Munching on Willows

    It has been a while since we've seen a moose!

   This morning, while filling the kettle at the kitchen sink, I glanced out the window into the alleyway.  For a moment, my mind tried to make sense out of a bizarre image: that of a large dog climbing a tree!  Things clicked into place when the "dog" moved forward and I saw the rest of the body.  The "dog" was actually the head of the moose, bobbing up and down as it stripped new shoots off willow trees at the back of a property three or four doors up from ours. 

   She remained there about half an hour, quietly munching on the trees.  She appears in pretty good shape, from what we could tell, aside from a round wound on her shoulder, visible in these pictures.  I had hoped she would wander down the alley closer to our house, as there are short willows in the strip of land between our back fence and the alley.  Instead, she walked directly across the alley and onto another property.  (Neither of those properties had back fences.)   I keep checking to see if she has returned to the alley, but I think she instead might have walked to the front of the second property and right out their driveway onto the street.

   Pictures taken through our open kitchen window with my little camera on full zoom!  Click to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 UPDATE

   At 4:45pm, I placed something in the kitchen sink and looked out the window...just in time to see the moose slowly walking out from the property she wandered into earlier this morning.  She must have had a snooze for the afternoon in their yard!  She is back to munching on trees in the alley.  I hope she has another snooze and doesn't try to make her way back to the edge of town until later tonight, when it's dark.

 

 

Little Mystery Tomatoes

 

 

 

 

Bohemian Buddies and Scrounging for Seeds

   

   Sitting on the front step yesterday in the sunshine, I heard them before I saw them.  Bohemian waxwings!  I got up and followed the sound around the side of the house.  There in a crabapple tree, and hopping around on the bathtub planter beneath it, were dozens of Bohemian waxwings. Some were perched in the tree and appeared to be enjoying the sun, while others were eating the shriveled crabapples remaining from last Fall.  I got to 38 before I stopped counting the waxwings.  They are so pretty, and make such a sweet trilling sound.  It's nice that they were able to enjoy our crabapple buffet before moving on.

   This morning, a single blue jay briefly stopped by.  We rarely see blue jays here, so he quickly got my attention when he appeared in our yard.  Or rather, his piercing shriek-calling to a feathered friend (whose reply seemed to be coming from 3 properties over) got my attention.  Yikes.  You can't mistake the sound of a blue jay who's looking for food or his kin!

   The tomato and pepper transplant tally stands, for the moment, at 119.   The Reinhard's Chocolate Heart tomatoes, started at the same time as the other indeterminates, weren't germinating.  A new batch was started on March 29 in a small container.  I dropped that container yesterday while moving transplants in the plant room.  Arhg!  Thankfully, only the cats were home to witness me on my hands and knees, scrapping through the potting soil that was scattered across the plant room floor, looking for seeds.  (What can I say?  It's a rare variety.)   I spotted and rescued a few that had begun to germinate, replanted them, and now have six tiny Reinhard's Chocolate Heart seedlings on the go!  The Japanese Black Trifile seeds planted March 30 (to make up for the Chocolate Hearts, which looked like they just were not going to produce...opps...) have also started to germinate.  There will be an abundance of black tomatoes this year!

 

Reinhard's Chocolate Heart seedlings, rescued from the floor!

 

"Rescued" R's Chocolate Heart (L).  Japanese Black Trifele (R) sprouting.

 

Pepper and tomato transplant (French lavender to the right)

 

More transplants. (I could use ~3 more grow lights like this!)

Transplants in the kitchen...

   The weather in March was milld, more like what we'd typically see in late April.  The snow and ice are gone from the raised beds and garden plots, including the garlic patches.  Despite the mild temperatures, I am have been on a hot chocolate kick.  That's more about comfort and coziness than chilly weather and dreary skies, no doubt.  It's a crazy world these days, and I'll take simple pleasures where I can.

 

    Along the south side of the house, I have set out milk (and juice) jug greenhouses with cosmos (Sensation Mix and Double-Click Mix), pansies (Swiss Giant and Verna Velvet Blue), parsley (curly and Italian Flat-Leaf), Swiss Chard (Red and 5 Colour Silverbeet), kale (Lacinato, Rainbow Lacinato, Curly Blue, Siberian Dwarf), and cabbage (Copenhagen, Red Express, Aubervilliers, Late Flat Dutch , Golden Acre, and Chinese "Hilton").  Already, the Rainbow Lacinato, Siberian Dwarf, and Late Flat Dutch have germinated.  Later this month, or in early May, Summer Savoury and marigolds will be started in jugs as well.  I love this method of seed starting.  It saves a ton of room in the house, and the plants don't have to be hardened off.

 

A Pleasant Distraction

   

   I decided to throw caution to the wind and to wait no longer!  I started jalapeno, Shepherd (a sweet, red, pointed pepper), and tomato seeds on March 19 (determinates) and March 24 (indeterminates).  I also started some greens (kale, cabbage, Swiss chard) and cosmos around March 20 in milk jug greenhouses, which are lined against the south side of the house.  I could have - likely should have - waited another two or three weeks to start most things.  As a calorie-free stress-buster and pleasant distraction, though (both things I needed this month), seed-starting and garden planning can't be beat. 

The tomato varieties started this year (all but 3 are new-to-me):

 

INDETERMINATE:

Andes/Andean/Cornue des Andes  (SEMI-DET, red, horn-shape, productive, meaty, ~75DTM, paste tomato, few seeds, rich flavour, brought to France/Europe from the Andes)

Reinhard’s Chocolate Heart (INDET, brown oxheart, rare, rich flavour, 80-85DTM, 300-400g, German origin, cross between Cherokee Green x a pink oxheart)

Monomakh’s Hat (INDET or SEMI-DET, large pink oxheart, productive, 70-80DTM, Russian origin)

Indigo Pear Drop (INDET, large cherry, heavy yields, golden yellow with purple/antho shoulders, sweet, 65-70DTM)

Japanese Black Trifele (INDET, mahogany/brown with dark green shoulders, 4-6 oz fruit, pear-shaped, crack resistant, rich smoky flavour, productive, fairly rare, origin: Estonia/Russia, 80-85DTM)

 

DETERMINATE

EM-Champion (DET, red/meaty, 3-4’ tall, early-midseason, can grow in large pots)

Black Sea Man (DET, brown/black, heirloom, beefsteak, 8-12 oz, rich flavour, slicer, determinate, can be grown in large containers, early, ~ 75 DTM)

Clear Pink Early (DET, round, pink fruit, compact, heavy yields, bushy growth, 3-6oz round, slicer, sweet, Russian heirloom)

Early Annie  (DET., red, heirloom, medium fruit, 3-inch round, early 60-70 DTM, prolific, slicer/canner)

Emalia  (DET, saladette, long, curved point, caramel brown with green shading, sweet flavour, rare, 3.5-5’ tall, high yields, mid-season, French origin, open-pollinated, cross between Lucky Tiger x Orange Walk)

Dina  (DET, open-pollinated, apricot/creamsicle colour, high carotene content, round, medium size, 100-150g, midseason ~80 DTM, productive, Russian/Ukraine/Belarus origin)

Beauty King Dwarf  (Indet. DWARF, open-pollinated, red w/ vertical gold stripes, oblate/beefsteak, productive, few seeds, 3 – 4’ tall, 75 DTM, balanced/rich flavour)

Doucet’s Petitbec (DET, Quebec heirloom, large red cherry, compact plant 16-24”, ~65DTM, crack-resistant, keeps well, tangy flavour)

 

 

   This is the rosemary plant I've overwintered indoors for two or three years.  Its summers are spent outside.  It has become like another houseplant.  It's so nice to have fresh rosemary year 'round.

Freezing Temps and New Seeds

Happy New Year!

   The last two weeks have been very cold.  This past week, we had several days of -35 to -40 C temps with ice fog and periodic light snow.  Suffice to say, we stuck close to home and only ventured out to run necessary errands.

   Last night, it began to flurry.  By this morning, we had another 6 inches of snow.  Fortunately, it had "warmed up" to -20 by this morning, so R. was able to start the snowblower (it wouldn't start last week).  He managed to clear the driveway and I was able to do some shoveling without the risk of frostbite.  What a difference 10 or 15 degrees in the right direction makes.

Pictures taken around 3:00PM this afternoon.

 

   With several months to go before I can start seeds for transplants, I have been scratching the gardening itch by researching heirloom varieties that are new to me and doing trades with other gardeners.  In December, I did a trade with a fellow in Vancouver for some dwarf and indeterminate tomatoes. I also connected with a woman in Sweden through an online dwarf tomato group (I'm chucking at how niche that sounds).  We did a seed trade and had a great chat online about uncommon varieties.  Some of the varieties she sent me were rare and/or relatively new crosses, ones I just couldn’t find online in Canadian or American groups or even for sale from seed businesses in North America.   You have to love the whimsical names some tomatoes have: Delta Moss Dwarf, Dwarf Saucy Mary, Favorie de Bretagne, Long Tall Sally,  Summer Cider Apricot, Evil Olive, Brad's Atomic Grape, Blaue Zimmertomate (“Blue Tomato Room”), etc.    

   Seeds of Diversity's annual member seed exchange launched yesterday.  I managed to find two tomato varieties I'd been hunting for (Clear Pink and Reinhard's Chocolate Heart), as well as two dry bush bean varieties (Goose Gullet, an Acadian heirloom dating back to the late 1700s, and Weiner Treib, a Dutch variety that is early for a dry bean).  There were many unusual and interesting varieties listed by other members, and I could have gone nuts acquiring them if I'd let myself.  Limited funds and limited garden space helped keep me focused enough to chose a few and leave the rest!

 

Ice on the Windows

   The end of December has brought frigid temperatures with it.  As I type (at 9:45AM) it is -31 degrees C.  During the night, while up puttering, the atmosphere in the house told me it was bitterly cold outside.  My curiosity got the best of me, so I opened the front door (it groaned and screeched on it's hinges) and peeked out.  It was -39 degrees and the air was thick with ice fog. 

   The inside of the kitchen windows have ice building up at their bases, and the lip the of the front door latch (visible inside the house) has thick frost on it. 

 

 

   When it's cold, the ravens and magpies come and go.  When it's really cold, the ravens tend to stick around, sitting in the neighbours' trees, waiting for the scraps of old cat food I sometimes put out.  Here's a solitary fellow - his buddies were in another tree nearby.

 

   

   It's a day for staying put with a warm cup of tea, a good book, or some indoor chores to do.  I am glad there is nowhere I have to be today, and shake my head at the memories of walking to work for years in this weather.  *shudder*.

First Big Snow of the Season

 

   A winter storm warning was issued for the area yesterday.  It forecast snow in the amount of 20-30cm this weekend.  It began snowing last evening and continued through the night.  When I went outside this morning (-16 degrees C) to shovel the step, I measured what had fallen.

  

 

   If you're wondering what that brown thing is, that is the tip of a 30cm ruler that I shoved into the snow.  It looks like the forecasters were right on the money!

 

 

 

The view from the front step.

   The forecast says that a series of low pressure systems are moving through the area that will produce 20-30cm by Sunday morning (tomorrow).  We already got the 30cm, thanks.  I hope we don't get any more!