Happy New Year!

Pat and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year.
I came across a quote the other day, which really made a lot of sense for us. Not sure whom wrote it.

"Dirt under the nails is no indication of social status or wealth of the gardener.

And in the garden, money doesn't imply knowledge or the ability to grow plants.

Gardeners share and have shared their bounty in the way of seeds for centuries.

We as a family of man have lost our way but maybe, just maybe some directions

lie in our garden."

Happy Gardening!

Future plantings.

We received the final seed catalogue this week, so we put together our seed orders and sent them away. We should start receiving the seeds sometime in January and February. There were quite a few new flower and vegetable varieties this year again. One of the flowers I am looking forward to seeing how they do is a new Lavatera. It is called Pink Blush and T & T Seeds describes it as being a new dwarf type, with large white flowers with a pink striation. The picture they printed in the catalogue is very striking. The plants are compact, about 16" tall, great for the border or for mass plantings. Also ideal for containers. I will be starting seed and having some plants available for bedding plant sales.

We are going to try our luck with celery this year, so we will have to do some research on the seed starting process, planting and harvesting. We are also trying a new carrot called Atomic Red which is an heirloom variety. The catalogue description is: Large tapered, 11" roots with a beautiful scarlet colour that gets brighter when cooked. This variety gets it's hue from healthful Lycopene, credited for helping to prevent several types of cancer. Draw out the Atomic Red's remarkable colour and flavour by steaming, roasting or baking these crispy roots.

The pictures today are an African daisy.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and keep the visions of gardens dancing in your heads.

Rhubarb.

Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. It is a good source of vitamin C and iron, and is widely used in deserts, jams and other preparations. The variety we will have available for sale this Spring is "Canada Red". Hardy to Zone 2, it produces tender, sweet and slender red stalks which hold their colour when cooked.

The ideal soil for a rhubarb patch is clay loam. Rhubarb plants respond well to moisture, although reliable yields can be obtained with minimal moisture. Do not harvest during the year of planting or during the following year. The root and crown must be allowed to grow in order to store energy reserves. Full harvest can begin the third year after planting. No more than two thirds of the large stalks should be removed at any one time.

In harvesting rhubarb, simply pull the stalks; this will usually cause them to separate from the crown. Harvesting begins in late May and continues until July. Under most conditions harvesting should cease at the end of July to allow the the food reserves to build up again in the roots and crown. The leaves of the plant are not consumed as they contain a high concentration of oxalic acid salts which can be very toxic. They are a good source of organic matter for the compost pile.

We have included a recipe for Rhubarb that is a huge favourite around our house.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie

2-9" unbaked pie shells

1/3 cup 0f flour

4 cups rhubarb chopped

1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries cut in half

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

In a large bowl, combine rhubarb and strawberries. In a separate bowl, mix 1/3 cup flour, sugar and yogurt. Pour over fruit. Pour fruit and sour cream mixture into pie shells.

Prepare brown sugar topping by mixing last 3 ingredients together until crumbly. Spread on top of pies. Bake at 450 degrees F. for 15 minutes, then reduce to 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Can be frozen after baking.

Winter Walk

We went for a walk in the bluff of trees by our house and took a few pictures which we have included. We like to check out the various tracks of the different animals in the snow. We came across deer, mice, red squirrel and coyote tracks in the bluff. It is a very peaceful place as the the wind cannot get at you amongst the trees and the elevation drops into a ravine in the centre of the bluff. This is where the resident deer raises her fawn throughout the summer. The area is also home to many of the bird species that raise their young here. We came across lots of bird nests built in the trees throughout the yard.

Right now the only bird species we have residing here are the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers and lots of chickadees. The Magpies and Ravens hang around the yard, scavenging for morsels of food or carrion. They like to frequent the compost bin, when the compost reaches near the top of the bin. Today we watched a magpie try to figure out a way to get at the Suet feeder. We have it suspended from a tree limb and first the Magpie would stand on the limb above the feeder, and try to reach the suet and then it would jump to the branch below the feeder , but could not reach the suet that way either. Eventually it gave up, but we will keep watching as you just never know what they will come up with to access food. We provide suet, nyjer seed and black oil sunflowers for winter feed for the birds. The woodpeckers love the suet, as do the chickadee's. The woodpeckers like the sunflowers that are out in the gardens. On our walk we inspected the sunflowers that are still standing in the gardens and it looks like they have all been eaten now. We thought they would at least last till January as there were plenty of sunflowers still standing.

The final sighting of recent was a male Whitetail Deer, with a large set of antlers. It came sauntering out of the bluff, in front of the house around noon one day. Was probably visiting the resident doe.