Posts Tagged ‘planting’
Small, small garden
Arthritis means my days of the big garden are over. But I can still enjoy digging in the earth, planting seeds, pulling weeds and harvesting, just on a smaller scale.
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On our deck are two Veg Trugs (Lee Valley Tools used to sell them) and one bag of soil, slit open and supported on a metal frame. In the ‘gardens’ I have two snow pea plants, three yellow wax bean plants, three parsley plants and one cucumber plant.
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Each day for the last month, I sit on the deck and nibble on my ‘harvest for the day.’ Sometimes it’s one bean pod and a snow pea pod, sometimes two beans, sometimes a cucumber sandwich. Seems small, but I think I enjoy these little sessions more than the buckets of produce I once harvested from my garden.
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saving the bees
A while ago a friend of mine gave me an interesting ‘save the bees’ planting card. The white bee-shaped card is embedded with seeds. These seeds, if planted, will grow into wildflower species the bees like.
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As you may know, bee populations are struggling. Since bees pollinate plants, they are responsible for the continued success of all the plant species we rely on. The ecosystem is like a tangle of connected threads and the loss of any one connection is a loss to the system.
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Yesterday I planted my seed card in my deck box. I will let you know what grows!!! I am also a believer in leaving wild flowers to flourish on my property. I only mow once a year, I never use pesticides and dandelions are my friends.
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The Save the Bees card is from www.beebythesea.com a source of natural products . For more information about helping the bees, see Buzz About Bees at
https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/save-the-bees.html
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All my best!
Jane
Gardening in my Veg-trugs
In late May, I planted my Veg-trugs. Veg-trugs (available from Lee Valley Tools, Halifax) are small portable garden troughs perfect for a deck garden.
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This year I have planted three vegetables:
cucumber
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zucchini
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yellow wax bean
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As you can see, all are up. The maple seeds around each plant will sprout and will take lots of time to remove.
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I’ll update on progress as the summer unfolds.
All my best,
Jane
the color of September #3 – a purple crocus from a brown bulb
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This morning, thinking of the long winter, I planted a dozen crocus bulbs. The package promises large, dark purple blooms in early spring.
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I planted them in small groups, in front of my concrete bench. When they bloom in spring, I will be able to see them from my library window. After a long winter, a glimpse of those brave petals poking above the dry leaves will be so joyful.
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The crocuses we have now are bright purple and yellow. I planted them years ago, when my son was young. They have endured all these years and have even spread to other, distant parts of our property. I think the squirrels must dig them up, rebury them and forget where they have stashed their treasure.
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So, deep within the sienna brown of the bulbs is the makings of those purple petals. Wow!
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
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