Sweet cherry tomatoes

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

She’s my cherry ~~pie~~ tomato, Put a smile on your face, Ten miles wide…
Tastes so good, Make a grown man cry, Sweet cherry ~~pie~~ tomato
(Badly paraphrased from Warrant)

After my lack of success last year attempting to grow tomatoes, I refused to plant anything edible this year.

But Matt wanted to try tomatoes again.

He got some plants from his Dad, and he carefully tended them all summer. He cleared an area on the turnaround, put the tomato cages in place, suckered them and watered them. When they outgrew the cages, he improvised with other trellises gathered from around the property.

It took nearly all summer, but his attention paid off. We finally have ripe, edible tomatoes! So much better than last year.

Even better, most of our plants turned out to be my FIL’s cherry tomatoes. These are wonderfully sweet. My absolute favourite tomatoes.

These tomatoes sprout every year in my FIL’s garden. However, just to be safe, I’m going to try to save some seeds this fall to grow our own plants next year using this tutorial from The Art of Doing Stuff.

Yes, my reluctance to grow edible plants has apparently been overcome by sweet ruby spheres.

How has your garden grown? What’s your favourite kind of tomato? Have you ever tried saving seeds? On a topic more likely to make you lose your appetite, can you believe that Warrant music video? There’s absolutely nothing like 80s hairbands.

Plant problems

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Anyone know anything about lilacs, Japanese maples or holly? Each of mine is feeling under the weather.

The lilac is probably my biggest concern, simply because this plant has tremendous sentimental value to me. My bush grew from a shoot that sprouted off my grandmother’s lilac. It survived the move from our first house to the farm and up to now has thrived in the front flower garden. However, this summer the leaves started getting dry spots and then the tips curled under.

When I unfurl the leaves, there’s a dirt-like substance inside. If there’s parasites, they’re too small for me to spot.

Anyone have any guesses what might be wrong? I’d really rather not lose this plant.

The Japanese maple has his own problems as well. First, I will concede that he’s pretty crowded. I’ve been working at thinning the ferns since spring. The walnut tree is obviously another problem. I don’t have a good excuse why he’s been allowed to invade the maple’s personal space so much. Whether it’s crowding or some other issue, the tippy top branches are losing their leaves.

Like on the lilac, the leaves are drying out and falling off.

The Japanese maple took a beating during the ice storm. The trunk was completely wrapped in ice that was a quarter inch thick.

I was wondering if the tree is still traumatized from his winter ordeal. He’s just a bit weak this summer. He’ll pull through and grow more leaves next year. Won’t he? Or is that wishful thinking?

The final patient is my holly bush. Now I have to take most of the blame for this guy’s misery. He used to live in the front flower bed. However, I redrew the border of the bed, and he fell outside the line. I dug him up and moved him around the corner to the well garden. He was fairly well established in the front bed, so I cut through some pretty big roots when I transplanted him. He’s not fully recovered yet. You can see the leaves are pretty sparse and fairly yellow.

In my defense, I do have to say he wasn’t the healthiest guy before I moved him. He had very few leaves and probably produced all of a half dozen berries for the two years we’ve lived here. He seems to be plagued by ants. When I dig around the trunk, both at his original home and now in his new location, I unearth what looks like a whole colony. There’s not much bark left on his thick old trunk, and I wonder if the ants are eating him.

When I pulled off a leaf, though, I found a different type of pest.

Is this little green caterpillar the culprit? Is it the ants? Or the transplant?

I’d really appreciate any ideas anyone has. Anyone else having botanical illnesses in your own gardens this year? Let’s commiserate in the comments.

Snapshot

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Milkweed

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

And why it matters.

Six-month performance review

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Not to alarm anyone, but we’re halfway through the year. (Sorry. Tempus fugit.)

It’s been nearly six months since I posted my home goals for 2014. Time for a mid-year performance review.

I had six projects on my list. Here’s how I’ve done so far.

1. Paint the main floor hallway and kitchen.

Big fat done on task number one. Matt and I knocked this one out in February.

2. Laundry room.

I haven’t started this one yet. I figure it will be a good fall project when I don’t want to/can’t work outside anymore. Besides, I can’t start anything until Matt digs out the foundation wall and fixes the basement leak. Hello summer honey-do list.

3. Master bedroom.

For the most part, this is another fall project. However, prep starts this month with removing the popcorn ceiling.

4. Furniture.

I’ve done fairly well in this department.

Sofa table for the living room. Found this one in an empty office at work (I asked permission before I took it).
Narrow dresser for my office. DIYed this one out of two nightstands.

Cabinet for the laundry room. Bought this one from Canadian Tire. (There was some DIY, since we had to assemble it ourselves).
Ottoman for the basement reading nook. Made this one out of a plastic barrel.

I have a few more pieces that I’m still on the lookout to buy or make. Top on the list is refreshing my bookshelves and the living room TV stand. My books have been packed away for more than two years. I want them back.

5. Living room fireplace.

Hope still springs eternal. The fireplace will be redone some day. Whether that day is this year depends solely on how much we’re able to rebuild our post-solar bank accounts.

6. Landscaping.

Reestablish the flowerbeds around the house. I’m slowly, ever so slowly, working my way around the house.
Continue to plant the turnaround. The turnaround is looking awesome, albeit a bit weedy.

The pond shore is even more overgrown than last year and is pretty much inaccessible. Since this is my favourite part of the property, that is a bit of a downer. I’m willing to cut my losses on the pond this year, but I’m still hoping I’ll be able to clear and fence the vegetable garden before the end of the year.

And that brings us to the bottom of this year’s original goals.

However, there are a few things we’ve done beyond this list.

Obviously, the solar panels are a pretty massive project.

We’re also revisiting the basement, finishing off the reading nook, adding the ping pong table and making over the doors (in progress).

I’ve had a bit more success this year staying on task thanks to the monthly projects. Thanks as well to all of you for your encouragement along the way. It’s nice to look back and see that I’ve actually made some progress. We have half a year to go, and I have a bit more work to do yet, but I think I’m on the right track.

Have you ever given yourself a mid-year performance review? Who else feels like time is flying by? Is there anything you’d like to accomplish over the rest of the year?

Pretty peonies

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

We’re fortunate that we have numerous peony plants growing around the property.

I’ve moved a few into the gardens that I’ve reclaimed, but most are still out in the undomesticated wilderness.

They’re all different shades and are a beautiful splash of colour.

I never pick a bouquet of peonies because I’m cautious about ants, but it would be nice to have some the beauty inside as well as out. Am I worrying unnecessarily?

Who else is a peony fan? Do you have a favourite colour? Any tips for peony care?

May progress report

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Let’s see how many excuses I can come up with to explain my attitude towards working outside during most of May.

Weather was cold and rainy.
My Dad jetted off to England.
The tractor still had the snowblower attached to it up until the middle of the month.

Despite sounding like a big whiner, I actually did accomplish a few things this month. In fact, I surprised myself by how much I was able to cross off my ambitious list of landscaping to-dos for May.

Here’s how I did.

Turnaround

~~Weed the flower garden half~~
~~Spread wood chips on flower garden~~ – I nearly didn’t get to this one, but knowing I had to report back to all of you made me get my butt in gear.
Make a top for the bird bath – I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do for this one. The idea that I had for the top is a little bit… well… little.

Put the bird bath in place
~~Place the bench~~
~~Continue to fill in the garden with more plants~~

The turnaround is looking awesome IMHO. It’s turning out even better than I expected. Obviously the plants still need to fill out a bit (okay, a lot) more, but I think it’s going to be beautiful.

Front garden

Edge the garden
~~Transplant a few bushes, trees and other plants out of this bed and into some of the other gardens~~
~~Fill in the pit from the woodstove chimney~~
Fix the downspouts
Weed as I go

Trees

~~Pick up fallen branches~~
~~Cut branches to firewood lengths~~
Split firewood
Burn brush – We have three massive piles of brush, but the wood is still a little damp and isn’t that interested in catching fire.

Matt got an in-depth hands-on session with his new chainsaw when his Dad came over to help us with the clean up. This to-do was definitely a team effort. Lesson learned: The chainsaw is heavier than you think, a fact that becomes obvious after working with it all day. Second lesson learned: Your wife doesn’t care that you just learned how to use a chainsaw. She’ll still send you up an extension ladder to trim branches off the pines outside the kitchen window, all so that she can have a better view of the pond. Third lesson learned: Baxter was a big help, as usual.

Baxter supervising ice storm clean up

Grass

Add top soil beside the front stoop and seed
Overseed in front of raised bed under the dining room window
Rake solar trench smooth and seed

Wop-wop. Big fat nothin’ on the grass front. We did mow before it got knee-high, which is an improvement over the past two springs, so I guess that’s something.

Hoses

~~Turn on water to exterior taps~~
~~Install hoses at side~~ and back of house
Install a proper hose bib at the driveshed, so that the hose isn’t laying on the ground. – My Dad’s going to help me with this one, but he couldn’t do very much from England.
1. Shorten waterline
2. Attach to waterline to wall
3. Install a splitter so that I can someday add another hose bib at the opposite corner of the driveshed
4. Reinstall tap on shortened waterline
5. Install hose hanger
6. Hook up hose

My plan to focus on one area per week (or weekend) went a little off track due to weather, support crew and motivation, but I still feel like I put a good dent in this year’s landscaping plan.

Work is ongoing and will continue for a few months (years) yet.

What progress have you made outside so far? Have you learned to use any new equipment this spring? Are your four-legged friends as helpful as Baxter? How do you handle your hoses?

Forsythia of ’14

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Two weeks later than last year, six weeks later than our first year, our forsythia is finally in bloom… if you can call it that.

I think the harsh winter gave our forsythia frost bite. We have just a handful of yellow blossoms on the very tip of a few branches.

Rather than going golden this year, I think our bushes are going to straight to green. Green is better than the dismal grey days we’ve had so far. I think spring is here.

Has spring arrived at your house? Have any of your plants been frost bit?

Trilliums!

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

When we moved to the farm, I thought there must be trilliums somewhere on the property. After two springs, though, I still hadn’t seen any. Then, on Monday morning, I found them. In the small grove between the front field and the east field, alongside the creek, there are trilliums. Lots and lots of trilliums.

For those that don’t know, trilliums are Ontario’s official flower. There’s a common perception that you’re not allowed to pick trilliums in Ontario. But, according to Wikipedia, trilliums are only protected in conservation areas or provincial parks (and in some areas in the States). However, picking a trillium can kill the plant.

Trilliums tend to be a bit elusive. They hide away in the woods and aren’t seen very regularly, so I’m super excited that we have some on our property. I even spotted some Jack in the Pulpit, which I’ve never seen before.

Happy spring!

May days

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

May has arrived, and work outside has begun. Landscaping remains the biggest project at the farm, and the biggest to-do this year.

The plan for this month is to focus my attention outdoors. I have only a few months of nice weather, so if I’m going to continue knocking things off the landscaping master list, I need to take advantage of every day.

Here are some of the projects I’m considering this month:

Turnaround

Weed the flower garden half (I gave up on planting flowers last fall and decided that half the turnaround can be grass for now)
Spread wood chips on flower garden
Make a top for the bird bath
Put the bird bath in place
Place the bench
Continue to fill in the garden with more plants

Front garden

Edge the garden
Transplant a few bushes, trees and other plants out of this bed and into some of the other gardens (especially the turnaround)
Fill in the pit from the woodstove chimney
Fix the downspouts
Weed as I go

“What do you mean you have to weed?”

Trees

Pick up fallen branches
Cut branches to firewood lengths
Split firewood
Burn brush

Grass

Add top soil beside the front stoop and seed
Overseed in front of raised bed under the dining room window
Rake solar trench smooth and seed

Hoses

Turn on water to exterior taps
Install hoses at side and back of house
Install a proper hose bib at the driveshed
1. Shorten waterline
2. Attach to waterline to wall
3. Install a splitter so that I can someday add another hose bib at the opposite corner of the driveshed
4. Reinstall tap on shortened waterline
5. Install hose hanger
6. Hook up hose

This list might be a bit ambitious for one month. Plus, I have to confess I don’t have sole responsibility for completing all of these tasks. When it comes to the tree clean-up, I’ll be relying on Matt and his Dad for their chainsaws and log splitter. Some of the transplanting will go easier with Matt’s help on the digging. My Dad will work with me on the plumbing for the driveshed waterline.

My plan is to focus on one area per week (or weekend)–weather, support crew and motivation permitting, of course.

Have you started outdoor work at your house yet? What’s on your gardening list? Seeding? Weeding? Transplanting? Watering?