Friday, June 29, 2007

Take a walk in my garden...


At the request of Lotus, I have decided to add some photos of my garden. Before I begin our virtual tour, I must say two things:
1) Jill, please forgive me. I just want you to know that I do not wear this get-up in public...ever! LOL! I was at home, in the garden with John and our nieces. I know you'd shoot me if you ever saw me wear a sundress and workboots... together! You're surprised I even have garden boots, right?

2) Lotus, in case you're wondering about the plastic drop-sheet I put over our 10x100 ft garden (yes, I am insane!!), I was trying to figure out how best to combat the weeds when I don't exactly have time to do any weeding all the time. Last year, I weeded (I couldn't keep up with the darn weeds!) and it was back-breaking effort just to keep up. The year before that, we mulched. This year, we put plastic down so the weeds wouldn't grow through...and we mulched. I'm thinking next year we'll do a combination of this method and perhaps some raised beds!!! Of course, I couldn't do 10x100 ft of raised beds! Hubby would kill me!
Before we begin our tour, sit down and have a smoothie. It's custom in my culture to always feed our guests.

Come play with the kitties first. They're now 6 weeks old. Aren't they cute!?
Looks like the kitties' Aunt Fred is ready to have her litter any day now! More kittens! Will my husband ever forgive me? He said no animals inside the house! LOL!
Chance would like to accompany us on our garden tour. Poor boy. He looks a little matted. We even brushed him and took him to the beach so he could loosen and get rid of his winter coat! It didn't work. I'm wondering if a trip to the groomer's may help! In the city, Chance never looked this messy! He had his bi-annual groomer's appointments at $95 + tax a pop! He always emerged from the groomer's with a shiny, sleek coat and a pretty ribbon around his neck. Yeah, I know. Hubby doesn't think a male dog should wear a ribbon around his neck! LOL!
These are Hubby's bovine babies. They keep Chance in line.
Here are some of the tomatoes.
The red currants are starting to change colour.

You can see the raspberry canes on the left, and the red currants on the right. In the background, you'll see our plum trees and an apple tree.
Peppers! Hungarian, jalapeno, banana and all sorts of other peppers plants are starting to shoot up. They took a beating with all the heat and no rain.

Potatoes!!! The funny thing is that I forgot to plant potatoes this year! I think these plants started from the compost I threw on the garden! LOL!

More tomatoes. I only planted four varieties this year.

Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. I'm not sure which one this is, because right now they all look alike...and I forgot to mark them as I planted them in the ground!

So sad! Can you spot my one blueberry? Blueberries aren't found on the island because of the high lime content (lots of limestone on the island). However, you will find many, many blueberry vendors on the side of the highway on your way to or from Sudbury. The Sudbury area has wonderful blueberries! I used to buy them from an old couple who visit the island every summer and bring their blueberries to sell to restaurants and anyone who wants them. I wanted to conduct a little science experiment and see if I could grow blueberries. We'll soon find out if I'm successful.

Asparagus, now going to seed. We had a hearty crop this year. I didn't know that you could eat asparagus raw! One of the "old timers" told me that! They're actually really tasty raw. They taste like snowpeas!
Our apples are starting to come. A few weeks ago, the air was fragrant with that sweet apple blossom smell. The breeze carried some of the petals and blossoms and scattered them all over the yard. So pretty!
guess that's it for the tour so far. It wasn't that interesting, but I thought I'd share this with you, Lotus and mrinz! I forgot to take photos of the corn, onions, peas and beans. Maybe next time.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I keep saying this, but BLIMEY! You lot really do have a farm!

BusyMamma said...

the asparagus you grow is very tastey! So fresh-not like the stuff we get here at the supermarket!

Anonymous said...

me eyes my eyes!!aaaaarrrrggghhhhh!!!!!

robkroese said...

Very nice, Chrissy.

Anonymous said...

Aw man, you have such an awesome amount of space and lovely plants! I would love to have fruit trees but just don't have the room.

Something tells me that the fruit smoothies were made from fruits you grew...

My two potato plants were also survivors of the compost pile. They just flowered so I'm feeling quite proud!

Hey,as far as the dress and mud boots go: gotta look cute, but also gotta keep mud from between the toes... unless it's a very overpriced salon procedure :)

Unknown said...

Pete:
Hahahaha! Yes, it's still true :) We do have a farm!

Dina:
I love asparagus! We have sooooooo much of it at our place. I told Hubby that it's so cool that we have asparagus for free, when it's so expensive in the grocery store! He said it's not free. I have to tend to the garden, etc. LOL!

Unknown said...

Jill:
I knowwww...Terrible, isn't it?! LOL! Fashion faux pas. I am guilty.
Though, I wouldn't want to wear "good" clothes to work in the garden when I know I'd be getting dirty! LOL!

Diesel:
Thank you. I am impressed with YOUR property though! Your orchard, pond...everything! Want a landscaping job? LOL! No, seriously! ;)

Unknown said...

Lotus:
Yes, the fruit for the smoothies are from our place :) I love it! I pick them and some are eaten fresh, while the others I freeze for the winter time when berries aren't in season. I also use them in preserves and desserts. I wish we had more rain though. My garden is in deseperate need of lots of water!

Anonymous said...

{{{{{{{{{{{{{LOL}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
That is so funny Christine! I love your virtual tour!

merinz said...

Wow, what an awesome garden. Anyone who can successfully grow asparagus goes up in my estimation.

Its amazing how potatoes can pop up anywhere isn't it! They are really quite hardy.

I use breathable weed matting all the time to keep the weeds down in the parts of my garden that are not planted. It doesn't seem to do any harm. I don't plant much here over the winter so most of the garden is covered in it.

If we plant winter cabbages/broccoli etc they get eaten alive by the white butterfly caterpillars, broad beans are sometimes good to plant in the winter but they take up too much room and I want to use that space to get potatoes in early.
All I have growing now are sugar snap peas.

Anonymous said...

I love that Chris! Youre so funny! Cute kitten pix too!

Anonymous said...

I for one think you are adorable Chris! And yes, I know you wouldn't wear the mud boots and dress out in public! You're still cute regardless!

Cherry said...

Someone from the Manitoulin tourism or real estate agency is should be paying you some commission girl!

You are killing me!
My brother lives in Victoria and is always telling us how we could easily own a B&B and a mini-farm (our dream).

I guess someday I'm gonna need to move to Canada!

BTW - if your Blueberry doesn't do it's thing in the limey soil, you can UBER amend it with PEAT or put it in a pot where you can control it's pH. There are tons of dwarf Blueberries that'll do well in pots.

Unknown said...

t:
Hahaha! I'm glad you enjoyed the tour! I can't remember who got the real tour last summer at the wedding. I think John even took some people for a walk on the property.

mrinz:
That breathable weed matting sounds like a great idea. I was looking at buying some for the garden, but Hubby reminded me of how much garden we had to cover! It would cost me a fortune to cover that garden! LOL! We recycled the plastic wrap that goes around round bales. Ideally, the breathable matting would be great though! I'll try making some raised beds too next year.

Unknown said...

hot mommy:
Thanks! I love that kitten pic too! The look on the black one's face makes me think it's saying "WAZZZZZUP?!?!?!?!" LOL!

t:
Wow! TWO comments from you on the same post! LOL! So true! I would be caught dead wearing this outfit in public. You are right! My mom is of the belief that a woman should never be seen without make-up and she should always dress up nicely. She was horrified when I went to drop something off at her house and I had no make up and was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. I believe in being "presentable" too, but c'mon...every waking moment of the day? :( Even when you're weeding the garden or helping your husband with fire wood?? LOL!

Unknown said...

Cherry:
What a great idea!!! I never even thought of that! I told Hubby and he said that the idea occurred to him too, after I planted the blueberries. You must be a great gardener...or a horticulturalist!!! I wouldn't have thought of using peat to control the pH! Oh, and the idea of planting blueberries in pots sounds great! I'm excited...I'll have to try that! Thanks!!!

From Our Farm to Your Table

Blog Archive

Farmers Feed Cities

You Can Find Me Here!




Affiliates

Brand Ambassador for

For Fellow Bloggers

Connect With Advertisers - Sign up for SocialSpark!
A Reliable Blogger

Proud Recipient

© 2006 - 2012 Life on Manitoulin. All Rights Reserved. Powered by Blogger.

About the Blog Author


City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
Contact Me

Les Boutons!

Life on Manitoulin: Just a bunch of ramblings from a city girl gone country!

Life on Manitoulin: Just a bunch of ramblings from a city girl gone country!

Let's Connect

Members

Support


Photobucket


Related Posts with Thumbnails