Inspiration from Dubrovnik

 

We're staying in Dubrovnik this week - Ben's teaching at the World Society of Victimology's annual post-graduate course here. We're staying in a little apartment in the old part of Dubrovnik - it's surrounded by a wall and everywhere is white marble and cobblestone.

 

 

Here's some photo inspiration from our walk around the wall on Wednesday.

 

Palm trees are pretty glorious, aren't they? 

 

We spotted two vegetable gardens during our walk - perhaps the only two within the walls of the old part of the city.  Here you can see the garden is covered in black plastic and the plants come up through holes in the plastic.  I guess this is to protect the plants against weeds.  Any other reasons you can think of?

 

Here's the second vegetable garden we saw...  You can also see the grapevines on metal frames on either side of the garden.

 

 

Marble and stone cover most of this part of the city, so there are quite a few potted plants.  I liked the look of the pots arranged together to create a garden look.

 

Here's a sweet window...

 

 

And finally, while I was walking through the city yesterday I came across a coffee shop full of benches made of old bathtubs.  What a sweet idea. 



- Mary Mary 

 

 

Inspiration from Athens

Ben and I are travelling this week... far from home but still thinking of home.  Well, mainly thinking of our son, Isaac, but a few things have reminded me of vegetables and plants and backyard fun.

 

We spent a day in Athens on Tuesday.

 

First, let's admire some of the ancient ruins, shall we? 

 

The Parthenon is such a masterpiece.  The city's restoration work is pretty impressive too.  You can see the light coloured parts of the building - this is new material holding together and fitting into the old structure. 

 

 

 

And here's the Temple of Zeus below.  I loved the look of that column that has fallen down.   

 

And here's some inspirational greenery in the city...

 

These purple trees were striking.  They reminded me of the effect of little purple flowers that act as fillers in flower pot arrangements. 

There were a lot of grapevines in Athens.

Here's a beautiful arch covered in vines.

 

A lot of the tree trunks were curvy, a bit like bonsai trees. 

 

 

And there you have some inspiration from Athens.

I'll post some photos from Dubrovnik tomorrow.

 

- Mary Mary



Free Mushroom Farm Compost

 We had plans on the last day of the Halton Region's spring-time free compost giveaway.

But we were in need of compost, so the next day, Cole and loaded up the car with shovels, yard waste bags, buckets and gardening gloves and off we went to visit the elusive mushroom farm just North of us that happens to have a big pile of free compost out front most days.

Weekends are busy and this free compost is in high demand,

so the pile disappears fast.

The day before, the pile was nearly ten feet high. But when we showed up 24 hours later, the pile was nearly all gone.

 

This particular bucketful is going to be put to work in our new butterfly garden.

Stay tuned for updates on our progress....

 

~Miss Greenish Thumb~

It's cold... MY DAD WAS RIGHT!!!!

My dad always swore by the rule: Don't plant until after the long weekend in May. That seems too conservative for me. I always plant early.

But today, as I drove into the country in search of free compost, it rained and then it hailed on my little car. And as the day progressed, the air took on a tangible chill.  I checked the weather network and tonight, it claimed, there is a risk of patches of frost (okay, okay, don't panic.... we feel lucky, right?) and Monday night... WIDESPREAD PLANT-KILLING FROST!

I'm not even being dramatic. The website called it plant-killing frost. It was the kind of message that says: Stop thinking you can make it through just by luck! You need to take action!

So tonight as I was locking up the house and turning off lights, I remembered and I threw on a sweater and my big rubber boots. I collected a few blankets (the one I use when I give Amelia wheelbarrow rides and the one that my husband let our friend's baby crawl around on last time they came over for a barbecue and the one we use to cushion the wagon) and a few boxes and a bucket. I tossed the boxes and bucket in between the tomato plants, cucumber plants and the pepper plants to act as tent poles and then I draped the blankets over top.
I may have even whispered: Good night... Be strong!

Then I wrote myself a note on a paper towel and placed it on the cutting board: Don't forget to un-blanket the garden in the morning.

Best of luck to you and yours over the next few frigid nights.
And next time, listen to your Dads. They know best!

~Miss Greenish Thumb~

Aunt Jo's Shady Flower Thoughts

Last May, Ben and I spent a week at Aunt Jo and Uncle Rob's cottage and we loved their potted flower arrangements:

 

 

 

So naturally, as I've been thinking of our front porch - hanging baskets and our big blue pots - I asked Aunt Jo for advice: for recommendations of shade-loving flowers. 

 

She said:

 

If the area is partly shaded, think about begonias, which are lush and brightly coloured, produce large blossoms and lots of them, and have a quasi-succulent leaf.  

 

Photo courtesy of ewan traveler

Also, try shade-loving impatiens...

 

Photo courtesy of The Greenery Nursery

... and sky blue or dark blue lobelia; the trailing variety is lovely.

 

Photo courtesy of echoforsberg

Another one I like is cat's tail... trails and produces pretty red, fluffy flowers that look like tails.

 

Photo courtesy of YIM Hafiz

When you go out looking for plants, head inside the tented area; these are the shadier choices. 

 

Thanks Aunt Jo!

 

- Mary Mary

 

Trip to Goderich

 My friend Hilary has one of the most beautiful yards I've ever seen.

And Hilary and I share a passion for helping things grow.

 These are her raised veggie beds. She said she bought the kits from Lee Valley.

 This is Kate. She is pure sunshine.

 Jacob and Cole had a blast playing in the yard.

You can see at this end of the house, Hil's got a row of raspberry bushes.

 Jacob, 6, really knows his way around the garden. He's even got his own tools.

He and Hilary set up a trellis and planted a row of peas. Jacob was careful to plant them almost exactly an inch apart, giving his garden more attention than Miss Greenish Thumb does.

 Jacob, Ella and Kate decorated these. They're six, four and three years old.

Impressive, eh?

~Miss Greenish Thumb~

Seeds in

I got my first seeds into the ground yesterday!

Here's a peek at the plan:

I'm trying carrots... again.  I so want to grow them.  I dug up the soil deep and tried to get rid of clumps.  I even kept a little layer of compost on top.  I'll put tomato seedlings all around them for shade and I'll plant some lettuce among the tomatoes (that's interplanting).

I planted half-rows of spinach, peas, and beets and I'll plant more in a few weeks - that's succession planting.  Once I'm through with my peas, I'll plant kale in their place - that's also succession planting.  There's a full row of swiss chard!  I love swiss chard!

This is Isaac's little garden.  He requested carrots and beans.  I hope those carrots grow too!

I added a couple strawberry plants too.

And here are some herb pots.  Notice the aesthetic weeds? 

Fencing attached with twist-ties.

Raspberry plants are doing well.

I like the popsicle stick labels.

I noticed on Miss GT's link to frost free dates in yesterday's post that Ottawa's average frost free date is May 8th.  What?!!  I'm totally planting tomatoes next weekend!

- Mary Mary