Hot and Hazy

A garden update, thanks to R., who sent pictures!  I'm still in Halifax and miss seeing how things are growing 'back home' in Northern BC. 

Irises in the flower bed

 

 Dahlias

 

 

   The heat wave that hit BC last week has taken a bit of a toll on the garden. A week of daytime temperatures in the high 30s/low 40s, and overnight temperatures in the mid-to-high 20s.  Uhg.  Daily watering has been needed, even in the sections that have been mulched with grass clippings.  The peas and strawberries aren't liking the heat.  Some of the Beka Brown beans got scorched...

 

...as did about half the carrot seedlings.
 

   As if the heat wasn't enough to contend with, an anonymous critter (a magpie, perhaps?) chewed off the tops of some of the bean plants.

 

   

   Temperatures this week have returned to normal (daytime: mid-to-high 20s), but the air is hazy with smoke from the hundreds of wildfires burning in the province.  Extreme heat + lightning storms are a terrible combination.

The garlic patch, tomatoes, and a few sunflowers in the south garden.

 

 Ground cherries from the greenhouse.

 

 Bea having a snooze in the tall grass of the raspberry patch.

 

 Lou, contemplating a snooze as well.

 

 Dwarf sunflowers

 

 Lemon mint going to flower.

 

 Tomatoes, peppers, and greens along the south side of the house.

 

 

More tomatoes (I'll know which varieties are where by the end of the summer!)

 The potato patch (North garden)

 

 The Swedish Red dry peas are developing flowers.

 

 A few tomatoes are starting to form (pictured below is a Bellestar tomato).

 

 The long view...

 

 Yellow zucchini from the greenhouse.

 

 Green zucchini from the greenhouse.

 

 A cucumber plant from the greenhouse. 

Honeysuckle From Below (Halifax Update)

    It is a cool, rainy day here in Halifax.  There has been a lot of precipitation since I arrived here in March.  I'm not complaining - it has made people's yards and the Public Gardens lush and beautiful, and it has kept the summer temperatures in check. (The same can't be said for BC, unfortunately...so many heat records have been broken in the past week, and wildfires now abound in the province.)

 

   The woman in the apartment below ours is a gardener, and set to creating her own personal garden on the apartment grounds around her first-floor balcony/deck when she moved in years ago. I don't think this is generally permitted.  My impression is that she is not one to take no for an answer and so she went ahead with her plans.  Sometimes, the "ask forgiveness, not permission" approach works out for everyone involved!  

 

   There are all sorts of lovely hosta varieties down there, as well as beautiful pink peonies, assorted annuals, and this honeysuckle, which grew up the side of the building. (Click on pictures to enlarge.)  Mom tended it once it reached our balcony. The chickadees and sparrows love hiding in it. 

 

 

 

 

   The only way I could get a shot of the largest hostas was to take the picture through the bottom of the honeysuckle vines.
 

A few more hostas and some peonies.

 

   

   This picture doesn't do the flowers justice.  These large, fluffy peonies are a gorgeous pink and look like soft powder puffs.  They are a tad droopy following a night of rain.

 

 

   These are a few extra transplants from my "garden" on our balcony.  Mostly kale, parsley, chard, and pansies.  They will soon to be moved upstairs to another neighbour's balcony where the rest of the garden plants are.  

 

 

Update (August 4) - Sadly, the neighbour downstairs who created the lovely garden of hostas, hydrangeas, and other perennials recently went into hospice care and will not be returning to the building.  As part of preparing her apartment space for new tenants, some of the things she planted are being removed.  The first to go was the honeysuckle.  We'll miss seeing the chickadees and sparrows resting in it.  I hope the hydrangeas (one of which is purple - really unique!) and hostas might be left in place.

June Garden Update - Beans Galore!

 

   R. sent me pictures today to show how the garden is coming along.  I miss being there to see it in person!   He focused on planting the basics this summer while I'm away - tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, peas (shelling and dry), beans (snap and dry), lettuce, and a small patch of carrots. 

 

Tomatoes

 

Tomatoes and peppers along the south side of the house.  I think lettuce is planted in the rectangular containers.

Beans - Tiger Eye (dry/bush with runners)

 

 More beans - Beka Brown (dry/bush)

 

 

...and more beans (Ruckle - dry/bush) and onions.

 The lilacs are in bloom.

 

 

    Last month, R. had someone cut back the trees in the front yard.  What a huge difference this will make in the amount of sunlight the South garden gets.

 

Peas - On the left side of the stake are shelling peas  (Alaska and Green Arrow). On the right side are a few rows of dry yellow peas (Gold Harvest).

 

 

   The potato patch (in the North garden). Along the left hand edge is a row of Swedish Red (dry) peas.

 

 Kitty enjoying the shade behind a tomato plant.

 The garlic patch (in the South garden this year).

 

   Loulou loves to hang out in the garlic patch, especially once the garlic has reached it's full height.

 

 

   Content and heading back inside after a morning of "supervising" R.'s work in the garden.

 

 

 

Chinese Leaf Garlic

   On the way home from a walk last night, Mom popped into a community garden in the area to look around.  It's large and literally just a block away from the apartment, but has a 3 year waiting list.  She chatted with a man who was tending his plot there and told him about my garden in northern BC...and of my attempts to get a plot while I'm here in Halifax for a time.  He gave her something out of his plot to bring back to the apartment: Chinese Leaf Garlic.  (Also called, "Chinese Chives", "Chinese Leeks", I gather.)  I'd never heard of it before!  It has a strong taste and will be nice in soups and salads.  I hope to run into that fellow this summer so I can thank him for his thoughtfulness.  It will be fun to see what the community garden members have growing over there, too.

Early May in NS and BC

   It's a chilly, damp 11 degrees C at 2:45pm here in Halifax.  We've had a string of cool, overcast days with a fair bit of rain. Most of the seeds I sowed have germinated.  It’s nice to have something growing, even if it’s not growing particularly well.  Between the cloudy days and the limited hours of sun exposure the seedlings get on the apartment balconies, some (especially the kale) have become leggy and will likely have to be started again.  The cabbage seedlings are small, but I might try transplanting them into pots this week anyway.  Fingers crossed for sustained sunshine…

 

My little "greenhouses"  

 

 

Dwarf Siberian kale, "Hilton" Chinese cabbage, Five Colour Silverbeet Swiss chard, and Kalibos red cabbage

 

 

 Leggy oregano

 

 Pansies (and a volunteer brassica of some sort!)

 

 Chinese Cabbage ("Hilton")

 

 Swiss Chard 

 

 

   Meanwhile, in northern BC,  R. turned the raised beds, working compost and dry manure into them this past week. He was also able to till the main garden plots, as the weather has cooperated and the ground was dry enough. He'll be able to do another round or two of tilling before planting in the plots near the end of the month.  The garlic has started to come up in the south garden, the first "garden season landmark" I look for.

 

The north garden 

 

 The south garden (which contains the garlic patch this year).

 

Lou, with a graceful après nap ballerina stretch, kindly points out the first garlic sprout of the season.