Tuesday was a rainy, chilly day and I appreciate those kinds of days!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

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  Tuesday was quite the windy and rainy day.  The day started out ok, without any warning of what was to come.  I was actually thinking about going outside to tackle the remaining compost containers. 

But, things to do, places to go.  Bustled around, got ready to take little Youbou to the vet’s for his acupuncture treatment.  Yesterday’s session was short and sweet.  He only needed a few needle placements.  His right leg, which was once just lifeless, he dragged it around .. had progressed to the point where he was kicking like a bucking horse, it was so strong .. he did this when the vet attempted to place a needle at a specific point in his foot.  These needles are so very fine, he doesn’t feel them at all.

So now our next appointment isn’t for 6 weeks.  When he does have a relapse .. due to his feeling so good that he tends to run around quite a bit and he is limping a bit .. then I just massage his little back and leg and he’s much better.

We set off in the early morning .. sun was shining on our return home.

I was deciding where to start with the outside work.  But, during my second cup of Yorkshire Tea .. the rains commenced. 

The skies were grey .. the pounding rains kept up all day.  I heard that there was snow and hail .. but couldn’t see any here, by Swan Lake.

I actually like rainy days and love the feeling of being  in our nice warm home.  Pots of tea.  Kitty kats curled up, sleeping in their beds.

So, I started the arduous task of deciphering my hastily scribbled notes from the recent, intensive … Master Gardening Course (Gaia College, through Royal Roads).  What a life changer those classes were.

As I busily typed away, I was once again back there in the classroom, totally focused on the wealth of information that was being given to us.  I remembered the dark and rainy evenings, driving out to Langford.  I’m not a good night driver and the roads were very dark, it was a challenge to drive slowly on those nights.  But I wasn’t going to let a pouring rain stop me from attending those classes.

Names kept popping up, as references given throughout the course.  Names like  Forester & Environmentalist Ralph Zingaor –  who used a potassium-phosphite fertilizer (which has been around for decades)  to stall or reverse the symptoms of Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum ) on trees in California.  And he was not allowed to use this fertilizer and had to have it labelled as a pesticide in order to use it!!  Does that make sense?  no.

Here’s another one: Phil Callahan – who was the first person ever to connect the insect’s antennae frequency to plant infrared spectrum… amongst many other important discoveries:   http://www.whale.to/b/callahan.htmlSo

So very much information to discover, it’s quite breathtaking.

I didn’t take pictures yesterday, there just wasn’t the opportunity, so I decided to post some pics taken a year ago.  When I wandered around Beacon Hill Park .. and some eagle pics from Swan Lake.

Went shopping .. picked up some ready-made spinach/ricotta cheese lasagna roll-ups .. quite tasty and I plan to make a large batch of these.   They look to be quite easy .. so I can then freeze them in meal size portions.

I got over my disappointment of not “meeting and greeting” the actor who plays “Ken” on Coronation Street.  That’s life and this is a new day.   But, having sat in the front row during the whole show and listening to his amusing anecdotes, DH & I enjoyed a few chuckles while watching yesterday’s show.

We viewed the little guy who plays “Simon” in a new light .. he truly is a little chatterbox and quite a smart little person in real life.  “Ken” noted that he is a brilliant little actor and we totally agree with that.  His facial mannerisms are spot on and he always has that mischievous glint in his eye.  A sweetie, for sure.

Well… the weather today looks promising, but I can see those little grey clouds here and there!

Time to get on with this most lovely new day, I say, I say, I say!  – to quote “Fred Elliott” .. a former character on CS.  He’d often repeat his words and that was fun.

🙂

One compost bin properly layered! And we saw William Roache!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

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  Yesterday .. I made a firm resolution to declutter, but all I succeeded in doing was spending hours looking for certain Coronation Street memorabilia ..

in-between times I managed to get laundry done, sort the recycling, play with the cats.

Finally, enough of the indoor stuff and outside I went .. to work on the compost containers.

Gathered the goat manure/hay mix, composted leaves, seaweed, pieces of cardboard and my precious EM mixture.

Emptied compost container #1 .. eeyouw .. and filled empty containers.  Next I started the layering process.  Veggie scraps, cardboard, leaves, manure, seaweed .. in layers till the container was full.  then I watered it with the EM/water mixture.

This feels so much better .. there is no foul odour and this layering technique allows the compost to breathe, soon there will be a lovely mix of bacteria munching away.  There were already a healthy supply of plump earthworms in the mixture already and I believe the population will increase.  Looking forward to lovely earthy compost in a few months or so.

This is the time of the year to watch for the emerging bumblebee queens . .I saw another one today .. was just reaching my hand to open the gate latch when I noticed a dark speck on the gate frame .. whew, that was close .. I had almost brushed against her.

I’d noticed a yellowjacket a few days ago, wonder if that was a queen also.

The time arrived for us to prepare to go to the Royal Theatre to see William Roache ..an event we’d been waiting for since last fall.

He plays “Ken” in the Coronation Street show and has been acting in this show for 51 years!

80 years old and he certainly appeared in excellent health.  A good role model.  He is a vegetarian and shared with us that meditation has provided him with a sense of peace and relaxation.

His life has been an interesting one and he shared with us many of the most interesting periods.   He is certainly an excellent speaker and had all of us spellbound for the entire show.

There, I haven’t gone to Granada, but I’ve met 5 of the characters.  Organized a bus trip to Vancouver  years ago to see & meet “Des”.  “Audrey” and her hubby attended a Bay signing event a number of years ago .. that was lovely.  And “Derek” and “Mavis” were in Victoria years ago and we met them also.

So .. I think that’s most likely the extent of my meeting CS actors.  One person I would love to meet is the character that plays “Becky” .. she is an amazing chameleon of an actress and also acts in Shakespearian plays.  Now, that’s an interesting combo.

Well, short and sweet and on with this day … sunny and rainy . .and  I plan to play with my plants today.

🙂

Alaska Onion Grass, glad to meetcha! Learning more about Native Plants. & tonight .. we see William Roache!!!

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       Monday, March 19, 2012

The weekend was a mixed bag of weather.   Some sun, some rain .. wonder if the plants were going crazy ..bloom?  grow?

On the overcast/sunny Saturday morning, I continued to learn more about plant identification.

Learned some more about invasive weeds and recognizing more wild plants.  The Alaskan Onion is now a familiar to me – grass-like type plant.  I hadn’t taken any photos (but I plan to do that!)

Here are some excellent sites for further information (oh, wow, I am in the learning mode now!)

http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/GarryOakEcosystems.html

And ..finally, some photos:

http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/ShowDBImage/gallery.aspx?page=0&specrep=0&code=PMPOA3X0J0

Onion grass looks like .. well, grass!  Right now, what I’ve noticed is that the blades seem a bit wider and “boxier” like and to find out if the grass is onion grass. … you just carefully move the grass away at the bottom of the plant and feel around for the little bulbs at the ground level, where they are protruding from the soil.  Once I can touch and look closely at a plant .. a wild plant anyway, I know it and can locate others.   So far, anyway, touch wood.  (ok, now where did that phrase originate!)

I learned how to identify licorice fern and tasted the inner portion of the root, which was bright green.   Just a tiny taste and the licorice flavour developed  more and more as time passed.  Quite dainty and delicious.  Oh, mother nature, you are good!

S and I worked away, lifting invasive ivy  … .loosening the soil.  She carefully removed the invasives from the struggling tiny leaf wild rose plants, tough plants, growing through the tight covering of the vines.   She also found some wild honeysuckle and these now will grow quite strong, now they are free to do so.

We worked away for a few hours, soon had a good size area clear, the rich forest soil loosened up.   Once hidden plants now able to breathe freely and grow as they should.

I brought away with me a tiny deer fern, surrounded by a little blanket of moss.  It’s potted up and I’ll be planting this treasure in the shaded woodland part of the yard.

S also gave me some pussywillow, rooted, and some in water to root.  I look forward to these growing in the yard and will bend them over as they grow, to form a little umbrella shape.

Another thing about us gardeners .. we share and share and share our plants.  Such a fun thing to do.  And I do intend to name them somehow .. must think of an easy way to do this.  Maybe carry around some cut-up plastic or aluminum sections of window blinds & a black marker, so I can easily write down the names and place the section in the plant.  I’ll work on that.

Anyway, I am getting very spoiled now.  Twice I’ve had the most amazing little cups of espresso.  Made from home-roasted beans and ground up especially fine.  Saturday, I just had to take a photo, to share .. see, how beautiful this is!  What a treat.

So, Saturday was a busy day.  A friend of mine is going travelling, so I will be “mother” to her plants while she is away.  And today .. I’m going to water them with EM.  As a matter of fact .. today .. is the day for me to add EM to all the outside plants.

I’ll put some of my precious EM in water, and spray the leaves and water the base of the plants.

Plus, time to move some raspberry plants.

Yesterday I noticed a yellow jacket (I think it was that, some kind of wasp) and didn’t have a chance to take a photo.  I think it must be the Queen. So now I’ll be very careful and looking for potential nests.  And now is the time to do all the digging in the side gardens, last year I waited too long and just had to leave them alone.  There was so much wasp activity, and I can’t bear to be stung again.

Looking forward to spending this whole day outside in the yard!!

And tonight .. finally .. we go to see William Roache (aka long-suffering Ken) from Coronation Street.  He’s acted in this show since the very beginning.  We are so looking forward to seeing him in person.  We have the first row seats and will have the opportunity to meet & talk with him after the show.  Oh, what shall I ask him?  Dare I comment about “Deidre’s” neck .. how the veins stand out when she’s yelling .. “oh, Ken!”    🙂

I was going to take a lot of CS memorabilia with me, but, will try to be mature and just take a few things.  But which few?  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Well .. on with this day!!!

🙂

Removing invasive plants so that nature may play her part in letting native plants grow .. is a very good thing to do!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

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And a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!  Oh, the joys of Facebook & Skype.  Via Facebook, I was able to watch one of my great-nephews play his fiddle, along with his instructor, playing some Irish tunes.  He plays much better than me, despite the lessons I’ve taken. However, I’m not giving up.  I might never play at Massey Hall (ha ha ha ha ) but I can scare the heck out of any marauding crows that visit the yard.

Hmmmm .. maybe I should just dust off my fiddle case and practise in the backyard, when the European Starlings visit . .should be interesting to see if this would act as a deterrent!  I remember our dogs cringing when I opened the case.

Anyway, I’m travelling on the lovely gardening path into my ever-expanding world of gardening .. it’s a wonderful journey.  I’m continuously meeting the most interesting people and learning more and more about plants.

A few days ago I had the opportunity to volunteer in pulling invasive species out of a natural forest area.   I’d heard about the magical results of Fawn Lilies growing in areas which were once heavily infested with ivy and Himalayan blackberries.  Once the heavy top-growth was removed .. the Lillies appeared. Isn’t that amazing!  The powerful energy of nature.  Humbling, I would say.

So I was excited to be part of this activity.  We uncovered a very heavy growth of ivy from a number of tree stumps.  And once that was done .. the space seemed to be calmer, cleaner .. sort of feng shui of the area.    Huckleberries are going to be planted in the trunks so I really look forward to seeing that.  I posted some pics and will follow-up when the berries are growing.

Learned about other vegetation, such as Alaska onion grass .. the leaves look exactly like grass and one must look to the base of the blades to see the little bulbets!  And, I also learned that the tiny weeds that I’ve been busy pulling out of the ground at home, are actually a type of cress, edible and most likely high in minerals and vitamins.

Oh, Nature, you are so subtle.   Leaving lots of plants around for us to nibble on, we just have to learn them, pay attention.

We chatted with a young man, who is a finishing carpenter .. now that is a trade to be proud of … my dad was such a person.   Such a joy to meet talented people who, it follows, most certainly must have a love for natural materials.

Back home, I refilled the hummingbird feeder and while I was standing there .. I saw several zipping around, so camera out.  I think that there is a Mr & Mrs, there were 2 at the feeder at the same time, sipping companionably.  Then one, without the red neck feathers, omg, this must be the female!  Her head looked to be shades of brown .. I’m standing there trying to focus and she just hovered there in the air.

I wasn’t able to click a photo of her .. hovering .. but I will always remember the joy of the moment!  Hummingbirds are little sprites in the air. They are tough little birds.  And so very beautiful.

Friday .. and Saturday .. well, lots of sun, followed by bursts of rain. Perfect gardening weather.

I’m just so looking forward to working in our yard .. to chop up the kelp & seaweed & spread around the garlic bed.  Then, my first major gardening feat will be to empty the 3 composters, one by one and start layering them in properly with the carbon/green layers.   Once that is done, I will feel so much better about the composting process.  Instead of just throwing vegetable waste in (which is what I’ve been doing) I’ll be consciously layering, creating a good atmosphere for the specific bacteria to grow.  Some like it hot, some like it warm, some like it cool.   Just like Goldilocks & the 3 Bears!

I’m going to build the compost just right!

Anyway, on with this day.  More ivy to pull.  Some plants are moving in for a vacation while their plant mom is away travelling.  Here is my chance to give them some EM and keep them in a healthy condition till she needs them back.

So .. away I go .. on this lovely Saturday morning.

Blogging is such fun especially when it is about gardening, birds and nature!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

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  The winds returned yesterday .. .I spent a bit of time moving the bird feeding stations onto branches that were a little more sheltered so that the little winged darlings could feed!  

The hummingbird feeder in the backyard had been buffeted so much that all the nectar was gone .. so I put some in and hung it on a tree branch.  Then changed the location again, as I saw the little Anna zipping about .. looking for it. So I placed it a bit lower in the little archway.

Glad to see my garlic growing away.   I’m just waiting for a nice day to spend outside and I can start chopping up some kelp around the new green growth.  Still have a fair amount of garlic from last year.  Enough for us and some to share with friends.  I wonder if I’ll actually take the time to properly braid some strands this year? 

I’d started out doing that last year, with the best of intentions.   My desire to do so had diminished, as I dug up more and more small garlic bulbs.  I’d bought 4 lovely garlic types from Richters, so the problem wasn’t the quality of the bulbs.  Discovered that garlic likes sun … I’d planted them in relative shade.  Even though the soil was lovely, rich in mulch, it still needed that sun!  So this year, they are in the sun. 

And everywhere else also, it seems.  I can see garlic greens popping up everywhere in the side garden .. and I was so positive that I’d dug them all up!    More of the magic of gardening.

I’m so glad that I’ve continued on with this blog.  I’d started it after I retired, someone suggested it would be a good way to keep in touch former coworkers who also loved gardening.

I have discovered other gardening type blogs over the past year and it is so fun to find out how others are gardening, from all over the place.  Very interesting people.

There is Bridget, in Ireland, they live in the country and have the most lovely goats: http://arignagardener.wordpress.com/author/arignagardener/

and Claire – a creative chef  and intrepid gardener .. her fascinating blog:  http://promenadeplantings.com/

and Paul, who is a creative gardener and is sharing the gardening adventure with his children at:  http://seedtosalad.wordpress.com/

and Malou, who gardens in Holland: http://malouprestado.wordpress.com/author/malouprestado/

and Susanne, who currently is living in Australia: http://theemeraldgarden.wordpress.com/author/yomtoto/

It is such a joy to read their blogs and find out what is happening in the gardens where they live.  I take a little time travel each time I visit their blogs.

I feel as if we have become such good gardening buddies and I find so many interesting ways to do things and wonderful new foods!   Claire has lovely recipes for pumpkin biscotti (beautiful pumpkins from France, I haven’t seen any here). 

And they all have links to other blogs too!

Well, time is running out .. tonight is our last Organic Master Gardening Course (Gaia College) at Royal Roads and I will have to leave shortly.  Wah .. it’s been a huge adventure, this course.  A complete departure from the normal ways of gardening.  So I’ve begun this adventure and am very happy.

The most amazing instructors and a great group of learners we are.

So I’ll say nighty night till tomorrow.  When I will come back and talk about more gardening and the exciting things that happened today!  Yes, I met more gardening people… what a wonderful day this has been  … and I’ll share more pictures!

It’s been a lovely day.

🙂

Walking in the rain, learning about lawns, and there was a little bit of snow here yesterday

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

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Tuesday .. that wonderful day which follows Monday .. was a mixed bag of weather.

By the time I set off on my trek to Orr’s Butchers (to fetch some Farmer Ben’s eggs) there was a slight sprinkling of rain.  And, since I’m not made of sugar and won’t melt in the rain .. I just simply started walking.

Just simply stepping onto the pathway leading into the Nature Sanctuary felt absolutely wonderful .. the perfect way to start the day.   Looking around at the emerging new growth of leaves and the richness of the mosses & lichens draping branches and trunks .. felt the magical touch that nature bestows on all living things.

Only a few people at the time I was walking .. so peaceful and quiet .. couldn’t see many birds .. and saw the little Anna, who likes to perch atop one of the tall, narrow trees along a pathway.

Noticed the emergence of the growth of the marsh grasses.  Spent stalks of last year gracefully folded back, the structural breakdown  to feed the soil already well begun.

Finally reached the little observatory . . a few Geese majestically sailed over, expecting food.  And a little Ms. Mallard flew up to the wooden decking, looking for flatted oats .. which are sitting in a bag at home.  Reminder to keep a supply in my purse, cause ya never know!

Continued on my way … to Orr’s to pick up a few dozen Farmer Brown’s eggs .. to the Mediterranean deli!  Here I picked up a Mizithra cheese, an assortment of feta, humus, olive tapenade (the humus & tapenade are made there!) Plus some beautiful baklava etc.

Now my shopping bag is very heavy and I ponder the wisdom of shopping while walking.  Well, I’m not a delicate little flower, so I hoist the bag onto my shoulder and trudge onwards.  Soon I’ll be home.

Decision time .. take the shorter, overland path or descend to the walkway down below?  As always, I choose the latter and soon am nearing the little observatory again.  This time there is a birding group, including a former work mate .. so we chat for a few minutes.  Then all is quiet, as the birders listen to an assortment of bird calls, identifying each one.  Oh .. my .. I simply must join a birding group for a walk, “one of these” days.  I always learn so much.

Then . .homeward bound .. where I reward myself with a mug of Yorkshire Tea, my spanakopita and one of those delicate baklavas!!

Yesterday was another great learning session at our gardening class.   This session was devoted to lawns .. the creation, maintenance, troubleshooting .. the whole spectrum.

As our instructor opened up the doors to this new world, I found myself gaining great respect for this plant.  I learned that lawn is actually composed of thousands of plants, now that was not something that I was aware of before.  Grass was just, well .. grass.  Oh, no, that is not so.

We learned of the varieties of grass and why such a mix of types are used and how best to determine that.   About the zone of elongation .. who knew?  Why thatch develops.  Natural lawns are a bit longer than conventional lawns and are so much healthier.

Why and when to mow and .. understanding the “why” “when” “nurturing” makes only sense, now that I am more aware.

And for years I’d heard of people planning their lawns, layering, adding sand, plugging, fertilizing, etc.  Creating an artificial environment which really is toxic.

Imagine, feeding the lawn with chemicals and then letting children and pets play on this surface.   All those materials are in contact with the things you love .. is that good?   And then visualizing innocent birds pecking away at the poisonous concoction and being part of the food chain, passing on the chemicals, on up through the various life forms.

We discussed the benefits of natural materials, again, just like the “soil food web” nurturing the soil with materials  like EM (effective microorganisms) Compost Tea (Dr. Elaine Ingham), rock dust, on and on.

I have much more to study, transcribe my notes …. to further understand all of the information that was given to us last night.

Ok, grass, I respect you and your tenacity.  You are not just a blade beneath my feet.  You are an entity unto yourself and I intend to treat you with the care that you deserve.  And besides, anyway, as much as I’d like to rid the yard of lawn, it’s here to stay and I’ll make the best of it by taking care of it the natural way.

So .. on with this day.

Oh, yes, yesterday’s weather!   I was typing away at the keyboard, happened to look up and saw .. what?   Snowflakes!

Ran outside and sure enough, there was a steady stream of tiny, then shortly, larger flakes of snow tumbling down!

Grabbed the camera and started taking pics .. I knew that all over Victoria, there were many people doing the same thing.  ha ha .. what do you do when you live in a place like this and have a camera, anyway!

Then the sun finally came out and transformed everything . .and that was a day!

Well, on with this day!

Still learning about Nature .. and a thing or two about bees!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

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  The winds were powerful here yesterday.  Blew some fence boards out of the panels, broke some of the branches on the wild and crazy tree ..luckily that was all the damage we received.

Got out my cordless drill and mended the fence.  We’ll be getting newer panels sometime in the near future.

Saw seagulls flying sideways and the crows were sailing, enjoying the winds.  The backyard hummingbird feeder was again knocked to the ground and oh, no. out of sugar.  So I braved the winds and off to the supermarket to get some of the sweet stuff.   Home, mixed up a batch, put in the freezer to cool down and soon had the cleaned, refilled feeder back in its usual place.

Put more sunflower/birdseed mix in some of the feeders.  Especially love the translucent feeder on our kitchen window.  Sometimes there are lineups as the birds wait their turn to fetch some sunflower seeds.

Recently I’ve been volunteering in various plant related things.  One is happening this week, with removing invasive ground cover at a little neighbourhood street.  Another is to have our yard checked during the coming months, to see which pollinators are visiting … I’m just waiting to see if our yard fits the criteria.

In the meantime, I sent some bee photos to the person in charge of this study.  I had photographed two bees a few weeks ago.  It had been a warm and sunny afternoon and I happened to see several bees hanging on to the side fence, catching the full warmth of the sun’s rays.

Thought that these were queens that had just emerged and were acclimatizing to their new life stage.   Well, it turns out that I was half right!

The larger insect was indeed a Queen!   A Bombus mixtus (no common name).  Only Queens are out this early (it was Feb 22) in the spring, when it is warm and start looking for pollen and nectar and build a nest.  The smaller one was a hoverfly .. it is an excellent honeybee mimic.

I also learned that: ” flies have just two wings, and bees four;  and flies have big “bug eyes” whereas bees tend to have smaller eyes (and cuter faces).  In the hoverfly photo you can see the big bulgy eyes!  Bees also tend to have longer antennae than flies, (again easier to see when you have one in front of you :)”

New worlds of knowledge .. the exciting journey continues!!

I can only marvel at the wonderful timing in life that allowed me to happen to pass  by the fence on that sunny day, seeing the new Queen, having my camera with me to take a photo.  And later, getting more involved with native plant information, being able to send these photos to an expert for identification.  The serendipity of gardening.  Or the magic of it, really.

Yesterday, while starting on my decluttering, I found things I had bought to play around with one day.  One of these was a “learn to play the recorder” kit.  So, I opened the packaging, assembled the recorder and studiously went through the instructions.  Went from “what the heck” stage, trying to understand the finger placement … to the stage of practising the notes.  Fun.

Then, putting my knitting supplies together, I finally started weaving the t-shirt knitting material (found on Stumblupon, ways to re-use t-shirts, fun!) and wove two rows, then, couldn’t find the hook to remove the first row over the second.  I know for a fact that this hook is on my table in the gardening room.  However, I also knew that if I went to look for it, I would get involved in laundry, and all sorts of distractions, so I just put this loom away in the box for now.

Then I placed a large stack of books recently read .. into a bag for giveaways.  Sorted my Spanish and French grammar books onto shelves higher up so that I would open them more often.  Couldn’t resist opening up one of each, though, to practise my comprehension and pronunciation.

Also leafed through my “Vein of Gold” book, by Julia Cameron, which fell open at page 177, discussing music and the Native American flute music … would that in any way be coincidental with my practising the recorder?  nah.

Next, I repaired a broken wing on one of my graceful faerie ladies .. I had knocked it over months ago, and she just didn’t look right with the one wing .. so now that is all better.  I looked through my “the ultimate Fairies handbook) Susannah Marriott.  I love the drawings, so fanciful .. and read a few pages.    And of course “The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady” .. imagine having the time to just draw and write.  Hey .. I have that time.

Well, I made a lot of progress yesterday.

And it’s time to get going on more right now!

🙂

Walkng along formal gardens, learning more about EM & Compost Tea, yum yum

Monday, March 13, 2012

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  The sun was out yesterday and it seemed like a spring day.  The skies were blue, then cloudy, then blue, then cloudy, then blue .. and, well, you get the picture.  It was a mixed up type of spring day.

And a lazy day for me.  Spent a lot of time looking up gardening information.  Seems that’s mostly what I’ve been doing lately.  Learning and learning and learning.  One thing leads to another, which leads to another and so on and so forth.

It’s a wonder I have time to sleep, I’m learning so much lately.

Anyway, finally, I could stand it no longer, yesterday afternoon and finally went outside.  I planned to water some flats of scotch moss with my “precious” ..  which is a dilution of EM ( effective microorganisms)  ok, I’m not a scientist or a botanist or a biologist.  I just know that the microbes in this solution (my first batch) are liquid gold in respect to plantings.

These are so wonderful, that I’ve mixed my second batch, as mentioned a few days ago.  I plan to water all the trees, bushes, plants, vegetables, fruits etc. in my garden with this solution.

And so once I finished that little task . .I began to clear away a circle of grass at one of the fruit trees.  Started with an apple tree.  Dug away at the tenacious grassy  roots, trimmed away suckers, pulled weeds (all this stuff is going into the compost, btw).

Carefully pushed aside the many earthworms that were busy at their job of breaking up the soil, leaving their wonderful castings in the garden.  Finally, I stood up .. satisfied with my work and then watered a generous amount of EM on the ground.  Welcome to your new home, guys .. now settle in and get to work!

I’ll post the pics tomorrow.  Today I want to share the photos from our gardening class’s visit to Government House this past Saturday.  A mix of formal and semiformal gardens.  A lovely place to walk around.  Lots of roses there.  Although, they were shivering, and really needed a top layer of mulch, methinks.

Whenever I see bare ground on a garden, I feel sadness for the plants and the soil.  Nothing for the microbes, worms, etc. to nibble on .. such a barren look.  Breaks my heart, it does.

So, anyway, I’m all enthused about using my EM.   And learning more about compost tea.  And building a compost tea brewer.  Found some great sites, easy plans, to make one for under $30.  And saw some easy YouTube videos on how to build them.  They look very simple, straightforward.

I’m in a decluttering, sorting, organizing type of whirlwind today .. so will make this short and sweet.

🙂

Enjoying the most wonderful world of discovery .. the natural world of plants!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

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 Well .. the rains fell on Friday.. steadily all day .. gave me some time to do some household things.  And some studying.  And reading.

I had picked up quite a few books at the Friends of the Library book sale a few months back.  Many wonderful garden books, weather books and of course, a “few” fiction books!

As I’ve been reading 2 or 3 at a time – it’s easy when the books are in different rooms!  Just takes a few seconds to get the characters in focus to continue with the storylines.  When I open a book .. the drapes are pulled aside and the cast of characters are on centre stage .. and the play continues!.

And one interesting thing that I’ve noted is the amount of similarities there are in each of the sets of books that I’ve been reading.  By different, well worded authors, by the way.

One book mentioned, straightaway about Yorkshire tea, and in particular Yorkshire Gold.  I’ve only seen that ever mentioned this one time.

Another series of similarities .. on and on, for example, both books will discuss a certain food type, then there will be similar job professions, on and on.  I know that there are a zillion differences in books, but I have never really noticed so many similarities before.  And I have read thousands of books in my lifetime and looking forward to reading thousands more.

I remember, years ago, clicking on the tv, catching the tail end of Yo Yo Mah’s conversation with someone ..  he was saying that we need to pay attention when seemingly coincidental things happen .. to “pay attention to the coincidences”.  So over the years I’ve developed a habit of doing that, but still don’t rightly understand the significance.

So, Saturday was our outdoors landscape class and it took place at Government House on Rockland Avenue.  I used to wander the grounds during my lunch breaks years ago and it’s been awhile since I last visited so I was really looking forward to being there again.

Our instructor showed us how to do a Brix reading using the refractometer, and we tested with some fruit.  The reading shows the level of sugar in fruit and vegetables .. for more info, here is a good site:  http://www.crossroads.ws/brixbook/BBook.htm

We then walked around the grounds, stopping at various gardening sites and discussed the virtues of each.  And also other ways to do things.  It was a very interesting session.

As we walked through the various areas, the herb garden, heather garden, saw some rocky gardening places.  There were some gloriously ancient oaks around and of course I took pics, I’ll post them tomorrow.

Along a pathway and I stopped there for a minute .. to look over at the propagating gardens and felt 30 years drop away.

I was once again back there, working away, talking with fellow volunteers, conversations about many things, and remember one about roofing companies.   Felt the warmth of the sun of one of those afternoons, the happy positive attitudes of everyone in the group.  An atmosphere of joy at being part of this first group of volunteers.

And I was wearing my first ever pair of gumboots, bought especially for this program.  They were a cheerful bright red colour.  And I still have them now .. they serve as planters in the garden.  Don’t plant on getting rid of them.  Good memories.

Funny how time works.   Good memories flashing up  .. watching them on internal film screens.  Always there to watch.

And great to be making new memories .. still about gardening.

Funny thing, when I started the Organic Master Gardening Course, I thought that this would give me good structure for my gardening knowledge.

Well, it’s done that and more!  It’s opened the door to my love of gardening and has raised it to a whole new level .. it’s changed my life.

And this has led me to another door, native plant gardening.  I went through that doorway last Wednesday, when I attended the Native Plant Gardening workshop at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary.  It awoke my love for these plants.  And I’m remembering now that I have a number of books that I’ve purchased over the years.  Books that I guess I’ve been acquiring .. to prepare my self for this part of my life.

Some of these are:

•  “Fleurs des landes et marais” (from Toulouse, a flea-market), how could I resist!.
• Rocky Mountain Wild Flowers, , A.E. Porsild
• Grow Wild, Native Plant Gardening in Canada, Lorraine Johnson
• the Wild Garden, Violet Stevenson
• Conifers & Heathers, Diane Jones,
• Sagebrush Wildflowers, J.E. Underhill (when we visit the areas around Cache Creek, etc.
• Roadside Wildflowers of the Northwest, J.E. Underhill;
• Central Rockies Place names, Mike Potter
• Wild Flower of Field & Slope, in the Pacific Northwest, Lewis Clark
• Wild Flowers of the Arid Flatlands, Lewis Clark
• Field Guide to the Ferns & their related families, Boughton Cobb
• Fern Growers Manual, Barbara J. Hoshizaki
• Making the best of Alpines, Alan Bloom
• Golden, A Guide to Field Identification , Wildflowers of North America, Frank Venning
• Audubon Society: Western Forests
• The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America, Francois Couplan

And I know there are more on my bookshelves.

I’ve already placed my name on a session next week, to volunteer to remove some invasive plants on a little street somewhere in Saanich.  And also, have volunteered our yard to be checked for pollinators in the summer.  Bees, butterflies .. it will be great to learn what to look for.  Last summer I saw, for the first time ever, a gigantic bee, about 2″ plus in size .. look forward to finding out more about that wild bee.

All in all .. this past year has been a busy one.  I’d started my little gardening business.  Took ground school, experienced some dual control flights with the most amazing flying instructor.  Began the transformation of our yard.  Met many marvellous and interesting people.  Went for many long walks, discovering areas in Saanich that are beautiful and natural.  Met up again with friends from long ago ..

And now I’m acknowledging and dusting off that long ago me .. the one who loved discovering new things, making new friends, having adventures, being curious, learning and loving the natural world.  She’s my best friend and I’ll enjoy letting her have free rein on my most wonderful life.

🙂