DIY: A Zen Pathway to Your Home

Here's a fun diy project you can do to add some colour to your home, particularly to an entryway.  I found this idea - colourful tin planter cans - online and knew I would love trying this and I did.  And it was easy ...

1. Using a thick nail and hammer, hammer in a few holes on the bottom of each can.

 2.  Using water-based acrylic paint (which is what I used here) paint your tin cans.

3. Any colour really will do here, choose your favourites!  I stuck with lighter, pastel-like colours.

4. Finally, once the paint is completely dry, fill each tin can with soil and your favourite house plant.

Having plants in the entrance way to your home is very feng shui.

Close Encounters of a Natural Kind

Maple Leaves

Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense) ... it is creepy.

Chicory -- official name: Cichorium intybus

I believe a type of Cockleburs, ha! Cockleburs ...

My Scarlet, the harlot

Hawk's-Beard (Crepis), that's a cool name.

Tree bark mushrooms

Moss and dead leaves.  To me it was art.

Daisy Fleabane or, really cute mini daisies ... that are also weeds.

 

This lovely Clover flower has a friend. I could not find any 4-leaf clovers.

Very purple and pretty Pasture Roses.

Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Bee Chicory flower.

Wild raspberries look delicious.

Wild mushrooms ... maybe not as delicious?

Scarlet in the meadow.

 A pretty flower which I do not know the name of.

Urban Garden Update: Lettuce and Strawberry

We have colour! Our cute little strawberry finally turned red and his has a friend.

 And we have tomatoes! Very small yet but still very exciting for us.

Potato flowers, moments before we dug up the plants to look for potatoes.

Our wee little lettuce sprouts are growing up ...

And to think just weeks ago they looked like this: Week 3

 Our wildly growing mint plant; already had to cut it down once.

 Harvesting our VERY small, sad potatoes.  At least we gave it a shot!

 It wasn't a complete loss, we got one nice potato and one baby potato out of it.

Looking forward to moving the garden to their new beautiful home ... soon.

New Additions to the Garden Family

As an anniversary gift Mike bought me garden flowers. I picked out these greens plus the pansies because they are edible flowers! They can be used in baking or in salads, plus they're very pretty and add some colour to our garden.

Our sweet onions weren't doing so well, in fact most of them were drying out.  The lesson here: create a good water drainage system in your containers.  Very important! Instead (courtesy of my father) we have these green onion beauties ready to cut and ready to eat whenever we please.

Also from my dad (the best farmer/gardener I know), a tomato tree, a 'sweet golden' tomato tree to be exact.


In your garden containers it is so important to help prevent roots from drowning and your plants from dying.  The best way to avoid this is to:

Create a good water drainage system

1. Add a base layer of rocks (similar to a pile of gravel rocks) on the bottom of your container, which should also already contain holes on the bottom for excess water to escape out of.

2. Then some people will add a layer of newspaper on top of the rocks  Since our containers are a bit small I didn't do this step.

The second very important lesson I learned:  

Mix your potting soil

The reason: it helps prevent your soil from being too heavy and weighing down your young plants and their roots, especially during the early growing stages.


For my plants I used a combination of thick organic garden soil and peat moss mix.  Of course always remember to ensure there are water drainage holes on the bottom of your containers.

The final step will be mulching, which in my case is too early yet to start.  Adding mulch to your garden containers will help to keep your soil moist and cool and from drying out.

Balcony Garden Week 3: Progress and Snow Peas

Another weekend, another market visit but first let's review the progress.  A couple of weeks ago we planted a few things including, strawberries, sweet onion, herbs, and lettuce and kale seeds.  Both the lettuce and kale seeds have sprouted quite quickly and nicely.

Pea sprouts from the Evergreen Brickworks Farmer's Market - planted just about five days before this picture was taken.

My precious kale sprouts.  I can't wait to devour these beauties, in like months from now but nonetheless they will be fantastic.

Today it was rainy, foggy and wet, so we decided to walk to the market with our dog taking our time and enjoying all the green growing around us.  I love visiting the market every weekend to experience the natural changes.  First stop, breakfast!

Mike and I often stop off at the Waffle Bar first simply because the splendid aroma just draws us in.  Granted, their waffles are not vegan but I sometimes just can't resist - it's a treat for me and for Mike, it's breakfast.

Next step, the Garden Centre and my favourite part of the day, getting to choose all the lovely new plants to take home and re-pot.

As I continue making my way through the market, Mike takes a break to hang with Scarlet at the official dog hang out.  Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed inside the market until the end of the month when it moves outdoors.

One of my favourite plants we bought today - snow peas! Now I'm not sure just how these are going to turn out but I truly look forward to the outcome.  The containers that the plants come in are very easy to break apart which makes re-planting easier, so that you can gently take the plant out without crushing or damaging it.

Snow peas, eight of them in a row.

The new additions to our garden today: Yes, more lettuce and greens but these are premature plants that will be harvested earlier then our sprouts.  Also, lemon balm, chamomile, broccoli, cabbage, and snow peas.

I think that will be it for our balcony garden, at least for a while, especially seeing as these plants have pretty much taken over our kitchen table, chairs and surrounding floor.  Looking forward to warmer weather soon please!