One month later

Well...I just took a look back at our garden post from a month ago. Like wow! At least things are growing...even the weeds! I love seeing the growth.

This post is about the progress of the garden as I already posted some harvest pics 😉

Carrots, parsnips and beets

As you will see I have planted a few tomato plants (100!)

Another planting of peas

Zucchini’s...all male flowers so far

These brassicas are just bursting at the seams!

Kale was harvested yesterday ...they too were bursting!

In this bed...peas, onions and volunteer potatoes 

Strawberries on the sides are a huge success!

We took off the plastic covers...this row of Roma’s are doing really well

Can’t remember the names of these ones but they are really behind

Quite a difference between the two types

Sunflowers are going to be huge I think

Finally....cucumbers!

Tomatoes in buckets around the front deck

I'm quite pleased with my flowers

These tumbling tomatoes are so cool!

These remind me of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk! They are still reaching for the sky. I think we will hang some string down from the beams above they are so tall!

The pond is so beautiful 

Note to self....sidedressed with 4-4-4 and cut back petunias and pansies. Also spread some sluggo around the garden. Had a bucket of weeds that had filled with rainwater which turned into a compost type tea so I used it on some tomato plants. Will see if that helps!

Update: sprayed HP on July 21 & followed with BS on 23

Hydrogen peroxide - 1st day

8 - 12 tbsp to 1 gal water 

Baking soda - 2nd day

1 tbsp to 1 gal water

Repeat every 7 days

Use on tomatoes, zucchini, cukes, squash for preventative plant disease (Rusted Garden)

One week later sprayed with liquid 20-20-20 and spread Kelp on tomatoes

Rainy July

In my recollection it’s been 8 years since we had such a wet July. This has been good in a way as the forests have been so dry and it’s really nice to be able to go out and about with clean air. We’ve also been having thunderstorms almost daily! A couple nights ago we woke up around 3 am to such loud booms. Didn’t help with the windows open! ....and the windstorms...wow! Trees down everywhere. This last one knocked the power out for a couple of hours.

It’s not over yet!

Despite all the rain the garden continues to grow. We have been harvesting almost daily. There is nothing like the taste of fresh fruit and vegs 😁

Kale has done exceptionally well because of the rain

I lightly steamed it all and put into muffin tin to freeze (2 min)

Doesn’t seem like much when you compare it to what was harvested 

Had a wonderful visit with Dominic. Can’t believe he is 17 and going into his Grad year of high school. Where has the time gone? 

This tree was planted at Blewett School in memory of Tony (Dominic's Dad)

Such a handsome dude 😍 

Thanks for the visit Dom. You're pretty amazing 😘

3 Seam Quilt

This is a block that goes by a couple of names. 3 Seam or 10 Minute Block. It's a bit tricky to wrap your head around but once you get it soooo easy!

Here are a couple of utube links for instructions

https://youtu.be/ZbTHlGGKMPM  Suzanne McNeill of Design Originals

https://youtu.be/dBpVbXJIYJY Jean Truelove

My first attempt is this baby blanket that turned out so cute. Using 6” squares. A big focus on using up green! I added the yellow after as the center fabric made this way too busy. Looks much better. The quilting was done with templates for the heart and I drew in the lines that unintentionally ended up looking like a star!

I was given a jelly roll and after watching Jean Trueloves utube video I thought this was the perfect time to use it! After sewing 4 strips together I subcut into 8 1/2” squares and then followed the 3 Seam technique. Added a 2” border (red) and then a 5” border (brown).

Measures 60 x 60”

With the leftover pieces I made blocks from the 5 Minute instructions and am using them in the back. There are 7 blocks on the left side. With only 3 left I still wanted to use them and I want to use the white space (bottom right) as my label so I just added some red and brown in between. I'm hoping that any quilting will add to the design.  Backing fabric is Fireside and I picked it up in McBride. It's amazing stuff! It just happens to be 60” wide too...bonus!

...and this is my supervisor 

Updated August 29

Finally finished!