Lettuce going to seed.Last week while we were camping on Salt Spring Island the Okanagan was hot, hot, hot! When we returned our grass was crispy yellow but the tomatoes and peppers were in heaven. The plants are loaded and I am waiting patiently to pluck off the...

July has begun and so have our hot summer days. Last week I pulled up my peas, much to my husband's dismay. He couldn't quite understand why I would pull up perfectly happy peas plants to plant beans. What can I say, I really wanted to plant my heritage beans and that...

It has been raining off and on throughout the last few days. When the rain subsided yesterday afternoon I went out with my daughter to prune and tie the tomatoes. The tomatoes are growing well and some of the first flowers are opening. The pepper are also starting to...

I have four raised garden beds, each is four feet wide and sixteen feet long. This year I've planted lettuce, spinach, mustard green, carrots and swiss chard in the first bed (the one closest to the house). The second has bush beans (which I just planted this week),...

We arrived home earlier this week. It was a good thing we arrived late at night because my yard had transformed itself into a jungle and I was itching to be working out there. In the week that I was gone everything became so green and alive. In some places the grass...

  Happy Easter! We were away from home for Easter which was a nice respite for everyone, especially me. While we were gone it rained quite a bit and there were some exciting changes around the yard. The muscari and daffodils are in bloom, the lawn is lush and...

Raspberry cane. Chinese cabbage. Fast growing tomatoes. There is no denying that spring has arrived. I see signs of newness everywhere. Birds are busy building their nests and searching for food. In the last week we've seen woodpeckers, robins, quail, red winged...

Spring has arrived. The equinox was chilly and there was even a sprinkling of snow, as if winter made once last attempt to stay. Last weekend (March 16th) I started my tomato and pepper seeds. I planted thirty tomato seeds, which were a combination of Gardener's...

It rained yesterday, it was cold and I felt miserable. I snuggled under a pile of blankets and slept the afternoon away. Today the skies slowly cleared and with renewed energy we completed some much needed tasks around the yard. Two of the four raised garden beds were...

Autumn is approaching. The days have been noticeably cooler and we've harvested everything from two of our four raised garden beds. A couple days ago we dug out the potatoes. We gathered about 20lbs of potatoes of all different shapes, sizes and colours. It was a lot...

The days are becoming noticeably shorter and the nights a little cooler. There has been a shift in the garden. The kale, swiss chard and most of the beets are harvested and in their place I've planted some winter walla walla onions, lettuce, carrots, parsnips, pac...

Our resident hawk moth caterpillar.I always find it exciting to explore my garden after being gone a while. It's like walking through a time warp. The potato and zucchini plants are taking over and sprawling all over the place. I can't even mow the lawn near the...

For the last week we've had hot sunny weather. As the temperature climbs to the mid 30s our daily rhythm has shifted to adjust to the heat. We wake early, break our fast and complete any necessary tasks around the home. There isn't much work that needs to be done in...

The plants in my garden are focusing their energy on fruit production. While it wasn't long ago that we celebrated our first cluster of green tomatoes, now the plants are covered in tomatoes of all shapes and sizes. Even the pepper plants are dangling their prizes,...

A great deal of change happens in a garden over the span of two weeks. Thanks to my husband's attentiveness while I was away the gardens are in good shape. With the hot weather that we're having some of the crops are spent. I had to pull out the remaining spinach and...