Tag Archives: plants

The Last of May

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May 30th, the last day of the month. It’s another warm day though it is not quite as hot as the previous few days. There is a breeze and there are clouds. These days, I have to do my gardening in the morning or in the evening when the sun has gone down. Some days I’m working both ends of the day. Otherwise there will be no veggies or flowers. There’ll be nothing but weeds. For me that’s a sign of mental health problems. So I put on my big girl’s pants, pull up my socks and buckle up my shoes. I got out my trowel, pitch fork, hoe, whipper snipper and got to work.

First I finished planting the raised bed in the front. Half of it has been planted with kohlrabi and a couple of cucumbers. I finished filling it with celery. It is a good companion for the brassica family. A butternut squash filled in the emplty corner. I gave the whole bed a good watering. The grass has shot up in the heat. And those hateful creeping bellflowers are thriving in massive clumps all over the place. The new batteries for the whipper snipper are working great for whipping them and the grass down to the ground level. I was a sweaty mess at the end of it.

After a little rest and quenching my thirst, I packed my equipment in the car along with some bedding plants and headed over to my father’s. I was going to plant my mother’s front flower bed today, no matter what. It was not an easy task as they were really dry and overgrown with weeds. After some digging and hoeing and weeding, I planted some wave petunias and marigolds in one bed. I gave it a good soaking. Then I tackled the bed on the other side. It was tougher because I was hot, sweating and really tired by then. But I was determined and got over half the bed dug and cleared. It was good enough to plant half a dozen or so Chinese edible chrysanthemums. My father came out to watch but I had no spare energy to visit beyond a few words. After another thorough watering of everything I planted, I came home and crashed.

It is nice to have the time to myself, not having to talk or care for anyone. I can just wilt in peace and not think of anything or anyone. A water melon would have been nice but lacking that, a nice big juicy ambrosia apple was good enough. When I thirsting for something cold and wet, it is hot and dry.

Growing Pains

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Now that we are not having rain or snow, we are having a yellow warning – heat! It’ll be 30℃ temperatures for the rest of the week. On Thursday it’ll be 34℃. We had snow only 9 days ago. Not much was growing for much of spring. Then all of a sudden things sprung up. I harvested asparagus and rhubarb last night. Some of them are already getting old. What a roller coaster of a spring.

Now we are on a mad dash to get things planted. Who knows what kind of a growing season we will have. With this teeter totter heat and cold, I am having alot of aches and pains. Getting the yard clean up and garden in is very challenging. Having an allotment garden adds to the challenge. I just have to keep pushing through everything. It takes quite a bit of pain to get any gain this year. Maybe I will appreciate everything more come fall and harvest time. For now I am grinning and bearing it.

I am happy to say that the greenhouse is doing well. Thankfully there are no aphids this year. I am paying more attention at not overcrowding and making sure there is good ventilation in there. The lettuce is thriving. The spinach is over as well as the baby bak choy. It is too warm in there for them now. The snow peas are starting to produce. I think I will have bitter melons and cucumbers this year though it is early to be 100% sure. I am trying eggplants again. They need heavy feeding and pruning. I am excited to see whether I will succeed. It’s good to be excited again.

There’s still alot of planting in the garden yet. The 5 raised beds are mostly planted. I have yet to do the 6th one. The peppers will go there. The squash will all be planted in the home garden rather than in the allotment. It will be interesting to see how they will do. Gardening is not an exact science, at least to me. I have always garden by the seat of my pants. It wouldn’t hurt for me to find and follow proper guidelines though. Well, maybe next year. It is too late now to get into all that.

Something Good

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A sunny peaceful Easter Sunday in my neck of the woods. I cannot afford to be weighed down by all the troubles of the world day after day. I’m taking today off. So after a delcious dim sum at Yip Hong’s (our favourite Chinese restaurant) with the family, I pottered around in the greenhouse for an hour or two. I planted 2 short rows of snow pea seedlings. They are big enough with well established roots. They can withstand the cool nights. I don’t think it will dip below freezing now. It went up to 30℃ in there this afternoon. I had to open 2 vents and pull down the shade. I was getting scorched!

It’s a slow and late spring. It works for me. I am also slow and late. I am not as ambitious as previous years, planting and planting, crowding and crowding, to get more and more. Sometimes that works against me. Last year I had a big infestation of aphids with the peppers and bitter melons. I ended up with more work and less peppers and no bitter melons. I’m being more deliberate and trying not to overcrowd the greenhouse. Maybe that will prevent the aphid problem happening again.

There’s no lettuce, spinach or other greens poking their heads through the soil yet. But there are plenty earthworms where I was planting the snow peas. I seededed a row of radishes in front of them. It’ll be exciting waiting and watching. Green is such a wonderful colour. I feel its power such thinking about it. Here’s what google says about it:

Green psychologically promotes calmness,balance and rejuvenation by connecting to nature, which can reduce stress, alleviate anxiety, and boost feelings of hope and stability. As a central color on the spectrum, it is seen as refreshing, fostering creativity, focus, and productivity while signaling safety and growth.

I have no better words. They are good to end on this 5th day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE

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The month and the Ultimate Blog Challenge are almost over. What is it that I have accomplished? And was it what I set out to do? The answer is I don’t know to both. Well, there goes my quest for clarity. My head is as muddled now as is in the beginning. At the same time, I don’t feel a sense of failure. I am living real life one day at a time. Some days are good. Some are not. Some days are a mixture. What I know for sure is everything passes.

This morning I was reading Dr. Larry Dossey’s The Extra-Ordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things. I really enjoyed the section on plants and bugs and how they contribute to our well being. It made me realize how out of touch I am with the natural world. How often do I look up at the sky and really see it? Have I ever hug a tree or even sat under one? Do I pay attention to the creatures that crawl about and fly above? They are mostly in the peripheral of my awareness. I am too much concern with me, myself and I.

Perhaps I should widen my scope and pay attention to the natural world. I felt myself opening and softening up inside as I read the stories of flowers blooming out of season and maggots and leeches healing wounds. I want to be in midst of the green and crawling living things. I want to hold hands and have conversations with them again. I did that once upon a time. Once upon a time I also played on the rooftop of my grandfather’s house in China. I played and talked to ghosts, too. It’s not too late. I can still have all those conversations. All I have to do is open up my mind and heart again.