Spring is coming...slowly!

Over at my parents house with Casey today - the crocuses are in bloom! Bees are out pollinating, the sun is shining - it's a nice day!

Gardening officially begins!

This year, most of the seeds I bought are early spring starters, so since it was a lovely sunny day earlier this week, I went for it!

Its hard renting a home and not being able to make a proper garden. :/ But I'll have to continue to be content with container gardening, as long as I've kept my goals realistic.  I chose mostly flowers this year, but I'm sure to end up with more veggies as the spring progresses - my folks always buy extra and give me some. :)

I wanted to plant Bachelor's buttons last year, but I didn't get seeds until it was quite far into the season, and when they sprouted, they were devoured almost immediately by bugs.  There's a reason for following the planting times on seed packets - not only the weather is appropriate, but the bugs that would feast on particular plants aren't around until the plant is properly established. So this year I bought them in February :D.

I'm planting a display of Bachelor's Buttons interspersed with California poppies. The mostly blue buttons and mostly red poppies will make a gorgeous combo. They're the same growing height too, so they go together naturally.

My mother's mom (my Baba) used to grow Calendulas. We had them for many years growing up, it was one of the first flowers I was able to identify because it was so common at home. Their unique, large, curved seeds were fun to gather as a child. I chose some large Calendulas to grow this year, a lovely pale yellow.  They'll be grown in the back of the same pot as Night Scented Stocks.  I grew them as a teenager at home and never forgot them. How delightful to go out in the late evening and smell their amazing perfume!

For veggies, I still have my garlic that I planted last fall (the best time to plant--mulch well and they are ready to pick in early summer!). I planted quick growing crops this year - green onions (scallions) and radishes. I still have to plant the potatoes I have sprouting in my kitchen right now though! I think I need another pot... :)

Should make a nice display, and leave me some little things to add to my diet. :)

Wonderful news for Hope for Wildlife!

As I've mentioned before, Hope Swinemar is pretty much an angel on earth for animals of all stripes.  And thanks to an enormous donation from a person watching their reality show in Ontario, they got a huge piece of equipment they really needed!  It's super news for this group that will help them get animals diagnosed much faster, leading to better survival rates.

Read all about Mitchell Fenton's 43,000$ (!!!!) donation so they could get a new digital x-ray machine, at the Chronicle Herald.

Congratulations to Hope for Wildlife!

Clearcutting affecting Broadfork Farm

Having just read that farmers should leave patches of land for natural habitat so local bees can stay healthy with a varied diet, it was heartbreaking to read of what's happened to these poor farmers in River Hebert, NS.  Broadfork farm sounds like they've been really trying to keep stewardship of the land foremost in their minds as they grow their crops.

And then this happens next door.

A New Brunswick company apparently was given permission to clearcut the nearby property to this farm; and the results, as you can see, are devastating. I won't go into more detail here, the letter the farmers wrote eloquently puts all of the facts down in a succinct way that I'm sure I couldn't if I were in the same shoes.  How they can contain their rage and devastation over this is beyond me - they're better folk than I.

So, read the link below, and see what they have observed, and their fears for the ecological future of the area.

Clearcuts Affect Farms!

Thanks to John van Gurp (of Halifax Chickens - someday, John!) for posting the link on Facebook.