Spring Planting

          Well it's true- it's not quite officially spring- this week is still technically winter- if you can even call it that this year! Inspired by the optimistic sunshine the Littles and I started sewing our seeds- nothing too fancy- some Kale and Nasturtium- perfect for salads on warm evenings. If you are a long time reader you may remember me swearing off gardening. By the end of last summer I was so frustrated- the lack of space combined with high winds and too much sun- everything dried out quickly and we had very little luck. Except with the Kale- and the herbs- and of course the strawberries- so this year I've decided to take a much more pragmatic approach to container gardening.

           First off I am going to plant only things I know will grow- I am giving them each loads of room in each container- last year I tried to cram too many things into too small a space- even though I was following the square foot rule the containers became crowded and quickly. This year I will make sure to spread things out much more evenly. I am also getting rid of the strawberry tower which ultimately attracted birds to our deck- these rotten city thieves stole almost all our berries and I am pretty certain pecked my lettuce as well.

          At the end of the season I was so disheartened- I thought I had killed my rhubarb- but here it is back and sturdier than ever- this is the second full year for this plant and so I am hoping to at least be able to harvest enough rhubarb for our favourite rhubarb syrup! Or combined with some strawberries for perhaps a pie- we still have about 10 plants that came back and so I am hopeful they fruit out a bit this year. Hopeful that is the only word I have towards my garden that I can use in front of my kids!

         So while I am busy having major garden envy towards certain other people's flourishing gardens- containers- yards- what have you -I will be coaxing these wee city babies along- encouraging them to grow towards the light- above all I will be hopeful for yet one more year!