Purposeful Ramblings Through My Mind

 With most of my seeds now planted, my garden is at the hurry-up-and-wait part of the spring. So I'm going to paint a picture for you with words, starting clockwise at 7 o'clock, because the door from the house is at six.

First, when you leave the house, you're on the patio. It's sheltered to the south/left by the part of the house that contains the bedrooms. Walk about twenty feet, and you get to the first garden. The part you can see from the door is mostly mulch and weeds, because that's Shenzi's preferred place for a quick pee. But go around the corner a tiny big and you get some lovely patches of a ground cover we planted last year, whose name I can't recall, and it's coming back and spreading nicely. Around 8 o'clock, there are three patches of bulb garden. The first two are daffodils and crocuses. The crocuses are done now but the daffodils are full of life. There are the single-trumpet ones that bloomed first, the double yellow ones and double white ones that came after, and last to bloom were the yellow doubles with orange in the middle. I love them all. I've loved daffodils since my year in Gerardmer, France, which celebrates a daffodil festival most years. 

The third bulb garden, nearly at 9 o'clock, is Lloyd's Garden. It's the grave of the rat we had for just a couple of months, whom we buried and placed a pretty pink-granite rock over. Then we planted tulips around the rock. The tulips are a commemorative variety sent out by the airline KLM, to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian soldiers. The goal was to plant a bulb for every Canadian who fought in the Netherlands, 1.1 million of them across the country. I just have ten. They have developing buds on them, only two of which have colour so far. They'll be in full bloom in a week or so.

Next to that, at 9 o'clock, is a weedy patch that was mostly black-eyed Susans last year. It's not doing much yet. There's also a little grassy space over there that we've left, because it's in the shade of the next-door neighbour's cedar hedge and also provides a pathway to the outdoor water source around the south side of the house. At 10 o'clock is the pool shed, which also houses most of the garden implements we use regularly. 

We're now along the back fence, which leads out to a green space that also functions as a hydro corridor. There's a gate, and then the little strip of garden that forms the bulk of my vegetable growing space begins. Yesterday, we cleared out the weedy corner by the gate, harvesting the edible weeds for a salad and putting down some fresh triple mix. Then we planted one of the zucchini plants that I started indoors less than two weeks ago. It's four inches high with two-inch proto-leaves on it, and the root system was pretty well-developed for two weeks, so even though we haven't hit our final frost date yet I decided to chance it. Behind the single zucchini plant, I seeded some Kentucky Wonder beans. They're supported by some bamboo poles that the previous owner had left in the pool shed. Next to them, moving right across the back fence, are some radishes that are very happy. They're an early spring crop and they're putting up secondary leaves. Once I harvest them, I'll probably use that space for Asian cabbage or carrots, unless the zucchini takes it over completely. 

There's a wooden divide then for the next part of the garden. To the right of it (we're around 11:30 now) are a few little lettuce plants that I started early from seed, just beginning to put up secondary leaves, and a long row of snow peas that are about an inch tall. I'm hoping today's warmth and sunshine will have those shooting for the sky. The space in front of the peas is destined for carrots in the form of seed tape. I haven't planted that yet because it's the only thing I can't easily cover in the event of a threat of frost. I'll probably chance it next week. I have no lack of seed tape if the first fails. 

At about 1 o'clock is the third segment of that back garden. I planted my three butterbush squash hills on Friday, two seeds in each, and there are Mason jars nearby to cover them with if there's a threat of frost. It will be warm enough to germinate them today and they got tons of rain yesterday, so I'll likely see sprouts on them pretty quickly. Behind those are more snow peas. Squash are heavy feeders so the zucchini and butterbush squash are supported by beans and peas, which are nitrogen fixers. These snow peas were planted only yesterday so I'm not seeing anything from them yet. 

We're now rounding the corner of the pool, in the northwest corner of the garden. There are two square raised beds there, built from a Home Depot kit by the previous owner. They have walking onions, yellow onions, Videlia onions, and chives in them. The walking onions and chives are mostly for green onions in salads, so we've already been harvesting from that for several weeks. The others are for bulb onions. The yellow ones came from leftover onion sets last year that were sprouting in the garage. The Videlias came from one kitchen onion that sprouted, which I then took apart to plant. Also in those two beds are two types of mint. Right in the corner is the mojito mint left by the previous owner. She had it in a freestanding pot, but it's mint - it spread. I had a chocolate mint over there, also in a freestanding pot. It spread into the other raised bed. Last but not least is the thyme plant which I started from seed last year. I love thyme as a seasoning and use it frequently, so having some fresh in my garden is one of the nicest things about having a garden. It's another plant that reminds me of France.

Heading over to 3 o'clock is a little patch where I seeded some kale. This is the sunniest part of the garden, as it's against the north fence and therefore has 100% southern exposure. After that is a patch of zebra irises which I left there because I love irises and these are well-established and beautiful. At four o'clock, after the irises, is the second zucchini plant and a few more beans. After that there's some floral ground cover that we haven't moved because that part of the garden is shaded by the house and not great for vegetables. 

I have two freestanding pots, the ones the previous owner had her mint in, that now hold fresh weed-free triple mix and Asian stir-fry/salad green seeds. They're living near the irises for now because that's where they'll get the best sun exposure, and they like warmth and a lot of sun. 

Garden centres are going to open shortly, so I'm going to pick up some nasturtium seeds or plants, depending on what I can find, to plant near the two types of squash. If they do well, they'll be added to salads. Both leaves and flowers are edible and have a peppery flavour to them that I love. 

The only other plant of note is the black currant bush I planted out front, near the lovely stand of yuccas. I don't worry too much about the front garden because I prefer growing food to flowers, and the front garden is mostly too shady for food. But the black currant bush is my baby. If it does well, I'll be planting at least one more there next year. So far it's putting out leaves on at least half its stems, so clearly it's reasonably content with its lot in life. I'm looking forward to trying my stepdad's Singing Johnny recipe, which is basically black currant-infused Irish whiskey. And jam, of course. Black currant jam is my favourite and it's really hard to get commercial black currants in Canada so I've only been able to get it when Piet's aunt offered me some of her black currants. I want some of my own.

So that's my quarantine garden. I have high hopes for the zucchini, and the butterbush squash did beautifully last year and provided I think about twelve one- or two-pound squashes (they look and taste like mini butternut squash, but the plants only take a couple of metres of space instead of, well, your entire garden.) I have high hopes that our modest investment in soil and seeds will yield a whole lot of fresh food all summer and into the fall, possibly even enough to preserve some of it by freezing or canning. 

My spring bulbs are mostly doing well. A couple are coming up right smack in the middle of my creeping thyme and veronica, and they aren't getting much room, but other than that I'm happy with them. I'll wait another three weeks and then sow my nasturtium seeds in the spots left bare by retreating bulbs. I bought more of them this year, so I should get lots of colour from them.

I need a small mum to shade the feet of my clematis. It's doing beautifully, btw, lots of leaves beginning to cover the lower part of the trellis. This will be the year I start to get substantial blossoms on it, I think. I'm going to have to be vigorous about eliminating extra morning glories, otherwise the clematis will get overwhelmed. Those morning glories are definitely glorious - and since they're shaded in the afternoon, they're often glorious for much of the day - but man are they invasive.

Also in the side garden, my lavendar is doing well, the dwarf sweet william is creeping along nicely, and the purple sage is popping up. The peony, while much smaller than other people's, is still respectably alive. The columbine has self-seeded all over that garden, so I have to decide how much I'm going to leave there. It's lovely, so I may let it go all English-country-garden on me. The nasturtium will look lovely around all that columbine and purple sage and lavendar.

I still don't know where I'm going to put the stella d'oro lily. And I'm still debating what to do with the garden extension I'd tentatively planned. I like the veronica I planted last year; it's covered in purple flowers and is creeping into the grass, and since it's much prettier than grass, that's fine by me. I do know I'm planting some tall larkspur against the porch, and a couple of bushy sweet williams between them. Yes, I think it's going to be very English-country-garden this year. The morning glories will use the larkspur as trellises, so I don't have to put out any more fishing line.

I think I'm going to enjoy the garden this year. I may even get around to doing something with the backyard, which I pretty much totally ignored last year. I should go check and see if my hostas are coming up yet.

I have two daffodils - the ones that went in the ground in the fall like they were supposed to - that are going to bloom this weekend. All of my hyacinths are blooming. My crocuses are mostly done, except for the ones that didn't bloom at all; hopefully they'll get enough energy to bloom next year. There are buds on several of my tulips. Most of the daffodils that went in a few weeks ago are behind, and some of them probably won't bloom at all, but a few of them have three good leaves and probably a bud hiding down amongst them. My irises are shooting up spiky leaves and will likely bloom on schedule - which means about a month from now. My parsley, thyme, oregano, mint, Russian tarragon, lemon balm, sage, and chives are all doing well - the chives are ready to be harvest for egg salad, which is lovely. My seedlings are outside today, soaking up the sunshine directly for the first time. Maybe a few more will sprout - the swiss chard is mostly not up, and the one in the middle that I can't remember the name of is getting spindly. I don't have a really good seedling window, so I need to make sure they go out on warm days to get a boost. My lilac has lots of budded leaves that are just starting to spread into actual leaves, though I didn't see any flower buds on it. It's still young, so I might not. My lavendar is grey-greening nicely, my sweet william is lovely, and the clematis has a few wood-coloured buds on it, so I didn't kill it! The columbine is also coming back, and I think it may have self-seeded, in which case I'll transplant when it's big enough.

My morning glories are showing no signs yet, but I've pulled a dozen baby trees out of my flower garden. I think they were Rose of Sharon from next door. I also haven't seen any sign yet of my peony, which worries me a little bit - it should be starting to send up spiky red things around the time the hyacinths bloom, and it isn't yet. The lilies in the backyard are in fine form, but the hostas are as yet a no-show. I've found a few spots where they will come back, so the squirrels didn't get them all. I also haven't seen the wild geranium that was back there last year. It was a beautiful plant and I was quite willing to let it grow where it wanted. I may try to tame it this year, since there are other things I want to plant out there amongst the hostas. We'll see.

Claire has discovered dirt as a venue for play. She likes moving dirt from one spot to another in the garden, and she loves the sandbox at the babysitter's - even if she carries most of it home in her diaper. I think it's time to dig out the sandbox from the garage - the one that Elizabeth got for her second birthday and I never got around to filling with sand - and clean it out and buy some sand for it. It's a turtle sandbox, and it's really cute.

There is a bloom on one of my morning glories! And I saw it at three o'clock in the afternoon!

I tried to take a picture, but the camera isn't co-operating for some reason.