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My, how time flies! Fast forward seven months and many varieties of lettuce have set seed in the garden. Last week I cut ripe flowering stalks and placed them in large bins under cover, and then after a few days I could scrunch the flowers and harvest the dry seeds. By then there were many...

We don't have an exact recipe as such. Essentially we put the tomatoes in a large stainless steel lasagna pan, cutting large ones in half and placing them skin side up. There should be just one layer of tomatoes, so if the harvest is good we bake two pans full. Some garlic cloves get tossed...

Finally!! Still primarily early cold-tolerant varieties, as well as Stupice which seems to produce fruit much more quickly than the others. This will be our first harvest that was large enough to roast for tomato sauce.

Yesterday I did a seed starting session with some friends, primarily to get lettuce going so that our families will have lots available for salads during the cooler autumn months. This time of year a one week delay in sowing can result in a two week delay in harvesting-- so time is of the...

So sorry to hear that your knee and your garden have given you challenges this year Ducky. That must be so frustrating.

After a couple of failed attempts to sow Teff outdoors I finally resorted to starting some in 2" blocks on August 4th. The seeds are extremely tiny, and need a lot of moisture to germinate. I was delighted to see green growth after just one week with this method. I am right at the end of the...

I am trying my hand at propagating plants via cuttings that are placed in moist but well-drained sand set in a bright yet shady location, and then tented with plastic for 4-6 weeks. The other day I potted up healthy looking starts of Swiss Mint, Spanish Mint, Dianthus Electron, a tomato, and...

This was a simple and tasty dinner of grilled chicken and roasted potatoes. From the garden were cucumber salad with dill, carrots, and fresh Venda beans.

Pickling for sure. I love dill with fried potatoes, tuna and egg sandwiches, cucumber sour cream salad, and in many pasta salads too. It's also perfect with cream cheese and smoked salmon on a cracker. Yum! :)

A late round of dill and cilantro seeds tucked in the soil, along with a row of lettuce seed that will be pricked out and planted elsewhere once the seedlings emerge. This garden has a lot of weed seeds in the soil, so I top dressed with some weed-free compost. It's still pretty hot and dry...

The lisianthus seeds that were started indoors on January 20th have finally set buds.

Where possible I try to poke a few extra seeds in, just in case the primary seed in a block fails to germinate. The photo below on the left shows two empty blocks of Pac Choi. Fortunately two 'extra' seeds germinated, so I could prick them out and move them to fill the empty blocks.

Could hear a noise when I woke up at 5am, and it was the sound of a gentle rain falling. Not enough to really water the roots of the plants, but a nicely hydrating interlude just the same. I hope to do some transplanting today once things dry out again.

Two kinda of beany blocks planted out in a high tunnel today, Provider (black tray) and Empress (white tray). Let's hope they can produce beans before the first frost. The photo taken two days later on August 10th shows considerable growth for the Provider bean plants, which is encouraging...

Do you anticipate being affected by hurricane Debby Heirloomgal? I saw that it was headed towards southern Ontario. Not fun.

I printed my list of bean descriptions and attached it to a clip board so I can walk around the garden and make notes on the paper. Then eventually I will update the descriptions on the computer with whatever notes I have taken. It could well be October before I get around to that part-- but...

As part of an effort to document blossom colour for each of the bean varieties that grow in my garden I noted an off-type yesterday, finding one pink blossomed specimen amidst the many white blossomed plants of Cocaigne Shelly, https://uprisingorganics.com/products/bean-bush-dry-cocaigne Also...

This is helpful information digitS'-- turns out our local seed company carries a Gai Lan hybrid variety called Green Pearl, and reviewers seem quite enthusiastic about how easy and prolific it is to grow. I will add that to my list of seeds to try. Thank you!

August has been hot and humid so far, but it's comfy and cool in the basement so I'm starting some cucumbers, lettuce, and brassicas in soil blocks indoors. I also started some bush snap beans in 2" blocks. It may be a bit late for them, however I am willing to try. They sprouted in just for...

All of your gai lan posts have me thinking that I need to try growing this vegetable. Can it be sown in August, and if so is there a particular variety of seed that you might suggest??