Notes From The Garden

All of my tomato seedlings I planted February 10th have finally sprouted and are really starting to take off. I was a little worried when only half of the seeds sprouted in the first couple of days after planting and even a week later many had not yet broken through the soil. My seeds are quite old but they all finally popped out of the dirt and their true leaves have appeared. In the next couple of days I'll get them transplanted into larger containers, burying their stems deeply so new roots can grow where the stem is now covered.

The last four inches of snow that fell last week has finally melted and I can get out into the garden and start digging again! I can't complain though. The freezing and thawing helps lift the soil and loosen all of the weeds making the job so much easier :) I'm about half way there. Little by little I'm getting it done *grin*.

This weekend was Seedy Saturday and I found all sorts of goodies :)

There were loads of organic and gmo free seeds, mason bee cocoons and their houses, potted plants, fungi plugs, fruit and nut trees, seed potatoes, worm castings and bins, informational seminars and booths and so much more! I love seedy Saturday. I came home with new sprouting seeds, all my favorite salt spring island seeds, garlic heads for spring planting, organic seed potatoes, some really interesting magazines from the Certified Organic Association of BC and more.

Now I just have to map out my garden plan and figure out what I want to start next :)

If you're curious about what other gardeners are up to right now check out Ginny's garden journal link up and I'd love to know what you are planting, digging or dreaming of right now to *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

To Market We Go

{photo by cleber via flickr}

The children and I had a lovely day today with an outing to the farmer's market. The sun seemed to shine just for us as we headed off down island :)

I never know what we might find at the market and actually had no plans to really purchase anything except for a few cookies for the kids as we wandered around the field checking out all of the vendors but I just couldn't resist all of the lush tomato plants that greeted us as we entered *grin*. I ended up with two bushy little heirloom polish paste starts that I just had to have because they are the exact variety that are giving me a really hard time here at home. For some reason those ones just won't grow for me so of course these would be the perfect replacements *grin*.

There were oodles of fresh greens, baked breads, jams, meats and more. I found some lovely red peppers and long english cucumbers grown not far from where we live and had to get a few of each. The ones in the supermarket have been from Mexico lately so it is such a wonderful treat each spring to find so many different vegetables grown right here on the island. I love it!

Just when I thought we had seen about everything I found a small table full of the softest alpaca fleece you had ever touched in hues of creams and browns :) I just wanted to take it all home with me *grin*. Thankfully my wallet wouldn't allow a purchase today but I did take a business card and she has given me a good price on a pound of uncarded fleece that I can process myself. I will have to put away a little bit of money so that I can get it the next time we are down. I can't wait to spin it!

I've been reading Sara's journey this spring over at farmama of how she has taken the raw fleece from her own sheep and scoured them, picked, carded, spun and then knit it into clothing for her family and this is something that I've longed to do for quite some time. Hubby and I are planning to build a lean to for the cows this year and I think I'm going to have to put on a space for a few sheep... I haven't told him yet but he knows I'm crazy for farm animals LOL.

On the topic of Hubby, I know some of you asked me to update you on how he's doing but I actually haven't heard from him since we spoke late Thursday night. I know he's surrounded with lots of help so he's in good hands. I just have to try and wait patiently for him to get phone service again so I can find out what's happening now :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Transplanting

It was a perfect day to sit outside and do some much needed re-potting of my tomato plants :)

I can't believe how fast they have grown! This will be the last time I re-pot them until they make their final trip out to the greenhouse which I hope is very soon. I'm so excited because hubby and I found some great big pieces of glass for the new greenhouse he is building me and I'm hoping that when he comes home he will be here long enough to maybe nearly finish it *grin*.

So with all of my tomato babies packed outside I got busy pinching off all of the leaves that were going to be buried underneath the soil in the larger one gallon pots...

and then filled each pot up with potting soil and a really healthy dose of cow manure. I think I must have filled each pot more than half full with manure *grin*. Mama wants some BIG tomatoes LOL.

When I started packing them all back inside I had just enough room on the bay windowsill to fit all of the pots. I guess it's the next best thing to having a finished greenhouse :) Maybe it will be good incentive for hubby as he really doesn't like it when I turn the dining room into an indoor jungle *grin*.

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Hugs,
Rosina