We've got peppers!

First Harvest!

Here we go! Cucumbers, Hot Peppers, Swiss Chard and Baby Strawberries.

Mobile Garden. Mobile Photos.

Guerilla Gardening on Say it Sista!

Today I had the pleasure of talkin' GARDENING on CKUW 'Say it Sista' this morning. Tune in Thursday, May 14th for listening pleasure.

Orchids: A perfect winter companion

 These precious, delicate flowers can grow on practically every continent, and in odd places. I ran across a cluster of orchids in an more unlikely environment! I rescued three from a fluorescent-lit, crammed, retail space. It was as many as I could carry at the time!

Since then, they have been living at our house. So far, the bathroom has become a favourite home. At this time of year, the orchid seems to love the humidity and the amount of indirect sunlight. Here is my happy orchid.

First things first. It is with great honour and anticipation, I announce the beggings of my new garden blog! Okay, I know I'm making it sound a bit more triumphant than what may come of this, a photo-log of my tomatoes, perhaps? In any-case, I have been diving through archives of garden blogs for awhile now, and have been inspired by some of the greats before me! Most notably You Grow Girl, This Garden Is Illegal and Brooklyn Farms. 

So, here we go!  Like many other eager gardeners, there is a lot to reflect on during these times of hibernation. It could be as many as 3 months before the snow starts to melt. If you're like me, and live in a frozen tundra, (current temperature in Manitoba, -21C, and that ain't bad!) you have already have sown some seeds in a d.i.y potted garden and your living room slowly turns to a jungle to compensate for the snow.

At this time of year I'm doing a lot of cooking, and I really love to cook. Naturally, I take advantage of Mother Natures flavours--Herbs are my favourite! However my aromatic friends just have not survived the dry, dreary environment that is my window sill.

    

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Fortunately I have tried a different approach this winter. A little hydroponic system that is the Areogarden, and in 7 days, I had created life. You can buy ready-to-grow pods of endless varieties (cherry tomatoes, chilies, flowers, herbs etc). All you have to do it drop them in the water and like any modern technology, you press a button to select that you are growing. 

 

  

 

Today marks the four weeks since I have dropped the seedlings into thier tubes and my mouth is watering to harvest my Basil (Ocimum basilicum) and Dill (Anethum graveolens). At our house, we eat pesto on and Dill like nobodies business! At-least I make sure we do, as I'm the queen of my kitchen.

Pesto is incredibly easy to make. All you need is a food processor, if you don't have one, come to our house. We have 3!

1/2 basil leaves

3 tbsp of pine nuts

3 tbsp of grated parm cheese

1 clove of garlic (I like to add more)

Extra virgin olive oil (not too much)

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