Composting on itvBrandon!

Yes, I'm back on the Web with Karen Chrest! This time we're having a wee discussion on composting. Check it out here.

Eating Local is Getting a Whole Lot Easier!

Homemade bread and yummy tomatoes! Now that's summer. As the Farmers' Market season starts for us, eating local and fresh is getting waaaaaay easier. The tomatoes in the picture came from Julie at JR Greenhouses in Souris. She's got a hot house going and it's making me very happy. Julie is selling at the Friday Night Farmers' Market at Shoppers Mall, and I scored a few of her awesome tomatoes! Almost as good as one off my own vine and way better than those in the stores. And, as my tomatoes are only blossoming, hers will do very nicely, for now! She should have cucumbers soon - put cottage cheese on the shopping list!

Hard to believe that this coming Saturday is the first Farmers' Market at Riverbank Discovery Centre. Hugh and Linda Moffat think they may have new potatoes. Maple Valley already had a few bags at the Friday Night Farmers' Market. I dream of new potatoes from about February on. I'll have to get Farmer Man to sneak beneath a few of our plants to see if he can find any - even for a little meal, let alone to take to the Farmers' Market!

I spent part of the morning 'finding' the beets and the Swiss Chard. The rain has encouraged the weeds, and it was really time to wade into the rows and find the good stuff before it gets overwhelmed! I adore Swiss Chard;I have a recipe from my sister Cathy for a green relish made with chard which I'm anxious to try! I'm probably still a couple of weeks away from harvesting any. Patience, patience! It's hard when you read as many international blogs as I do - they've been harvesting in California and Texas and such for months, while we're just cheering on the seedlings! Oh, well, our time is coming......

Mmmmmm! Mockorange!

There is no better place in the whole, wide world right now than the little garden bench on my front patio! It's always a nice place, but right now it is absolutely divine due to the 'Blizzard' mockorange right beside the bench. The shrub is in full bloom, and smells heavenly. It's almost intoxicating sitting on that bench! 'Blizzard' mockorange is a great shrub for Prairie gardeners! It's so tough and reliable, and yet so gorgeous. It's hardy enough to go even farther north: say Flin Flon or even Thompson! Give it room; it wants to be about five to six feet tall and wide and its' natural habit is so nice, you really don't want to get into pruning it to keep it down to a size. It's one of the few shrubs around here that showed no winter damage this year - we love it just for that! Now, if a little hummingbird would come to the feeder while I was sitting on the bench - life would be perfect!

A Farmers' Market Rant

Kate at the blog Gardening Without Skills has a little rant about her local Farmers Market. All we can say is: Amen!! And say it again, Sister!! Check it out here.

Borrowing the View

It's a common trick in landscape design to 'borrow' the scenery around you and incorporate it into your landscape. If the neighbour has a great evergreen hedge, use it as the bones of a shrub and perennial border. Or if there is some magnificent trees next door, layer smaller trees in front, so that it looks like the big trees are part of your landscape. Got a great pastoral scene over yonder? Use an opening in your hedge or fence to 'frame' it, making your garden look like it goes on forever! I'm fortunate to be in the country, with a most enjoyable vista. I may have to remove part of the existing lilac hedge to enjoy the neighbour's horses more. Or move part of the existing lilac hedge to the east, so that I don't see as much of the industrial east-end of Brandon!

A Great Schoolin' for Prairie Gardeners

I've been spending (too much) time on Blotanical. So many bloggers! So many gardens! So many styles!! So many....well, you get the picture. It's an awesome cyber-place! Found a great new post today with some excellent and interesting info for Prairie gardeners. Have you ever noticed that a lot of our hardy plant material contains the common name Amur? Tatyana, at MySecretGarden, knows something about it. Here's why......

Little Finch! Let Me Help!

I heard a small commotion in the sunroom. With small dogs and cats living in this house, you get a little 'tuned in' to disturbances. I go to the sunroom, and see Blondie the Cat in full-on hunt mode: crouched low to the ground, tail very slowly swishing, eyes seemingly intent but somewhat glazed over (rather like The Hens when they are laying!). Blondie pounces, and for a moment I see a flutter of little wings! I leap into action and swat the cat and a little wee yellow finch starts fluttering wildly around the glass room! Now, did Blondie bring the little bird in, or did he find his way through the cat door? No one will ever know for sure. But Blondie's on the move again, so I grab him and throw him in the bathroom, then close the drapes on the sunroom door to try to contain the little birdie. The camera is sitting on the table, so I grab it, like a good blogger should! Didn't close the door firmly enough, 'cause Blondie's back in a moment, pushing past me. The poor little bird is just frantic! I grab Blondie again, and put him in the office, door firmly closed this time. The little bird has followed us out through the curtains and heads for the living room, where there are large patio doors. Now The Bears want to know what's going on and they start nosing around. The little bird finally settles on the floor, beside the TV in the mess of wires and cables under the legs of a plant stand. Talking softly and gently, I reach in and she let me pick her up with out much fuss. Perhaps she was tired, or perhaps she knew I was trying to help. Anyway, a short walk through the patio doors and I set her down on the wall around the patio and she flew off in a heart beat. Then I let a rather miffed Blondie out of the office, and things returned to normal here at Aagaard Farms.

I'm on the Web!!

I'm on iTalk with Karen Chrest on itvbrandon.com! Talking about lawns, this time. I really don't like looking at photos of myself and video is even worse......but, hey, check it out here if you care to!

Are We The Last Place in The Universe.....

Are we the last place in the Universe where the peonies have started blooming? Being that we follow gardening blogs from around the world, I've been seeing lovely peony pictures for months. Even Prairie Chicken, a Winnipeg blogger I enjoy immensely, had pictures of her peonies three weeks ago! Winnipeg is only two and a half hours from here! Well, ours are finally blooming, although I admit I took the few open blooms for a bouquet. Farmer Man loves bouquets in the house, as do I, so we make the most of it while we can! Peonies are such an awesome, easy care, reliable perennial for us. Admittedly, did submerge the peonies in a sink of water for a while to get rid of the ants.....the ants seem to love them for their pollen as much as we love them for bouquets!

Opera at the Farmers Market!

Just for fun - 'Flash Brindsi' at the Philadelphia Farmers' Market! I love this! I want to do this at our Farmers Markets! Wouldn't it be great? You're just wandering around shopping and then suddenly..........well, I won't spoil it for you! Check it out here.

Using the Precious Compost

As the planting of seedlings progresses, Farmer Man has started to make good use of last years' compost pile. As he plants each tomato, a scoop of compost goes in the bottom of the hole. He's done the same with some of the 'heavy feeders' like peppers. A little went in the pot with each sweet potato cutting. We don't have a lot, so we use it carefully! Admittedly, adding the chickens has certainly increased the size of the compost pile, but there is never enough. We compost in piles, that get turned and 'shredded' by the tractor - we're doing things on a slightly bigger scale then the average home gardener. We do end up with sticks and chunky things, so Farmer Man devised a screen from an old bed frame found in the barn and some chicken wire. How to recyle, upcycle and reuse, Farmer Man! Love that! Once planting is done, we'll divvy up the remaining compost in different areas (some for my shrub and perennial borders, some for the perennial crops like asparagus and rhubarb, I hope). We don't really fertilize around here, except for the occasional dose of fish meal, liquid kelp and alfalfa meal. We rely on our soil being healthy: leaving crop residues on in the fall (to prevent soil erosion, as well), tilling them under in the spring, adding what compost we have. That's what being sustainable is all about, isn't it? Using what you've got!

Friday Night Farmers Market!

It kind of snuck up on us - just doesn't seem like Farmers Market weather, and the growing season doesn't seem long enough yet. But, last night was the first Friday Night Farmers Market at Shoppers Mall. It was not great Farmers Market weather - chilly, blustery and threatening rain! Not much to sell, a tiny bit of asparagus, a tiny bit of rhubarb, fresh herbs from the over-wintered pots, some winter onions. Did have some tasty garlic scapes, which made a few people happy and baffled most. Took some bread, so we'll see what the feedback is on that! Did get some shopping done: some local honey, a local grape jelly and some hothouse tomatoes! Time to get busy!!