HomeSweetHome

I recently left some containers of tomatoes outside of our gate...they weren't there the next morning (-:                       I captured this rainbow in between two pineapple express storm fronts                                                                                 that recently moved across the Island                                             a six pack of cupcakes from the Wee Cup Cakery!                                                 the morning view from my home office (-:     ...

 Every March (yes March!) we begin getting ready for the summer crops. We have a shelf in our sunroom where we start all the seedlings...they love the sun! Here are a few examples of mother nature in action.                                                                                 I couldn't resist slipping in another owl...this one resides in the sunroom and has eyes that light up at night! One year for my birthday Angelo hung a hummingbird feeder in front of the window in front of the chaiser, on which I spend a lot of time...can you believe I managed to snap a photo - from inside the sunroom?! 

 A mystery flower that has since been transplanted to the front yard. We have yet to see the stalk of white flowers again, but are hopeful they will reappear once the plant has settled. A good start one summer, until bugs or a fungus got into the brussel sprouts and broccoli. The edamame did well! Our attempt to protect our front garden from the unrelenting sun...we were met with mixed success. The drip irrigation system has since helped with crops in the front garden.                                       Flowering Cherry Tree in the spring...and stone fire pit

The names of the dogs have been withheld to protect their identity and privacy (-:  

A few years ago Angelo transplanted the decorative grass on the right, which has come back with a vengeance...and after years of little growth, we watered a mystery green plant and were rewarded with dozens of little yellow flowers! The poor plant was parched.                                                      Bought these at the store for my mum (-:                Our back 'caribbean corner'...the invasive clematis (white flowers) in the background (-:                        Shasta daisies in the whiskey barrel (which came with the property, honest!)                  The next two are weeds, then a row of tulips, and a mystery purple plant beside the house.  

 I won't get into the significance of the owl here, but suffice to say if you are in my immediate family you know the story behind the owl (-: A card from Aunt Joan, after I explained the owl story (-:       An owl carving that has been returned to me for safe-keeping. Its right at home in our kitchen! A friend gave us this owl, which is nicely situated within a wooden frame given to us from another friend, who found it in a dumpster in East Vancouver! This is Kevin the Bear, a chainsaw carving that Angelo received in exchange for creating a web site. Recently Angelo built a greenhouse in order to protect our plants through the rainy season...                                             Seedlings moved into the 'makeshift' greenhouse

 After living on Vancouver Island since 2004, we have realized that snow typically arrives for a week or two in January or February. It is magical when it happens, mainly because it isn't a 'given'. And growing up in Ontario, I miss the snow (or at least I think I do!) One time I took advantage of the snow and took a 'snow day'. I promptly set off on foot, and walked downtown for breakfast, finding a graffiti covered van on the way down (I felt like I was in NYC, not Nanaimo!)

It may be a bit of a stretch to call ourselves urban farmers but we do have 700 square feet of garden on our city lot in Nanaimo. Plus a large rainwater harvest system and drip irrigation!                                              Blueberries, strawberries, cucumber and brocolli!                                                                                BEETS! We had a raging bonfire one fall in order to get rid of scraps of wood and branches...we were lucky no one called the fire brigade...it was massive!