CANADIAN REGION: What are you doing in March 2017

On an SFG note. The leeks and onions that I sowed indoors last week could not be left alone in Ottawa. So I brought the containers with me. This morning there were a couple of leek and a couple of onion seedlings rising out of the starting mix. I don't know how to post a photo from my android phone.

Now THERES a real gardener... Hope your mom is OK

TD, so sorry your Mom has to stay in the emergency area for now; I hope she can get a bed in a proper area ASAP.  It seems as though everywhere in Canada hospitals are straining at the seams. She is lucky to have you to help her.

Prayers continue for your Mom.

sanderson wrote:KJ,  You have written about the victory garden in England when you were a girl.  Well, I'm almost finished reading The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva.  WWII in England and Germany.  Most action takes place in England and I am cold, wet and hungry just reading it.  The rain, wind, food rationing, shortage of meat and milk.  It makes me appreciate never having lived in a war torn country.  Having a plot to grow something, anything, could have made a difference in health.  But, even with a garden, a long, cold rain could wipe it out.  Okay, enough of this.  

What you have to remember, sanderson, that as I child I was very insulated from real tradegy.  I remember the bombs as the front of our house was damaged with the glass blown in with my foster mom telling me not to get out of bed and I remember my older foster-brother showing me a piece of shrapnel that had blown through the back door and cutting a broom handle in half. But I was far too young
to realise the horror of it.  Later on at six years of age off I went to the institution where I remained until the end of the war.  No TV, in those days, so we lead and very sheltered life.  As I have been reading in recent years, Berlin, Hamburg, etc had it far, far worse than any of us.

This morning I woke up to yet another Winter Wonderland.  As it was Refuse Recycling Day and I knew it was supposed to snow, I got up quickly and found that I needed to clear a path down to the road to put out the Blue Bins in time for them to be collected.

The 3" of snow was wet and heavy but I got that done quite quickly as was in time for the stuff to be collected. then out to the back where I re-cleared the path I had made to my compost pile.

A year ago our collection day used to be a Friday at noon; ideal. I hate that after twenty years of that ideal time, I now have to get up early for 7am and forbidden to put anything out the evening before, otherwise a $50 fine.

I am wondering when I will ever see my garlic and tulips again?

We have another two days of snow to get through followed by more rain/snow days.

KJ what a crazy rule for garbage.

It seems as though everywhere in Canada hospitals are straining at the seams.

From a different perspective. My father 88 is currently in the hospital in BC with pneumonia and was kept in ICU for the first 2 days because there were no beds on the regular ward.

GWN wrote:KJ what a crazy rule for garbage.

It seems as though everywhere in Canada hospitals are straining at the seams.

From a different perspective. My father 88 is currently in the hospital in BC with pneumonia and was kept in ICU for the first 2 days because there were no beds on the regular ward.

Wow GWN, sorry to hear about your father. Sounds like we are in the same boat.

Wow GWN, sorry to hear about your father. Sounds like we are in the same boat.

Thank you  Trolly driver..  Yes I guess we are in the same boat.  My mother passed away in January....and now my father is ill.  I guess I just feel fortunate to have had parents this long.  It seems so many people lose their parents young.

The North American influenza rate has been epidemic since December.  We have had record rates of hospitalized influenza pneumonia patients.....

So sorry to hear your loved ones are sick.  

The vaccine was a great match, but sometimes the virus is strong....

Prayers, blessings, ((((((healing vibes)))))))

GWN wrote:

On an SFG note. The leeks and onions that I sowed indoors last week could not be left alone in Ottawa. So I brought the containers with me. This morning there were a couple of leek and a couple of onion seedlings rising out of the starting mix. I don't know how to post a photo from my android phone.

Now THERE'S a real gardener... Hope your mom is OK

I totally understand taking the babies with you.

GWN and TD, I hope the best for your parents.

GWN: The rule for putting out garbage too soon is not really crazy as it encourages the bears.  Even though our new garbage cans are supposed to be bear proof, there is a weakness with the clips that are attached with twisted wires are not really strong enough not be broken. If you get close up to a bear you will know what large teeth they have.

When we first had the bins last year it was bear season and no end of them were broken into.  One of the problems is that when they are put curbside, you are to leave them unfastened so no wonder the bears can open them as they have a minimum of two hours from 5:00 am to 7:00 am to have a go at them.  Mine is generally emptied by 7:30am as we are one of the first to be cleared (thank goodness) but if you are at the end of the area then I suppose it will take several hours more.  The bears also know the collection days and work their way up and down our long narrow city. Sadly, too many bears and their cubs are shot and it is not their fault.

So far  have not heard of anyone being fined the $50 penalty.

TD... sorry to hear that your mom is sick.  Hopefully she's starting to feel a bit better.  You're quite dedicated bringing your seedling babies along with you!

No snow on the ground in Milton, but it looks like our temperatures will be below zero for the next week or so, so perhaps we'll get a sprinkling of white stuff.  

I mentioned on another thread that my parents are now venturing into SFG. My dad loves projects like this, so he's already planning out how to router the corners of some 4x4s to make his garden boxes nice and fancy. He's offered to make some for me, too, so hopefully my boxes will be made soon. 

I was taken aback when I looked at the gardening almanac and saw that some plants (brocolli, kale, brussels sprouts) could be started outdoors at the beginning of April. It seems a bit early to me. Can anybody offer advice on this? Should I add a cold frame?

Another question (from the newbie, sorry)... if you start seedlings indoors, what soil do you use? I have a grow light in my basement and can get started, although I know I'm a little late.

Hi Jaffa, nice of your dad to offer to make your boxes look nice.  Take advantage of it as I am sure it will give both of you much pleasure and satisfaction. Good to know that he is considering SFG.

I think you will find that veggies such as the cruciferous ones are quite hardy so there should be no problem there as they can stand a light frost.  By all means have something to cover them with if it is a hard frost.  Sheets or a blanket?

This year I have purchased some survival blankets for humans, and on the literature it suggests using them for veggies.  The size of them, 60" x 84".  They are light so should be anchored down.

For indoor seed starts maybe use Mel's Mix?  I would suggest using the Search Box at the top-left-hand side of this page and insert something like "seedling starts`and I am sure that you will get quite a number of answers, and I bet some expert will be happy to advise you.  Unfortunately I have not started indoor seedlings, my procrastinating nature one again.

TD, you took the seed pots WITH YOU??? You are SO funny! Guess they liked the ride since they're sprouting.

sanderson wrote:
GWN and TD,  I hope the best for your parents.

Me, too. And I'm so sorry for the loss of you mom, GWN. That's got to be tough.

My mother in FL just got over a 3 wk bout of pnuemonia. She was so sick that I finally told her I wouldn't talk to her anymore until she saw a dr. So she had Rescue/911 take her to the hospital where she says they checked her out and sent her home with antibiotics. But most likely they wanted to keep her and she escaped. Which she does since she hates staying in the hospital. Anyway, she got a cab to pick her up and take her home, and promptly passed out outside her front door. The poor cabbie was beside himself and called 911. A couple of her friends showed up at the same time and they all took her in and put her bed. She's better now but still trying to get her weight up and strength back.

My Mom is in end of life care. Treatment has been suspended. She is getting meds to keep her comfortable. It's very painful to watch her.

Oh, I'm so sorry, TD. I've been thinking about you and your mom a lot lately and wondering how you were doing. It's so difficult to watch them suffer. I'm sure the dr's will do all they can to ease any discomfort she may be feeling. My prayers are with you and yours for a timely and gentle transition.
CC

OH dear TD, warm wishes for you, truly a difficult time.

CC

She was so sick that I finally told her I wouldn't talk to her anymore until she saw a dr. 

would you call this tough love?

Thank you for your thoughts, but if anyones passing could be a blessing, my mothers was.
She had a stroke while having an angiogram 10 years ago,  and gradually went down hill until she was not able to interact or do anything for herself for the past 3 years.  So I feel I said goodbye a long time ago.

CC, Stubborn parents! My Mother was stubborn (controlling), even with her dementia. Thank goodness your Mom had friends show up to help her when she collapsed.

GWN, I'm so sorry.

TD, It's good that you are able to be with her at this time, even though it's horribly painful. I talked to Mother in her last 4 days on morphine (broken femur and pelvis - osteoporosis). Mother died within minutes when I whispered to Ken to tell her that he would take good care of me, her only child. Talk to her, tell her all the wonderful things about her and life with her. Let her know that she did everything right, that she made you a man who can take care of himself (and anyone else she may worry about). My Mother was unpleasant but I wanted her to be at peace so I put a positive spin on everything. Your Mom seems like a good Mom if you brought her home each Christmas season. That wonderful photo of her dipping pretzels in chocolate!

TD, It's good that you are able to be with her at this time, even though it's horribly painful. I talked to Mother in her last 4 days on morphine (broken femur and pelvis - osteoporosis). Mother died within minutes when I whispered to Ken to tell her that he would take good care of me, her only child. Talk to her, tell her all the wonderful things about her and life with her. Let her know that she did everything right, that she made you a man who can take care of himself (and anyone else she may worry about). My Mother was unpleasant but I wanted her to be at peace so I put a positive spin on everything. Your Mom seems like a good Mom if you brought her home each Christmas season. That wonderful photo of her dipping pretzels in chocolate!  

how lovely.  We did exactly that in the last days of my mothers life.  We told her we would look after my dad.... and we are.

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts. Mom is still hanging on as I write in her room. She can no longer.communicate. We had a nice time on Thursday afternoon  talking about the good things in her life. I even got a few smiles. We also discussed her relationship with the Lord. Winter sowing and indoor sowing seem so trivial now when dealing with a life of 91 years coming to an end. Blessings to all.

We are with you TD and your Mom and family.  In our hearts.

Kelejan wrote:We are with you TD and your Mom and family.  In our hearts.

Thank you all so much. Our bedside vigil continues. My Mom is calm and sleeping all the time due to the drugs she is receiving during this end of life phase.

Reading, TD,. I am sorry that you and your Mom had a six hours journey to hospital.
In our community we lost our hospital along with the Hospice rooms so that now families have to travel to the next community for hospice care.

My husband passed away when we still had local hospice care and it was so good that our family and friends could pop in any time of the day or night and spend ten minutes with my Bill. The people seeing to that section of the hospital were so caring.  His Mom passed away there several years preciously and it was just the same.

We are trying to get funds to start a hospice building but it is an uphill battle. I would hate  be in hospice care and isolated from my friends at the end of my life. But them being able to drop in for ten minutes at a moments notice would make me very happy.

I hope you are having the same caring people as we had.  Gentle hugs to your Mom and your family.

KJ it was Mrs TD and I who had the 6 hour journey from Ottawa to St.Catharines. My Mom is in an almost new hospital in St.Catharines and which is the main facility for the Niagara Region. She has her own nice big room. But that has to be because of her infection. The nursing staff are mostly caring but overworked. I rarely get to speak to a doctor.