24 September 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
locked out
Dear Blogosphere,
I have a Blogger question for you:
Over in my food blog I have somehow set my access to it as author only, unable to edit layout or pages. Without having access to the settings - how do I get my admin access back?
Thanks in advance. :)
Amy
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Dear Garden Diary,
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| my one and only sunflower and Thunbergia |
Lately when I spy on Laura's garden two fences away I am spied on back by dozens of sunflower faces. They're incredible and I'm more than a little garden-jealous. I have one - one sunflower ...I know I planted more seeds than one. That's just the way a garden grows sometimes.
Laura's flowers have had me thinking..., next year's garden is going to have more spring, late summer & autumn flowers. Considering the seasons of garden we enjoy the garden most - planting season and fresh returns, and later reaping the harvest, the lushness of mature plants and vines gone wild....
I'm not going to spend too much time on mid-summer plants, little reason seeing as we're not here - but plan for when we return. In pots the ivy still looks nice long after annual blooms have faded, and the Coleus container is still brilliant. In the garden I have plans for a big cull; as sad as it makes me, I have to reconcile my desire for every favourite perennial and use the space more wisely. The delphiniums just have to go...somewhere, maybe the west side, maybe into the back lane...but as much as I love them, they are just too big. I had considered moving them to the little micro-climate garden by the back porch, but I have plans for tomatoes there next year - and delphiniums are too prone to mildew to have close to the tomatoes. I have some 'Crazy Daisy' Shasta Daisies also needing a better home - so we'll just have to see where the shuffle takes them. Also moving, (even if just a few inches): the Crimson Knautia, that weird mystery rose from Creekside that never really grew - to make room for the Monarda to shuffle over a bit. Once they're all moved and replanted (which I will do some time in October) I'll add in some spring tulips - a rainbow of colours and kinds dotting the east side perennial bed.
I wish we had more space. Every zucchini and cucumber we have grown (and still are growing) has been put to great use. I've only given a couple away... We've eaten a lot of zucchini (soup, bread, cake, muffins, more soup, grilled, in frittata, tossed with pasta... and you know what, I'm not even tired of it and excited there are some nice ones still coming. The cucumbers are the best I've ever grown - sweet, juicy, huge. I've made more tzatziki than we could consume, and the dogs have had their favourite treat fresh from the garden for months now. Sadly, with frost nearing I'll let them enjoy today's rain, and harvest soon..
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| Precious Claire waits patiently for a fresh bean treat. |
The beans (also loved by the dogs) are so tasty, and have grown into a sturdy wall. Even the Grape Tomato is using the bean wall for support. The other tomatoes have suffered a bit from crowding and smothering by wild zucchini. As unmanageable as they can be, we can't have a garden without cucumbers and zucchini. Next year we're simply not going to plant so many vegetables. I know, I know...I'm the worst for it - working in greenhouses doesn't help. A plant addict to the end, R's not help either. I'm always so convinced I can find the room - and though I still stand by my claim that if we were here for the garden during the major growing period in July & August we would be able to train it to survive the crowd, the fact is we leave ...and a garden doesn't like being left.
It's easy enough to supplement through flexible CSA programs, I have to remember that. Our garden's size is perfect for a seasonal kitchen garden - not great for large guys like Brussels sprouts and potato plants. I could leave them out for more space and not miss them much. More use could be made of containers, sacks, and balconies, but again - unattended pots in a ridiculously hot back yard don't have the best survival rates. I leave spinach to the local farms also..I never have luck with spinach *shrug*
Our leeks are beautiful, and even though the beets and carrots are few in number they're still pretty.
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| Garden Soup leeks, zucchini, kale, onions & beans from our garden local carrots & Ontario celery |
The micro-climate garden by the porch has only a few permanent residents: John Davis, some crazy chamomile, garlic chives and whatever thyme & lavender survive (they always get replanted if winter snuffs them out). Snowbirds include herbs rosemary, tarragon, and sage, mint in pots, this year some lemon verbena too. I can see a Thunbergia becoming a regular too.This year is was home to ten foot tall peas. Next year, I'll plant only two tomatoes in the space - early (...with R's construction skills we're planning a removable greenhouse contraption), and keep the rest of the space for tall autumn cutting flowers. We can add basil between, and with all the other herbs I think that would make the space quite nice this time next year. :)
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Disc Golf at Birch Point Park
Read more in The Walleye: Right Deadly Fun.
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| Our local course at Boulevard Lake’s beautiful east side Birch Point Park has had its target baskets since 2010, thanks to a few guys with drive(rs), with support from Innova Discs, and a City’s Park Division dedicated to environmental ethics and public well-being. |
Open to anyone, with the only cost being in discs (which can
vary in price from $15 - $30), disc golf is an ideal sport for our outdoor-loving
City.
Our 18-hole course takes you on
about a five kilometre walk
through the park’s celebrated treed peninsula,
the
pace entirely up to you.
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| Phil Jamieson throwing at Birch Point Park |
Tournament entry fee is $25.00 which includes lunch, and a
tournament print disc. Register at The Loop Clothing (corner of Red River and Court), or
come out to Birch Point on Saturday to watch an afternoon of right deadly fun.
Link to their Facebook group Birch Point Disc Golf
or directly to the The
1st Ever, Right Deadly, Birch Point Disc Golf Tournament page.
Follow them on Twitter @TBDiscGolf
Friday, September 7, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Newton
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| my Italian Fig in a large pot |
Hymers Fall Fair
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| Hymers Fall Fair 100th Anniversary |
September third was one of those unbearably hot and humid days, even more so away from the Lake in Hymers . We thought we would beat the heat of the day by heading out early, but there was no escape. It didn't seem stop anyone from attending, with an endless stream of vehicles piling in, families piling out, and dogs everywhere (this is the one fair where year after year I see more people bringing their dogs - we decided next year we'll bring Clifford..) I'd swear all of Thunder Bay was there.
The goats were, of course, my favourite - but also the seed saving entries.
seed savers
Hymers Fair
3 September 2012
I've always loved the Hymers Fair, but haven't entered anything since I was a kid. Next year I'll try to change that. Our backyard is full of prize winning cucumbers, beans, leaks, basil and tomatoes... After not feeling well for days, it didn't take long for the heat to get to me and more disappointing was passing up fair food; (there's just something about the smell of fresh kettle corn and elephant ears) but you can't mess with 100 years of tradition. Next to the arts & crafts building with potters and spinning wheels was hay bale tossing and people on stilts. Local honey, wooden flowers, classic carriages & engines - there really is something for everyone. Livestock shows with calves and lambs are ..well, simply adorable. |
| hay bale toss Hymers Fall Fair 2012 |
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| produce for sale Hymers Fall Fair 2012 |
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Turkey Garden Soup & other recipes
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| late summer Rudbeckia my favourite harvest flower |
One of the tastiest things I've come up with to do with zucchini has been a snack: a round of zucchini topped with jalapeno havarti and wrapped in philo dusted in a little olive oil & butter. Baked until golden with melted cheese and crispy baked zucchini...yum. I've made a recipe-to-remember double chocolate zucchini cake, came up with another great recipe for Zucchini Pineapple Walnut Spice Cake, made a crustless quiche, muffins...
I'm not tired of zucchini yet, especially not the pineapple spice cake.
I made more tzatiki than we can eat or give away. I think it's time for pickles.
The jet lag has really got me beat this year. I still feel groggy and off schedule nearly two weeks later. ::excuses, excuses:: Summer has gone by in a blur of gluttony and wine; and it's been wonderful. I always start the season with intentions - good intentions - of documenting the growing, photographing the product, following it all to the kitchen. I thought about that a lot while I baked and ate the zucchini (the Spiced Zucchini Walnut Pineapple Cake mostly to myself). It doesn't help that I left the garden to its own devices for more than a month, but also... I haven't been giving it as much attention on my devices since we returned. I've been too busy eating it and playing real Scrabble (not online!) with old friends. I really have to give it to those people who can stick to updating regularly.
With its bursting tomato plants and a beanstalk wall, our edible garden is a bit of a mess - at first sight. I've taken out the remains of the peas, spinach and radishes, cleaned a few containers, made room for some fall planting. There are still some weeds, and the unsightly grassy patch which needs a mow - and lord know the dogwood needs to be pruned..but, the bees are indulging and so are we, so a few unsightly edibles doesn't bother me. There are little bits of beautiful everywhere.
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a bee favourite
Butterfly Lavender
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Tonight leftovers from our recent barbecue turkey dinner are being boiled together with garden herbs, carrots, kale, chard, and beet tops, onions, leeks ...and celery from the store. Turkey Garden Soup. Our little kitchen Bay Laurel supplied some lovely leaves to the pot, along with tarragon, rosemary, sage, and thyme.
Though I hope I'll get around (sooner rather than later) to updating my food blog with my recipes and results, for now this will have to do. As I enjoy the last slice of Zucchini Spice Cake with Pineapple and Walnuts, I nod out the window to the garden and say, thanks.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Garden Grown Wild
Returning after more than a month of neglect I found some zucchini the size of Clifford, and made way for more. Thank goodness we have Cindy & Kevin coming to help us eat - and Thanksgiving not far away. Cakes and muffins are going to feed our weekend guests.
The tomatoes are as abundant - as expected, nearly ripe. Soon we will be making sauces and salsas - and I can't wait. Beans, beets, basil, ..some carrots (though still not as many appeared as I would have hoped), but everything else is thriving. The kale and chard survived the caterpillars and are screaming for soup...yum; and of course our own Brussels Sprouts for Thanksgiving. I'll plant some autumn peas, radishes, and spinach if I ever get over the jet lag.
The fence R built can barely hold it all in. ...not that anything daring enough to grow through it will survive. Four legged nibblers will chew off anything that roams..
All the tomatoes require staking, and a little pruning..had we been here during their peak growth we could have controlled it, but now they're just out of control. Hopefully I can untangle them without losing too much. Next year when we go away I am organizing garden management ..
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| Clifford finds a shady spot under an Early Girl tomato to lick the last bits of cucumber of his nose, while Gromit searches for more. |
The Thunbergia is climbing eagerly,
nearly up to the back balcony railing;
I can't quite capture how incredible it is.
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| hostas blooming |
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| Morden Blush |
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