The only problem with promising to blog every week, is the list of subjects to blog about. I don’t have one, I must admit.
I suppose I should start with a recap of the summer so far – gardening (what’s new?), and more gardening! And of course, The Belly-Fat Buster Cookbook that I wrote about last time. While the veggies were silently growing we did a lot of site improvements here on our mini farm – that’s what I call our small postage-stamp lot in Bowmanville, I guess because we grow so much in our backyard. We pulled down the old garden shed and erected a nice new one – an out-of-the-box version. We compared what it would cost to build from scratch or buy a kit and the kit won out. It was a good decision and will last us for years!
We then took the “back room” off the workshop and constructed a new “tool room” and set about sorting all the tools and giving them a new home – Wow! The workshop is finally/nearly organized and does it look good! It is a pleasure to go out there now and putter.
The last phase of the improvements is a greenhouse which is nearly finished as I write this. It is 4′ by 6′ and will allow me a place to start lots of seed at Easter, and give them shelter until I can plant them out next spring. In fact, a greenhouse that size will let some friends and neighbours have space to start their seeds too! It’s surprising what you can do in a small space.
This past week we harvested the apples from our two trees – fun and games! The Harlsen (a heritage apple) is about 30 feet tall and I was up a 10 foot ladder – to the top – getting the last few apples. Stephan, my eldest son, videoed me while this was happening – swear words and all! I haven’t seen it yet – not sure I want to!
We do things big in our garden! Not only did I harvest apples up a ten foot ladder, but every other day I was at the top of a six foot ladder harvesting beans all summer! The freezer is now full of green and yellow beans – an outstanding crop this year! You can just see the corner of the new garden shed in the beanstalk photo.
So now you know what I’ve been doing all summer – stay tuned for the next chapter.