You may have noticed that I’ve been away for a very long time. But, I’m back. That could be bad, it could be not so bad. Time will tell!

The reasons for my absence are varied. One is time. Or lack of time more correctly. We’ve given the interior of our home a major facelift this winter. – lots of painting, plastering, ceiling work, trim etc, etc, etc. It’s been difficult to find time (energy) to blog and work on the house. And now, all I can say is, if I never see another paint brush again it will be too soon!!

Another reason is all the spammers out there that made my blogging life hell for a while. I can’t believe they actually believe that anyone they spam would actually accept their spammed comments, let alone read/open them!!! How stupid can they be?? I guess some people have nothing better to do.

In addition to the above reasons, I briefly (?) went through gardening burn out. Yes, what I thought would never happen, did! I got tired of gardening. I got tired of weeds, tired of flowers, tired of shrubs, tired of grass, tired of watering, tired of writing about gardening.  Guess all that’s understandable since I’ve been doing it personally and/or professionally for most of my adult life. And, since arthritis became my constant companion, gardening is no where near as easy as it was just a few short years ago. But this year, I’m ready to go at the gardens full tilt.

We have many plans for our gardens this year; new projects to start, old ones to finish. Today, I’ll be starting some seeds. Not in the greenhouse this time, but in my plant stand. That should work out a little better than previous attempts since our cats are older now and a little less curious. Again, the seeds I’ll be starting are varieties that are not commonly found at the local greenhouses.  The other seeds I’ll be sowing are for plants that are too expensive to purchase finished.

Among the gardening tasks I’ve let slide are the cuttings I’ve rooted. They are well past the potting up point, but over the next day or two, they will finally make into soil filled pots. While I’m potting up cuttings, I have a number of houseplants that are crying to be transplanted into bigger pots, so that task will be taken care of too.

Powdery mildew had infected the rosemary plants I overwintered. Rather than resort to chemicals, I trimmed the infected stems off, and rinsed the plants under the tap. That method worked quite well, (I repeated the treatment three times) and now, six weeks later, there is only a very slight trace of powdery mildew left. One more time should do the trick.

Enough of writing about gardening for one day. It’s time to actual do some.

Catch you later!!

Rain, rain, go away…..After the last couple of summers with next to no rain, I can’t believe I’m wishing the rain would stop! Let’s see, this must be day ten in a row that it’s rained. And, rain is expected for the next three days. Glad we own a canoe!

Seriously, the rain is a good thing for our trees and plants. All the watering we do is nowhere near as effective as a good rain! The down side of all this rain, is the weeds are loving it as much as the plants. And, because it’s raining so often, we don’t have as much time to spend in the garden getting rid of those weeds! During the few hours of sunshine we had today I looked at the plants and smiled. I look at the weeds and groaned! Never have they been so plentiful, not to mention lush and vigorous! I very briefly wished I believed in using chemicals rather than hand pulling to rid the gardens and yard of weeds. Matter of fact, I went so far as to vocalize that wish as I was taking the scuffler out of the shed.

There are eco safe alternatives to chemical weed control besides hand pulling for large areas or in between cracks in sidewalks and driveways. I have tried many of them, with varying degrees of success. Here are two of the simplest.

Boiling water: pour boiling water on the weeds and they instantly shrivel up, and the foliage dies. This method does not always kill the roots so it will have to be repeated several times. Not my favourite method.

Vinegar: A more successful approach is to mix three parts vinegar with one part water and add a few drops of liquid dish soap (to help the solution stick to the leaves). Spray on the weeds being careful not to spray on anything you want to keep. The weeds die quickly, but again, not always the roots, so several applications may be required to eliminate all weeds, especially perennial weeds.

For someone who is not comfortable using a sprayer for fear of taking out desirable plants, there are tools that make the task of weeding easier.

Scufflers and Hoes: This is my preferred method for weeding large areas, but obviously impractical for eliminating weeds growing between cracks. These tools basically take off the tops of the weeds. Occasionally you’ll get lucky and the roots will come up too. How can this be possibly effective? At least one new member of my crew will ask that question every year. Simple; Plants need chlorophyll to live. Without leaves, they have no chlorophyll. The roots will sprout new leaves, which are again, lopped off. Eventually, the roots become so weakened from constantly putting all their energy into sprouting new leaves, they die. No more weed.

Cultivators: I’m not a big fan of cultivators. I find them awkward to use and less precise than a scuffler or hoe. Cultivators often take out the entire weed, roots and all, so they are very effective.

Of course there is always the alternative of hand pulling the weeds. Hand weeding is the most effective method without a doubt. And, yanking those weeds out of the ground, roots and all, is the greatest stress reliever! It is my favourite method of dealing with weeds but no longer possible since arthritis of the hands and knees have become my life partner. Otherwise, I would not be using tools and home made sprays. Instead I’d be on the ground pulling to my heart’s delight, getting my knees black and enough dirt under my nails to pot up a small plant, and thinking at the end of the day, I’d managed to stay fairly clean. Considering.

The king-pin of the trio is Misha, our soft-coated black Lab. He’s big, eighty-five pounds at last weigh-in, he’s goofy, devoted and very protective.

Next is Puttsy. He is an overweight orange and white cat that we swear is part dog. Puttsy is one of the most affectionate cats ever born, but not too fond of people (other than his Mum and Dad of course).

Then there is Tansy. What can I say about her? She is a little princess, the Audrey Hepburn of cats. Tansy is an adventurer, full of spirit and very loving. She rules the house, or at least, Misha and Puttsy.

Puttsy and Tansy are housecats. They are allowed outside only when we are out with them and they know they are not allowed off the patio. Putts is more much more obedient and follows that rule fairly closely, especially since he learned that he cannot walk on the duckweed floating on top of the pond. Tansy on the other hand, is seldom allowed off our laps when outside because she has yet to learn to strictly abide by the ‘only on the patio rule’.

Misha is a runner, a digger and very territorial. He takes great exception to anyone and anything coming onto our property. For those reasons, he is on a twenty-five foot chain when we are outside working, or he is on his lead going for one of his three to five walks per day. The rest of the time Misha is inside the house with us. The chain probably sounds cruel to some of you, but it is for his protection and he’s not on it all the time. Misha’s health and safety are paramount to us.

Our second priority is protecting our flowers beds from Misha’s rather crude attempts at gardening, watering and fertilizing. I learned the hard way not to place gardens or containers within his reach. The solutions I came up with involve hanging baskets and pot brackets on the wall of the house. I found too that Misha will avoid the side tables, so that is a safe place for potted plants. At one corner of the patio we have placed a concrete bench. In four years Misha and his chain have yet to move it when running around it at full speed. On top of that uncomfortable seat is another safe spot for a container garden or two.

Misha has a favourite spot that he likes to dig – our shade garden!! I cannot count the number of plants he has removed, along with some weeds. Out of frustration I moved the plants to another location and filled the digging spot with a couple of boulders that he can’t move. That was the theory, which has since proven (several times) to be a rather poor theory. But Misha and I have reached a compromise and he now lays mostly on the grass in the shade garden. His attempts at transplanting and weeding have been curtailed for the most part.
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br />As for Misha helping with the watering, the hose is always nearby, so a quick rinse with water dilutes his efforts and saves the lawn from developing brown spots. The fertilizer issue really isn’t an issue at all. Everyday we go on a hunting expedition and clean up any mounds of fertilizer he has left.  Again, a quick rinsing of the spot with the garden hose and lawn is saved.

Speaking of fertilizing, something we never do is fertilize the lawn surrounding the patio, not even with organic fertilizers. We have adopted the same rule for pesticides and herbicides (organic or not). We prefer not to take a chance with overspray or drifting, and our pets’ health. The added benefit of having a chemical-free zone is that it also protects the health of the wild birds that come to our feeders. If only we could find a way to protect them from all the feral cats in the village, we’d have the perfect wild bird sanctuary.

If you share your gardens with pets, think of their health and set up your own chemical free zone. Not only will their health benefit but so will yours.