Final Harvest

The final harvest of lettuce and Dahlia 'Park Princess'...my favourite that does extremely well in containers at the lake. I suspect they love the extra humidity offered in this location.

As the cottage is closed before the frost strikes the dahlias, I cut off the flowers to enjoy and then cut the stems about six inches above the soil. The tuber is dug out, soil hosed off and then set in the sun for a few days to dry off before storing. The tuber is placed in a closed paper bag with peat moss and placed in an open plastic bag and stored for the winter in my cold room which hovers at about 40c. I periodically check the moisture in the bag making sure that it is not becoming too damp. If that occurs open the bags up a bit more. On the other hand if the tuber looks to be drying, sprinkle some water onto the peat moss and close the bag a bit more.

Mache

The 'in' lettuce to grow in one's garden. I brought the seed from France, although it is now available in North America. Some might know it as lamb's quarters. I love it because it is a late season lettuce crop so when the mesclun is waning, Mache is in its prime.

I always wash and spin my lettuces immediately after picking. I use Ziploc reusable sealable plastic vegatable bags and find all lettuces keep in them very well. Bonus is that they are always ready to use. Mache keeps extremely well in these, up to a week.

Summer Harvest

Today was a wonderful summer harvest from the garden. The tomatoes I grew from seed inside under lights until planted in the garden. Lettuce planted directly into the garden. My favourite Park's Whopper tomatoes, Sungold, and a new variety this year that I tried, Black Cherry. They are a bit larger that Sungold, but very tasty, juicy and a fun colour. The lettuce is mesclun and the red frilly leafed is Lolla Rossa from seed that I brought back from Italy. All this makes for a very colourful gourmet salad.

Vegetables at Last

Well I have finally harvested some vegetables from the 'varmint' garden. I did harvest one meal of lettuce early on but guess I bragged too much and the varmint said...'I'll fix her!'

Last week I harvested the first of the french filet beans....my favourite. Seed came straight from France....thank you daughter. Although OSC seeds now has the variety and have heard they are very good too. And again more regrown lettuce. Thank heaven for 'cut and come again' variety by Renee's Gardens. Yesterday another season first...the sugary taste of Sungold cherry tomatoes...my absolute favourite. Sooo sweet and tender skinned and a fun colour, orange.

The Sungold tomato plants are gigantic this summer....a hot one, perfect for them. They do get watered every day. I severely pruned them yesterday as they would grow to heaven if not done and would never ripen before winter. Besides my dear deer friends are now leaning over said garden and nibbling on the tall plants. Two bucks are calling the cottage area home and I am suspecting them.

Woodchucks and Gardens

Mesclun mix was enjoyed once before our unfriendly local woodchuck chewed through two layers of chicken wire on my raised bed vegetable garden at the lake. Next night he chowed down on some lovely French filet bean plants.
Now the beautiful 'Martha- like' garden has boards around the base of the chicken wire in hopes of deterring said varmint. Temporary for now as the next plan is to use some heavier landscape wire (at least that is what they call it here). Or Annie Oakley could appear from nowhere.....oops did I say that?!

Summer Garden Tour

On Saturday I toured the gardens of the Steinbach area. What a beautiful selection of gardens! The Friends of Gardens Manitoba who organized this garden tour, arranged for a bus to transport any who wanted not to drive themselves.

One forgets how beautiful Manitoba is in the summertime. Travelling on the back roads finding the gardens, I loved the brilliant yellow canola fields as far as the eye could see. One garden had a canola field as its backdrop. Not many gardeners can boast having such planted beauty.

This same garden had the best examples of interspersing vegetables amongst the annuals and perennials. So often touted as the 'in' way to plant I can see why it is becoming so popular. We forget what beauty through colour and texture vegetables can bring to a garden. Plus, the added benefit of harvesting said plants for our eating enjoyment. Nothing compares to your own homegrown vegetables.

At the lake I have finally planted curly kale in two of my ornamental planting combinations. I love its look! A few months to decide how I will prepare to savour it.

On the Hunt

Still checking out my garden Asiatic lily plants everyday. Today an entomologist from the University of Manitoba came for the second time to collect any lurking red lily beetles and the larvae. Lots of larvae this time and last, but only two beetles. If I don't squish those larvae....more beetles on the way!
The entomology department is doing a study and dna testing on these samples with hopes of discovering a parasitic insect somewhere in this world that would devour these beetles/larvae. They also note exactly which genus,species and variety of lily they are discovered on. Fortunately, every time I plant any lilies I use a metal plant marker with the variety and planting date. I like to do this particularly when I must dig and separate/thin the lilies and replant or giveaway.