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!

Distance running tips for the weak

Lol I’m not sure about the title for this posting but whatever! Let me start by saying that when I started my running journey only a year ago I could barely run for 2km strait. No joke. In highschool I was called fat and now I’m still not exactly small…let’s call me ATHLETIC looking(it’s true, I promise). My point is nobody in my past would ever imagine that I have started running.

After a lot of whinning, self pity, anger, muscle cramps and warm showers, I’m happy and quite surprised to tell you that I have run a 10km race and have trained for a half marathon! 🏁💪

By no means do I have a “runners body” and although I played competitive ice hockey growing up – distance running is MUCH DIFFERENT.

“How did you start?” is the most common question people ask. “How?!” These are some questions I want to answer for those of you who have asked me these questions, those people who are just getting into running or quite frankly never want to run a day in their lives but are interested!

1. What do I need to buy?

For me I was not prepared to spend a lot of $$ at first because I didn’t even know if I would keep running. I started running with super cheap Under Armour running shoes. They cost $60 and they did not have a lot of support. I think this is FINE because I was not running much distance. I didn’t know any better! Now I wear expensive Asics that I adore and worship but I didn’t buy them until I was running about 8km strait.

If you are a girl, I’m going to help you out. Don’t buy Lululemon running tights…just don’t. They are expensive, and quite frankly they don’t stay up. I bought mine from Running Room and I highly suggest going to a running specific shop for PANTS and eventually shoes if you get to be running further distances!

Also sports bras are important if you have boobies. I have pretty small boobs so I bought this bra and have managed quite well if you ask me.

After a few weeks of running around with my phone in my hand, I opted to buy a small ipod for music. I personally need music when I run or else I get bored and walk home(lol).

2. How do you motivate yourself?

Honestly? My one piece of advice is GET YOUR BUM OUT THE DOOR, this is the hardest part. Trust me I could make up 881 excuses as to why I need to stay home…dinner to cook, prep for work, oh the floor needs sweeping…yikes that drawer needs organizing. CUT THE SH*T and leave the house. Just go! Once I’m out the door, I’m good to go…it’s just getting there that’s the tough part!

One of my biggest fears and best excuses to NOT run is visibility. I’m terrified that a car will run me over and I’ll never get to eat chocolate and wine again. Lol seriously it’s a fear. With this in mind I ordered a Noxgear Tracer 360 vest which I am ESCATIC to receive. Check out the website, they seem pretty fantastic. I currently just run with a headlamp so this flashy vest is going to be amazing. I’ll be sure to do a review once I do receive it!

ANYWAY that’s all for now…I’m proud of myself and you should all be proud of me too ;). If you are getting into running or even exercise I WANNA CHAT! I want to hear more questions from all of you! Thanks for reading xox 🐼🍷

Garden Update – September 

Oh blogging friends, I’ve missed you. I’ve been neglectful to my blog but am still here! September has been a very busy month with starting a new program in university among other things.

My garden has been quite pitiful this month I’m afraid. There were many tomatoes in the early month until late BLIGHT(I believe) hit and essentially killed all 7 plants. I was devastated. Here are some photos so you can see what it looked like. It sort of seems like the tomatoes are rotting from the inside out.

Has anyone seen this?

I did however get hundreds of tomatoes, I just felt awful for all the ones that never got to ripen. Food waste is my equivalent to nails on a chalkboard – I just can’t handle it. I ended up ripping out all 7 plants and attempting to save any green fruits. With the non blighted tomatoes I decided to use my dehydrator again and make sundried tomatoes. It was fun to experiment with the different varieties of tomatoes.

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In other news, that garden skunk I mentioned turns out to be a family of very busy, very enthusiastic squirrels. I used to enjoy watching squirrels run around and frolic…now I want to spray them with my hose’s jet setting. I made some sort of homemade squirrel deterrent using vinegar chopped garlic and black pepper…it didn’t work unfortunately.

I have just planted some winter seeds including: spinach, carrots, beets and bokchoy. Here’s hoping squirrel doesn’t decide to dig them up and have a nibble.

Does ANYONE know how to avoid this horrible blight? Or is it just part of gardening? I should probably move on and get over it 🍅And has anyone had a squirrel digging up their garden? What has worked for you? I’m excited to hear some tips and certainly excited to hear all about your fall and winter gardens!!🌱🌱

Garden Update – August

Someone tell me I’m wrong! Can it be mid August already?! I’m in denial. I have seen an abundance of garden posts which makes me so happy – it’s such fun seeing what other people are growing and how it’s doing. 🍅🌱❤

Today I wanted to share with you guys how the garden is looking. It basically looks like one big pile of tomato plants but I reassure you, there’s a bit more going on than just the horrendous tomato mess.DSC_0894

Starting with my tomatoes. My sweet millions are turning red – YAY! The 6 other tomato plants are very green, and I’m worried I’ve done something wrong. Please ripen, I don’t want to fry 300 green tomatoes 😂 It’s been hot – 30°C(86°F) for the past week. I haven’t plant given them “plant food”. Just good soil and water everyday. What should I be doing to help them out? Patience is likely the answer. 

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The edges of the leaves are brown and yellow. Help!

Peas! Those old pea plants did in fact have powdery mildew – yuckuckuck! I pulled them out and said goodbye. I took a chance and planted some pea seeds 3 weeks ago in hopes that they produce some peas before the seasons change.🌱

The beets…they’re sad! As you can see in the photo, someone has been eating away at the leaves. I mean I’m sure they’re tasty but I’d like to see them grow! Any suggestions? Is this normal for the leaves to be snacked on this much? 

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Beet leaves. Another seedling got completely eaten away. 

Lastly, yesterday I planted some Celebration Swiss Chard, the beautiful rainbow variety. I am hopeful it grows well, as the weather will change in September. I learned Chard seeds are much larger than some other types(carrots :o). I really like how they look!

The bokchoy and carrots are coming along well. I harvested my two(lonely and dispondent) onions yesterday which are drying. Maybe next year I’ll have more success with onions 🐜

On a more personal note, today is my last day nannying some kids I’ve been with for over 2 years. Very sad, but it’s been a good run. They have been my best friends – despite the tantrums. I go back to school in September 📚🐝

Well, that’s all for today. Keep sharing your wonderful experiences with me and tell me about your gardens in the comments!! Happy growing, friends. 🌎

Pea problems and winter seeds!

I spoke to soon. In my last post I claimed I had mastered summer gardening…well my peas have turned white and the actual pods seems to be growing MOLD. Help!🚔🚑

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What is going on?!! It’s been very humid over the last few days so I’m guessing it’s from that, perhaps they don’t like hot and humid weather. Has anyone seen this before? Any guesses?

On a happier note, today I ventured out to my garden store and picked up a few packets of seeds for when my tomatoes are gone and the weather becomes a little cooler. Check out what I’ve picked out!

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Green Arrow Peas, Bloomsdale Savoy Spinach and Celebration Swiss Chard!
Have you grown any of these veggies in the winter months, how did they do? Still eager to hear advice and stories of winter gardening. Happy growing, friends!🌱🍄🌞