That Garden ITCH

I've got the itch. Maybe it never left actually. I've just suppressed it with indoor plants, reading blogs of other fellow Niagara grower and following along with Linda from Tree and Twig as she lives out my dream in Wellandport, Ontario doing her thing.

Anyway. Here is the low-down about what I have been brewing up for this 2013 growing season.

I had a really productive and good chat with my partner in all things green, Julia. (more on Julia soon).

 We grew a pretty impressive shared garden on her land in Vineland last summer, and this year we have been sharing ideas and brainstorming what we'd like to do differently this summer. She is also expecting her second baby... only 3-4 weeks apart from us. So she totally is in the same boat as me.... kinda excited to be gardening with a newborn cause they won't be a mover and a chaker quite yet... but also mildly freaking out because we both recall the exhaustion and demands of a newborn. Her son is 2 (this month!) and my son is 5, turning 6 in October. Both our children have consumed their weight in dirt, yearly...

 and are no strangers to getting their hands on a shovel and "helping". (see other posts of my amazing helper).

 We both have full intentions of sharing our harvest like we did this past summer... but I think we are looking for some "help" as well this summer. We discussed how we can con our friends into coming out to the farm, and lending a useful hand with the duties... and bribe them with a share of the harvest. Julia is also an INCREDIBLE cook... so I threw in the idea of having a BBQ every once and a while... and I think she took the bait. :)

Sweet.

I drool EVERY TIME she says she is a) cooking b) bringing something over at lunch hour c) talking about what she made for dinner for her fam-jam d) talks about her dilly beans. Mouth-gasm.

We also had a great idea last year, which we hope to implement this year... weigh our harvest, and see how much we a) grew b) how much money we SAVED (and basically earned) from growing our own fruit and veg.

We are both planning on attending Niagara's Seedy Saturday (THIS SATURDAY!) and making way with a few seeds we didn't manage to harvest from last years crops... and.... also give diversity to our current seeds, and ... well... rub shoulders with other fellow garden nerds. I have a list that my son and I put together...more on that when we get out seed stash in a few short days.... SK is pretty pumped about having his own veggie box this summer! (he choose box number 3 as "his" and has chosen what he wants to grow. I am proud of his selection. He thinks diversely about what he wants to grow, and sensibly and thoughtfully considered his garden speaking about proper spacing.

He's 5.

SK age 4, at Vineland Garden

I will post on this specific amazingness as it progresses, but I am thrilled he has the garden bug like his 'ol mamma :)

My other enthusiastic urban gardening friend Laura has already pre-planned going together! Woot! I always have a good time with Laura. I am hoping she is a browsing kind of a mood... I tend to like mulling over the tables and displays for a while. I also like nuzzling up to someone with dirt under their finger nails (that's how you know they are legit in the area of gardening) and just picking their brains for a little while.

Anyways... if Laura wants to leave after an hour....  I'm totally fine with being abandoned, and left to fend for myself. (ie: bum a ride from someone going back to St. Catharines!)

Here are some photos of my gardens of the past here in Niagara.

April 2012

Fall 2011

Seedlings 2012

Seedlings 2012

May 2012
Front Yard Garden - Far Back - Ground Cherries, Middle - 2 green pepper plants
closest to me - 3 Current Cherry Tomatoes

June 2012 - Same post as above

My home in Niagara - view from front door

Dino kale, fennel, beets, volunteer melon (likely from compost heap, and...something I forget cause I successively planted 3 different crops  in that spot) Maybe beans..?