Gardening: The Verdict

Today is my last full day in Canada before I take off for Belize until January  - so I had to harvest the last of my garden, even though some of the carrots could have used a little more time.

Either way, it all turned out great! I had fun gardening, it was definitely a confidence booster about my gardening abilities. The last time I gardened, Kelsi and I were maybe 12 and we tried to plant flowers in a dead patch of ground next to my play house, but it was completely shaded by a) the play house and b) all the trees around it. It didn't seem to occur to us that sunflowers wouldn't grow without sun! So that was less than successful so I was a bit hesitant this year but wanted to try anyway.

And it worked out! Here's what I got (along with lots of pretty flowers all throughout the summer, including these white and purple ones that I will definitely plant again. They bloomed 4 times between May and August!)

 Tomatoes! 

These were ready first because I bought them already growing from the greenhouse in town. They were delicious but unfortunately I wasted a lot because I didn't get around to making salsa in time. Definitely worth buying already growing since I'm new to the gardening thing and they were pretty easy to keep alive. Just lots and lots of water since it's a big plant. Anyone have experience with those hanging ones from the TV? I wonder if those are good too..

 Sunflowers!


I only grew two, one in each pot, and they are beautiful! Next time I would love to plant a ton of these in the ground all along a fence. Just need to get my own yard...

Sunflowers are my favourite flower in the world and it made me so happy to see these bloom.

 Onions! 


Onions are probably one of my top 3 favourite vegetables I'd say - most things I cook have onions in them. And these were such a treat! I grew 3 per pot, which seemed to be the limit. They were so tasty in a curry I made, and then on nachos! Not going to lie, I definitely was eating some raw while I was cooking, they were that good.

Carrots!


These are just mini because I planted them in a short, long type container, so I got the mini versions. And they were just yummy! One of my favourite memories of my childhood is eating carrot's out of Kelsi's dad's garden. Pull out the carrot, wash it off with the hose, and chow down - best way to eat a carrot. Still tastes faintly like earth but always crisp and awesome. YUM! I pulled these right before we took off to drive to Edmonton, so they made a great car snack.





Things that didn't work:
-Squash.  I tried to grow two butternut squash plants, but they shriveled in the crazy heat we had in June. We didn't get rain for about a month and it was just too hot for them. Their poor little leaves curled in and died. Will try again next time and remember to shade them a little sometimes!
-Jalepeno. Ha ha, this was a long shot anyway. One tiny jalepeno plant - needed more attention than I gave it.

Dreams for future gardening adventures
- Bigger! I figure for the amount of work watering an extra dozen plants, I will definitely be making a bigger garden next time. Obviously it depends on my home,yard, balcony situation but this is the dream section right?
- Squash, potatoes and zucchini. More veggies are always a good thing!
- More wildflowers. I have a dream of a yard full of wild, local grasses and flowers - one day...
- Greenhouse so I can start plants while it's still cold in this canadian spring

So all in all, great experiences with gardening this year! Looking forward to trying it again soon!

Hello plants!

So I added that last post really late, and I already have an update for my plants!

 My tomatoes are DELICIOUS! Since I bought the plant from a greenhouse, they were already growing before I got them. So I woke up one day for work, and noticed thee was more than just green in my plant! I was so excited! 

A few days later they were even more red! Yum, time to eat!

I had to decide how I wanted to eat my first garden tomatoes! I wanted them to be the least changed from their awesomeness as possible. I made delicious Fort McMurray-Famous Sunshine Bread (recipe will come later) and warmed the sliced tomatoes up in a little bit of olive oil on the stove.

D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. 

Gardening with power tools

Those of you who know me, you know I have a soft spot in my heart for power tools. Something about building projects, I love it! So when I started exploring vegetable gardening, I saw a project for making self watering containers to plant in, and I thought it'd be a good thing to try! My tools are in storage in Lethbridge, so I got to use my Dad's.

The goal of this project is to make a container that waters your plants from the bottom, so you don't have to worry about them every day (perfect for a summer shift worker like me!). This project is taken from my new gardening book The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible by Edward Smith 

For this project you need

Get your supplies!
(Thank you Dad for making such a
beautiful deck for me to put my garden on!)

•  2 buckets (big ones, 5 gallons preferably) for every container you want to have at the end
• Drill that will make a hole in thick plastic
• Tin snips (something that will cut thick plastic)
• Tape measure
• Plastic down spout (4" per container)
• Permanent marker 

Step 1. Get your buckets! I got buckets for a dollar from Booster Juice, they're not 5 gallons but big enough for my needs. My Dad also picked up some 5 gallon ones from Rona for me. I had enough for 5 containers at the end. 

Step 2.

 Step 2. Drill holes all the way around the inside of the small circle of on the bottom of the bucket that will become the inside bucket.d

Step 3.

Step 3. Using snips, cut the circle out by cutting between the drilled holes. Watch your fingers on this step! I pushed the circle out and cut my thumb pretty bad!

Step 4.

Step 4. Drill a dozen holes on the bottom of this bucket, this will allow excess water to drain out.

Step 5. 

Step 5. 

Step 5. Cut a 4 inch piece of downspout, and drill about 3 holes on each of the four sides, keeping the holes within an inch of the bottom of the pipe. This will be the wick that draws water up to the inner bucket.

Step 6.

Step 6. Place this piece of pipe into the center of the bottom bucket. Place the bucket with the holes into this bucket.

Step 7. 

Step 7. Hold the buckets up to the light so you can see the silhouette of the inner bucket. Using your permanent marker, draw a rectangle onto the outside bucket, with the top of the rectangle meeting the bottom of the inner bucket. The rectangle should be about an inch deep, and two inches long. This is where you'll be able to add and check water in this self watering bucket!

 Drill and snip the rectangle to take it out. I drilled holes into each corner, then one or two in the middle of each line so I could use the snips more easily. Remember to make it as smooth as possible since you'll be putting your precious fingers in to check water a lot!

Step 8

Step 8. Fill the pipe with moistened soil and place back into the center of the bottom bucket. Replace the inner bucket (the one with the holes). Line up the bottom hole of the inner bucket with the soil in the pipe so there is little to no space where there is no soil. The soil you will be putting into the inner bucket will connect with the soil in the pipe so water will be wicked up to the plant's roots. Yum Yum Plant food!  

Step 9. 

Step 9. Fill the inner bucket with CONTAINER SOIL. **Something new I learned - regular dirt is not the same as the soil you need for containers! It would dry out too fast! So look for the good stuff!

Sunflower seeds! Grow!  Grow! 

Plant your plants and move them to their location FIRST before you add the water to the bottom, through that hole you cut out earlier. It will be extra heavy once you add the water.

Another tip - Write your plant names on the buckets so you don't forget what you've planted!

Happy Gardening!!!