Tomato Down

   Our new kitties are fascinated by plants.  Bea, in particular, has a penchant for sleeping in jades, while Loulou has a history of munching tomato seedlings.  Though we have extra shelving units set up this year, and have left several of the shelves empty, they have still been most attracted to the shelves full of pots, tools, and seedlings.  Both have repeatedly trooped through my herbs and leeks in an attempt to bird watch or more closely observe random bugs that catch their eye.

   They are adorable.  Still, I do hope that seed starting will be less eventful and trying next year!


   Click on pictures to view the mayhem in more detail.

Bird watching and general mischief.

Tomato down!  Bea attempted to hop up to see me when I was moving around transplants.  Opps.

Recovering from the excitement. Watching humans clean up is exhausting.

At The Root Of It All

    It is 20 degrees and sunny this afternoon.  This morning, it was so nice out that I decided to weed the two segmented lettuce beds on the front lawn near the cherry tree. That location seems to be too hot for radishes and lettuce (they bolt quickly), so I am going to try growing beets there this year. I planted Detroit Red beets, Chioggia beets, Golden beets, and Cylindra Beets.

    Butters came over several times to socialize and help. She is so happy to have company outside!  She chased the birds, watched me dig, rested under the crab apple tree, rubbed by elbow and gave me head butts.  It's nice to have a feline assistant while I'm puttering in the garden.

    Some garlic and kale have sprouted in the raised bed by the currant bush.  I found the plastic mesh and covered that bed to keep the cats out, and covered the beet bed with an old section from a wood screen door that was in the shed. Fit perfectly. 

    This afternoon, I planted carrots and a few garlic chives in one of the raised beds along the driveway.  There are already a few red onions sprouting around the perimeter of that bed. For carrots, I planted Berlicummer from Salt Spring Seeds (long, coreless, orange), Scarlet Nantes (traditional orange), Jaune Obtuse du Doubs from Baker Creek Seeds (pale yellow), and a mix of purple, white, yellow, and red carrots from The Cottage Gardener (the varieties are not specified on package).  I covered the bed with burlap and floating row cover, watered the heck out it, and hope to see some carrot sproutlings in a week or two.

    I was happy to find the order of seed potatoes I placed with Eagle Creek Farms a few months ago in today's mail.  I ordered a foursome of Caribe, Linzer Delikatess, Alaska Sweetheart, and Nicola potatoes.  We'll fill in the rest of the potato patch with the same potatoes (Russets, mainly) we grew last year.  For now, they are in my closet, where it's nice and cool!

Canadian Seed Libraries

Below is a small list of Canadian seed lending libraries.  
For seed swaps and exchanges, check out this link. 

Dunedin Public Library Seed Library - pic from the Tampa Bay Times

Seeds of Diversity Canadian Seed Library

Salt Springs Seed Sanctuary - Lots of good information here.  A one-time membership fee of $20 is required to borrow seed. Based in Salt Spring Island, BC.

The Halifax Heritage Seed Library - Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Here is a nice article about the HHSL.  A location is soon coming to Dartmouth, too.

Populuxe seed bank - Based in Edmonton, Alberta.  They also have a current Twitter account.

Dalhousie University's Seed Library - The first university-funded seed library in Canada.  Located in the Macrae library on the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus in Nova Scotia.  They have a Facebook page, and here is a nice article about the library.

Toronto Seed Library - Based in Toronto, Ontario.  There are currently 16 on-location branches of the Toronto Seed Library, as well as 3 traveling branches.  They also have a Facebook page and Twitter account.

Victoria Seed Library - Affiliated with the Greater Victoria Public Library in Victoria, BC. 

Find More Seed Libraries HERE  - Scroll down the page to find additional Canadian seed libraries (some formal, some grass-roots).

Seed Library Locator Map

Bea in the Peace Lily

Our cats - especially Bea - love to sit in the middle of our Peace Lily, especially when the fan is going.  That poor plant!

Garlic Planting and Puttering Outside

   It is a sunny and surprisingly hot (19 degrees C at noon) Spring day!  I have been outside raking old leaves into the garden and planting garlic bulbs along the edges of the tomato beds.  We planted some a few years ago but it didn't come up the following Spring.  Wrong location, perhaps, or not adequately mulched.  Or maybe just the fact that we live in a part of the country that has obscenely cold winters.  In any case, we're trying again this year with some commercial bulbs R. bought and a few smaller bulbs I received in a trade - a mix of heirloom varieties.

    Our new seedling supervisors, Bea and Loulou, stayed inside while I worked outdoors.  As eager as Bea is to get out the front door and explore, our intention is to keep them inside this summer.  They are still small and curious enough to get themselves into serious trouble if allowed outside.  My neighbour/volunteer supervisors, Butters and Loreal, both showed up to say hello and watch what I was doing.  Unfortunately, they seem to be sworn enemies, so neither stuck around very long.

Bea

Loulou

   We have our seed starting shelving unit set up in the plant room, and R. bought another one (!) to set in up in the living room, after a bit of rearranging.  The windows are south-facing and get a lot of sun and heat during the day.  I have been moving the trays from one room to the other, following the sun.  Unconventional, but it works for us.


 

Living room - leeks, herbs, tomatoes, jalapenos, marigolds, & zinnias

Plant room - basil, parsley, celery that won't germinate, pansies, cabbage, & broccoli

New Seedling Supervisors

   
     Introducing our new seedling supervisors, adopted from the SPCA two weeks ago.  Bea* (the tortie) and her littermate, Loulou* (orange and white) seem to be settling in well. 

     Bea adjusted quickly and is an outgoing, curious, affectionate charmer.  She purrs and "talks" a lot.  She also enjoys eating.  She is mischievous and inserts herself into any situation that involves cuddles, treats, or person-pet conversation.

   
     Little Lou is very timid, dainty, and acts like she might have had a hard go of things before being surrendered to the SPCA.  Initially, she hid under our sofa for two days and then ran to hide when we made eye contact with her or moved too quickly.  She is very quiet; there is rarely a peep from her, though we do hear her talking to Bea in their secret language of coo's and mrff's.  She does not seem as inclined to eat, which we are watching.  She is slowly getting used to us (more quickly to R, which is a new and kind of sad experience for me...), and is sticking close to Bea, who behaves more like a protective mom than her sister.

    Despite Loulou's timidness, she and Bea play full-throttle when the mood strikes, racing around the house, chasing after balls and toys, knocking over their food and water dishes, and ambushing each other in the litterbox. 

    The kitties are estimated to be about a year old and they came to us already named. Bea was originally named Brittany (can you imagine?) and Lou/Loulou was named Louanne.  I don't know who came up with these names but suffice to say, we changed them as soon as they were home with us.

     I'm not sure if the "seedling supervisor" designation will stick.  I got home from a house call today and discovered that the tips of several tomato seedlings had been munched off!  I'm quite sure Bea did it, as she has been eager to nibble on my herbs and seedlings for the past week.  Clearly, the two trays of grass we've grown for the cats isn't providing sufficient chlorophyll in her diet!


(Click to enlarge pictures)

Easter Sunday, Starting Seeds

   It is a sunny, mild Easter Sunday.  I decided this morning that today would be a good day to start a few tomato seeds.  I planted:

Jaune Flamme (first time growing)
Bonny Best (first time growing)
Paul Robeson
Moskvich
Patio Princess  (first time growing - hybrid)
Gajo de Melon  (first time growing)
Early Annie  (first time growing)
Yellow Taxi
Eva Purple Ball
Black Plum (first time growing)

   Though I planted more than we can put in our yard, I was still niggled by the lack of a green variety in the bunch!  An hour later, I planted Green Zebra (first time growing).  If all goes well, I will have 50 plants - plenty to share.

   I also started Ping Tung (eggplant), jalapeno, and paprika seeds.  First time trying the paprika peppers.