Reviving our vegetable garden

Posted on August 5, 2020 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I’ve been day dreaming about writing this post of weeks! But with the current state of affairs, it’s been impossible for me to find the time to complete it. I’ve started this draft, added to it, left it for days and then back to it over the last several weeks!

This actually sounds very similar to the relationship I’ve had with our garden this year.

Celery, Regrow, Start Your Own Garden, Backyard Garden

It’s been even harder to give our garden the same amount of attention it has received in previous years.

Celery, Regrow, Start Your Own Garden, Backyard Garden

(That being because most of my energy is divided between the family in my home and myself. #PandemicLife)

I had big plans for last year. I wanted to have a new layout and really try NEW things. But that unfortunately just didn’t happen.

Thankfully, the girls and mister have really pulled through and kept up with the harvesting, watering, pest watch and overall love that a backyard garden requires.

Ontario, Start Your Own Garden, Backyard Garden

Before the weed clean up!

After cleaning out the weeds, turning the soil and adding fresh earth.

You may already know that we had planted garlic last fall and then at the beginning of April we made an order for several plants from a local nursery, we picked them up mid May and planted them May 20th!

So initially we planted garlic in the fall. Then in the spring, we planted: tomatoes (2), eggplant, cucumber, zucchini and sweet bell pepper in the garden bed. Later in the summer we added long green beans and radish seeds! In pots we have a celery, mint and green onion. We received our plants from a nursery and planted them in our garden bed on May 20th.

The harvest was slow! We didn’t receive our first tomato until sometime in July (I think because we planted so early and because there was a few very cold days that happened between May and June. But here we are and our garden is in full swing.

Read more about my gardening adventures! Starting tomatoes in pots, lessons learned and other herbs.

Our first ever garlic scapes

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I am a HUGE fan of garlic. The aroma and the smell and even how they look get me very excited. I am definitely that person who sees a recipe asking for 2-3 cloves but add 8-10 instead LOL!

So last summer, after closing up the garden I realized that I wanted to expand into new herbs and veggies. And on a whim, we received some backyard garden garlic from a co-worker and right before the 1st winter storm we planned 6 cloves!

So these cloves have been in the garden since NOVEMBER. And we won’t actually know if the clove have turned into actual bulbs, but we’ve already reaped some harvest from the labour: scapes!

Now if you haven’t heard of scapes before it’s because they are very rare and hard to find at your regular garlic stores. They are usually the first produce found at farmers market and aren’t in season for very long.

We only got 5 scapes at the first harvest, but they were ahamazing! We grilled them with a little bit of EVOO and salt. They tasted really fresh, consistency of asparagus and onion with a hint of garlic.

I will definitely plant more garlic next year just for the scapes!

Dear tomato “plant”

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I am sad to report that my tomato plant called it quits over the weekend. I came home on Saturday afternoon to see that the plant stalks had fallen over. To be honest I knew that maybe the plant was not doing so well as it started looking more like weeds than the large leaves I was hoping to see.

I didn’t bother stalking it as the instructions didn’t say to but I do regret not moving it to a larger pot and updating the soil. I’ll definitely needed some more love and planning. And I probably should’ve have watered it more often #BadPlantMom

I’ve definitely picked up a few tricks for next year, such as spacing the seeds, using more than one planter, starting from a seedling and maybe trying a few varieties.

My gardening goals are on hold until next year – time to start pinning and planning for next spring!

Planting Tomatoes & Gardening Next Steps

Posted on May 12, 2017 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I FINALLLLYY got around to planting some tomato seeds. I picked up some ‘initial’ potting mix from Lowes and made a container with a pretty decent drainage system using a tin can and a plate (making the drain holes with a good ol hammer and nail).

I started the process on Wednesday Afternoon after running some errands and during what I thought would be a nice car seat nap for Miss El. Unfortunately she woke up crying because of the hammering. So I had to finish planting the seeds the next day (after the girls’ bedtime) in the garage. I followed the directions on both the potting mix bag and the seeds envelope.

So within a few days, the tomato seeds sprouted. I was actually kind of shocked.

And with the basil I’ve harvested 5 times: 2 batches given to both sets of parents and twice I’ve eaten a caprese salad :) The last harvest is in the fridge most likely to be eaten in a caprese salad also.

To be completely honest I am petrified and exhilarated by this whole process. Here are my next steps

Buy a real plant container
Research how to transplant tomato seedlings and basil plants
Re-research how to harvest basil
Buy the “next level” of nutrient rich soil
Transplant the plants to the new containers
Get on a better schedule for watering
Teach Miss S about the plants (mainly so she doesn’t accidentally destroy them)

Getting this Garden Started

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Bhanu Misra Marya

So I finally took the first steps to building a backyard garden. Albeit they are baby steps. We bought 2 sweet basil plants. For now they are hanging out in their default plastic planters and with their original nutrient rich soil. I have big plans from these small beginnings.

Tulips from the Hubz

Find [kid friendly] planter(s) with good drainage
Buy more herbs (cilantro and dill for sure) and tomato seedlings
Move all plants to their new home planters (which I heard is a process)

For now the plants are sitting on our coffee table because the family room has the most light in the house. I’ve been monitoring the soil and the overall “hefty-ness” of the planter to judge how much water is needed (at the advice of the lady in the Lowes garden centre).