Posts tagged ‘growing from seed’
First tomato
Finally! Months of coddling tomato plants grown from seed have produced an actual tomato. As you can see below, there are more on the way. I’m sure they will be wonderful, too, but the first tomato brings the clearest sense of victory. Our patio is shady, part-sun at best, and it takes a good stretch of warm weather to make veggies grow. Double victory!
I was paralyzed by it, of course. How does one consume such a precious treat? If I had some buffalo mozzarella handy, I’d have gone for a classic caprese salad without a second thought. But I don’t. So I decided on a home-grown theme. Arugula, basil, chives, and parsley from my garden, olive oil carted back from Spain and sea salt that was a gift from my husband. Such specialness, and oh-so-good.
New beginnings
The comforting signs of spring – warm weather, the return of colour, longer days – are everywhere right now. Finally! I love spring for the sense of possibility and renewal it brings, the joy of new growth, the way we all sink into our more relaxed and real selves.
Normally by March I have a scraggly group of seedlings growing in various pots and trays in the sunny south room in our house, but not this year. This year instead of filling up pots with dirt and flowers we’re emptying them out and packing them up for our new adventures in beautiful Vancouver. This year I’m the one doing the growing. New city, new house, new garden, new job and the excitement of sharing it all with family and friends old and new. It’s refreshing and energizing in the same way spring is.
I feel exactly like these two beautiful sunflower seedlings – newly awakened and basking in the warm sun drawing in strength and energy for the season of growth and beauty that lies ahead. I can’t wait to see what else is growing when we get there.
Welcome to fall
Calgary’s fall has been less than idyllic so far. We spent 10 days vacationing on Vancouver Island in mid-September, and when we came back the weather was hot and balmy, as if it was still summer. A few days after that it turned cold with the first frosts of the season. Since then, we’ve experienced chilly rains and more than a few days of snow, most recently paired with blustering winds and temperatures dipping to -10C.
Aside from braving the cold for a few brief moments today to hang this beautiful sunflower head from Eagle Creek Flowers for our backyard birds to snack on, I’ve felt mostly deprived of the usual joys of experiencing the fall season outdoors. At its best, fall is one of my favourite seasons. It is soothing and peaceful to watch the plant life in our garden reach its full life cycle and prepare to rest for the winter months. And while I miss the warmth of the summer months, enjoying more time nesting in our cozy house is a welcome shift as the seasons change.
We’re spending this weekend, Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, visiting Lake Louise for a couple of days and after that we’ll enjoy a family dinner to celebrate the holiday. With luck we might also squeeze in the Harvest Country Drive, which is happening between Calgary and Red Deer – a seasonal, farm-friendly activity in our region that I’ve never experienced. My hope is that the whole weekend will provide a thorough dose of fall and some much-needed time outdoors, walking, taking photographs and experiencing nature before the long winter settles in.
Garden bouquet
Isn’t it lovely? All picked from my very own garden! I know I will spend the rest of the fall and winter dreaming of this moment of having a vase of fresh cut flowers resting on the patio table on a perfect late summer day.
Late summer flowers
A few photos of flowers blooming in our late summer garden. This is the garden is in its best stage. It feels like it’s finally gotten started – I wish I could keep gardening for another few months! I try not to think about the fact that today someone stumbled across my blog by entering the phrase “first frost calgary” into a search engine! The days are still warm enough to ignore that and to focus instead on documenting this gorgeous time of year that we all have in mind during those other months of planting seeds, choosing perennials, leafing through gardening books and catalogues and dreaming of next year’s garden. (more…)
