garden time

So it is that time of year again... time to rid the balcony of last year's sad and dead plant remnants and bring in the new! So the dilemma for this upcoming summer... what to plant that is going to be easy and ideally death proof. Baby is on the way (yes, only 2 weeks to go!) and I am pretty sure the garden is going to be slightly neglected at times... so I was in search of some easy plants. Result? A big box of succulents (which I have been told spread like wildfire and are hard to kill), some mint (not pictured, but I also hear, they are like weeds)... and some tomatoes (this one I hope will make it). I am hoping any update pics of these plants later in the coming months will still look green and not yellow or brown!

a day at the farm

On the weekend, we headed out to the country, the Westham Island Herb Farm to be exact, to check out their 7th annual “A Day at the Farm” event. The highlight for me was seeing the shaggy cow... I mean, just look at him... he’s such a cutie. I would want to just brush its hair for hours. Due to it’s large size though, I think little Jasper preferred looking at the goats a lot better. Bleet.

pick me pick me

After waiting for what seems like forever, one red tomato on our little plant was finally ready to be picked. And now the waiting game for the others continues... hmmm... maybe if I stop looking and checking on them they will ripen faster... one can hope, anyways.

seeing green

Spotted yesterday... a wee green tomato (well, two actually) finally making their appearance on our tomato plant. At the rate we are going, we'll have some ripe tomatoes by the end of summer... sigh. Fingers crossed there will be more than two.

digging around

After many months with a very sad looking and neglected balcony, we decided to bring in some green again. Last year's plants all died from a combo of aphids/lack of watering/and one darn pesky mouse that kept eating our tomato plant (ugh!!)... so this year is a fresh start. My attempt includes: mint, chives, chocolate mint and another tomato plant. I am crossing my fingers my green thumb doesn't turn brown again!

salsa garden

After weeks and weeks of waiting, I am happy to report that our little patio garden has successfully grown some edible delights.... finally! The tomatoes are turning red, our green onions and chives are not too shabby, and we've had a surprising number of chilli peppers too. Mix them together and what do you get?... well, salsa, I guess. Hmmm... now if we only had the foresight to have planted avocados...

signs of life

Woohoo! Upon watering my little garden this morning, there are signs of life! We have three tomatoes on our little plant so far... hopefully some more to come. Now we'll just have to wait until they turn red. Hmmm, I think waiting is the hardest part... will they ripen faster if I keep staring at them? (Yes, I am a bit impatient sometimes).

water flowers

The pond at Van Dusen Botanical Garden is wall to wall lilly pads... it almost feels like you can walk across them (but, please don't try). We didn't spot any frogs on our stroll across the wooden bridge, but did spot some gorgeous blooms hidden amongst the green pads. I almost thought they were fake (they aren't). Hope everyone is having a Happy Monday!

garden party

Ok, after much delay, I am finally uploading the photos of our teeny summer patio garden. This year we have a tomato plant, rosemary, chives, and some hot pepper plants. And just to clarify, my green thumb is largely due to Home Depot (the only thing this year that was grown from seed are the chives). But that's not really cheating, right?... I mean, the plants are thriving, so the 'ol thumb is somewhat green?

ancient chinese secret

Roger and I visited one of my favourite places in Vancouver over the weekend - the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden, an authentic representation of a 15th Century Chinese garden smack in the middle of Chinatown/downtown. It was nice to have a zen moment away from the hustle and bustle of the city and felt like we were whisked away to another land... like a mini vacation in our own city.... ahhhhhhh (that is my relaxing sigh, btw). Unfortunately my "ahhhhh" is now turning into "ugh!", since the weather here has now turned for the worse this week... rain, rain and more rain... and it's washing away my zen!!

garden state

Since we have been working on the nursery and our office reno these past couple of months (pics to come soon, btw), the patio garden has become a wee bit neglected... ok, kind of sad, really. Most of our balcony houses empty containers of soil and no plants... with the exception of a few that have magically survived since last year. My green onion plant, somehow managed to survive the winter and is making a nice comeback... and our little staghorn tree is starting to sprout too. So yes, only extreme close-ups of those two lovelies today... since if I panned out, you would see our otherwise barren patio. I think I will try and pick up some plants and seeds this weekend... any suggestions for a small patio?

second batch coming

The hot summer months have been great for our tomato plant. I started out with super low expectations, but we have been enjoying a dozen of the little fellas for the past couple of weeks. And just when I thought, there were no more... a new batch of green ones have appeared... woohoo! Ok, this might not seem a big deal to the pro gardener, but this is a huge leap for us... last year our sad little plant only produced 3 cherry tomatoes and then died... R.I.P. Perhaps next year, I will try and up the challenge and have two plants... ooh... enough to make a pasta sauce!

ps. come and check out the feature on Cabin + Cub on Studio M.M.E.'s blog! Thanks Megan! Oh, and remember to enter the giveaway, if you already haven't.

theeeyyyy'rrreee heeeeeerrreee!

Finally! After months (and what felt like years) of waiting, some of our tomatoes are ready to eat. This one is #3, #1 and 2 have already been devoured. Of course they are taking it upon themselves to ripen one at a time so we have been enjoying them in salads, since cooking one tomato seems really sad. I am so glad we are not farmers... at the slow rate we're going we would have had to declare our own famine and starve to death. Also threw in a pic of my herb garden, since the oregano seems to be blossoming and the flowers look really cute.

blushing tomato

While watering my tomato plant yesterday, I was excited to see that one of the little green fellas is starting to ripen... I lifted up the leaf and it looked like it was blushing to see me... tee-hee. Oh, I can't wait until fresh red tomatoes... impatient me will have to wait for the other dozen to start reddening too (maybe if I stop looking at them, they will redden faster). Also thought I'd post a pic of some fresh peas (from a local farm, not our garden), since they are one of my fave summertime treats. Happy weekend everyone!

ps. my July giveaway is coming up this Monday!

pumpkin encore

A couple of months ago, we planted a pumpkin seed in a pot, which did fine until I had tried to transplant it to a proper garden plot - my thumb went from green to brown - Mr. Pumpkin plant totally shriveled up and died. So here is our second attempt - Mr. Pumpkin II. A little paranoid at the thought of killing another one, I am letting this one grow a bit larger before I transplant it... but not sure if I let it get too big already (oops)... our quest for an orange homegrown pumpkin continues!

you say tomato

While I was watering the tomato plant on our balcony/patio garden the other day, I took a closer look underneath some of the leaves and was excited to see little green tomatoes growing... at least 8 of them... woohoo! What you see on screen is pretty close to their actual size too... so they are still pretty teeny. Mmm... now all I can think of is fresh salads, roasted tomatoes, and salsa... I will have to choose the recipe wisely though, since I don't know if there are enough of the little guys to make all three!

waiting for pesto

So one of the garden-ey things I am trying to grow from seed is basil. I have had little success in the past and I think it's due to my impatience - we tend to eat it faster than it can grow. This little guy on our window sill seems to be doing ok so far... but I think he gets a wee bit nervous every time he knows I'm cooking.

salad time

It has been a couple of weeks since I have had a garden update on our small patio garden. The lettuce greens are now almost ready to pick for salads... well, perhaps just one salad for now until the rest of it gets bigger. I was so excited about how easily it grew I planted another big box of it... so in a few more weeks we should have enough for "salads" plural. Also planted some dill seeds, and it seems to be doing well... (it looks a bit flat in the pic, since I just watered it). Oh.. and sadly, the pumpkin plant we grew from seed and then transplanted to mom's real garden has died... I didn't take a picture, since it looked like a sad shriveled vine. Not sure what went wrong, but I have planted new pumpkin seeds... so hopefully it will work this time!

garden fresh update

A little update today on our wee balcony garden. We have moved Mr. Pumpkin plant to a proper plot at mom's, so he is now living in a proper garden... so hopefully this autumn there will be a big orange gourd for us to plunge our knife into (mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!). I am debating on whether to plant another seed or two here in our apartment, and transplant those as well, in case the originals don't quite make it. Also, the tomato plant is now flowering... which is a good sign. Hopefully some bees will be by soon to do their business, since I can't wait for fresh tomatoes!

Also wanted to thank Cathie for featuring one of my collages on her lovely website cathieu.com.

garden fresh

This year we decided to make use of our small balcony space and plant a garden. We planted lettuce, herbs (dill, oregano, chives and tarragon), chilli peppers, and tomatoes... oh yes, and a pumpkin. The lettuce just started sprouting, which is very exciting, and the pumpkin plant is growing like a weed. We'll be transplanting it soon into a proper garden plot at mom's house, so there won't be a miraculous orange giant haunting our balcony. There's still a bit of room left out there, so still trying to decide what else to plant. Suggestions? Will update with more pics as more things start growing!