Well, life seems to have taken over, and it seems I have all but forgotten my blog. August 8 was my last post, and then I went on holidays and back to work. I have never worked full time until now, and it seems that work has consumed most of my time lately. My gardens are now under several feet of snow, and it's been a rather cold winter. Several weeks of -30 Celsius temperatures, and lots and lots of snow. I am just starting to contemplate what to put where in my gardens this summer. I am going to set up raised square foot gardens for my vegetables, and replace the soil in my raised beds against the house. I was not pleased with how my raised beds produced, and I think some nutrient-rich soil may help. I pickled beets, beans and onions in the fall, and plan to grow more pickling type vegetables this summer...But, there are still 5 months before my vegetables can go in the ground.

If anyone still checks up on me, any suggestions for what I should plant in front of giant snapdragons in a raised bed? I think I am going to plant snapdragons up against the house in my raised beds, but I am not sure what to put in front. Maybe some dark blue lobelia cascading over the edge? Do I need something mid-height in between?

Well, I have been slacking on the posts, but it is finally hot and sunny here and my only excuse is I have been out enjoying the sunshine every minute I can. It's already 22 degrees here this morning and it is not even 11am yet... (I don't want to hear anything from anyone who lives somewhere 'deserty' or 'tropical' about how that's not hot... I live in Northern BC, and this is fantastic weather!!) On a side note, I was out running the other day in the afternoon heat - (which maybe wasn't my wisest decision ever) and I passed an older man walking with no shirt on and he actually shook his head at me and told me it was too hot to be running... (he was right, but I really don't like it when people try to tell me what I should and shouldn't do...

The heat has also made the geraniums I started from seed bloom and grow like crazy, although it took them a long time to finally flower. I think next year I need to start them a few weeks earlier and then plant them into bigger pots while they are still in the house. I tried to keep them small in the house so that they wouldn't get leggy, but I may have delayed blooming. Also, I think my raised beds need new dirt, because none of the plants are flourishing the way I would have expected... so next year I am buying a load of topsoil and compost and spreading the goodness around my yard - gardening is too much work to have crappy soil preventing your plants from thriving...

anyways, here is a pic of my raised beds with all the flowers/plants I started from seed in my living room...

Well, it's been awhile - the end of the school year always takes all my energy...

My vegetable garden in finally paying off. In the spring I really wanted to try and build "square foot gardens" to grow my vegetables, but ran out of time and energy - so I used the plot that the previous home owners had set out as a vegetable garden. I am really enjoying eating fresh lettuce every night, although I think it is funny how I spend much more time washing it then I do store bought lettuce - I know exactly what is on my stuff - nothing but a bit of dirt, and somehow I think it is less clean than whatever I pick up at the supermarket - it doesn't really make any sense.

Anyways here's a peek at my delicious garden...

July 10, 2008

So, I've been saving these pictures to post for awhile. I got new planters for the front of my house for my birthday, and we replaced the old ones. They were so rotten that they fell apart when my husband tried to pick them up. I love the new ones, although if it was a little bit warmer I think the plants would be doing better...

Finally - I have been trying to catch a picture of this bird in our newly cleaned bird bath for several days - (ut I have little patience with the slowly sneaking up and not scaring the poor creature part of photography - I always move too fast and then trip) So my husband snapped this one for me... I'm not sure what kind of bird this is, but it's pretty, and it sure likes the bird bath!

I'm exhausted. I taught 2 days of Kindergarten, 2 days of grade 8, and one day of grade 6/7 - interpersed with parent meetings this week.