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Therapeutic Effects of Gardening

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4027

Davit,

Sorry about your loss.

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2606

Hi Davit,

I am sorry to hear about Thomas. Sounds like you are kept quite busy with taking care of your property and gardens. I always envision what your place and view looks like.

All the best,

Samantha, Health Educator

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1071

Davit,

I'm sorry for your loss of Thomas. You made him comfortable at the end and you are a good guardian. I know it's part of life, but it is still sad. I like how you will have his photo as wallpaper on your computer (desktop) and the flowers are a lovely reminder.

God bless you,

Shari

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

It is going to be a lovely day today. A good day to bury Thomas who died this morning at 4:30 in his sleep. I will miss him but the flower bed is ready and I have some nasturtiums to plant with him.

I had a friend who was cremated and buried in the same spot as his favourite horse and dog. Funny what we do for closure. I will put Thomas on my desktop and the nasturtiums will remind me how happy he was here with acres to roam.

I don't think Theodore understands why he died but he knows he is dead. Out of sight out of mind will fix this for him.

Now I have to decide whether to get another. Any cat I get now will likely out live me. Not the time to be making that decision.

Tonight should be the last frost we get. A neighbouring village got a killing frost a few days ago. People lost everything. I'm in no rush, yesterday when I bought plants I bought ones that can stay in the flats a few more days. I'm watching the Snow on the Mountains (not the plant, I have that too.) it can make a difference to how cold it gets at night. It is pretty though.

I hilled potatoes because they were poking their heads up and I don't want them to freeze if it does get cold. I did this with a hoe because I haven't built a hiller for the tractor yet. It is on the list. As is fixing the float on the walk behind tiller. It is hard to use but I use it to keep a border around the big greenhouse. I need a smaller one. (tiller) More money I don't have. Maybe I need a husky wife to walk behind it. I have trouble with my legs (muscles) but Arthritis is a use it or lose it disease so I work them as much as possible. Fresh asparagus and pretty flowers does more for the pain than Tylenol. Soon there will be strawberries and Raspberries. Then the new little potatoes. I should be fatter than I am.

Birds are sure happy this morning. Swallows have claimed their boxes and gone to holiday for a bit before they settle down to raising the kids. I see robins picking up stuff for nests. One year they used bright blue baler twine. It is quieter with only the old geese here. Last year there were twelve. So far I have only seen one bear. A big one.

Hugs, bears can do more damage than brothers but are more forgivable.

Sun is coming over the hill and throwing shadows from the trees, time to have breakfast and start the day. And I have a friend to say goodbye to. It is going to be an interesting day. I'm glad it is not raining.

Oh and I noticed yesterday the Yellow Jackets are looking for places to build their nests.

Davit

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4027

A secret of sabotage I find, is to do a bad job well, so you're not asked to repeat the request.

It's been mastered by my brother who came over to fix something, and trampled 5 transplanted seedlings in the garden, which I'd spent an hour planting, mulching, and adding daily eggshells from our meals, to find them wiped out.

My rich day of yesterday almost seems completely wiped out, as though a visiting friend was never here, and I didn't go out on a different adventure to her hotel, and then an art gallery.

It's interesting how my mind works, since I've returned to a sad level of disappointment, from a euphoric level of yesterday.

I'm not sure it's worth even mentioning to him, since he got his payoff.

I'd put up barbed wire, but it's unlawful in the city, around a garden.

Although the idea is extreme, the saying "fences make good neighbours" makes good sense when it's applied to the boundries in relationships.

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

I went to the farmers market today. I got there before the rain. I spent forty dollars on plants, mostly flowers. They will have to stay in the greenhouse a few days since we could still get frost. We usually plant on the long weekend. But that is seeds, not plants. I have one gallon milk jugs without bottoms I can put over plants if it looks like frost but the best thing is just to wait a bit.

I had a nice visit with people I know most who asked where Sunny was. Some of the flowers I bought are to go in the flower bed we built last spring for the perennials she brought from Ontario. Every thing in it is growing although some stuff is slow. I gather it is supposed to be. There was some winter kill on the roses.

I have one bed that is under the porch roof that I was worried about because it doesn't get snow cover but it is fine. She put some pansy's in it this spring although the ones that were in it may come yet. Beside this one is the bed that the cats are buried in and where I will put Thomas along with some nasturtiums and flower seeds. There are wild Roses and Saskatoon berry bushes also along with some perennials. Some I don't know the names of. There are also some Hansa Roses. It has a rock border. In the middle is Comfrey and along the back on a trellis is Hops.

The rest of the flowers will mostly go in my Manure spreader which I filled with dirt. I have to remove the weeds first. I will put Poppies and Lupins in it too.

Beside the lean too on the Garage where I keep my main tractor I have Monks hood and another Perennial I don't know the name of. This one is new and needs a lot of cleaning. Up the hill behind the big greenhouse are two beds with Monks hood, Tiger Lilies and Irises. And another Perennial I don't know the name of. There are Tulips in a small rock garden. There is a yellow rose and some Perennials against the front of the big Greenhouse and in a Grain roller hopper I have more flowers and Perennials I don't know the name of.

At each post on the lean too there is Virginia Creeper. Beside the Garden fence there are two kinds of Lilacs. 13 bushes.

So I have my work cut out here before the Garden even.

Davit.

Ps It poured but now the sun is out again, it can do that here.

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

I doubt that gardening will ever be cost effective. But then we are comparing Apples and Oranges. If your soil is good with lots of organic material the produce whether it be flowers or fruit or vegetables will be far better than store bought.

Store bought starts out on soil who's most important character is tilth, loose silty sandy soil that doesn't clump when worked. Sprayed so there will be no weeds. Over fertilized so it will be ready before anyone else's. Plants chosen for their machine harvest and transport characteristics. Carrots that don't shatter when harvested. Potatoes that can be dropped into a truck without their bruising showing. Those black spots are bruises. Turnips as hard as the rocks in my pasture. Peas like wood pellets. Other things that can be stripped from the plant without too much damage. All of it sprayed and sprayed. An apple is usually sprayed seven times before picking. And then some are waxed for storage on top of the spray. Organic did you say. Yes but it is still the same woody machine harvested crap. And in some places it only has to be twenty feet from crops that are not. Same air, same ground water.

So if you want a carrot with crunch that is sweet, start with loose soil with lots of well composted material in a raised bed so the roots have room to grow. Grow Nantes. And don't over water in the fall or they will blow up. Plant smelly small Marigolds in the row to confuse Carrot fly instead of spraying. And they freeze best cut up and cooked till almost done first.

If you go to the trouble to make Cabbage Rolls then grow Copenhagen Market. A loose head Cabbage that bugs love. It doesn't store so it is not in the stores. Very sweet though. For Sauerkraut any tight head Cabbage will do. You can make it in a one gallon jar.

I could go on but my point is, no it is not cost effective but we are talking quality not quantity.

And that said I have to go pick Asparagus again.

Davit.

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4027

It's wonderful to hear about fresh bread, since I cooked something which would go well with bread, for tomorrow's guest. It's hard to believe I actually bought a carpet, almost one which read "Welcome".

I'm going to update my plant flower floor plan, since I discovered more of the plants I uprooted. Having spent a frustrating day trying to figure out what happened with my computer, it seems it must have been something simple, like the plug! I felt better with a few minutes in the garden, and will protect the seedlings by returning them to the the warmth of the garage, in case the overnight coolness is harsh.

Then I can begin plans for an afternoon with a friend.

Gardening is dirty, results in sore muscles in places I never imagined during my weight training, and looks chaotic, and can't be cost-effective at the city garden level, no matter what environmentalists claim, but results in colour, smells and a wonderful family of insects pollinating and birds and butterflies visiting for a summer.

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

I finally ran out of steam so today I'm doing indoor stuff and keeping an eye on Thomas. I may go out later when it cools off.

Making Spaghetti sauce and bread. Not such a good idea on a hot day. I'll only have to make bread every two weeks now. I slice it and freeze it.

I grow onions and they keep till I run out. I bought a bag of onions that came from Washington. They look good till I get them home then a couple of days later (today) I have to cut them up and freeze them. Some how they seem to get frosted before they get here. I might as well grow more onions and freeze some if I'm going to do this. Onions keep for months at room temperature. They do not do well in the cooler or a root cellar. I braid mine and hang them from the ceiling by the wood stove.

I still have plants to transplant, and will have for a week or more. Only a few flowers left. It nearly froze last night. I water when it looks like frost. It takes ten degrees of air to raise or lower water one degree. Watering before a light frost can protect blossoms on fruit trees.

Well it is my lunch time.

Davit.

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Kaitie

Being able to do your exposure no matter how it leaves you after is still a marker of your capability. Attitude makes the difference here. I did it is positive. I feel horrible is negative. Even if you do.

Oh just the thought of winter makes me shiver. It is overcast and cool here and we are going to get a few days of rain but that is normal here. Lilacs are going to flower as are my fruit trees and some bushes. Then they will be gone and hopefully I will be too busy to notice. I'm hoping the geese stay in my pond with their babies this year. Sometimes they go down stream to the river.

I think I can do some transplanting today.

Davit

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Therapeutic Effects of Gardening