Best Laid Plans

Back in early March when we were experiencing record breaking warm temperatures it was hard not to get excited about an early spring. On top of the mild winter, many things got off to an early start and it looked oh so promising but I stayed cautious, starting tomatoes and peppers indoors on about the same dates I usually do. Earlier this month I did succumb to temptation and seed a few things in the ground a bit ahead of schedule but nothing that couldn't take the cold if it happened. In my head however I was convinced that the garden would be pretty much in the ground or ready to be transplanted by May 1, about two full weeks ahead of normal. I was downright smug in anticipation of getting a good jump on things - not a chance will I be waiting until May Long weekend to plant this year! I'd be eating lettuce and greens by June 1 and snow peas soon after! It was going to be the BEST YEAR EVER!

And then that last remnant of cold and flu season I had all but recovered from dealt me one final blow.  I spent most of  Easter weekend in bed with a cough and a fever. By Monday I felt like I was breathing through wet cloth. By Tues I was barely breathing at all, which necessitated a trip to the hospital, followed by multiple rounds of antibiotics and steroids, and culminated in ten days off work. A long slow recovery was hampered by an allergic reaction to one set of antibiotics, and a digestive system all but destroyed by the combo of all the other meds. I lost my sense of taste, my sense of touch, my balance, and sometimes, control of  things that shouldn't be mentioned in polite conversation. At one point I gave up and slept wrapped in a towel. I don't think I've ever been so miserable in my life. My ears are still ringing  weeks after I finished the last pill but at least I can feel my hands and feet again. To say I was knocked on my butt would be putting it mildly.

Not surprisingly, a lot of plans fell by the way side. My tomato and pepper seedlings are almost all still in their seedling pots and haven't really done much -only a few were big enough to pot up today . And although I've managed to start a few other crops in the greenhouse at work, I've yet to sow any new seeds at home which means I'll be lucky to have anything ready to go in the garden by June 1. So much for that early start.


 It's not the end of the world of course; I've started my garden later than this and still had good results. In fact it may work out to be a blessing in disguise; all that warm weather in March has been followed by a colder than average April, with temps dipping below freezing at night all this past week. If things had gone as planned I'd have a bunch of leggy, house bound, overly anxious seedlings by now.  Things in the ground wouldn't have fared any better: it's been too cool to germinate most things and anything tender likely would have been lost to frost. The rapini I planted at the beginning of the month is only just beginning to emerge and so far there's no sign of the peas or lettuce. It's like the gardens are telling me there's no rush and for once, I'm content to listen.

Last of the Lazy Days of Summer

The calendar and the weather agree it's still summer but the sky tells the truth. The rapidly changing angle of the sun, that particular deep shade of blue of a September afternoon, the chill in the evenings after a hot day, all spell the demise of yet another summer. Night comes faster now and the stars seem clearer- last night as I stared up at the night sky and a nearly full moon, the heavens appeared closer and more vivid than I can ever recall in this city full of light pollution. These are things that you cannot capture with a camera but it doesn't make them any less tangible.


In the heat of the day however, it's easy to forget that summer's coming to a close, and the lure of the beach, a blanket and a book is hard to ignor. Like me the tomatoes are in denial, throwing out new flowers and fruit like they've got months of growing yet to do. I long to seize their optimism and I have my fingers crossed for a long Indian summer but their days are numbered no matter what. Better to try to ripen what's there than expend energy on new growth.

So for this lazy Sunday of summer, a compromise: this morning I cut back most of the new growth on on all tomatoes but I left a branch or two of new growth and flowers- for the bees, if not for any fruit I'll ever see. And this evening when a chill sneaks into the air, I'll fire up the canner and bottle up some grape juice for the winter ahead. But for the rest of the afternoon, you'll find me lying on a blanket in the sun reading a book. While I still can.

I has Tomatoes! ( And rain finally)

There were two more but they got eaten (not by me sadly).
Also I have no idea what variety of tomatoes these are. The plant was a volunteer that sprouted over the winter and then got attacked by spidermites so I cut it back to almost nothing at one point and then stuck it in the garden when it looked like it might survive. It's a small tumbling cherry which makes me thing it's a ditmarsher (I grew one last year) but the colour of the fruit looks more pink, like Russian Rose, which I also grow. This is not my best year for tomatoes. I got off to a rocky start with the aforementioned mites, I mixed up most of my seedlings so not sure what got planted where in containers and I'm having loads of issues with BER- all the Opalkas so far have had to be tossed along with most of the Big Orange Stripes and even a Black Brandywine today - it broke my heart because it was so close to ripe but the middle was rotten throughout.


It's been such a funny year- cold and rainy for so long, things got off to a slow start, then when the heat finally kicked in, it was so dry everything was parched. I've managed to keep everything alive till now but it's felt like all my plants were in survival mode, growing but not producing much. We finally got a good solid rain last night- after the heatwave that was the past few weeks it was desperately needed and everything looks so much happier today. Just in time for me to leave.


Tomorrow I head off on my big adventure- my first ever trip to the UK! My aunt and I are spending almost 4 weeks there, doing some family history research among other touristy stuff. If you are so inclined I hope to be posting some of my adventures in my newest blog The Rising Village but I'll try to post here as well if I get a chance.


It's not great timing for the gardens and preserving but hopefully there will still be lots to eat and can when I return mid August - as long as the Russian remembers to water!

One last pic of the beets in the bin! They're going to have to make it without me watching over them. I think they'll be fine.

Salad Days ( and Preserving Nights)

Everything is in full swing around here. The tomatoes are coming in gangbusters and that means non stop salads! I live for these days of walking out on the back deck and picking a rainbow of fresh tomatoes and eating them still warm from the sun.
One of our favourite ways to serve fresh tomatoes is a modified caprese salad, using fresh Ontario peaches, along with tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and basil. Drizzled with olive oil and a splash of balsamic, the sweet tastes of summer explode in your mouth!


Another popular summer salad is panzanella, or Italian bread salad, using fresh ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and onions from the garden. It's also a good way to use up stale bread.

2-3 cups of heirloom tomatoes chopped ( about 10 small/med tomatoes)
3/4 cup loosely torn basil
3 cloves of garlic minced
2/3 cup of good olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic or red wine vinegar
2 cups of chopped seeded cucumber
1/2 cup red onion chopped
2 cups of stale bread cut or torn into small chunks -use a good bread!
Salt and Pepper
Shaved Parma cheese

Cut tomatoes in chunks according to size- cherries can be halved, bigger tomatoes in pieces. Place in salad bowl and salt well- this encourages the juices to come out and increase the tomatoes flavour.

Heat 1/3 cup of oil in a frying pan and add garlic. Heat garlic until just starting to brown and removed from oil. I dump the cooked garlic right into the salad bowl but you could put it aside to mix with the dressing.

Allow the oil to heat up till very hot ( if it's smoking it's too hot) Drop in bread chunks and lower heat. Stir chunks rapidly, turning so all sides are lightly brown. Remove from pan and put in salad bowl.

Add torn basil, chopped onions and cukes,

Mix remaining oil and vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and add to salad. Shave cheese on top and mix everything well. Allow to sit for 5- 10 minutes to let bread absorb some of the juices and dressing.


When the Russian and I were first dating, he informed me that he hated tomatoes. He had arrived in Canada after working 10 years on cruise ships so I was pretty sure he'd never actually tasted a ripe tomato. After enjoying them fresh from the vine, he's now converted to tomato love.

Tomatoes are not the only thing taking over the house these days. An early spring and hot summer has everything ripening about two weeks ahead of schedule so the canning season has also come early. Not far From the Tree has been busy so I have a ton of fruit to process as well. With the kitchen being far too hot to cook in I've adapted the back deck into a makeshift cannery, using the side burner on our propane grill as well as a butane portable burner. The preserve shelves are quickly filling but the mountain of produce doesn't seem to be shrinking! When I'm up to my elbows in sticky fruit and sweat is trickling down my face, I remind myself that soon enough it will be January and the fruits of this labour will make it all worthwhile.