Kosher Mountain Retreat

So the trippers are finally on the road (see packed car below)!

First stop: Banff! Staying at the Y-Mountain-Lodge hostel (an old, converted hospital). Awesome place -- right beside the beautiful Bow River and just across the bridge from downtown Banff.
http://www.ymountainlodge.com/

Last night we hiked up to the Banff Springs Hotel and discovered that it was populated with interestingly clad (black robes) men with long single dreadlocked sideburns .... aka... Hasidics! It was a "Kosher Mountain Retreat"! (we weren't invited, actually)...
http://www.kmrtours.com/

Then, today, we hiked along the Bow River trails, way past the falls and up into a meadow where we plunked down our blankets and picnic supplies and proceeded to take in the scenery (grazing deer included)!

Bye Bye Garden (just for now.....)

Well... it's the thick of growing season around here, as evidenced in the towering pea plants below .... so, logically, I'm off to Winnipeg!



But ---> before this "garden blog" reverts back to a "travel blog", just thought I'd capture a few more pix of the lovely garden in all its glory .... raspberries are juuuuust ripening in the last few days!

Butterflies and lavender will be missed!

Happy Canada Day!!

Gardens are Growing!

Ay... these photos were taken weeks and weeks ago.... all gardens (below) are now overflowing with vegetables and flowers and fruits!

Rasberries are just starting to ripen and, so far, the silly scarecrows are doing their jobs....

Not that the birds are really scared of anything around here. Tim utilized his "bird whispering" ability again the other day and connected with an evening grosbeak hanging out in the driveway.

Frank & Lucy (resident Mallards) have been poking around the pond but have disappeared lately ---- which might mean we'll have fluffy little ducklings swimming around soon!

Luckily, these gardens mostly grow by themselves now because I have not had one second to tend them (too busy solving quadratic equations and balancing chemical reactions and predicting the parabolic paths of objects and ... etc etc)

** SaoMai Sunshine **

April showers blew me down south & I landed in the middle of Sunshine (in the form of SaoMai's smile!)

We visited galleries and the Living Desert and we howled at the full moon and ate fat oranges from the trees in her yard.... it was fun to be "almost three" for a few days!

How can it be possible that she just gets cuter and cuter and cuter every single day? The smile below is known as "camera smile" and she just tries her darnedest to get that smile as big as possible for pictures!

Swimming makes it easy to smile .... and so does visiting the desert zoo in a gold-lace ballerina skirt!

The Forgotten Title

While uploading the pix for this entry, I thought of the best title .... and promptly forgot it. Ah well....
So... as of mid-April, the inside greenhouse is buzzing along and very (!) ready to be planted outside!

Last year's gourd harvest has dried and set & we're ready to start crafting it. We soaked and de-skinned them, then Tim carved them into some shapes. Next up: decorating!

The newest raised bed veggie patch received a wattle fence last weekend. It's amazing that Mother Nature provide young, pliable willow branches at exactly the time of year that fencing is required around the pea patch! And... that last season's sunflower stalks are dried & ready to provide the stakes in the fencing... amazing....

Next on the "amazing" list is the gorgeous dining room table that Tim is building. It's a huge timber & steel project that I hope will be able to make it upstairs one day for dinner!

The Winnipeg Panzees come for a Visit!

We interrupt this gardening blog for a quick update: My lovely cousin & her adorable young son (pictured above) --- graced us with a visit this week!

We took the little fella down to the sunny beach and spent long hours lolling in the warmth and sunny calm.... We did NOT - repeat NOT - drag him from store to store, shopping for women's shoes, women's garments, women's accoutrements, etc. Nope. We hung at the beach. And...

We sipped tea! From Victoria's famous (and yummy!) Silk Road Tea. Yummity-yum yum! (oh yeah, a little wine, too.......)

Bye bye Winnipeg panzees! And next time you visit, bring the great Ape (Mulghetta, aka "Mr. Shaney") with y'all!!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

So, I sort of thought that - this year - maybe I'd kind of "blog" a whole growing season here at Garn Gardens! This year's first big project was completed this weekend: one new raised-bed vegetable patch right on the front lawn (who needs grass?)!
After laying down old, rotted, hole-y carpet, we created brick walls and then built a "lasagne" foundation (advice from fabulous book given to me by my mummy!)

Layers were: carpet, then criss-crosses of last year's sunflower & wildflower stakes, then copious amounts of home-made compost, then topped with a peat-soil-sand mix. Phew.

Project number two was extending the "potato patch" that was semi-built last year (and yielded the yummiest potatoes, pumpkins and squash!) We can't wait to see the "before & after" photos when these gardens are brimming with edible goodies by mid summer!

Seedy Saturday

Yesterday was "Seedy Saturday" here in Kelowna! Below is my bountiful swapping pile (woo hoo)!

You can check out the Seeds of Diversity website to find a seedy saturday in your parts (Halifax, I see ya but, Winnipeg... where are you?)

http://www.seeds.ca/ev/events.php

My own little 'living-room-greenhouse' is moving right along this year. Lots of tomato sprouts, eggplants, and the second picture below is my garbanzo beans stretching toward the sun!

I got a bunch of sunchoke tubers at the seed swap. We ate half of them tonight (to make sure they're as yummy as they say .... yup!). And now, the rest will go into the ground! There's more info about these "Canada Potatoes" in this article here.

Rock of Love Revisited!

Hey Kelowna: less snow & ice .... more rocks & shadows!