Vertical Gardening

I know it is barely January, but I am already thinking about my garden and how I can add some wow factor to it.  Our lot is postage stamp sized, so not too much can happen.  

Last year at my favourite garden centre, there was an amazing display wall with vertical plantings of succulents.  I fell head over heels!  So gorgeous and such a statement!  My hubby does not know it yet, but we will be having some sort of vertical garden happening this summer, ha ha!  Get out those power tools, baby!!

Here are a couple of vertical gardens I have been checking out lately:

I think this is called a cucumber teepee.  I grew two cucumber plants this past year and used one of those round tomato cage things (can you tell I am new at this?) and thy grew like crazy all over the place.  I like this idea for veggies that like to climb.  Plus it looks like it would be simple to harvest it all as well.  I don't have the space for a teepee this size, but still, this idea is definitely a keeper.

Photo from Veggie Gardener.

 

This is another great idea for veggies.  Last year, in addition to cucumbers, I also planted cherry tomatoes, red peppers, and black tomatoes.  I was so excited to try the black tomatoes but, even though 9 or 10 lovely tomatoes grew, I only got to try... zero.  Yep, none of them made it into the house thanks to a little animal family.  Not sure if it was a mouse or rabbit family but, nonetheless, I got none.  The cherry tomatoes grew really well, so well that they knocked over their tomato cages several times.  And the red peppers were okay even though they were completely crowded out by the cucumbers.  This garden looks like a great solution though.  I just love that the veggies aren't on the ground for lil critters.  I am not being stingy here, but geez, my garden is supposed to actually help feed our family and not just exist solely as a critter buffet!  Ha ha!  Plus, the veggies are so easy to see, which would be helpful when I ask the kids to go pick the veggies!

Garden photo from Gardening with Kids.

I. love. this!  It is housed in a restaurant in Palo Alto, but can you imagine a small version for home?  Love the black, love the chalk writing, love the amazing amount of herbs, love it all!!

Photo found at Food Gal.

Love this!  And it's even in the kitchen!  It looks like it's up against the side of the fridge perhaps.  How wonderful to grab fresh herbs daily, and I would expect that the scent would be heavenly!  Plus the pop of green is just a bonus.  

Found at Design Squish here.

How cute is this one?  I love the vintage vibe from the old window.  The plants peeking out can have such variety - I think there are actually some strawberries on the left side in the first or second vertical panel.  I could see this up against my fence near my lavender plants!

Photo found at Restored Style.

I saved this one for last!  It is just breathtaking.  Imagine waking up in the morning and seeing this every day!  J'adore!

From NY Times.

Check out some other vertical garden photos pinned to my Gardens board on Pinterest.  Now I am off to dream of green!

What Comes First: the Apple or the Tree?

I found something super awesome the other day.  I was slicing up an apple and I found some of the seeds broken open and growing roots!  Isn't that crazy?  Sprouting seeds in my apple!  I have never, ever, ever seen that before.  The ones in the picture below are the ones I kept, and the kids are having fun checking the "seed status" every morning.  I am hoping we will be able to plant these once they get a little bit bigger.  I have never had any kind of fruit tree before, so this should be interesting!  Ha!

Arrow #1  The seed on the right that is breaking through the brown casing reminded me of a tulip bulb (dark and papery on the outside, smooth and white on the inside).

Arrow #2  This seed has turned green inside (I think it goes from white to green) and has the beginning of a tiny sprout bump by the arrow tip.

Arrow #3  This seed has completely shed its skin, is fully green, and has split in half from bottom to top.  The two halves are connected at the base where the root is growing.

Arrow #4  These two seeds are still in the apple as their roots are very long and intertwined.  I didn't want to try to separate the roots from the apple core and risk breaking them.  You can see how the roots are all coiled up together.  (I have since been able to remove them from the apple.)

 

Fresh Guacamole

Guacamole is one of my most favourite things ever! So easy, so fast, soooo good for you! Did you know that avocadoes are good for "women's health"? Yes, they promote a healthy reproductive system. And it is kinda cool, too, because an avocado supposedly takes 9 months from start to finish just like a baby! At least, that's what I've heard. I haven't wikipedia'ed it or anything. Ha!



INGREDIENTS

handful cherry tomatoes (thank you, garden!)

handful cilantro leaves

1 French shallot (I didn't have a regular onion)

3 avocadoes

squirt or 3 of lime juice



DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut the avocadoes in half. Remove the pits. Use a fork to mash up the avocado while the flesh is still in the skin. Using a spoon, scoop out the mashed flesh. (Sorry, forgot the pic for this one.)



2. Chop tomatoes finely. I used a mini food processor for the tomatoes.





3. Chop the onion and the cilantro. Put everything into a mixing bowl and add some lime juice.



4. This is cheating and not authentic at all, but I like to throw in some sour cream - maybe a half cup or so - for some extra creamy goodness.



5. Mix everything together and add more lime juice if necessary. You want to be able to taste the brightness of the lime!



This is where I usually stop unless my hubby is hankering for some heat. In that case, I will also add cumin, jalapeno, hot pepper powder, spices, etc. The fresh, non-heat version is my favourite though.

Blueberry Picking!

I am sitting here typing with one hand as I scarf down blueberries with the other. Wow, I love those little things!

Took the kids out blueberry picking today for the first time (them, not me), and they thought it was great! We were the only ones there for the first half of our picking time... guess it was too hot for everyone else! Oh well. More for us!

Now I am searching for out-of-the-ordinary blueberry recipes to use up my 20 cups or so of blueberries! (Did I mention they are super ripe and need to be used or frozen pretty much immediately? Yeah. Lol!)

See that full pail on the ground? There's another in the stroller seat and it is even more full than the first!

The entire field is covered in netting to keep the birds away.

We saw this interesting-looking bird on the way home, just walking along the road. Aren't those polka dots crazy? We were thinking this might be a grouse...

Garden Update

Long time, no update and since a picture is worth a thousand words, here we go!

Please ignore the grass. It is the bane of my existence. In our city, we are prohibited from using any form of chemical weed control. Ask me how I feel about that! Ergggghhh. Anyway, the planter box on the left is the herb garden and the herbs are ginormous! I have got purple basil, regular basil, rosemary, mint, parsley, chives, and cilantro. Loving it!!


The planter box on the right is full of mostly cherry tomatoes.

How come no one ever told me that tomatoes from your own garden (or planter box!) are way better than any other tomatoes?? Well, they are!! These plants are definitely wild growers. Next time, I will have to use the wire teepee-looking things. You know what I mean, plus I have no idea what they're called...