Rabies, babies…what’s the difference?

Back in January there was a very bold Red Fox hanging about the access road at Rainbow Haven provincial park.

This went on for about a week and rumors started circulating that the fox had Rabies. I thought not, perfectly healthy lovely creature.

My friend Susan suggested it must be a male fox, protecting the female in the den who was pregnant. Research told me it was just a little early for that, however it was a mild winter and not outside of normal.

We had been smelling that the fox had been marking in previous weeks, and as there are always fox kits born at Rainbow Haven each year, I figured that a pregnant fox was in fact the most likely explanation.

Going back through photos from previous years of fox kits, I predicted the kits to be 2-3 weeks earlier and marked the date to go see what I could find.

My photos didn’t turn out exactly as I had hoped as there was a nest of hungry wood ticks right by the den which created a fair bit of anxiety for me even with white, deet-covered socks, and also the foliage obscured the view and if I tried to get closer the kits would spook and hide, but all that aside for me it was still a wondrous experience.

Watching these young teeny fox kits play was a definite highlight of my spring.

Although they will never be print-quality shots without a month of Photoshopping I’m not willing to do, I love these shots. Hope you do too.

It was the only time I saw the 4 of them together and it was very brief.

I think it’s time for Ma to bring a fresh duck

My garden life – July update – veggies and growing your own food

BEYOND, Gardens

Veggie seeding started off gangbusters in March and quickly turned into a crisis. First I realized that I didn’t make the soil deep enough so my seedlings outgrew their surroundings super quickly. Next I re-potted them but realized the soil I got was not very good and I didn’t fertilize it. So the next month or so was a constant battle of re-potting and fertilizing to salvage my crop. It’s hard to believe, but I this is not my first rodeo I usually have Beans, Peas, Tomatoes, and sometimes Cukes from seed. I blame the pandemic for losing control of the process, but it was also a very welcome distraction from sheltering in place.

I planted Tomatoes, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and Peppers indoors late March/early April and was really pleased at how quickly they sprouted – this is April 10th

two weeks later I realized my soil was too shallow and I ended up with a bunch of leggy seedlings I had to untangle and re-pot – and I couldn’t tell them apart to boot!

Once I got things under control I had too many so sold a few on Kijiji and gave some to friends.

had to shift seedlings into their own pots – it was hard to get pots as pandemic shopping was not the best and I also needed them to be cheap little by little I got a batches and started the rescue – this is the downstairs window

this is the upstairs window – things went through generations of re-potting

a little fertilizer helps but then Macy tries to eat it!

ready to play the latest round of “seedling sacrifice” here

Once the challengers survived their 3 or 4 rounds to the winning circle, I quickly realized I wasn’t going to have enough space for even those. I had grand ideas of getting my other half to build some raised beds but when he informed me of the cost I abandoned that idea like a hot potato.

necessity is the mother or invention right?

built this out of old pieces of wood that have been behind my baby barn since I moved in and some loose bricks that I also inherited but some cheap soil and fertilized it to make it usable and voila!

Moved the cold frame out of the garden and into the yard this spring. The empty bed has gone through a few ideas/changes and next year I think it will be the new Garlic bed. I’ve been planting Garlic for years and it keeps moving further out of the flower space that I am slowly reclaiming for colour and blooms. Veggies are moving into the yard to cover weedy spots and create things for Macy to run laps around I guess. Will try to build some proper raised beds next year perhaps I usually try to spend as little money on the garden as possible and upcycle/salvage what I can so this year was thrown together with extra bricks and old boards that were left by the previous homeowners. I don’t want my veggies to cost more then if I just bought them at the Farmer’s Market. If I can I’m at least flush then I am paid in joy.

Broccoli not looking good here back in early June but we’ll see what happens

So far the results are looking pretty promising, especially for the Broccoli.

and….there is even Broccoli flowerets so we will be able to eat some of this which is great because it’s the veggie we eat the most of in this house

Brussels Sprouts, Peppers, and Tomatoes looking pretty good too

I’ve had good success with Lettuce over the past few years so decided to step it up and made some vertical planters out of rain gutters, we cut them and drilled holes in them and zip tied them to the fence and also on the edge of the deck.

They are great we’ve been eating lots of lettuce and it keeps the slugs out for the most part.

I’d like to try other types of Lettuce next year but we have had great success with this variety from Halifax Seed so far – Black Seeded Simpson – very mild yet tasty – and should produce into November

My supervisor, Macy, likes to run laps though the yard and makes muddy spots in the spring so we installed some runways for her too.

Just when I thought planting was over for the year I was given more seeds! Cucumbers, Beans, and Radish. Will have an update next month I guess.

well at least the Coneflower perennial is easy to plan a spot for

I think making the move over to container planting and raised beds will be good and we’ll pretty it up a bit and plan better for this year.

Just found out you can grow Cukes and Beans in hanging planters so I’m going to be all over that idea.

The one thing I didn’t plant that I had hoped to is onions so hopefully next year they make it into the plan. I’ll probably to something different like Shallots, but will have to do Green Onions too as my other half makes great Salsa. We grow Basil in the window for Pesto too. Yummy homegrown things. We try to buy only Canadian grown veggies in the stores, Nova Scotia when possible and visit the farm markets too. And we get things from our friend Noah at New Caledonia Farms. Food that has been trucked in from far away tastes yucky and we are foodies so want tasty and healthy I suppose 😉

Anyway, what are you doing in your garden these days?

My garden life – July – flowerpower and blooms update

BEYOND, Gardens

Gardening is not something you can buy at the store, it is something you have to work at all the time. Slow and steady wins the race along with transplanting your bits and bobs and learning your little corner of the world and what works best.

A write these garden blogs as much for me as for others because it helps me document the garden so I know what will come up next spring. It all looks barren in March but the weeds are getting an early start and you have to know what not to pull. And what space you might have to plant or repair for the summer.

The pandemic has given us all a little extra time this year, and I used mine in the garden of course. I tend to spend a lot of time in the garden anyway, but the extra time this year has been wonderful for trying new things and giving extra attention to things that tend to get ignored.

Of course I do spend a little money on the garden, and most of that was at Halifax Seed this spring. It felt great to support a small business during these trying times. They have excellent safety protocols in place and are a pleasure to deal with in any times. Supporting local and being kind are what will get us through this crisis, a little goes a long way.

Although a few things did not make it, the garden has not disappointed this year. Something different has been blooming every day since April and the Roses did not even make an appearance yet.

The 4 Tulip varieties I planted last November were a hit, so I will plant a few more of them this fall. I got these from a selection of bulbs at Halifax Seed that was organized according to bloom times. So they were staggered so I would have a different variety every 2 weeks.

last but not least to pop – Holiday Mixture

3 Tulip varieties in this photo – going to plan a bigger mix for next spring

I keep talking about my lack of success in planting Rainbow Rock Cress, but some of it was totally my fault. I realized I dug some up this spring that I planted last year as I mixed it up with other weedy things. Luckily this patch survived

Rainbow Rock Cress – I find this difficult to sow from seed I think I would recommend starting it indoors for better success as I planted a lot of it and didn’t end up with much – although I do think I accidentally “weeded” it

Anyway, I do love my perennial groundcovers most. Thank you so much to friends for donations to the cause.

Purple Lamium a well behaved spreader that tolerates shade – was a lovely gift from a friend’s garden

Sweet Woodruff is a beautiful and well behaved spreader that tolerates shade – a gift from a friend thank you I love it!

Snow in Summer with Creeping Phlox in the back also wonderful gifts from friends

Macy loves to nap in the Mother of Thyme – it smells wonderful and we cook with it too – I inherited a patch with he house, and planted more as we love it so much – have given some to friends too it’s very hardy

The bees and the birds love the garden. We haven’t seen any Hummers yet, but a number of butterflies have dropped by and butterfly season is just ramping up so it can only get better. Also, the two pollinator plants (Bee Balm and Butterfly Bush) I bought last year are not flowering yet but looking good and rooted well and survived the winter.

Hopefully they will be featured in the next installment of my garden diary.

I wait all year for the summer solstice. I think we all do as it marks the beginning of summer. For the past 13 years living here it has been the day the large perennials bloom. The only year it was late was 2019 and it was two weeks late! This year things were in full bloom starting on June 20th and the best show was on June 27th.

June 27th, 2020 – for about 2 days each year all 5 perennials are in full bloom – Rhododendron, Azalea, Poppy, Columbine, Wild Geranium – I don’t disturb that portion of the garden that I inherited with the house – and I’m still trying to learn how to prune the Rhododendron and Azaleas

Rhodendron in full bloom such a brief show from this lovely bush – also Creeping Thyme has flowered and the Yellow Loosestrife starting to bloom (excellent cut flowers for inside)

Things continue to bloom there is much more to come but that is the highlight each summer and a day I tend to spend at home each year to enjoy it.

Macy is just happy on the brief occasions I let her in my garden!

Princess Macy enjoying a little garden time.

Me, I think having a local brew with my flowers is somewhat like being Queen for the day.

As mentioned I don’t think shopping is the best path to a great garden, and I’m largely anti-consumerism, but I must admit I do enjoy these solar lights I bought on a whim this spring.

Goutweed covering – without a truckload of cash to throw away this is the best I could come up with for the time being to stop the spread on this side of the fence but I will work with the neighbors to find a solution that benefits us both and doesn’t cost anyone much money with any luck

The less glamorous part of this year’s gardening has been spent trying to block the super invasive Goutweed from coming in from the adjoining yard. As a temporary solution I covered what was coming in on my side of the fence with plastic (cardboard does not work) and then covered the plastic with cedar mulch. Hoping that in time I can reclaim that space and simply remove the plastic and the mulch can stay. It’s an ugly mess and I have to find a way to deal with it that involves the help of the neighbors I guess. No way around it as it’s spreading like wildfire all along the fence-lines on our street, and I’m sure other people on the street will also appreciate help with the spread of this invasive. It’s amazing to me that people still plant this stuff and it’s spreading all over my street…a nightmare…ugghhh! It’s not very ethical of a garden center to sell that stuff, that’s for sure.

hopefully next year there will be a pretty solution to the plastic and cedar – baby steps!

luckily the grapes filling in helps with the eyesore and was part of my plan – glad it’s working out pretty good but will definitely work on a better solution for all – it may inspire something great who knows

view from the back deck at night – we decided not to invest money in a larger deck we just BBQ on the deck and use the stairs to get down to the yard where we prefer to spend out time – but it does provide a great view night and day now that it lights up

my side garden

BEYOND, Gardens

these Crocuses have greeted me each year since I bought the house almost 13 years ago – I’ve never touched their little spot and they have never been late for Easter

Gardening is known to be very therapeutic and has gotten me through some pretty rough spots. If you are feeling a little helpless these days it might give you some sense of control while things seem to be spiraling.

I’m lucky enough to have a fenced in yard and a side garden, but if you don’t have as much space rest assured there is all kinds of container planting you can do. And if you don’t have that, you can even grow herbs in sunny windows so please do not despair.

Me and my girl Macy after a swim in the ocean last August – summer evenings are often spent chillin in the garden with the posies and a local brew

My little friend Macy likes to be outside in the yard when I’m out there of course. She has the backyard mostly to herself, and the side garden is double-fenced so she can’t be in there unless I bring her in with me.

You can see the two moods of Macy depending on which side of the fence she is on. If only she understood I’m really trying to keep her from eating bees!

Sulky Macy wanting to know why she isn’t allowed to do anything other than sit and watch, or lie down in the garden. Admittedly my old feller, Nelson, really didn’t get it until he was 15. Training is a work in progress I suppose.

Anyway, I’m a bit of a taskmaster when it comes to household lists for myself so naturally, I have a long list of things to do in my garden which is very welcome at the moment. We are all fighting pandemic angst, and this is my panacea of choice.

There is the list of “never do again” plantings which are based on complete failures from previous years. The list for “try again with improvements” for things that failed with good reasons, such as not observing our full moon in June planting rule for last frost. Last year was completely unforgiving to anyone who relaxed that rule in the past few years. Noted and oops! Finally, there is the “do more of” list, which is full of successes to expand and improve on. The easy for me veggies like Beans and Peas and Garlic go here along with flowers from Bulbs and easy seeds like Cosmos and Marigolds.

It’s chilly out there so I like this time for heavy work like digging and pruning. I dislike grass as a ground cover (boring, does not improve soil, gets full of weeds, requires way too much maintenance and has to be mowed!) so have been working slowly over the past few years to decrease the amount of grass on my property. It’s not easy as you really need to plant something non-invasive that will spread (with a healthy speckling of big thirsty Hostas in spots that tend to be damp or mossy) and stay healthy and durable in its place or you get weeds moving in very quickly. I have some Bugleweed in the backyard which is great for a dog yard, but the front lawn is very sunny and there is a lot of shale under the sod. I may have to make a raised bed for my perennial dream.

Wild Parsnip or some similar nastiness is trying to take over the dream slope near my curb I’ve been trying to do something with so it might be time to completely dig it up and replace it with Clover. I planted 4 large Hostas there, and some Spurge and recently added some Honeysuckle which flower and feed a neighbor’s hive residents all summer I think.

The slope is a tough area to mow. Clover doesn’t get very tall. It’s great for the soil, and the bees love it. It’s thick and pushes out Dandelions and other lawn invaders. Going to be great filler for now, and will be on the next Halifax Seed order.

My dream for “the slope” is a perennial rock garden but I will have to build that slowly because I don’t have the rocks, and I don’t have the perennials. Seems I forgot that the beautiful flowering ground cover I love the most like Phlox and Dianthus and Aubrieta should have been started inside months ago or planted last summer to bloom this spring. Nursery transplants are expensive so I will take it in baby steps which means cover in clover now and gradually create small rock garden components adding more over the years. Well that’s how I do things anyway because I can’t afford a landscaper and a bunch of materials, so I take things slow and move little bits and bobs around over time.

These are three of the “hardy perennials for zone 5” I tried to start indoors last year, or to seed directly in spring, but failed miserably. I hope to have some started outside late summer/fall this year that might look like these photos next year. In the meantime, at least I’ll have Clover and no Wild Parsnip. Baby steps.

Sundance bicolor -I tried starting these indoors last year didn’t have a lot of success I think they need peat seedpods to germinate – the few that worked out I planted too early and lost in the late frost

Dianthus Pinks (not my yard it’s the dream)

Aubrieta / Rainbow Rock Cress (tried to see these direct last year and failed – partially because we had a late frost but then tried again and think I didn’t water them enough)

The side garden is the main event now anyway. Last year I installed some natural flagstone and started planting in the spaces. I couldn’t have known at the time how much I would appreciate it this year.

Many friends donated perennial treasures for the spaces, the most fun ones being Hens and Chicks. I did a bit of Irish Moss from seed. Some of that I started indoors, and some direct to soil. Not as successful as I had hoped but cheaper than nursery pots. If you get those, they spread quickly if you split them though so either option will work. Creeping Thyme is much easier to grow and spreads quickly. Mother of Thyme works well too and smells divine. I inherited some of that with the house too and split some off and planted more.

some of the donations – love these Hens and Chicks Karen thanks and thanks for the Phlox Eloise!

On a side-note, I recommend if you get donations from friends gardens you rinse the roots and use new dirt so you don’t get invasive rhizomes. A bit of a learning experience. That being said, take all the gifts your friends will bring from their gardens and please return the favor.

the start of plantings in the spaces I expect this to be a constant project

The side garden was a large part of the reason I purchased the house 12 years ago as there were several established shrubs and perennial flowers:

this is when I first bought the house – the first thing I did was dig up the Rhubarb and send it to my sister in Cape Breton who has a large country property – not really my idea of a city garden plant LOL

Azalea (probably Chinese Golden Sunset variety)
Rhododendron
Pink Beauty Potentilla
Euonymus, Emerald N Gold aka Japanese Spindle Tree
Euonymus fortunei ‘Variegata’ – aka Wintercreeper
Red-tip-photinia
Poppies
Sundrop Primrose
Grape Hyacinth
Geranium
Bleeding Hearts
Mountain Cornflower
Columbine Aquilegia
Heather (Winter Heath)

treasures I inherited with the house – every year for 12 years they made this show in time for the Summer Solstice save for 2019 when it was late due to the bitter late frost that was the bane of many gardeners (and farmers!) existence – note that the Poppies are not in the photo and should be bright orange in the missing spot they were the only thing that bloomed on time and the rest followed 2 weeks late – we’ll see what 2020 holds

each April the Heather comes to life with the Crocuses much to the delight of the bees but it is all gone by June (it’s the brown spot in the previous photo)

A good start indeed and I’ve been busy with them every year since.

For a good number of years, I only did maintenance, but one day my old Lab/Setter cross, Nelson, got into the garden unattended for a while and dug up a bunch of the perennial flowers. No point crying over spilt milk they say so I planted veggies in their place in the empty spots. Mostly just Peas, Beans, and Tomatoes to start. Over time Garlic was introduced into the mix, and some salad greens.

I actually bought my house especially for Nelson in 2007 as renting with a big dog in Halifax is difficult and expensive and I would do anything for my dog – RIP you king of mutts love ya!

the start of veggie gardening in 2014 after Nelson did some “landscaping”

These days I’m more careful about keeping the gate closed with my Border Collie, Macy. Here she is with one her best friends, Herk, demonstrating yet another reason that dogs are not allowed in the garden unsupervised!

Herk checking on the garden while Macy gives an example of why they aren’t allowed in unsupervised!

summer 2019 – there is a whole story about pots on the fence but you’ll have to talk to me about that one personally

Last year I decided I would do all the veggies in containers and start flowers from seed. That was pretty much a disaster. I tried some indoors and some direct to the ground and the only things I had success were Lobelia (started indoors), and Marigolds and Cosmos (which I’d planted from seed lots of times and are super easy and forgiving). I did have some success with Alium Bulbs, and the drumstick variety attracted a Monarch Butterfly who stuck around for a couple or weeks. As well I did well with Begonia Bulbs for summer plants.

Begonias done as summer bulbs for the first time in 2019 – this year I will take my plants indoors I think but not committing to anything

Based on that I decided no more posy seeding for me, but I did plant 4 varieties of Tulips which are coming up nicely and will bloom at varying times over a 6-week period close to the end of April.

Monarch Butterfly loved my Drumstick Alium

For the first time in my life, and because I was so pleased with my flagstone hardscaping, I splurged and bought some perennial plants from a local nursery:

Bee Balm
Geum
Butterfly Bush

It’s too early to tell if they will come back this year, but the Geum is greening up already so that one’s a winner.

I’m a bit of a frugal gardener so tend to relocate weedy type perennials such as Forget-me-nots and other things instead of turfing them. I’m not sure what these little mossy guys are that pop up around the garden but I take the teeny pieces and put them between stones and concrete blocks. The leftovers go into a spot to thicken up until I need more. They look a bit like Irish Moss but they are not as they never flower. If you know what this is please let me know, it’s fantastic stuff.

What is this little Green Moss? It’s great to stick into spaces where you don’t want weeds or grass (which is happy to grow anywhere you don’t want it) tend to grow like in between concrete blocks.

Since veggies have traditionally done the best for me, I started some seeds indoors late March / early April this year – Tomatoes, Sweet Peppers, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts. There is no guarantee, but seeds are cheap, and if I get my 8 bucks back out of the crop I will be thankful and welcome the diversion either way.

This is a must have book if you want to grow vegetables in Nova Scotia. Niki is the best!

Flowers are still the stars of any garden, so I just picked up some summer bulbs from Halifax Seed. Two I’d never heard of but looked pretty enough to pop into my online shopping cart (they are doing local pickup orders) – Freesia and Zephyranthus. And being the eternal optimist, I’m going to try Sweet Peas from seed which will hopefully tumble out of pots on the fence.

I took a video on November 9^th so I would know what I planted and what to weed in the spring. It’s keeping me busy so far, but I can’t wait until I can show you a video of some things coming to life.

My little video from last November told me to clean up the weeds in this spot (see below), and thankfully alerted me not to dig up the Alium that is shooting up. Not sure what I will plant here this year it’s the old Garlic patch (and the dirt still smells like Garlic!)

Some of the weedy stuff I dug up in the old Garlic spot. I rescue those little green mossy things and in the past I’ve transplanted some of this other assorted semi-invasive stuff, but have risen above them now with alternatives now (like the 3 varieties of Lamium my friend Carolyn gave me) so into the green bin the rest goes.

My blog is a bit of an online journal/diary too so it’s as much for me as it is for you and it’s a bit windy I hope that helps you to understand.

This is my front door from July 2019. There are things to look forward to if you plant the seeds and tend your gardens, I promise.

Stay tuned.

The Weigela also came with the house but have really gotten big over the years – and I have never learned to properly prune them but it’s okay I’m not the type for a manicured garden

a trip to Pitt Meadows for a Prairie Falcon

BEYOND, Birds, British Columbia, Travel

It seems to be a recent tradition of mine to go birding in the Vancouver area after our annual RC Pets conference. Whether it is one day or two I try to make the best of my free time in the beautiful province of British Columbia.

What I would really love to see someday are the Coastal Wolves of Vancouver Island, but that is not practical in February, and so I bird.

I had about 8 hours of daylight available until I had to be the airport on my day off so I connected with Jim Palmer, and we headed out to the “valley”. I had two targets in mind that were being regularly seen in that area, both Falcons. We dipped on one, but I got to see the one I will never see in Nova Scotia, so it all turned out just fine.

We could not locate the Gyrfalcon and believe it may not be around anymore as it hadn’t been spotted in a couple of days, but that’s okay potentially I’ll get one in Newfoundland in April. If not this year, then the next perhaps. We did get to see two Coopers Hawks in the location where the Gyr had been frequenting, and a Red-tailed Hawk was also eyeing up their territory so perhaps the farm area was a bit “over-raptored”.

We did get the Prairie Falcon, which is quite unlikely to ever turn up in Atlantic Canada with its strictly western range. We have never had a report of one in Nova Scotia to my knowledge. It made a brief and speedy flyby just as we stopped the car. Then it flew directly into a cluster of very tall trees in the distance where we would perhaps never have spotted it without being alerted to it’s location

Hopefully this excuses my nearly unidentifiable shot. We did get excellent looks in a 60 zoom scope, as well saw him fly close to the car and then followed with binoculars. My out the window shot is not so wonderful either, but those buggers move fast!