Watering

Yes, there is my fair haired daughter out without a hat on- she's stubborn about that-
so we try to indulge her hatlessness at times of day when the sun is least hot-
 early morning and late evening.

This year it seems that watering is one of our main jobs, though after we watered the summer squash it did rain about an inch- the soil is still pretty dry considering- we were able to weed the evening after it rained. Though I have to say things are looking really good out there- everything does well with enough heat I guess, and if we can manage to keep the garden watered then we'll have a really great year I think.  Watering is also one of N's favorite jobs, especially when she's allowed to get mucky and then clean up at the sprinkler (then go inside and have a real clean up in the tub).

We invested in a 50 gallon water tank this spring that fits on the back of the 'gator and then gravity feeds out a hose. It's a slow process, first filling it and then letting it down low enough to gravity feed, and because there's no pressure it takes a little while to empty- and you have to move the hose to each plant, and move the 'gator up the row as you go. But it's better than nothing- we also have a good sprinkler head- but it's obviously not as selective as the hose, so you end up putting water on the pathways as well as the plants, and it's a bit of a waste of water in certain spots, though fine in others, like the winter squash and strawberry patch.

What I'd really love out there is a complicated irrigation system with sprinklers and soaker hoses, depending on the crop, but that's a little bit much right now. One day maybe. We already do what we can as far as not watering, the garden is located in the lowest spot in our yard, so it retains the most moisture- and this is the first year that we've really had to consider watering- mostly there's enough residual water there to make it through any dry patches we have. We also mulch the things that don't create their own cover (onions, peppers, eggplants, strawberries, garlic etc.)- and plant others close enough together so that they do provide their own shade, (things like beans and greens are planted in a block rather than a single row) so that they grow up and out compete weeds, and shade the ground helping to keep moisture in. We plant things in as deep as we can as well things- to let it get at the water under the soil.

Potatoes at Dusk

the garlic bed, after weeding, watering and mulching.

I'm so impressed with these potatoes, heirloom varieties that are produced locally, and are growing so great. Maybe it seems amazing because last year all the potatoes failed, so we only harvested four tubers. But this year we're really going to have some potatoes, and we're so excited. Also I was excited to be outside as the sun was setting, something that doesn't happen too often around here at the height of summer, now that N is attached to her nine o'clock bedtime. It's funny how kids get on a schedule and it totally messes thing up when they get off of it. If we keep her up that extra hour, you would think logically she'd be so tired that she'll sleep in a bit- like say maybe get up at eight instead of seven, but really what happens is that she gets up at six, or five thrity. And it really kills you. Incidentally if you put her to bed early she'll often sleep in a bit more, kids are so wierd, you think you've got them figured out, and they go and change on  you.

Night Flowering Catch fly

We've been leaving this weed out among the tomatoes, because it looked like it was some sort of flower, and I couldn't quite figure it out, I thought maybe it was a calendula that self seeded, or some sort of other wild flower. Well- we figured out what it was as soon as it flowered- Night flowering catchfly. It's got very a very distinctive veined base on it's flower- which is sticky to the touch. It's not a noxious weed- but not good among clover and forage crops. I think we'll let it grow for a bit here- though maybe we'll dead head it. It's not among my worst weeds, though I suppose if I let it go to seed it will be. I think the flowers likley attract some beneficial insects to the garden and it doesn't seem as prolific as some weeds, like shepards purse which produce seeds like crazy.

Anyhow- here's a link to a good weed i.d. website for manitoba weeds.

In the Garden

these lovely heirloom potatoes are really growing well- seems amazing after our potato flop last year.

"Speckled Trout" lettuce- almost ready for eating.

"Bright Lights" swiss chard- our favorite garden staple

Tansy in bloom by the asparagus

The Peonies are buzzing with bees- and smelling delicious.

 It's starting to grow well this garden, we're starting to catch up on weeding, and looking forward to some first harvests of Lettuce and Strawberries and Rhubarb. I was happy to find a few volunteers while weeding- some Borage re seeded itself and Dill. I'm always on the lookout for beneficial volunteers in the garden but so far haven't really had much in that way- tilling the pathways probably stops them in their tracks. This year I've planted things that are notoriously good self seeders-Bachelors Buttons, and Poppies, Cilantro and Dill. Apparently Calendula will self sow too- but I've never had it happen for me- though this year I've planted a lot of it- hoping to save the petals to add to soap and salves.

Anyways things are getting bigger out there- the garden is looking more full than ever before, and I'm hoping to make a couple of scarecrows this weekend to try and keep the deer away. We've been very lucky so far but it looks like we're going to have to fence the darn garden at some point, because the deer are randomly eating things, it's seemingly impossible to detect what they're going to try next. Every other year they've demolished the peas and left everything else, and I'm sort of okay with that- we were going to fence the peas in this year, and I've planted twice what I think we need/want to shell and freeze, but they've left them alone so far, and have instead nibbled at my beans, and sunflowers, and eaten the entire grape vine which was finally ( three years after transplanting) growing pretty well. I wouldn't at all be suprised if they started eating the prickly squash plants and Rhubarb too.  Anyone have any ideas about how to keep those deer out of the garden?

In the Garden

Some random garden photos from the last week; bees are loving our no pesticide lawn- the dandelions are flourishing- lovely maple seeds hanging from the trees providing a nice frame for my garden helper- the heart warming blooms of the strawberry plants, can't wait to pick those babies.

All of these photos have been edited in Picmonkey- a very cool and free photo editing program. I haven't played much with this type of thing (outside of photoshop in school- which was not so much fun as it was an exercise in patience- not an easy program to drop into and use without spending considerable time learning how it works). Picmonkey is very easy to use, and  I can see that once you start fiddling with the photos it's pretty addicting. I tried to post a few photos that were just edited in my regular way (we use Irfanview for every day editing- colour adjustments, resizing, cropping etc. but it doesn't have any fun special effect filters) along with the ones that I toyed with, but they looked pretty bland next to the super saturated colours in the filtered ones.

The nice thing about Picmonkey is that you can make things look like a Polaroid or daguerreotype, or give it rounded corners and a vintage feel- and they do all the work for you- but you can still customise the degree of the effects. It takes seconds to use it, and you can also make collages and give people hats and mustaches if you want to- plus loads of other things. Of course I'm still thinking that you've got to start out with a basically decent photo if you want to get any sort of great result, but this program is super easy to use, so it's ideal to play around with every once in a while.

In the Studio

I think I have to face the music and say that the clay work is going to be over until after the baby is born. I kind of hate saying that because I had just looked up a bunch of glaze recipes to try and bought some new stains that I wanted to check out- and I just bought more boxes of clay. But, in all honesty the physical nature of the work is probably too much for me right now. I'll have to save what energy I have for weeding (have you ever stood in your garden that needs weeding, and not been able to do it? It's darn hard to resist the urge to just bend down and pull out some plants).

I may get a couple more firings done before the baby arrives, those luminaries I made are just waiting to be loaded in the kiln and fired to cone 10, and then they'll be done and I'd love to have them finished this summer. But yesterday, when I realised that I would have to actually take it easier, not just think about taking it easier- I dug out the old samsonite cosmetic case I used for drawing and watercolour in university, and we had a little painting session.

I love the way that old case smells- musty and slightly unpleasant thrift store mixed with charcoal dust. It reminds me sharply of the basement drawing classes in university. The night classes, where we would all sit silently and draw in a darkened room, soft music playing whispering if we had to talk at all- our usual relationships and chat non-existent because of the models. I think it was my favorite part of school- the night classes, they were like a time out of time- occupying a space all their own.

I think I'll re-jig this case to allow for some outdoor work this summer- restock it with drawing and watercolour stuff and maybe make a special spot in it for the camera to sit as well. I've been thinking more and more about the camera as a creative tool- really trying to be mindful when I take my photos and edit them, to think of the end result as more than just documentation of my day.  So I'll put more energy into that camera work as well. It'll be nice to get into some paint again though,  a way to get some creative work in, while taking it easy.

Bleeding Hearts

 My bleeding heart plants are blooming right now, and they are so lovely as cut flowers. I dug out a couple of pieces of the main plant this year and put them in a couple of other spots, and I really just wanted to write about how easy it was to divide this plant. I really only wanted one plant, but in the process of digging, I split a little more than I meant to and figured I would plant it anyhow and see what happened, and it grew, and is blooming now. It was honestly only a very small portion of root- more like bark from the root really, but in a couple of days it had shoots, and now blooms!