Gardening With Groundhogs

02/09/2022

Long overdue but: meet the bunnies!
When we bought them, the owner was fairly confident that they were both sisters. Lets hope so 😂

Marshmallow is very curious and active and loves exploring all the sides of the hutch, but surprisingly laid back when she wants to be. Blackberry is queen of the one ear up one ear down look, which is very adorable 🥰 She was the runt of the litter and visibly smaller than her sister/brother 😬? She never turns down food and eats a lot to catch up 😂

Hope you are enjoying your Friday (I can’t believe it’s already the end of the week!) and spending quality time with your own pets!

Marshmallow & Blackberry say hi!

02/09/2022

The last video in our bunny tour series!

02/09/2022

02/09/2022

02/09/2022

Hi, the kids at Gardening with Groundhogs are posting Part 1 of our bunny video tour series! We wanted to post this a while ago (beginning of August) but we never got around to it. Enjoy 😁🐰

31/07/2022

So after that brief hiatus ( has it been 4 months???!!!)
WE ARE BACK!!!
Thank-you to everyone who has been checking in to see if we posted any updates. The overwhelm was huge and so unfortunately, I didn't post a darn thing.
BUT I can't wait to share this amazing journey/transition with all of you. I am so excited to show you what it takes to set up a homestead from the beginning, what works for us, what doesn't work, and our successes and failures.
What we have done so far:
Bought a lawn tractor and wagon, a trailer for the car, and a walk behind whipper snipper, got 2 rabbits, built a sit-in rabbit hutch, put up the kids play structure and bought a 72 foot second hand greenhouse!
WOW!
All those projects have had their pros and cons. The biggest con is my husband has a full time job, so we are constantly working after work hours and week-ends. The biggest pro is our kids LOVE it here. Emilie can even drive the lawn tractor!
We may have originally thought my Mom and Dad's old house (my childhood home) would be our new home for a while, but we never really felt it was ours. We all felt that we were just taking care of it for my parents (who have both passed on). So we decided to take the memories and move them to Ontario. My parents' love is not attached to their house. We bring the memories with us wherever we go. My Dad's wheelbarrow is not a kids garden anymore, But, we use it here everyday to move stuff around, including Willow, who likes to go for rides in it!
Life is amazing!

23/03/2022

Found these little guys while spring cleaning in the garden... they are tiny sedum buds and thankfully the other buds were saved. (Emilie's hand in the photo)

17/03/2022

Chicken poo?
😂😂😂

17/03/2022

Can you tell who is who?
Tournesol lettuce mix, spinach, me, and unkillable oregano.
We are all competing to be the first out in Spring!😛

17/03/2022

Before and after shots of the hardy Egyptian Perrenial Onion.
I think I am in love. 😍😍😍
I don't have much luck growing onions with large bulbs, so these powerhouses will suit me fine!
Gardening with young children helps you realize the value of planting perennial crops that you only need to plant once! 😜

17/03/2022

Lettuce, and spinach and herbs, oh my!
They survived the winter, but will they grow???!!!

Stay tuned....
😉

17/03/2022

HUGE NEWS!!!!!🤗🤗🤗

31/10/2021

Lesson #1 learned this summer:
More plants doesn't mean more food.

If you are going to grow food, you have to harvest the food or you can't eat the food.

Sounds simple enough, but here's an example:

I grew A-LOT of chard this year and in August, before school was about to start, I had so much that I couldn't eat it all. and I was too pressed for time to blanch it all first. I just stuck the leaves in zip locks and froze them. Tonight was the second time I tried to eat those frozen greens and I can attest that they were too bitter to eat.

APPARENTLY, that's why people blanch them BEFORE they freeze them.

I may be able to tolerate them as a smoothie, but the fact still remains... just grow what you can take care of easily.

Growing too many hot peppers that never get turned into sauce, or onions that rot in your fridge or arugula ( that everyone in the family hates but you) can take valuable time away from all the other millions of things you have to do on a daily basis--aside from taking care of your garden.

But it's a learning process! Next year I probably won't grow as much cilantro, but I can't guarantee I won't grow too many tomatoes! lol!

Happy gardening!

30/10/2021

Even though I grow my own garlic, I buy garlic "seed" stock from my friends at Tourne-Sol Co-operative Farm. Delicious, huge, and nematode-free every time! Whatever I don't plant, I eat!

Growing garlic is easy and financially makes sense.

Normally, I plant garlic the second week of October, but I've waited until the end of October once and it worked out fine. The idea is to plant it several weeks before the hard frost and to mulch it well to keep it cozy through our harsh winter.

I am trying it in a raised bed this year, so I will let you know if they survive the winter!

--Mel

30/10/2021

IThe miraculous walking onions from Miracle farm

30/10/2021

This was a bit of an experiment.

I had some leftover radish seeds that I tossed in a grow bag around the first week of October!!!

I never thought they would have a chance to grow, but so far so good.

Even if I don't get big roots, I can always use the greens in a stirfry!

- Mel

30/10/2021

Hey everyone!

Posting with video just isn't happening these days, and yet---I have still so much to mention before the season comes to an official close...

Ever heard of Egyptian onions?--AKA walking onions?
I got some sets from Miracle Farm and planted them in a raised bed out back.

I am super excited because I don't have much luck growing onions and these promise to deliver year after year!

They are a perennial onion that will be the first up next Spring and provide onion greens ALL summer. The following year, I will be able to harvest the bulbs (leaving some) in the ground for the plant to live on.

They taste like a cross between a shallot and an onion and are called walking onions because they will send out a tall shoot that grows a bunch of tiny onions at the top, the stem gets too heavy for the plant and falls over, then those little onions root wherever they landed and a new plant is born!

Really quite amazing and talk about cost-effective and time-efficient!

I will let you know if they survive until Spring!

Happy Gardening!

-Mel

02/10/2021

There is a season for everything--and now I must clean!

I got rid of most of the plant matter--except for my flowers!!! I put down a few bags of woodchips to tidy the side up. Next year I won't plant anything right into the ground along the side. I am going to put all my grow bags along the fence and plant into them instead of having bags scattered all over the yard. lol I've been told the kids need more room!!!

Stay tuned for fall plantings and lessons I have learned over the summer! 😲🤔👎🤩👌

Bye for now!

Happy gardening!

22/09/2021

Mixed reviews:

I tried sunflowers specifically used for cut flowers and I don't think I would do that again in a small space garden.

Even though they were much shorter than regular varieties, they took up space, bloomed all at the same time and deteriorated quickly once they flowered. You would have to succession plant if you wanted to enjoy the flowers for a longer period of time.

The same goes for Gladiolas. Unless you plant them over several weeks, they all bloom and die at the same time, need extra work staking and still don't necessarily produce nice straight stems for bouquets.

I may replant the gladiola bulbs this fall, but I am undecided. When gardening in a small space, every square foot matters---and sometimes growing FOOD actually wins out over the flowers!!!😋

22/09/2021

Kale is still producing lots from the plants I started at the same time as the chard.
Tip no. 1 to 100: COVER your kale
If you grow lots of kale, like I do, spare yourself the extra work picking off worms and eggs.
If you are pressed for time, It is so much easier to keep a successful garden that way.

22/09/2021

Still harvesting chard from my plants that were planted WAY back in the Spring.

Definitely a good investment! Since I got the chance to cover them with row cover, I haven't had to do an ounce of work.

So great!

22/09/2021

Woah. It's been a while. I am finding some stuff on my phone that I wanted to post, but never got around to! Hope it is still relevant!
Here is a quick video update on some of what has been going on in the garden since the height of the summer.

Mel

13/08/2021

I hardly ever use my crockpot. BUT...

I found a nifty way to process my first bunch of ripe Black Krim tomatoes that all ripened at the same time:
Pasta Sauce!!!

The sauce came out sweeter than a sauce that uses Roma tomatoes, but the fresh, sweet taste will be awesome on a bowl of pasta of your choice. The sauce can be altered with more oregano for pizza sauce, or make a delicious bruschetta topping with the addition of balsamic vinegar and more garlic!

I ran my finished sauce through the Vitamix to make it nice and smooth. A crockpot full of tomatoes cooked down to 2 litres (8 cups) of sauce. I removed the seeds and core of each tomato, which I think allowed the sauce to stay relatively thick and not watery. I also sauteed a large onion and garlic separately and added that to the crockpot with the tomatoes and spices for added flavour. So don't waste your tomatoes if you grew WAY too many like I did LOL. Crockpot sauce is a time saver.

Additionally, throw your whole tomatoes in a ziplock, and put the bag in the freezer. You can pull out a fresh tomato for any recipe that requires them. And don't forget that you can use all your cherry tomatoes the same way!!!

Happy gardening!

16/07/2021

Funny story!

My first tomato of the season was easily going to be a three-pounder.

Guess who got to it first?

ps This is a picture I found on the internet. It captures the event perfectly!!!!

07/07/2021

Here are a few photos of Zinnias, Nasturtiums, and Calendula from my garden, along with a few photos of simple bouquets I get to bring inside all summer long!

07/07/2021

I will admit, I love growing flowers as much as I love growing vegetables.
Luckily, I can do both and so can you!
🌸🌼🌻🌺

07/07/2021

My basil worked well enough in a 1 litre pot...
HOWEVER,
I took a look at the roots after making this video and I was not satisfied with the amount of root that was taking over.
I had some space in a grow bag and so, in they went.

Lesson: Small is good, but sometimes small is too small 👎 😁

07/07/2021

Leaf miner: 1
Mel : 0
😭😤

19/06/2021

TRUE STORY

My brain: "Ack! Say it ain't so! Another pest?!
My CHARD MY CHARD!"

My inner gardener: "No worries"

My brain: "But there is so much to know!!!"
(SWOON, PANIC, HYSTERIA)

My inner gardener: "Just be vigilant."

My brain: "What does THAT mean???"

My inner gardener: "It is as easy as 1,2,3
Check for pest or eggs
Remove the eggs
Chuck affected leaves"

My brain: "Wait a minute. What? You mean that's it?"

My inner gardener: "Yup. Simple, simple. Now get going.
That larva isn't getting any younger."

My brain: "Gee, if I don't have to worry about the leaf miner,
what else can I worry about?"

My inner gardener: "I'm sure you will think of something. LOL"

18/06/2021

Now, what do I do with all this Oregano?!
😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋