Lazy weekend

We just did a a little gardening this weekend but not much else which was wonderful. Mostly we were weeding-actually we were probably pulling a wildflower that we planted but it was just taking over. And Thairo battled his current nemesis-bindweed. It grows so fast here, not in the veggies but in all of the more established flower and shrub beds and nothing kills it. We filled most of our smaller compost bin, so about 50L of biomass.

Today we planted a few more tomato seedlings-one to replace a black pineapple that died and the 2 green doctor cherries that are kind of hanging on after nearly dying last month because of the water snaffu. I'm not that hopeful about the green doctor's but we really wanted to get that variety and decided that they weren't going to get any stronger in the little pots. I took pictures showing how tiny they are but can't find the cable for my camera, I'll post those pictures next week, hopefully with a good update on their progress.
The garden is doing pretty well. Raspberries are ripe and the peas are getting close. Everything else is growing, except basil so I planted more again. Our compost garden material works great for established plants but it's not that great for sprouting.

The kid is doing great. He's been super active the past few weeks-not just kicking and punching all the time but doing flips. When he rolls over it's really weird, almost makes me seasick. Thairo says he's getting back at me for taking him to sea in February. We've got another ultrasound next week just to make sure that he's growing well. Thairo couldn't make the 20 week ultrasound but will be able to go for this one with will be great-I'm sure he'll still look like a bug-eyed alien but at least Thairo will get to see how much he's moving rather than just the occasional kick. I've been playing pattycake with him this past week-when he kicks I'll push back then he'll kick again. I tried to have Thairo play with him too, but I think that the reply kicks are just a little too light for Thairo to be able to feel them. Oh well, they can play without my stomach in the way in a few months.

long weekend

We both took Friday off to drive out to see Thairo's mom. It was a good trip but fairly fast. Yesterday we went down to the little lake that Thairo used to fish in when he was growing up. No fishing but watched a family of osprey fish and fly around for at least half an hour.

I had this grand plan where we'd drive through Canada to get out there, then drop down into WA on the way home. I'd drop Thairo off at his field site then come home. The drive through WA and Canada is pretty much the same time because the interstate is so much faster than the roads through the mountains. It was a great plan. Undone by the fact that I forgot my passport. so poor Thairo is having to finish up the long day driving 4 more hours to get down to his field site.

On the plus side cherries are ripe in the Okanagan so I have a nice big bag of cherries to munch on for the next few days.

Planted the tomatoes

We planted the tomatoes and peppers yesterday. My attempt to rescue the very damaged tomatoes a few weeks ago wasn't very successful, only 2 of the 20 or so that I transplanted were hanging on still yesterday. We had enough to plant pretty much what we wanted but no extras to give away like we've done in the past. Something tried to eat one of the tomatoes-no idea if it'll survive. 2 of the peppers shocked in the night and dropped their leaves which we've seen before. They may recover.

Not dead yet

The seedlings look better today. A little greener. We'll probably hold
off on planting them in the garden till next weekend just to see which
ones are going to survive. I'll be happier when some of them start
putting out new leaves.

Set back

We were both away last week and had set the seedlings out in a cold
frame to be watered using the automatic system. But a new neighbor
moved in downstairs and turned off the water. Aaaccccckkkk. This is
what the plants looked like last night. Today I transplanted all of
the seedlings that were really bad and built up the dirt around the
rest. Then gave all of the a good soaking. We'll see how this works out.

Quick update

I'm posting this because I can't believe how much the tomatoes and
peppers have grown in just one week. We weren't planning on putting
them in the garden till the end of the month but if they continue at
this pace we'll have to do it earlier.

Garden update

This has been a mostly gardening weekend. We transplanted the tomato and pepper seedlings into their new trays, they're small but all had lots of roots so they should be great this summer.

Yesterday I finally tried to tame the herb square, trimming several pounds of parsley, thyme, oregano, and sage. The parsley has turned into parsley shrubs but the leaves are still really tender and flavorful so I'm going to let them keep going. The stalks on these parsley shrubs are 1/4-1/2 inch diameter and have the texture of tough celery, it seems like I should be able to cook with them but haven't come across any recipes yet.
We also built our little cold frame to protect the tomatoes in a few weeks while we're both away and have the watering system set up so they get watered. The peas and carrots are doing great, we're doing 8 square feet of peas-double what we did last year cause I can always eat more peas-those are the trelli that are up. The spinach and radishes aren't doing well and we're not sure why, so replanted them today. Also planted basil, cilantro, tarragon, chervil, and green onions.