Strawberries for you?

I spent a good part of the weekend thinning out my strawberry bed. If you want some cast offs let me know!

Craving the Taste of Spring?

A recipe for you. And I'm planning to get cracking with the blog, folks. It's been a busy winter, but I see the light. (Literally and figuratively.)

Carrots and Canned Goods

I've been ignoring my garden a bit. I still haven't done the fall clean-up, but it's still technically fall for a couple weeks yet, so perhaps I will get it done. (And my spring bulbs aren't planted either.) But I did wander back there today and was happy to find some lovely carrots that didn't seem to suffer at all from the cold snap we had a few weeks back. That gave me hope (and the start of a great dinner).

The Tofino Community Food Initiative folks have been working hard preparing some canned goods for this weekend's craft fair. Please head on over to their site to see what goodies you can pick up — Sunset Point Pickled Kelp, anyone? — for great Christmas gifts that also support the TCFI's projects. They will be at the craft fair on Saturday only, from 11 to 7.

Now that's a turnip!

I'm doing a bit of historical research for something I'm writing and I came across this, from the Victoria Colonist, June 12, 1911:

Harold Sloman, aged 14, of Clayoquot, had a great day's shooting lately, the bag consisting of 38 duck and 1 goose. Apparently the farming in that district rivals the sport as his mother can show from her garden 2 turnips weighing 53 lbs.

Sorry for the silence here, folks. Just a bit too busy and nothing much but mud growing in my garden. (Well, that's not entirely true. I still have some lovely parsnips waiting for a frost to sweeten them up and some lettuce and a few winter brassicas.) Have you planted your garlic? Now's the time.

Garden Tour is Today!

Sorry for the late notice; I've been away. The garden tour is today, from 11 to 7. Not all of the gardens are open the entire time, so make sure you look for posters in town or go here for more info. My garden opens at 3. Please ignore the weeds!

Annual Garden Tour

The garden tour will be happening again this year, on September 9. We're still looking for gardens. Even if you think yours is too small, too modest, too weedy (like, ahem, mine will be soon), no worries. We'd still like to hear from you. Everyone has great ideas to share. Just leave a comment here if you are interested or email me at toughcitywriter [at] gmail [dot] com.

And there is another pruning workshop at OCN this Monday. Call Trina asap if you are interrested.

Book Your Calendar and Search Your Greenhouse

So I was out rooting around in the garden the other day and thought I'd better take a good look at what was going on in the bottom of the jungle in my little greenhouse. Out appeared two huge cucumbers! That was pretty exciting. I thought I was going to have to wait another month or so.

It's been busy with work, travel, and, yes, the garden so posts have been slight. Still trying to get some broccoli seeds started indoors, but I've probably missed the window. Perhaps if I had Carol McIntyre's winter veggie gardening calendar, I'd be on track! You can order yours now from Trina at OCN. She's only taking pre-orders so let her know now. Price is $16.99 + HST.