putting and ID on a spiderling is quite tricky. I'm going to assume they are some sort of sac spider based on the adults I see in the area.  Regardless, lets hope that the adults move on far, far away.  Spiders seriously creep me out!

Spiderlings!

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!

Locavoires

Toronto from The Garden

Yesterday as I was walking in the PATH under my office tower, I heard a woman describe herself as a "Locavoire" - someone who only consumes locally produced food.  It got me thinking about the whole concept of "Local" food and how that pertains to life in the city.  As I looked at this lady and attempted to ignore the Starbucks coffee in her hand (local?! I think not!!), I wondered... how local is local?  Does she only count food grown in the GTA?  Or does she count food from all of Ontario?  Does she partake in any form of agriculture?  Does she realize that eating local is a big commitment?  You can't just wander in to any of the City of Toronto farmers' markets and partake in local food because chances are that zucchini you're buying in June isn't from Ontario.  Your hot house Tomatoes might be - but if the idea of living local is about consuming both locally produced food and eating seasonally, should you really be purchasing it?  And how far do you go?  Do you say goodbye to bananas, mangos, pineapple, and citrus?  Or is it a give and take?  Do you still stop and buy a quick Longo's dinner for the kids if you're running late and need to get Jimmy to hockey and Suzie to ballet?

Sadly, this woman was running for the train, so I didn't have the chance to ask her what Locavoire means to her.  I know what it means to me - be conscious about what you buy, pay a little more for the made-in-ontario version, and try to grow some of your own.  Whether it's just a little pot of herbs or a full scale backyard garden "growing your own" is as local as you can be - with the added bonus of show showcasing how hard our farmers work to ensure we have what we need.

Happy eating!

Sprouting!

Spinach (Monnopa - seeds from Greta's organic gardens)

Sprouting is my absolute favourite time of the year in the garden.  I mean don't get me wrong - I love seeding, collecting the bounty, tucking my plants in for the winter, and planning out the garden for next year; but there is just something so alive and fresh about sprouting.  It's a reminder that life is all around us whether it be plants, new friends, or new opportunities sprouting up around us.  It's almost like a little teeny tiny moment of redemption out there... but enough of that!

Over the last week I've had quite a few little surprises popping up - I really wasn't expecting much to come up until the start of next week because it's been a little bit cool and rainy here.  However, Mother Nature has surprised us with a few beautiful sunny days, which has in turn surprised me with plants, which makes for one incredibly happy girl.
 

Rainbow mix chard (Greta again!)

My sprouts so far:
- spinach
- swiss chard
- lettuce
- potatoes
- shallots
- radishes
- peas

I'm still waiting on my purplette onions and a few containers of older lettuce.  I'll be quite surprised if any of those germinate though - the seeds were around 4 years old...but!  That's the joy of sprouting isn't it?

On hitting the roof

Getting started....

Sunrise from the garden

Last fall The Man and I had the pleasure of moving.  Ordinarily, I absolutely detest moving.  However, this move was special.  Our building has several apartments with roof balconies.  These little gems are just off the master bedroom and the units rarely come available.  So I couldn't (and still can't) believe my luck when the apartment people called and had one open!  Needless to say The Man and I jumped at the opportunity, and I am now the proud renter of one fabulous roof-top balcony.  I can't say enough about this space - it's the largest I've had to work with, and has the added luxury of being recessed so I have three walls for windbreaks, making my roof not quite as windy and arid as most.

The last two weeks have been very busy on the roof - the previous renters left quite a bit of junk up there, so between clearing it away, salvaging what I could, and potting the early season items for  this years' garden, I've been quite busy!  The next week or two will be "catch up" week for the blog, before I take another hiatus to plant my warm season veggies. 


Happy growing!

What's in a garden?

What's in a garden?  For years I've been trying to meet my need to garden by growing plants in containers.  I never allowed myself to think of it as a garden - after all, a garden has real dirt - not potting medium, ground to dig in - not containers, and a sense of permanency you just don't have on your apartment balcony.  You garden in your backyard, you have some planters on a balcony.  Right?

Wrong.

Last year I lived in an apartment with a shady balcony.  Shade means growing vegetables is tough - I started late in the season, so it was too hot for lettuce, radishes, and other cool season vegetables that grow decently in the shade.  Even my herbs were unhappy.  I realised, quite quickly that I was also unhappy.  I missed my former balcony garden - the cheery yellow flowers of my non-producing zucchini from the year before, tending my tomatoes, and picking herbs first thing in the morning....  I also realised for the first time that I'm not just a "container gardener".  I am a Gardener.   I realized that a garden isn't the physical space that you put your plants in, it's an act.  A garden is our connection to history, to years past, to other people, to the earth.  When you garden, you grow too.  You partake in everything that has brought us to where we are now, and that connection is what makes a garden - not the space you grow your plants.


So this year?  I'm making a new resolution.  I'm not going to be "just a container gardener".  I'm going to be a Gardener.