Strawberry fields forever

So, these are the start to something sweet (maybe)... I read an article online the other day about growing strawberries and decided that, since I get lots of sun on the deck and I have at least three hooks to hang pots on the deck, why not grow strawberries? It'd be something 'neat' to harvest if it worked! So, the strawberries I was snacking on over the last few days were finished off this morning and a few of them were sacrificed (well just some chunks with some seeds still attached) to the 'growing gods' (or at least I hope!). The styrofoam pot they come in worked perfectly to put my new seed-starting dirt in, and the plastic film that comes over them even already has an air-hole, and is secured by an elastic - it was the perfect set up for them, let's just hope it works now!

I also bought some little mini peat pots that I will be planting things in this weekend hopefully, after we get back from the seed sale!!! Eeeee! I'm such a geek!

Wow, I have more than I think!!

Wow, so I found a piece of lined paper that I had scrawled all my plants (or the ones we could identify) on last year when my former tenants' mother stayed here for a while. At first I wasn't too fond of the idea, considering, for one thing, that her son and daughter-in-law and their new baby were enough people in the already-crowded two-bedroom upstairs. It also became very apparent that she and her daughter-in-law didn't 'care' for each other overly much, so she spent most of her days sitting in the van in our driveway, with beer cans lined up in the snow banks and a smoke in her hand. However, to my surprise (and happiness), she was an avid gardener - actually she was one of those 'salt of the Earth' types who took pride in living in the middle of nowhere (like the woods), in a cabin with her dog. The only reason why she was relocating to Ottawa was so she could be closer to her son and her grand-daughter. Anyway, I digress.. So she marched me around my yard one day and showed me all the plants I had, and man did I ever learn a lot. I learned that the giant old maple in the back yard is what she referred to as a 'danger tree' (meaning that the wires tangled in its branches and the fact that at least two of its limbs are totally dead is not a good thing), and she pointed out different plants that I had no idea I had, and suggested how I could trim them back, etc.

So here's a list of what I'm starting with - makes me glad I didn't go ahead and order my $110 worth of seeds (catalogs are evil things) because quite honestly I think I may have more than I can handle already!

Here goes:
- orange lillies (who doesn't though)
- wild rose bushes
- ferns (possibly a 'Moose Antler Fern'?
- daisies
- black cherry tree
- English ivy
- juniper bush
- tulips and yellow crocuses
- peonie (but I'm not sure it survived when the previous owner butchered it!)
- 2 hostas (new to my garden in the Fall )
- hydrangea
- periwinkle
- peppermint
- spearmint
- dill
- lovage
- oregano
- tarragon
- basil
- thyme
- lavendar
- yellow tickseed
- some big huge red-flowered plants from Mom
- some unidentifiable purple 'pom-pom' looking flower I planted in the fall
- really annoying three-leafed plants that grow out of control and that I have to try to get rid of so they don't choke everything else out again
- two white-flowering trees (bushes) that I can't for the life of me remember the name of

So to that list, I'd like to add some hellebores for under the maple, astilbes for along the side in the shade, lemon thyme, fennel (loved it last year mmm), epimedium rubrium (better tell myself now - pretty ground-cover with pink flowers!) to go in the front under the cherry tree and around the juniper, and geraniums because they can grow well in shade.

Eeeek! I so have my work cut out for me here.
The exciting part too is that I am also hoping to move my herbs to big barrels that I'll keep on the deck in full-sun, and hopefully I'll grow some strawberries as well (apparently borage grown with strawberries enhances their flavour) and of course some tomatoes (but this year it'll be in a deep container as they apparently hate shallow ones, like the one I gave them last year).

Now I have to go make a list of things to do... And then go to sleep.

Zzzzz...

xo

I'm so EXCITED and I just can't HIDE IT!!

Eeeee!!! I'm so excited!! This year is the first year where I'm thinking AHEAD for spring. Normally, (like last year), I wait until May long-weekend, then go to Canadian Tire and maybe the local greenhouse to buy a bunch of annuals that I plant, which later die because my yard is almost full-shade and I have a penchant for sun-loving plants... This year, I've been studying the seed catalogs and making lists of shade-loving plants (I'm hoping to also find some that bloom at night, for my 'moon garden', since we're rarely around during the day to enjoy it). There's a good deal on through Veseys (based in PEI) where they're deducting $25 off your total bill if you spend $50 or more by March 12.
I did, however, buy three seed packets today while strolling through Zellers on my way home from the grocery store. You see, I accidentally stumbled into their garden section, and to my total surprise and delight, they were selling metal pots, buckets and watering cans of all shapes, sizes and colours!!! I have been wanting to find something like this for my garden, and was planning to go to garage sales and paint old ones. However, I resisted the temptation (it was hard - and I couldn't leave without comprimising with myself - so I bought a bucket of fertilizer because it was only $5 and three seed packets). I found some Forget-Me-Nots that are apparently shade-loving plants. Then I spoiled myself with Baby's Breath and a bright pink mix called 'CandyTuft - Fairy Mixed Colours'. I have never heard of it, but hopefully if I can get it to grow, it'll go in a nice bright yellow container on my back deck...

Here are some pictures of what I hope they'll turn out looking like (will be interesting to compare results):

Candytuft:

Forget Me Not:

Babys Breath:

Oh, and I found a neat little site that sells really cool gardening tools - they're for kids, so they're probably not overly durable, but the watering cans are adorable (see above)! http://storeforknowledge.com/category.aspx?SID=1&Category_ID=278&Page=3

Anyway, according to the directions on my seed packets, I have to start some of the seeds in February (as in, NOW) and that scares me to death because I don't have grow-lights, need to buy a shelf, don't have containers or potting mix, etc and am relying on the sun coming through the window (it gets full sun all afternoon). Hopefully my little babies will LIVE!!!

Yearning for Spring!

Reclaiming my youth (and growing something green!!)... Growing carrot-tops on wet paper-towel... Why not? :) It's been only about three days and already I have green sprouting!!!