Scenes from a Garden

Our garden is looking fabulous. I wanted to share some pictures so you can see how much can be grown even in the wilds of Cape Breton. But seriously, we've done so much this year and I should be celebrating. So here it is. I hope I am not to prideful.

(By the way, these pictures are actually a few weeks old so imagine our garden being even more lush)

This is a picture (below) taken from my mother's bedroom window. The garden in the foreground is the old house garden which has always been a garden. You can see the start of the area that we opened up to garden just above it. It's pretty big and we can't capture it in its entirety from our available vantages.


Here are the zucchinis that I struggled to protect from cucumber beetles for numerous weeks until they took off. Now they have won the battle for all intents and purposes. We ate the first zucchini for lunch today (pretty pathetic compared with Ontario I know). The squash and pumpkins are doing well too.


Here is a picture of two of the potato beds with salad greens, kale and peas behind. You can also see the scarecrow that Matt and Erin made for us. The potatoes are so healthy and we have more kale than we know what to do with. I'm going to make kale chi one of these days (kim chi with kale).


We planted 1,000 strawberry plants earlier this summer and some of them are doing really well. A lot died though and we learned some useful tricks in the process. I actually spent most of today weeding the strawberries with mum. I also had a nap in the new hammock, a freecycle find if you can believe it.


Here is a closeup of the potatoes and their pretty flowers. We have lots of different varieties including blue potatoes and an amazingly yummy variety that you won't find at the grocery store. They are red skinned with red flesh inside and make amazing wedges.


I always say that onions are the basis of all food so we are trying to grow as many as we can. This bed looks impressive but it would probably only last us a few months in the winter. We'll need to grow a lot more next year. But some are very large sized which is amazing for a converted hayfield.


Here is a pretty picture that mum took of one of her market bouquets and some currents that came off our two small bushes. We definitely need more berries.


Dan makes an amazing beet salad and this was the first beet we picked. Looks pretty good doesn't it?


Living here, I've probably never eaten so healthy. For one thing, I no longer buy perogies from the superstore like I used to in Hamilton. And there's no more unhealthy soy burgers and the like. Just beans and grains and fresh veggies. Mum is the master of the salad and we eat at least one of these a day. Probably explains why we use so much oil and vinegar.


And so I'll conclude with the advice of a amazing, beautiful and wonderful special lady: Smile to myself because life is great. Thanks for reading!