Wordless Thursday – the Garden, Greenhouse & Beyond

Posted on July 25, 2024 by hafong

I was wordless and photo-less on Wednesday. I thought I would try for a few words with photos for today. It’s better late than never. Our heat wave continues but we did have a coolish day on Tuesday. It gave the house a chance to cool off. The smoke from forest fires are higher up so there’s not the smell. Still the morning was under a heavy gloom. It indeed felt like the end of the world.

The way it is, it could very well happen. So there’s nothing that I can do but live the best I can. That means still doing the things that give meaning to my life – gardening and doodling the best I can/know how.

The slow cool spring and summer heat are affecting how the garden at home and in the community garden as well as how things are in the greenhouse. It shows how vulnerable we and our food supply are. Nothing is for sure. If this isn’t our wakeup call, I don’t know what is. However, we are still ok. We are still getting a good enough though different crop. But what about next year?

I keep trudging along, one foot in front of the other. It’s a hard year but it’s teaching me stamina and staying positive. I’m learning to take better care of myself. I’m learning from Mary Sarton to rest and not do, do all the time. From May Sarton’s Journal of a Solitude:

[18th January 1971]

“A strange empty day. I did not feel well, lay around, looked at daffodils against the white walls, and twice thought I must be having hallucinations because of their extraordinary scent that goes from room to room. I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal. I am still pursued by a neurosis about work inherited from my father. A day where one has not pushed oneself to the limit seems a damaged damaging day, a sinful day. Not so! The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room, not try to be or do anything whatever. Tonight I do feel in a state of grace, limbered up, less strained. Before supper I was able to begin to sort out poems of the last two years … there is quite a bunch. For my sixtieth birthday I intend to publish sixty new poems and, as I see it now, it will be a book of chiefly love poems. Sixty at Sixty, I call it, for fun.”

My little index card art is my journal. These are part of the 61 days of Daisy Yellow Index Card a Day Challenge. When I tried too hard and follow the narrow road, I got stuck and couldn’t create. I was almost 20 days behind. So I gave up trying to follow themes and prompts and just doodled. I got these 5 card in the last 2 days. And they were fun to do. The lesson – relax and have fun.

PS. I’m not a political animal at all but the time seems ripe to pay more attention, learn and be more involved. Thus the 3 portraits.

What Gives Me Purpose

Posted on April 24, 2024 by hafong

Another beautiful sunny morning. It’s day 24 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I love waking up with the birds and sun. I’ve had my cuppa, played Wordle and Spelling Bee. I can beat Wordle most days but having trouble with spelling. I’m in a spelling rut but I can leave it without frustration.

I’ve made my morning trek to the greenhouse and planted my first tomato – a Sweet One Million. I disturbed the earthworms from their sleep. The soil was alive with them. I will plant one more later – a Red Torch. And that will be plenty in there. Real estate is at a premium in there. I want to make good use of every inch. It’s hard to envision now but it doesn’t take long before it’s a jungle. Here’s what it looked like last summer.

Going into the 4th year of the greenhouse, I’m working at maintaining my health and vitality. I need both to keep on growing our own food. I was careless last year and I suffered for it. Now I working out in the weight room, training almost like Joan. Growing our food, maintaining my health and that of our planet gives me purpose and meaning. It’s easy to relax, slide and let everything go to pots. All my little every day things keep me mostly on track.

Snowy Wednesday

Posted on April 17, 2024 by hafong

The snow came as promised. Along with it wind. It feels wintery except that it’s not cold. The snow is wet and heavy, weighing down the branches of the neighbour’s spruce trees, but not my spirit. I feel just fine, thank you very much. I’m happy we’re getting this moisture to quench the earth’s thirst. I’m getting used to the unpredictableness of the weather and life. It’s a rocky ride. I’m hanging on.

Everything is cool, meaning ok in the greenhouse. We have a little heater that turns on when it gets below 7℃. There’s the rockwall and buckets of water that hold in the heat during the day and give off heat at night. So the heater seldom runs unless we have a long stretch of cloudy cold days. Seeing that the snow was piled up by the greenhouse door, I filled 2 buckets to melt inside for watering. I see that 2 of the photos are a bit blurry. Drat! They will have to do. They’re good enough. So ends day 17 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

All in Good Time

Posted on April 12, 2024 by hafong

Friday morning coming down and it’s a cool one. Though the greenhouse temperatures are good, staying above freezing on its own even at night, things are not taking off just yet. I guess I’m impatient, wanting now, now, now! The snowpeas are growing tendrils. The seeded lettuce are poking their heads above the soil. The spinach is still skinny but the radish leaves are getting fatter as are the Gai Lan. They will burst forth all in good time.

The seedlings are doing well also. They are robust, thriving in the greenhouse. They get plenty of light in the day. The cool nights keep them from bolting and getting leggy. I can repot some while waiting for the other seeds to germinate. I can get swamp if I’m not careful. Even after all these years of gardening and starting my own seeds, I still have many doubts. It is still a miracle when I see them germinate and poke their heads above the soil. I do not take anything for granted. I tend to over seed – just in case.

This year I am being a little more bold and confident. I cut back a little. Prices have gone up and you get fewer seeds in a pack. I label the pots with the number of seeds I sow. That way I would know the germination rate. It would help for next year’s sowing. So far I’m pretty happy that it’s almost 100%. There are those seeds that’s too small to count. I’ve also started to date my seed packs so I know how old the seeds are. 3 years is supposed to be the best before date. But nothing is set in stone. Here is an interesting video about a seed grower in Saskatchewan. It’s inspiring me.

Against the Flow

Posted on April 6, 2024 by hafong

It’s day 6 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Only 24 more days to go and 54 more days for #the100dayproject. I’m experiencing a malaise and a dip in my spirit. In these moments I wonder why I put these commitments upon myself. It would be so much easier if I go with the flow. It would be but I do know where that could lead – stagnation. And it is just not me – to go with the flow. I’m prickly, sometimes known as an eccentric person.

What I need when malaise hits is action. Though I don’t advocate shopping on Amazon as a solution, that’s what I did. I bought an electric kettle and Lyn Slater’s book on How to Be Old. I was waiting for the paperback version but I decided I need to read it now. So ping! Now it’s on my Kindle. Not sure how useful it will be. Not alot of super reviews on Goodreads.What triggered my dippy mood is reminders of aging and what that could mean. I had a visit with my 92 year old mother yesterday. The conversation was largely about aging, declining strength, vitality and meaning of life. It left me feeling blue and deflated, wondering on how to age well. That’s when I remembered Lyn Slater, the accidental icon.

It’s good that the morning was sunny. I’ve started my daily early morning visits to the greenhouse before breakfast. Today I transplanted my radishes into the bed. After I thought I better do my stretches before I lose my oomph. It’s the first time in many months that I have no pain in my left foot. I had plantar fasciitis since before Christmas. Just as it was finally resolving, I stubbed my little toe on the same foot. Took 5 weeks for it to heal. I am motivated to keep pain away by doing my daily stretches.

Now it is almost 4 in the afternoon. We took a little drive out of the city to Crossmount to look at some paintings and pottery on display. We had some dessert at the restaurant and walked around outside after. There was quite a few people out enjoying the sunshine and the cider house. I’m feeling refreshed and renewed.

WINTERIZING AND PLANNING

Posted on November 8, 2022 by hafong

November 7. November is the hardest month. It seems like we had so many warm golden days in October. I had just gotten used to walking daily again and enjoying it immensely. All of a sudden we are plunged into the cold darkness of November. The snow came and is presently coming down big time. At least it lit up the darkness. I have taken up shoveling now instead of my walk. I have the work cut up for me. I am tired from the day.

Seeing the low temperatures in the forecast, I could not deny that winter is here. November is not remembered for sunny days. It was time to put the greenhouse to sleep till March. We harvested all the tomatoes and bitter melons before we went to bed the night before. We didn’t want to risk losing them. In the morning, the greenhouse temperature read at 1 point something Celsius with the little heater set to keep it about 6℃. After harvesting what was missed and rescuing the potted plants into the house, I unplugged the heater. The trays of plants remained on the basement floor till I can deal with them. I have spread out the tomatoes on trays so they can ripen. The bitter melons, cucumbers, peppers and slipper gourds are bagged and in the fridge.

My next chore was shrink wrapping the windows in the sunroom. It seemed like it was just yesterday that I added the sunroom. It’s been 30 years. The windows are still very good but not as weather proofed as they once were, especially the ones that can open. Shrink wrapping them seemed deceivingly simple to do in my head. They proofed otherwise. It took me all afternoon to do 3 windows – the 2 screened ones and another. Not perfect but good enough. It was an exhausting job. Good thing I’m still nimble enough to climb onto my desk. It was difficult to access one window. I’m thinking of doing 4 more now that I got the hang of it. It will keep the room warmer and save on the energy bill.

November 8. I’m none the worse this morning. I did take a Tylenol before I went to bed last night and had a good sleep. I took another one just now to help me with the day and more shoveling. I missed the lunar eclipse, not knowing there was going to be one. There won’t be another one for a long time. That’s ok. I can look at other people’s experiences and photos. I got boiled milk cooling to make yogurt. Then onward and outward to deal with the snow. I’m finishing my tumeric tea before my morning exercise to loosen and lubricate my joints. Have to keep moving. That’s the plan, adding it onto my already 22 tiny habits. It is the 23rd. I have curried pumpkin chickpea soup defrosting. It will be lunch along with garlic ribs and rice.

BEING PREPARED

Posted on October 5, 2022 by hafong

All good things, like warm October days, come to an end. It’s the natural order of things. I’m ok with it. I’m prepared. I haven’t hunker down yet. It’s too early. But the most of the garden is prepped for the winter months. The garlic has been planted and mulched. I dug out the rosemary from the herb spiral this afternoon. It’s potted and in the greenhouse along with 4 peppers and a few other plants I want to winter over. They will go inside the house when we close the greenhouse at end of November.There are still 2 Roma Tomatoes inside their Kosy Koats outside as well as 2 pepper plants. They have quite a few fruit on them. They are well covered with extra row covers and table cloths from the Dollar Store. The forecast is for -4C tonight and -3C tomorrow night. I shall see if they can survive those temperatures. It’s worth the sacrifice to find out.

Meanwhile, the greenhouse is still doing very well. It is toasty warm while the high today was only 11℃. I feel so happy stepping into it, seeing all the tomatoes and peppers hanging down. It is our second year and I’ve learned alot being so excited, not being afraid to experiment and try everything. I’ve trimmed off alot of the tomato and cucumber foliage to let in more sun and prevent mildew. I’ve brought in the water buckets as temperatures are dropping below 0 the next 2 days. They will freeze outside whereas in, they will help to moderate the temperature in the greenhouse.

RAMBLING MUMBLING THERAPY

Posted on February 4, 2022 by hafong

February 3. It is another cold day but quite sunny. It’s been around -25℃ most of the day. The greenhouse got up to 4.7℃ today. It is -3.3℃ now at 5:37. I should start thinking about preparing the beds for seeding some spinach soon. Last spring it was almost too warm for them by late March. I’ve started some pepper and eggplant seeds in wet paper towel. They’re starting to germinate. I can’t remember if it’s a week or more ago that I started them. I have to remember to write these things down.

I was feeling tired and listless but after tapping a paragraph, I’m feeling better. I think I am working too hard on my watercolour class this week. I’m a bit sick of working on the little monk. It’s mostly finished and overworked. I’ve packed it away. I hope I can leave it packed. Sometimes I get obsessed and can’t leave things alone. I shall see what Alison have to say about it on Saturday. I tried to relax by watching Inspector Wexford. I couldn’t find a new episode so it’s not a rest for me. It’s better if I just mutter here. The tapping is unwinding me and helps me problem solve.

Everything looks better in the morning and in summer.

The two cucumber plants I’ve started in the fall are still alive. They are not exactly thriving. I should trot my butt downstairs and transplant them and give them a bit of fertilizer. Who knows. They might thrive and I can plant them in the greenhouse in March. Last year I had cucumbers and tomatoes planted March 9th. Most of them survived without supplement heat but with lots of covers. Last fall we’ve added a little electric heater for those frosty nights. Things should work out much better with less manual labour. The Black Krim tomato I started from a cutting last fall is doing well. It could use a transplant and a feed, too.

February 4. Another cold day at 31℃ this morning. It is almost 9. The greenhouse is sitting at -18.3℃. I don’t expect it to get above 0 as no sun in the forecast. I am feeling fine. My bum ankle and leg are better after I started taking a calcium/magnesium supplement. It could be coincidental or a placebo effect. Whatever the reason, I’m glad for it. Everything does look better in the morning. Sleeping through most of the night also helps . I’ve curbed my fluid intake after supper. Getting up every couple of hours was disturbing my sleep. Last night I only got up once at 5 am. Six hours of uninterrupted zzz is wonderful, even though I couldn’t get more. Sometimes you have to take what you can get.

I did get my cucumbers and tomato repotted yesterday. Now I wait for them to thrive. I will have to start some early tomatoes for the greenhouse. We finished all our longkeeper tomatoes in mid January. It was pretty fantastic to have fresh fried tomatoes with our eggs every morning till then. The goal now is to get some early spring tomatoes. Is May/June too ambitious? We will have to wait and see. Meanwhile I have to dig out my saved Red Alert tomato seeds and get them going. They’re supposed to take 50-55 days to mature from transplanting.

AM I HAVING FUN YET?

Posted on November 23, 2021 by hafong

Day 23 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge and day 3 of my daily ski and day 2 of my daily cleaning and decluttering. Am I having fun yet? Yes and no. When words come easily off the tips of my fingers, it is fun. Not so much when I have to struggle for every thought and sentence. I don’t care much for proofreading and editing. I force myself because sometimes I can think faster than I can tap. Yesterday I caught a few omissions and errors. Good thing my patience and discipline are improving. Sometimes good enough is not good enough.

Am I having fun yet? I had a wee rest after lunch. I worked steady and early this morning, wasting no time. I stirred my scrap apple vinegar fermenting on the dining room table. It’s my second batch. I quite like it as a substitute for regular vinegar. Mostly I use it for cleaning. I put a bit in a spray bottle with water. I spritz it on my mop to damp mop my hardwood floors. I also use it on my dust cloth for dusting furniture, etc. It leaves everything shiny and with a pleasant scent. Then I fed Oscar, my sourdough starter. I like to get the daily things done and out of the way. When I procrastinate, sometimes they don’t get done at all. It’s no fun falling behind and having catching up.

After breakfast I did a quick dusting in our bedroom followed by damp mopping of the floors. Then we hit the ski trail at the park. I did 3 laps around the park, working up a sweat. Was I having fun yet? Not quite but almost. Not sure if I got my ski legs back yet. I am slow as a tortoise. No kick and glide yet. Have to review techniques on YouTube again. At least I haven’t regressed. I could do double poling. No falling down today. My boots got on and off the skis like a damn. No struggle like last year. I won’t win any races soon but I’m burning calories.

The sun has disappeared. I will have to set out to put the greenhouse to bed soon. Without the heater, the low in there today was -1.8℃ this morning at 8:30. The high 8.6℃ at 3pm. All the greens are doing well. I cover them with row covers for the night and uncover in the morning when sun comes up and temp. above freezing. We’ll see what happens when the temps dip toward 20 and below at night. This is our first winter. I don’t think it will be fun covering and uncovering in the depth of December and January. I might take a break from it till February or March.

WORKING FOR PROGRESS

Posted on October 2, 2021 by hafong

Monday morning, September 27,2021 10:17 am. It is sunny and 17℃ outside. It is 19.6℃ in the greenhouse. I am adopting a journal style to chart the days and my progress in life. It is a memory bank since my mind and memory are not functioning at prime in these times. I am working on improving that and a few other things. I hope I don’t get sidetrack and get lost wandering down too many paths. If I do, I hope I have the insight to recognize it and get back on track.

This morning I have already spent some time in the greenhouse as is my routine. I’ve trimmed the tomato and cucumber leaves so that the sun can find its way in. My seeding of radishes and snow peas have germinated. It’s probably still too warm for the radishes in there. They are getting a bit leggy. We are having such an unusual year with climate change. It’s hard to predict how the temperatures will go. I will just have to garden by the seat of my pants. There hasn’t been any failures in growing for me yet. I always get something for my efforts. Even if that something is learning, it’s a huge reward.

My kitchen drain is still a problem. I haven’t given up on unclogging it myself. The plumber can wait. Meanwhile, I’ve developed a systematic of getting the dishes done with minimal effort. I can do a whole day’s load in the dishwasher. I’m hoping the super hot water from the dishwater will eventually dislodge whatever is in its way. Cross your fingers and toes for me, will you? Like I said, this is teaching me patience and delayed gratification. I am also learning how to organize, do things more efficiently, saving time and energy.

Saturday, October 2, 2021 4:17 pm. It is 20℃ outside and 23.3℃ in the greenhouse. Wonderful autumn weather, almost summer like. I’m not kidding myself though. The days are getting shorter, no early morning sun at 6 am and the sun is gone before 6 pm. I am feeling all these weather changes. I am feeling the Covid blues also. It is true. There are no good news these days. It is what is here. I try to put my best foot forward, doing the best I can. So even though I feel no expanse, no flow, I take small flights through my days. I am not my feelings. Inspite of anything and everything, I can get up, dress up and show up.

How quickly a week passes even though I feel slow as a slug. How did I get to Saturday already?Perhaps I am moving faster than I feel. I can be deceived by my emotions. Therefore, I should never give up. Things are not as bad as they seem. So I do a little of this and a little of that. Mornings are always the easiest and hardest. How do I get started? The sun comes out and I have to step out. We went to the farmers market. It was easy. I didn’t have to drive. I get into the truck and away we went and came home with a load of peppers and eggplants. No matter how hard it is for me to go/do, I am always happy that I made the effort.

Now the day is almost done. I am sipping my decaf, waiting for supper. I am not exactly chilled. I am not exactly down. My kitchen drain is not exactly cleared but it is capable of making a sucking sound when it starts to drain – some. It’s progress. That’s what I am always working for – progress in everything. Life is hard.

onethousandandtwo

Looking at Infinity

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