CANADIAN REGION: What are you doing in March 2017

Mim2, do not worry about being late with your seeding program, they always catch up.

If you look in one of the SFG books under Seedling Germination, there is a table that gives the days required at different temperatures. I am always surprised how a rise in temperature cuts down the number of days for seeds to germinate.

I my older years I am getting more relaxed about the actual time I plant seeds now.
In any case I have friends who give me transplants so I let them do the work.  Last year I had four tomato plants and between them I harvested at least forty pounds of tomatoes.

The funeral for my Mom was honouring to both her and the Lord. Now that it is over I expect the full impact of her passing will begin to affect me.

Mimi ... You have plenty of time to get tomatoes started in Ottawa. I'm not sure I will get any started indoors this year because we will be in St.Catharines taking care of my Mom's estate.

TD, I'm glad the funeral went well...

Lots of hugs!

TD: I have no doubt that several of us here were thinking of you and your Mom on Tuesday. You were with her during the last days and now a time for mourning, at your own speed.

For some time now I have been de-cluttering paperwork that has gathered in my home and I have many letters received from my Mom over the years plus I always kept copies of my replies.  Finally I am getting them sorted in date order and at the same time re-reading each one. Instead of feeling sad, I am enjoying each one as it brings back memories.

Hugs.

My lawn is gradually exposing itself as the snow melts.  The ground is soggy and I still have not reached the main garden where the garlic, rhubarb,strawberries, tulips and other flowers are still snug under their snow cover.

Rain forecast for the rest of this week.  

I remember in 1982 I took a trip to England, returning on April 1st hoping to start playing  golf as I had taken it up the previous year and was eager to improve my scores.  Only to find that my husband, his sister and her husband had already been playing for three weeks.  I bet all the golf courses and their players are feeling like us gardeners; can't wait to get going.

  Kelejan Today at 9:39
c0ryp1 from Woodstock, Ontario.
from Kelejan in British Columbia.

Welcome also to our CANADIAN REGIONAL thread from Kelejan, your Canadian Regional Host.

We seem to be getting quite a group from Ontario now with Trolley Driver from Ottawa being the most prolific writer.

As Canadians we are only now beginning to think that Spring will arrive and in no time we should be deep in the dirt at last, trying to catch up on all those things we could not do becasue of the snow, ice, freezing rain etc.

Mrs TD and I are right into the cleaning out of my mother's house. We are thankful it is not a huge house but it is still overflowing with stuff. She kept a spotless, neat, orderly house. However, when we started to get into the closets, cupboards, dressers it is a sight to behold. Again she kept it all very orderly and clean but everything (and I mean everything) is in plastic bags, plastic clothes bags, etc.,  and there is not a bit of room to add anything more into those spaces.  We have bags upon bags upon bags of clothing to take to the Christian Thrift Store.  So I've come to the conclusion that my dear Mom was a closet hoarder.


While going through some books yesterday I came across one called "Terrific Garden Tonics" (345 Do-It-Yourself, Fix 'Em Formulas for Maintaining a Lush Lawn & Gorgeous Garden) by Jerry Baker.  Me thinks that one is a keeper.

trolleydriver wrote:Mrs TD and I are right into the cleaning out of my mother's house. We are thankful it is not a huge house but it is still overflowing with stuff. She kept a spotless, neat, orderly house. However, when we started to get into the closets, cupboards, dressers it is a sight to behold. Again she kept it all very orderly and clean but everything (and I mean everything) is in plastic bags, plastic clothes bags, etc.,  and there is not a bit of room to add anything more into those spaces.  We have bags upon bags upon bags of clothing to take to the Christian Thrift Store.  So I've come to the conclusion that my dear Mom was a closet hoarder.

Hubby's mom was the same way. When she left us, the whole family came to go through her things. It was almost like having her there with us, helping to decide what to do with everything. It actually helped ease a little of the pain of losing her. Our daughter was in her 30s then, and her daughter was 9. Katie kept back some of the most sentimental treasures and gave them to her daughter over several Christmases from her "Memaw."

trolleydriver wrote:
While going through some books yesterday I came across one called "Terrific Garden Tonics" (345 Do-It-Yourself, Fix 'Em Formulas for Maintaining a Lush Lawn & Gorgeous Garden) by Jerry Baker.  Me thinks that one is a keeper.

Oh yeah...my mom had one of his books once back before I knew squat about gardening. The concoctions she made and put on the lawn had me in stitches - mouthwash, beer, dish soap...all kinds of weird mixes. BUT...she had a lovely lawn and garden.

CapeCoddess wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:
While going through some books yesterday I came across one called "Terrific Garden Tonics" (345 Do-It-Yourself, Fix 'Em Formulas for Maintaining a Lush Lawn & Gorgeous Garden) by Jerry Baker.  Me thinks that one is a keeper.

Oh yeah...my mom had one of his books once back before I knew squat about gardening.  The concoctions she made and put on the lawn had me in stitches - mouthwash, beer, dish soap...all kinds of weird mixes.  BUT...she had a lovely lawn and garden.

Jerry Baker:  Big time PBS organic early star for your garden and yard, roses, just normal stuff!  Yeah he had some real concoctions.  But much better than chemicals...

Ummm... Be careful with some of Jerry's stuff. He recommends things like tobacco, etc. That will kill beneficial bugs as well....

Like always - Examine every recipe before putting it together.

This morning I took some of my Mom's clothing, books, etc. To a Mission Thrift Store . While I was there I noticed that they had a "never been used" Aerogarden Ultra LED unit for sale.  The asking price was $75 Canadian. The man behind the counter knew I was making a donation of things. So he said "I see a scratch" on the Aerogarden and he rang it up at $60. Of course there is no scratch 

That's nice about the AeroGaden, TD.  What you give often comes back to you.

I am feeling a little down right now.  No sunshine in sight for seven days.  When I read our local forecast yesterday there was a sun symbol for one day next week, but it has been switched off for today.

I was able to take a trek though most my garden yesterday and so far it does look pathetic and soggy, just like last year then I lost most of my garlic and tulips. I have faith that when the sun does shine again in my garden that it will take off.

trolleydriver wrote:This morning I took some of my Mom's clothing, books, etc. To a Mission Thrift Store . While I was there I noticed that they had a "never been used" Aerogarden Ultra LED unit for sale.  The asking price was $75 Canadian. The man behind the counter knew I was making a donation of things. So he said "I see a scratch" on the Aerogarden and he rang it up at $60. Of course there is no scratch 

I can see lettuce growing in the winter in your house next year with the Aerogarden.

Nice sunny warm day here in the Niagara Peninsula.  Just took a walk around Mom's retirement "village" and noticed some rose bushes planted near a south-west wall have buds on the stems. As well the weeping willow trees appear to be starting up.

TD,  That's nice about the Aerogarden and it's invisible scratch.  I was a court approved conservator so I had to sell most of Mother's collectables.  Still ended up with boxes and boxes donated.  

KJ,  Hang in there.  The sun will be back.

TD with cleaning out of your mothers house, too bad it is winter.  My husband and I have each lost our mothers in the past few years and I dug up "souvenirs" from both of their gardens. It is alway nice to hang out in my mothers raspberry patch (I dug them up when she went into the "home") .... and my mother in laws bearded Irises 
We also dug up a plum tree that my father in law had planted. Lotsa memories in our yard

That's nice, GWN...

SCORE, TD!!!!  Nice!  

KJ, I am like you, I need sunshine

Kelejan wrote:Mim2, do not worry about being late with your seeding program, they always catch up.

If you look in one of the SFG books under Seedling Germination, there is a table that gives the days required at different temperatures. I am always surprised how a rise in temperature cuts down the number of days for seeds to germinate.

I my older years I am getting more relaxed about the actual time I plant seeds now.
In any case I have friends who give me transplants so I let them do the work.  Last year I had four tomato plants and between them I harvested at least forty pounds of tomatoes.

Thanks Kelejan! I did end up getting the tomato, pepper plants and flower seedling planting done after all. I think I have about 60 or so little pots ready to grow. Hopefully I'll get some green shoots coming up soon. I probably have enough to share with TD too :-) I probably have about 25 different varieties of tomatoes and pepper plants. I never do a very good job of marking tho- so they'll be a bit of a surprise.

Mimi ... that would be most welcome since it looks like I am not going to get mine started this year.  In fact I was thinking of sending you a PM to see if you would be able to share some with me.

No wonder I was feeling a little down when I posted on the 24th.  Next morning I woke up with a cough etc. etc. and have been home bound since then.  I found some Buckley's Cough Syrup and nearly blew my head apart when I took a spoonful. I have no idea how long it had been in the medicine cupboard as I have not had a cold or cough for some years. So I ditched it

I thought I was immune but found I was just as vulnerable as the next person. I dragged myself downtown, stocked up cough mixture, lemon tea, grapes and oranges and retired to bed for the rest of the day.  The rest of the weekend has been spent in bed sleeping, or on the lounger watching TV and falling asleep on and off.

This morning I know I am on the mend but intend to tale it easy and make sure I get completely better.

Looking out the windows into the garden, the snow has all but melted but no way was I going out to spend time there.  The sun did shine this evening so maybe I will get out there for a little while tomorrow.    Cough! Cough! Time for another spoonful of cough medicine.

Kelejan wrote:No wonder I was feeling a little down when I posted on the 24th.  Next morning I woke up with a cough etc. etc. and have been home bound since then.  I found some Buckley's Cough Syrup and nearly blew my head apart when I took a spoonful. I have no idea how long it had been in the medicine cupboard as I have not had a cold or cough for some years. So I ditched it

I thought I was immune but found I was just as vulnerable as the next person. I dragged myself downtown, stocked up cough mixture, lemon tea, grapes and oranges and retired to bed for the rest of the day.  The rest of the weekend has been spent in bed sleeping, or on the lounger watching TV and falling asleep on and off.

This morning I know I am on the mend but intend to tale it easy and make sure I get completely better.

Looking out the windows into the garden, the snow has all but melted but no way was I going out to spend time there.  The sun did shine this evening so maybe I will get out there for a little while tomorrow.    Cough! Cough! Time for another spoonful of cough medicine.

After the stress of my mother's passing and the funeral service, I have come down with a miserable cold as well. Mrs TD and I are working our behinds off cleaning up the house.  So far I've taken about 40 bags of clothing and other things plus separate items (small tables) to the Mission Thrift Store and another thrift store. It's been crazy. Taking a day off on Tuesday to go visit our daughter and family who live about 80 minutes by care from here.

BTW it was a beautiful no jacket day in St.Catharines with a temperature of 18 Celsius (64 F).

Look after yourselves and each other as well as you can. Stress make you more vulnerable to colds and other illnesses. 

I have the luxury of retreating completely as I have few responsibilities, but you have to carry on to get the job completed.  This makes me realise that I really must get down once again to clearing my home as much as possible so as to save others having to do the job.  We spend out lives amassing so many large and small items especially if we stay in one place for any length of time.

tonight I am feeling a bit better and I know that when I wake in the morning I will have more energy to get up and do something.

Kelejan wrote:The rest of the weekend has been spent in bed sleeping, or on the lounger watching TV and falling asleep on and off.

I bet Pal enjoyed time with you.  Whenever I was sick, Sweetie knew it was going to be a sleep with Mom day.

TD and KJ,  You guys take care of yourselves.

Mimi, That's really nice of you to share with TD.

trolleydriver wrote:The funeral for my Mom was honouring to both her and the Lord. Now that it is over I expect the full impact of her passing will begin to affect me.

Mimi ... You have plenty of time to get tomatoes started in Ottawa. I'm not sure I will get any started indoors this year because we will be in St.Catharines taking care of my Mom's estate.

Yes, of course I'll share my plants with you. I don't think I have enough room on my property to grow them all. You'll probably get more tomatoes with them than I do. My yeilds aren't that amazing. Ha ha!