April Update

April is a very busy month in the garden.  It's a prime month for planting so many things.  I've now put up the zig zag pea fence in the bed which has radishes, gai lan, and lettuces.  I was going to plant multiplier onions in between the zags, but fortunately checked for companion planting and discovered that onions are definitely not planted near peas!

Yesterday I transplanted the Copra onions outside.  After setting in over 90 tiny plants, pieces of fencing were carefully set over them to prevent cats from digging them up.  Once they're established, the fencing can come off.  Today I'll be planting out the leek seedlings.

The Pacific Russet potatoes are nicely up and have received their first weeding.  When the plants are about 6" high, I'll start adding more material.

The first pink stalks of asparagus are thrusting up.  The sun will soon turn them green and before you know it, we'll have enough for a meal!

The strawberry plants are also thriving - in spite of the heavy dusting of pollen on their leaves!  This is a rough time for someone with allergies what with masses of pollen from all the maple trees around us and the spores from the sword ferns!

In the potting shed, the tomatoes are looking very sturdy.  I'm rapidly finding homes for some of my excess and will have to put name tags in pots so I remember who is getting what.

We have the circulating pump and UV light going on the pond now and the water is clearing up.  Pond plants are blooming and the water lilies are starting to form leaves on the surface of the water.  I recently purchased a yellow water lily for the back of the pond and hope that it's securely sitting on its ledge and not in the bottom of the pond!

King Edward flower currant is a busy place these days.  The Rufous Hummingbirds are back in force.  In addition to a large feeder hanging on the deck, the flowering currant usually has at least half a dozen birds battling for supremacy.  It's so massive now that I think I'll have to start cutting it back before it shades out the potting shed.

Container Herb Gardening

This is all the result of my husband not knowing one herb from another.  We are starting to use fresh herbs in the kitchen on a regular basis and my husband has been asking me to get them for him because he says he doesn't know which is which!  Then I discovered some beautiful brass herb markers in the Lee Valley catalogue.  Thus the idea of having an herb garden on the deck was born.

Our deck is a large one and I've had pots of flowers on the deck before.  Unfortunately, they started rotting the cedar planks, so away they went.  Lee Valley also has some wonderful deck protectors.  They are round grids with little feet on them which allow the pot to drain but create a space between the deck and pot, thus reducing the likelihood of rotting deck planks.

Today I assembled all the things I'd need and planted the first of my herb pots.

The first order of business was to cover the drainage holes of the pots with broken pottery shards.  Then I put a complete container mix in the bottom of the pots, topped it up with a combination of compost and SeaSoil and mixed the two together.  Finally I put more container mix on top, wetted it thoroughly and planted the herbs.  The final act was to place the herb markers and give the plants a drink of water.

Today I planted mint, Greek oregano, French tarragon, English thyme and Canadian parsley seedlings from my own garden.  I'll add a few more pots to the collection such as basil, and I'd like to grow some of the scented verbenas.  Another plan is to make some of my own herbal teas and it would be handy to have some of the ingredients close to the house.  Two more very large pots were readied for cherry tomatoes.  It'll be nice to relax on the deck, cool drink in hand, and nab a ripe tomato or two while taking in the wonderful scent of fresh herbs.

Potato Grow Bag Experiment Part 2

Today I bought the potatoes for my potato grow bags.  I managed to find German Butter Potatoes which are a delicious yellow potato - just perfect for potato salads.  Most of the resources I consulted regarding potato grow bags suggested 4 or 5 potatoes per bag but that sounds like a lot to me.

I planted 3 potatoes per bag.  As they're small, I didn't cut them; just planted them whole with the strongest spouts at the top about 6" deep, then smoothed the soil over the top.  When they get about 6" high above the soil, I'll start adding more material to the bags.

Then I checked out the first potatoes I planted in one of the 4x4 concrete beds and they're up!

And just because it's spring and it's a beautiful day outside, I snapped some of my favourite narcissus flowers.  I thought they were called Grandma's Hat, but after looking them up, I've no idea what they are.  But they're definitely beautiful!