Unwrapping the layers

Peeling back the layers one by one of matted straw and leaves to reveal the ground with all the critters and bugs vacating for the season, worms, millipedes, beetles and the little mouse highway zigzagging and around and around, pulled the roof off all that fun to bring my garlic to the light. checked them out a few days ago, they were busting through the layers of mulch just raring to go. So I went to assist, took the layers off that were weighing them down. There were a few that were struggling to get through, got a little bit of a bend to them. The larger cloves must of gotten a shove out with the frost, they were sticking straight up on top of the ground pushed them back in and covered the clove with the earth. almost all of them seemed to have sprouted, but I found another one laying on its side not in any of the rows so I put that one in the place of a dud that was rotted when I dug it out. We re-mulched with straw and are hoping for the best.

Who smells like garlic?

I smell like garlic! Those who dout me, take a whiff.

This is our first attempt at growing garlic, K cleared out the community garden last week, I planted 194 cloves in it tonight. We really like garlic, almost all our recipes call for garlic and we usually double it. So hopefully if all goes well we will never have to buy it again...... maybe.

We got the garlic from a friend who grows copious amounts of garlic. All together there were 46 bulbs, 40 Music or "Musica" is another name thrown around, so I've heard and read a few times. It is a Porcelain variety which netted me 155 cloves of really good size. 6 Persian Star, which are of the Purple stripe varieties and got 39 cloves.

I really don't know a whole lot about growing it so I read quite a bit about it, and talked to some of our friends. Everyone seemed to be in the same boat with depth and spacing.

This is what we started with, spent a little bit of time separating them while watching some shows.

This is where all those cloves ended up. My rows aren't the straightest, but that's alright to me! I tend to wobble a little too.

And then it got dark @ 5:30, so this is how it ended.

194 so that's 8 rows of 24, two of those rows may have had 25 in them, you do the math. Rows are 10" apart, planted 6-8" apart and 3-4" deep with 2" of mulch and going to throw some more on there this week before the neighbours get rid of their leaves. Straw is a preferable mulch, but we had plenty of leaves off the neighbours lawn and he already bagged it so half the job was already done. That's permaculture right there, let someone else do half the work... haha I kid. But seriously straw would have been better, the leaves are going to turn into a mat, in the spring when the leaves thaw we will have to loosen them up so as to let the little garlics poke out. Just another reason to get out of the house and out of doors earlier in the season I guess.

well

Adios Amigos. Go listen to Ramones now.

Community Garden!

This is a video K. took while visiting the community garden plot. This was the first year we purchased a community garden plot, we enjoyed it. Reasons for the plot this year was because we don't have enough room for Cucurbits.

Cucurbitaceae is a plant family with hundreds of plants, Squashes, Pumpkins, Gourds, Cucumbers, Melons and lots and lots of things. Among all those things, they also like allot of room. We had three plants in there two watermelons and one squash, which we trained to just go around themselves many, many times. We ended up getting 4 Moon and stars watermelon and probably 12 to 14 Delicata Squash.

Also in the garden were Bush Beans, Garlic, Onions, and one poor nasturtium that was swallowed up by the vines but was still alive at the end.

6 experimental garlic, that were trans planted from a cell pack to the plot in mid spring. It really didn't have much time to make it. The garlic we did get from it was strong, it would have scared away any signs of a cold coming on, it burnt the tongue.

A bunch of Onions which only half started growing, and the ones that did ranged from small to 1 very large all red.

Beans, Bush Beans of the green variety. Well they did really, really well 6 plants, which were a struggle to start due to 3 or 4 year old seed, numerous attempts soaking, drowning, sprouting in paper towel, and just sowing directly in the plot. Beans,beans, beans we did get, were never with out, those 6 plants left us with 2 meals a week, for the two of us which was perfect.

                                         

Peace,
Time to get something done around here!

Getting to the end

I am not really good at keeping up with regular posts I have failed a few times already at trying to up date regularly, but I am doing it now so get over it.

The date is August 12th 2013, I am featured watering the plants and petting Herc while hes lounging in the grass, Zoey our fluffy ridiculous cat also makes an appearance, and some bees.

Tomatoes have really started producing at this point and everything is flowering.

thanks for watching, now go to bed
PEACE.

Another Video.....

Here is another quick video of our garden 17 days after the last video. It was a bright sunny day with wind. Please keep speakers down wind blowing can be a little loud. I have been pretty busy didn't have time to post this a lot of fancy book learnin been going on studying for EGSA (Electrical Generating Systems Assosiation) exam, taking online John Deere courses, and working way to many hours.

Here is the Vid starring Herc (our furry friend) at the end.

June 11 2013 Garden Updates and garage sale finds.

A few weekends ago I scored 3 pieces of vinyl @ a yard sale two doors down, $2 bucks for Paranoid - Black Sabbath, Who's Next - The Who & Frantic City - Teenage Head. Been playing them quite a bit. What a beauty find good thing I walked the dogs or I would have missed them. I stopped when I saw Teenage Head poking outah the back of a milk crate. To my surprise she had a few good records in an otherwise mediocre collection, she had all the same stuff you would find sitting for ages at a thrift shop.

Well this is interesting looking up our garden video to post for this blog I came across plenty other videos of people doing garden updates for the same day so here is some links just because I want to.

Alderman Farms - Brookhaven, Mississippi
J&J Acres - Toomsuba, Mississippi

Another Video

We are going back in time again to May 29th 2013, how did I do it? Well I went on my computer, then to Youtube on my internet browser and drank an espresso and amazingly we traveled back in time and heres a video to prove it.. oh? we didn't travel in time? prove it! Video #2

Peace, its bedtime.

Absent from posting things.

I haven't posted anything in a long while, I don't think anyone noticed though. I should have started this at the beginning of the year but its too late for that, so I am going to start now. My pretty little lady friend, my partner, my friend and all around amazing girl takes videos of our back garden at different intervals of the season. To show the progress of all that we grow. I am going to post them on here one at a time so I can look like I post a lot. This video is from April 9th of this year showing off our baby Spinach, Kale and Chard under our little PVC pipe greenhouses in our raised bed.

I will try and post one of these a week for the next few weeks so I can get back in the habit of checking this blogger thing out.

Peace out.

(Normal) Food.

Normal food is from a big building, which is ridiculously over heated or cooled depending on the season. With florescent cool white lights showing off the sorted "ripe", "cleaned" and glistening with their smooth coating of wax with everything else you don't need. Right? no? hmmm.

Food is grown in dirt (most of the time), in a field or small garden, in the sun, wind, rain. Bugs pollinate the flowers of fruit bearing plants, bugs also eat the plants and fruit. When it rains little dirt particles and bits of sand bounce off the ground and onto the plants/ When the wind blows it picks up the same dirt and sand particles and they get caught by the plants. Fruit and Vegetables get harvested (picked) when ripe. You buy these items take them home and wash them before you eat them, even though they are Organic or chemical free what ever your choice. Why? Because dirt and bugs hide in the leaves or little crevices of the fruit and veg., small local farmers don't have the time or means to pick, clean, sort and deliver all these items. If they did offer these services your food would cost 200% more, for the time and equipment needed. Good kitchen hygiene involves cleaning your food before you prepare it for your meal. So don't be disgusted with the little bits of sand and possible bugs. They are just part of the process or growing local, Organic/chemical free, reasonably priced food. Get acquainted with the bugs because they are in your neighbourhood. Enjoy your food and the time it takes to grow and prepare your meal, food is fun and delicious. Whats missing in our diets of over sanitized, perfectly clean food from those big buildings? DIRT. If you take a bite of something and there is a little bit of grit in it, don't be a wussy and grossed out, just swallow it, You probably ate dirt when you were a kid anyways.

GO out and support your local Farmers Market and Farmers, It's Canadas long weekend and its the Canadian thing to do.
Another Candian thing to do Canadiana Punk Rock playlist
D.O.A. - I am Canadian
Teenage Head - Aint Got No Sense 
The Riptides - Red Dawn
NoMeansNo - Canada is Pissed
The Creeps - Midnight another Phone Call
SNFU - Reality is a Ride on the Bus
Chixdiggit! - Quit your Job & Chupacabra
Propagandhi - Less talk, more Rock
Dayglo Abortions - Proud to be a Canadian

peace I'm out

The Garden

Yesterday was productive, Well it was productive in the back garden. Meaning we planted a lot of stuff or re-potted a lot of stuff. We had planted 7 Tomatoes of varying species earlier, I listed them HERE! but we still had quite a few more maybe 15 more plants. Anybody want a Cherry Tomato plant, here in the Kawarthas? I went and bought 3 more storage totes, from that place that sells a bunch of stuff and has tire in their name. A 115 liter tote holds two tomatoes very well we had two from last year so 5 all together now, plus our 3.5gal pails from the grocery store bakery which used to hold frosting (the gross kind). We also planted 4 Cucumbers which will be trellised, 3 or 4 Courgettes, 4 Basil we have 6 more to plant, 3 Nasturtiums. Also sowed 14 Bush green Beans, and 4 Scarlet runner Beans which will also be trellised, Cilantro lots of em, Chamomile hundreds of em.
Our Kale, Spinach and Chard, are all coming along nice. A couple more Chard and Kale seeds have sprouted and been coming along now for about a week. Leaf miners, Leaf Miners, Leaf Miners have already made an entrance into the raised bed. Picking off eggs sucks, they do what their name means, they hatch burrow themselves in the leaves, and eat eat eat, leaving a miners tunnel behind. They look like little bugger maggots. To Remove poke a hole at one end of the tunnel carefully push from the opposite end of the tunnel to the open end, as if you were trying to get air bubbles out of your phones screen protector. Depending on how early you do it, little tiny maggots pop out or how late bigger ones will come out with a little black dot for a head. CRUSH! those little bastards they are very unwanted. So row covers have been implemented over our chard and Spinach they seem to leave the kale alone.


We have been hardening off our Peppers, Aubergines, Watermelons and Delicata Squash.

Pictures will come later it was uncomfortably humid to be fiddling with a camera today or yesterday. Not used to our season yet.

Peace I'll be back.

GreenShire Eco Farms

This is an attempt to reach out to another audience. Friends of mine have been struggling, and need some help. They run Greenshire Eco Farms in The Kawarthas, and practice Permaculture, sustainable growing techniques, Alternative Equine Education and Equine-assisted learning for Humans, and provide agri-tainment and educational workshops to the public, and a home for neglected and abused animals.
I have been on their farm numerous times, either late night bon-fires, visiting the horses, petting the pigs,  and taken their vegetables and eggs home for supper. They are a beautiful, vibrant group of characters, I wish them all the best and we will continue to support them any way we can and right now this is another way we can. Please follow them on Facebook Greenshie Eco Farms, they have organized a Crowd Funding Campaign looking for the kind hearts of other like minded individuals, to donate and or share and spread the word to help raise some funds at It Takes a Village to Save a Farm.

Thank you,

Scratches for "Ziggy Stardust"

Horses hanging out in their "Paddock Paradise"

Gloria likes treats.

Amelie, always a goofball.

Peace I'm out, now I really need to go get something done.

FOOD

The Facebook is full of arm chair protests,

I post a lot about organic foods growing your own pesticide free food, buying local, supporting local businesses and trade. We try to eat as much "Organic" sustainable food as possible, we try and buy from local stores as much as possible, and we grow a bunch of food during the growing season, if we had a bigger back yard we would implement season extending practices. Once winter comes around its really difficult to always have fresh fruit and veg. I just can't justify buying tomatoes from Israel, or cucumbers from the Netherlands, when something pops up from Canada we snag up an arm load. which means Cucumbers with every meal or Tomato and Cucumber sandwiches a plenty which I can't really argue about they are delicious.

I don't know where I am going with this, just wanted to talk about myself I guess. maybe I will update this later.

peace out, gotta do stuff now.