Hopefully, haha, but as you can see my track record in this department isn't the greatest. LOL. Thanks for reading, anyway!
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( 2.9 / 32 )LOL, so yeah, I didn't back my shit up, and neither did my lovely webhost, so this is the most recent version of the site I have. I'll try and get the software updated and hopefully keep the spammers at bay. I'll re-do the graphics too, and then I'll start updating my stuff... lots of recipes/cooking stuff to share, and gardening stuff. Should be decent times, I hope.
Otherwise, life has been pretty good the last little while... might head back to school part-time for chem since work is kinda shite these days, but I'd like to finish my welding tickets and all that jazz too. Ah well, we'll see what the future holds.
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( 2.9 / 58 )Well, the garden is mostly taking care of itself, aside from some weeding from me. I saw my first tomato fruits of the season, so I'm happy. Lots of jalapeņos, Hungarian peppers, and chillies but no sweet peppers yet. I'm starting to get inundated with zucchini but that's all good, I like those. The peanut plant is kind of covered by them now though, but I still have hope I'll get a few nuts. Carrots are coming along nicely in the recycling bin, and I have lots of chard, snow peas too. The volunteer cucumbers that we put in pots on the balcony just started to fruit earlier in the week, which is sweet... I think they're pickling cukes, but not sure.
I also dug a new bed for lettuces, it's in partial shade... I'll expand it next year I think, as there is some room for that. The raspberries and strawberries are doing well, though ants beat me to the strawberries, and they will face eradication soon enough... mwhaha.
Anyway, here are some pics of the digging, and the rest of the garden.
Here I've cut the sod into strips and will remove it with leaving as much topsoil behind as possible. I double-dig, and bury the sod about a foot down, upside down. Works for me.
Ta-da, all done. The soil here was nicer than the main plot, no sand, just nice soil. There's radicchio, red leaf lettuce, chard, and some mesclun mix too.
Here's my strawberry patch. Cost me 12$ for the plant, and the rest was free from the curbside. The plants are ever bearing, Rona had 'em in baskets for 1.99, guess they thought there were June bearing and wanted them gone. Their loss.
Those monsters just left of centre are the zucchini plants, and they give me 2-4 a day. Crazy stuff. Good think I have friends that love zukes too.
It's hard to tell, but the stakes are where I have tomatoes, I stake them instead of caging, I find it works better since I believe in pinching off the suckers, and stakes are cheaper than cages. Also are some of the peppers in pots, and they seem to do better in pots than in the ground, I guess the warmth or something.
Lucy dog doesn't like the heat so she just chills in the shade.
Here are the balcony cukes and some other assorted sundries. Tarragon, thyme, chicory and a pineapple plant.
The pineapple plant is making some new leaves! So, it seems that it really took root and should make me a pineapple in a few years. Sweet!
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( 2.9 / 116 )So, we've gone strawberry picking twice, and we picked a bunch of mulberries from a secret spot in town. We're working on propagating a cutting from a branch that came off in a storm. I'm not sure if it's the ideal time to do it or not, but since it was freshly knocked off the try, there's no real loss in trying.
I've made a bunch of jam with some of the strawberries, and we froze the rest. The mulberries won't end up in jam, they're a bit too precious for that, so we just froze them so we can have them on cereal or in something later in the year. I'm not sure how much longer that tree will be fruiting. I'll try to take some pictures of it when I get the chance. The berries are absolutely delicious though, kind of like a fragrant blackberry with some blackcurrant notes... quite sweet too.
Other than that, not much happening... went to Port Franks on Canada Day and got a bit of tan, good times had by all.
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( 2.9 / 84 )I read it, and found it really compelling. It's really do-able around here I think, though our winter selection of greens is limited to cabbage, and kale I guess. I could probably do it without much effort, though I'd really like to grow more of my own food for it, beans and lentils for certain, and enough potatoes for the winter.
But that's just crazy idealism on my part, my veggie plot is mostly a hobby that might break even without paying myself for my labour (since it's a hobby I don't think I should account for my 'lost wages')
Anyway, here's the approximate area for K-W's 160km/100mile radius (I originally plotted a 50 mile radius (100 mile diameter) and it was still a large area, just touched Grimsby so you'd be able to get wine easily enough). Jen also made the point that if you can bike there and back in a day, it should count too, so that's a rule I'd use if I were to do this but I think it's unlikely that I would. If I had my own space where I could grow more stuff I'd be all over it.
;)
The hardest thing for me would be the caffeinated triumvirate of coffee, tea and chocolate. Spices too, I haven't started to grow enough of my own yet to sustain me. But there are a lot of greenhouses in that 160 klick circle... I know they grow peppers and tomatoes here, and plenty of fresh herbs, so we'd make due I reckon.
I also picked ~5kg of strawberries with Jen this morning. We're gonna make some jam and stuff with 'em sometime soon. They're delish, and it was a great day to pick too, sunny but not sweltering.
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( 3 / 89 )Well, to say I've been busy would be a lie, but I haven't squandered the last few months completely.
I've dug another little plot out back, a 4x4 raised bed for strawberries. I got a deal on some everbearing strawberries at Rona, they were 1.99 each, in hanging baskets and overflowing with berries. I'm nor sure why there were getting rid of them, but they've been transplanted and are doing well in the ground. I've fenced it in to keep the animals out. I should probably make netting for the top too.
I have started to mulch the vegetable plot with straw I picked up out in the country, I started with it on the onions but think I'll eventually move it out over some of the crops too, as I hate to weed.
On the brewing front, we've had a few batches, as well as two 40litre batches, though I'm not really setup for doing those quite yet, my kettle is just a bit small, and my chiller isn't that great.
So far this year, I've made a bitter, an IPA, chocolate stout (from old stout), a Bramling Cross bitter, and a weizen. I also put the strawberry wine on tap. I've got a rye stout recipe, and cream ale I want to make. Brian wants to try making Pilsner, but I don't have any place to lager it, perhaps we will lager it in his fruit cellar.
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( 3 / 80 )I still haven't updated the site's software, or design... or entries, until now. Sorry... maybe soon, if we get some rain coming up or something.
I have stuff to post about, but I think I'll just leave it until I redo the site.
http://www.myccr.com/canoedb/routeDetai ... outeid=125
http://www.myccr.com/canoedb/routeDetai ... routeid=70
http://www.myccr.com/canoedb/region.php ... egionid=14
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