The following posts are a true "blog" in the sense that they are a "web-log" of the past year of gardening (i.e. electronic garden journal), mostly for my personal reference since I forget easily what we planted in previous years and for any others who may be interested. 2007 was our second year at the house, we didn't take many photos in 2006 since we didn't have much garden space at that time.
Spaghetti Squash (Cucurbita pepo) which grew out of the compost from seeds of the discarded innards of a Spaghetti Squash which we bought from Co-op that we ate during winter (ate the squash, composted the innards, not vice versa). The squash's parent was grown in Mexico, so we were surprised to see it grow here! The flowers made great salad or stir fry additions. For the latter you can batter and fry. It did grow some squash, though they were mostly small and did not ripen completely before the first major frosts at the end of August and early September, but we still ate them anyway. In the end we harvested more flowers than squash! The flowers kept popping up every couple of days all summer.
Smooth Brome (Bromus ramosus ssp. racemosus) in the back alley. We are thinking to try planting some raspberries here.
Unknown Mystery Flower that came with the property. Any guesses?
Potatoes (store-bought from Co-op), we didn't eat them in time so into the garden they went. A struggling paper birch (Betula papyrifera) behind dying a slow death due to my destruction of it's roots in the above garden expansion.
Mystery flowers, peppers, and spaghetti squash attacking the baby stroller.
Spinach (left), rhubarb and snow peas climbing in the back.
New garden expansion, ready for next year.
Front flower bed with several donations from family.
Left to right:
"Silver King Sage" or Artemesia ludoviciana
Common Yarrow or Achillea millefolium (native to Alberta)
"The Pearl" or Achillea ptarmica (aka Sneezewort)
The Purple one is "Clustered Bellflower" or Calmpanula glomerata
I'd like to plant more plants native to the Alberta prairies, so far only Common Yarrow is native, though even that is likely a hybrid subspecies derivation from the actual native Yarrow. For now we are planting veggies in the back and flowers and shrubs in the front.
Cherry Belle Radish planted April 11, havesting 3 to 5 per week. Radishes are just starting to show chew marks from creatures below, so it's a good time to get to them first! Radishes are rich in ascorbic acid (Vit. C, antioxidant), folic acid (Vit. B9), and potassium. They are also a good source of vitamin B6, riboflavin (vit. B2), magnesium, copper, and calcium, among other minerals and vitamins. California Poppies behind radishes (in above photo).
Bubbles Brussels Sprouts transplanted May 5 (above). Not sure when or how to havest these. Advice welcome!
Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard (lower left) planted May 2 and Homesteader Peas (upper left) planted May 3. Planted Tendergreen Improved Bush Beans May 28 (upper right, just off photo) where Green Arrow Peas planted April 11 did not come up (planted too early). These beans are just coming up (June 21).
Oregano and radish harvest!
With south and west winds blowing all week, the leaves and flowers have come out in full force (+20 C highs, +10 C lows on average). The rain barrels have run dry. So this week required City water as backup for germinating seedlings sown directly in the garden. This is a new experiment with a lot more direct seeding this year than previous years. The heat may have scorched some, and the previous cold weather rotted others, as the germination in general is poor. Next year the plan is to start more inside and transplant as this has proven to be more successful for most plants.
Rhubarb thrives in the warm weather with no care needed. Raspberry (bottom left of above photo) transplanted May 24 growing strong. Two of the five raspberry transplants are wilting, likely did not get enough of the roots.
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