Why is my Pac Choi (Bokchoy) bolting?

Hi everyone, long time no talk! My garden is growing strong this year, especially my luscious spaghetti squash and cucumbers – for some reason they are big, bulky and doing great!

What is NOT doing great is my pac choi (bokchoy). This has actually happened for the last two seasons but I have not been able to figure out a cure. The pac choi I’m using is dwarf white stemmed pac choi from West Coast Seeds.

Every time I grow these guys, this happens:

I water consistently, and I do get edible leaves but the stems are very skinny so as soon as they bolt, I pick the leaves and then the plant seems to be done – so I pull it out.

Any suggestions for me? Do you grow any Asian vegetables such as pac choi? I have been growing more and more Asian veggies(my fiance is Chinese!) and I totally love them – they taste delicious and are easy to use in my cooking. I can’t wait to hear from you guys!

Garden update: spaghetti squash

Sooooo if you know me, you know that I LOVE SPAGHETTI SQUASH. I adore it because it tricks my mind into thinking I’m eating some delicious carb filled pasta, and oh boy…pasta is my all time fave.

So this summer I decided to give spaghetti squash a try in the garden. I had never grown it before but I thought why not! I planted 4 seeds and they all germinated! They have been growing steadily for weeks now and look what’s happening!!! I think those are baby squashes!

I am a bit worried that they aren’t growing fast enough since it’s almost September and then the temperature will start dropping down.

What is your experience growing squash? How fast do these little squashies grow? And should I be fertilizing or anything? 🌱

Spring Garden

Ahhh horray! Today marks the first day of spring! We’ve had a few sunny days now and it’s totally got me thinking about this years garden. Last year I had some failures and this year I want to keep it SIMPLE.

When I say simple I’m thinking potatoes, corn, maybe peas cause who doesn’t love peas? I’d love to do spinach and some greens but I’m not sure I have the light and right soil for the leafy greens ☀

I did potatoes last year however they only multiplied a few and they were very small. I’ve been thinking about my garden staples, those veggies I want to grow every single year. What’s your garden staple?🌱

I would love to grow daikon radishand lotus root. Lotus root is a Chinese root, it is delicious. Have you had experience growing either of these veggies? I don’t know where to start!

Winter Camping Survival Guide

Winter camping…it started as a love hate relationship. While I LOVE camping, the cold not so much. I lived in Saskatchewan(a very very cold place) for many years but still dreaded the cold.

So when I met my adoring boyfriend who suggested we go WINTER camping, I said yes and had to live with the consequences. Dear. Jesus. Christ. Lord. My Savior. PLEASE SAVE ME, my toes…my nose…everything is frozen! My first trip was a nightmare, and by the last morning I had shut myself in the truck…my boyfriend brought me breakfast and I didn’t get out until we were back home.

I waited for another year until I had forgotten how cold it was. This year I gave winter camping a go and it turned out I loved it and I f

ound ways around the cold.
Step 1: MOVE!
It’s not rocket science, move your butt and you will warm up! I started by collecting rocks to build a wall around the fire. Then I began chopping wood. Later in the day(and after a few drinks) I decided I wanted to get out to a rock in the middle of the river. I decided I needed a huge branch which took 25 minutes of pulling to get free from the river bank. In the end it fell into the river, luckily I did not. Anyway I was quite warm after this drunk adventure!
Step 2: Dress smartly:
Yes I’m absolutely sure your Instagram photos will look cuter if you wear a small, revealing jacket and jeans but you won’t look so cute with frost bite. Don’t be stupid, the winter is real and where I live it is damn cold. Being out in the forest, in nature, in the winter is no joke. It can go from kind-of-cold to REAL FREAKING COLD in a matter of minutes. I guess it’s up to you, I tried my North Face down jacket(expensive) and I tried my big puffy old ski jacket with layers underneath. Both work however I found the thick jacket to be better. The big thing is wear merino wool…wool…just not cotton. I wear a toque, a long sleeve shirt, a fleece sweater, then my jacket. On the bottom I wear regular leggings(currently these are cotton) and then snow pants over top.

Step 3: Eat warm foods:
This is always fun. Eating! That’s right. We eat quite well when we camp, perhaps better than at home. We cook salmon, rice, veggies, all sorts of things. I find that eating warm food instantly makes me feel warmer(and happier!)
Ste p 4: Fire!
Build a fire, a big, bold, raging fire and sit by it for hours. Cook your food with this fire and then be sure to put it out before you leave your camping spot. Don’t start a forest fire!

Pretty simple if you ask me! I am happy to answer any questions about camping or hiking, this is a hobby I adore. I’m curious to know if YOU have ever camped or gone winter camping. What do you bring? What would you need to get you through a trip like this?

Dehydrating yam and potatoes

HI EVERYONE:) Lately I’ve been inspired to use my dehydrator and have brought it into work(a daycare) to make a few fun snacks with the kids.

At home my boyfriend has an OBSESSION with potato chips and this has worn off on ME(the ex health nut) ugh! So I’ve been experimenting with healthy alternatives.

Meet purple yams, orange yams and a plain old russet potato. I did grow potatoes but I bought these ones 🙈 All for the cheap price of $1.28. Where I live we have tons of ‘asian markets’ which are dirt cheap and local 🙌

First get choppin’! I spent about 45 minutes cutting these bad guys up. Keep in mind knife skills are not strong. Ideally you could use a food processor or one of those fancy choppers but this girl cannot stand having tooo many kitchen gadgets.

I sprinkled salt, set the dehydrator’s temperarure to 125 degrees and left them overnight for 12 hours. AND LOOK!

Ok they are a bit thick(hard on my teeth) but they are soo flavourful! Next time I’d make them much thinner but besides that they are perfect.

Do you dehydrate food? What do you make? Any ideas for me? I’d love to hear from you!😘