OUT with the OLD, and IN with the NEW!
I just love Perpetual spinach. Whatever you do the first year it will not bolt (send all energy into centre stalk and go to seed). There are many spinaches one can grow. This one is a bi-annual like most chard, carrots, beets etc, but handles the cold very well and as you can see has a great performance in the spring. Slugs dont seem to mow it down either.
If anyone has a recipe for eating chard/spinach roots let me know! I have some the size of small footballs.

The Dancing Gardener!
What great weather for getting the last baby tomato out of the bedrooms and transplanted into 3" pots and into the cold frames. A special thanks to Manjit, Michele, Gabriella, Sherry, and Jonny for helping me get 1000 baby heirlooms -51 varieties ( only 6 red) transplanted in only TWO DAYS! Yippie!
To reserve any plants see my list:
http://www.mulchgardening.com/plantsale.htm

Stored Life Energy...or....Too Lazy to Pick?
The story i am sticking to is that i am leaving beans on the vine to pick at any time throughout the winter. In a little house on the prairie where all the larder may be gone or cabin burn down, leaving it on the vine may be smart. Or maybe im just lazy. Anyways, lt is still pretty cool to go out and get beans for sprouting or soup throughout the winter and right up to spring planting!

One Bottle Down...or..... Getting to the Root of the Problem.
When you plant your garden try to be aware of surrounding trees and shrubs like cedars. The cedar roots sent a few tap roots under the pathway which bloomed into an almost solid mat of tendrils. These roots insinuated themselves into the moist nutrient rich soil and sucked it dry like i almost did to the bottle of wine it took to dig this trench last nite. I will make a root/moisture barrier out of lumber tarp and cedar siding to prevent this from reoccurring. No wonder i was having so few strawberries and peas from along this side of the garden!

Not Bugs Bunny - but just look at these fabulous carrots! And almost into May! They have been in the ground almost one entire year, completely covered in leaves so the tops never freeze. Many have fed on these purple/black beta carotene treasures. Nope, not the sweet things you buy from a store, but the highest level of this nutrient found in a vegetable. Garlic purposely un harvested in the fall has sprouted through the deep mulch in regular intervals to coincide with carrot harvesting. You will love sprouted garlic in any food, not as strong and Oh, so flavourful!

PEA CE OUT....
Finally putting something into the ground. I think the really cold weather may be done and im going to take a chance. The peas i planted to aPEAse the Ides of March are nice and tall and if i left them any longer they would be tangling amongst themselves. I use a broken shovel handle sharpened into a poky stick for jabbing through leaves into super soil. Then the pea "plugs" get inserted. Did i mention to water after each transplanting? I will repeat this a kazillion times until i can remember myself. And a really good lesson learned this year was DONT DROWN the peas. They do not want to remain in cool wet soil for too long as they germinate. The short bush varieties all rotted and will need replanting.
And just wait for the blue peas! Clitoria ternatea! And im not worried about my "P"s and "Q"s - thats the latin name. So dont war me or i will sic Green PEAce on you!!!

Sunny but BRRRRrrrr....with mornings this cold its good to have cold weather plants that have survived the winter. Beside me are 5 ft rainbow kale bushes as i hold up ice from watering buckets. Perpetual spinach, purple carrots, chard, and Romanesco broccoli are all bi-annuals that flower the second year and winter survivors. These cold mornings will seriously mess up any warm weather plants not covered up. Also cold frames will have such an extreme change in temperature. This is just a tricky time of the spring where it is too easy to think it safe.....be a ware, the world has enough lerts.

BABY! ----Well, they say you can know so much about a gardener by how they grow tomatoes. I start mine on onion skin paper and paper towels sandwiched between dinner plates. I pencil at least a dozen quadrants on paper and put different tomato type seeds down for germination upon soaking plate. Once germinated (around 5-7 days) i carefully place each baby into slots in starter 6 packs ( one inch ers) then throw under lights for two weeks. This year i have 51 varieties, only about six red, the rest crazy ass!

Love Time at Peace Centre (for those gardening volunteers):
I like to think the energy and time you are willing to donate an outlet of the innate creativity we all need to express to be whole human beings. Yes, its all about love, Baby! Sticking our hands into the soil and grounding our bodies from all the stress of modernity is a Good Thing. The beautification of the flower beds around the buildings will be appreciated by all who come to the centre. All the rain we are getting is great for all the growing things including the weeds! Please feel free to just go down and take on any bed and pull away....the moist soil easily releases the weed roots. I did not notice baby flowers in the bare soil but if someone does please add a comment. On the map below the beds are numbered 1-6 clockwise around the main building, south side being number 1. Two beds are at the building at the ally. Each of these beds have separate characteristics and should be addressed accordingly. For example: bed #1 gets full sun AND sun reflection off wall where bed #5 has little to no sun with Willow tree sap weeping all summer long on any foliage. It would be pretty silly to make the two beds look the same so each should be designed around the location particulars. The general theme for the sunny beds 1&2&7 are the well established and manicured rose bushes. Each bed has a number and notes can be made referring to the particulars when one of you want to "Play God" and bring new life to the bed, whilst maintaining good vs "bad" (i believe all life is good).
So, if you want to get "grounded" carefully pull some weeds and be aware a pitch fork will always find an irrigation line! A butter knife is plenty for the small sized weeds now.
Add a comment below this blog to say what you think or what you would like to do or done. You dont need to put your email addie or full name as this is public (although i do not tell anyone about my blog-its more just a place i throw written creativity whenever i feel the need, and from anywhere). We can see where it goes from there if/when we feel good about assigning beds to people. Call me anytime to discuss if you feel the need....250-317-3966. I live one block away from the Centre and can be there in minutes.
Happy Spring!

HDid It!
Bed Numero Uno is DONE!!! AND i found some amazing super aged horse compost full of worms to spread on bed once weeded. I brought down a scraper and hand fork but the ground is so soft the long screwdriver worked well. Found the green bin and mostly filled with random branch piles but there is still room for dumping little buckets of weeds. Now bed number two is ready to be put to bed as well. The tools are there and waiting for anyone.....(rain coats...for those volunteers waiting for only a sunny day).

Kitchen Gardening
Yup. Thats right! Growin stuff IN the kitchen, not just for it. This picture shows a couple types of seeds i sprout - usually ends up into between seven and nine trays or pots in various stages of growth. Also are the two types of keifer - water and dairy, and kombucha tea. All these have some variants of probiotics, live active enzymes, polyphenols (fights free radicals), glucuronic acid (a powerful detoxifier), and many other nutrients all associated with health. These are very expensive to buy at health food stores and with little more than 15 min a day for time commitment can all be grown at home.
Its all about Life Force and putting it back into our diets. Plus it still feels like gardening- especially in the winter!