Won't Be Long Now!

We've been on a weather rollercoaster this winter! January saw highs of  15 C  one week and overnight lows of minus 21 c the next. Three days ago we were hit with that big snow storm which dumped a good 40 cm in my neighbourhood and it's almost all gone now thanks to pouring rain overnight and high of 6 today. It makes it a little challenging to know what to wear when you go but at least it's not boring outside!

The same can not be said for inside. With both of us underemployed, there's a been a whole lot of lazy days and nights and while it's a good kind of boredom, lots catching up on reading and movie watching, too much of anything wears after a while. Which is why I thought it would be fun to take on the $10 grocery challenge to add a little interest to January. I have to say that while it made good sense for the wallets, by the end it did not help with my mood at all. I love to cook and try new things and that means lots of variety. Unlike the Russian who could happily eat chicken soup for every meal, I get very cranky when faced with the same food on repeat. By the last week of the month we still had a fair bit of food in the house but it was a lot of the same stuff and under the guidelines of the challenge I couldn't just nip out and buy that one or two items to switch up the menu.We did managed to keep to the budget (except for the previously mentioned spontaneous dinner party) but I was ever so glad to see the back end of January!

The arrival of February  immediately brightened my mood and not just because I could buy groceries! The Toronto Beekeeper's Co-op held a one day workshop on Urban Beekeeping on Feb 2 and it was a great success, full of all kinds of bee enthusiasts and a lovely marketplace selling sweet smelling and tasting goodies. I picked up these beautiful eggs from one of the vendors and I swear the colour alone made me happy!

Now that we've made it to almost mid February it's time to start thinking of gardening again! I haven't started any seedlings yet but already the days are long enough to want to try and as usual, a few things have started without me. My brown fig broke dormancy earlier than I  would have liked but it seems to be thriving even when it's clearly not time yet.

 

All the indoor plants I cut back in the fall are sending out new leaves and the crazy onions I overwintered in a pot are providing me with much appreciated fresh salad greens!
So it's time look at  seeds, lay out plans and dream of hot summer days in the garden.

Can't come soon enough!

Last Harvest and Free Eggs!

It's that time again. I put it off as long as I could but after a week of cool, gray and rainy days I took advantage of a slight break in the weather and yanked out the rest of my garden. I gleaned one last round of still green hot and sweet peppers and a handful of undersized tomatillas. I used up these and the last of the ripe tomatoes for a batch of end of season salsa. The few plants with reasonable sized green tomatoes are slowly ripening in the sunporch


I left the brussel sprouts still in the ground but everything else is in the composter now. I still have to empty the rain barrel (if it ever stops raining long enough) and put away the hoses. It looks so barren from up here...



I did it just in time tho- not only are we expected sub zero temps this weekend but Monday morning I woke up to this:

That's the city works crew repairing the laneway behind my house. My garden is now a construction site which is a tad unnerving since I've put a lot of time and money into building up my soil. Not to worry, I had a brief conversation with the foreman and it turns out he's a farmer himself! He raises a few head of beef cattle, some pigs and chicken on a few acres very close to where we attended Foodstock last week. I gave him a jar of my pear chutney and he promised to look out for my dirt and veggies. This morning I opend up the composter to find these hidden inside!


Best harvest ever- thanks Frank!