Gardening is a hobby that I love. It is wonderful to get to be outside and watch things grow. I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride when I garden. I love seeing a tiny seed many months later turn into a beautiful healthy flower with many intricate parts. It really is incredible when you think about it. How a teeny tiny seed, some only millimetres big can grow and develop into a stunning flower or plant.
I’d like to share some of my tried and true tips and tricks to successful seed planting.
First, I have found that using a soil mix specifically for seedlings is a great start. This soil is light and fluffy and the seeds have a greater germination rate. Potting soil or top soil is often more compacted and dense making it difficult for the seeds to poke through.
My second tip, is to use great tools, above in the picture you can see a new tool I purchased. It is the Fiskars Hand Seed Sower. When I bought it, I was excited because it had two ends that I thought would be perfect for planting seeds. It has a skinny trowel for the dirt and a slender spoon like end. It wasn’t until I was looking up a link for this tool that I realized the small yellow end slid out. This tiny tool is called a widger. Apparently it can create holes to plant seedlings that are very small and you can use the widger to gently dig out the new seedling with minimal damage. What a great idea!
It is important to gently water the seedlings once they are planted, but not over water them. A few years ago I purchased a seed sprayer from Lee Valley. It is a fantastic tool and gives the seedlings a little delicate rain shower, by simply squeezing the silicone bulb.
Lastly, it is important to cover your new seeds with a cover. Most seed trays come with a clear lid that can be used for the first few days to encourage germination and a warm environment for your new seed babies.
I hope that you found these tips helpful and hopefully in a few weeks I will have some new seedlings to add to the garden.
Update: Everything is looking good and has sprouted!
Last year we made our new pollinator garden using a variety of West Coast Seeds. The results last summer were stunning. We had great success with all of the seed varieties in the seed packets.
In a previous blog post I wrote about the importance of keeping old growth in place. Keeping old stems and dried flower heads intact over the winter helps overwintering insects. This method offers protection for bees and insects to “winter” over, creating a safe place to stay during the colder months.
The other day I thought I noticed some spots of green among the old growth. Today, I began removing the woody stems, dried flower heads, and crumpled up leaves in the garden. I happily found lots of new growth had already started.
The wonderful thing about perennials is that they come back year after year. I am most looking forward to seeing the poppies bloom. In my childhood home we had poppies, and we could never get them to grow at our past houses (until now). I just love the delicate petals and the way they sway in the breeze.
The first step in Spring is to remove all the debris and old growth from the garden. Then, when the daytime temperatures start to get a little warmer, you till up the soil around the existing plants with a trowel. This loosens the soil and removes the areas where it’s been compacted over the winter. I also add in some fresh compost and a top layer of new soil. This step adds richness and nutrients back into the flowerbed for the growing season ahead.
I am looking forward to seeing what the garden has to hold for us this Summer. Let’s get growing!
After a closer look at these photos, I discovered that I need to give my gardening pruners a spa day!
We have a cute little shed on our property that has two window boxes on the front, and when the seasons change, I like to create complementary decorations to add to the window boxes.
For the holiday season this year, I decided to forage around our yard for some things to put into this project. Sometimes I use faux materials but this year I thought I could find enough variety around the yard to repurpose into something beautiful and natural.
I started with some left over greens that I had purchased for the large arrangements I keep on my front porch, like cedar and pine. I buy these from a local farm shop called Price’s Country Market. Then, with my snippers in hand, I began to look around our yard for items to add.
I was pleasantly surprised to realize I actually had a lot of possibilities. I snipped and clipped and before I knew it I had a nice pile of items to choose from, such as dried hydrangea blooms and some stems from my boxwoods.
The next step was to start placing them into the window boxes, making sure I was giving my arrangements height as well as a variety of colours. I was lucky to have found many different shades of green as well as dark red sprigs and even some red berries from a very prickly bush (if you are thinking about doing this at your home I recommend wearing gloves).
I was very pleased with the end result. The cost was very little and I was able to repurpose some things that might’ve otherwise gone into the compost!
My Mom and Dad love to listen to CBC Radio as the background of their day. My grandparents did this too, and so does my Aunt. They regularly share interesting little tidbits that they hear from the day’s stories. My Mom likes the gardening segment in particular, and she always shares the advice with me. Though she always wonders why they don’t give more time to the gardening experts; there always seems to be so many people with questions, and never enough time.
A couple of weeks ago she mentioned that one of the CBC gardeners suggested leaving your perennials intact. This apparently allows bees and insects to overwinter in the dried out stalks, as well as providing homes and food for wildlife. It just so happened that the week before, my Mom had helped me cut back some of my perennials in our backyard. If we’d known this then, we might not have cut them back. I then realized that our new bee and butterfly garden, still full of wild flowers, would be the perfect spot to leave untouched for the winter.
Our pollinator garden project has been a huge success this year. Perhaps there are already creatures in these hollow, dried out stalks and the flower heads with their shrivelled up petals, setting up for the winter.
The garden did its job in the summer months by producing beautiful blooms and nectar for the bees. Now, as we prepare for the winter months, it is providing a safe place to rest. So I will leave my dried up stems and stalks for the winter this year, and I will smile because it makes me think of my Mom and how she shares her stories with me. That makes my heart happy and puts a smile on my face.
It is time to be thinking about putting the garden to bed for the winter. As the temperature drops and the weather begins to cool, fall clean up begins.
Today in the vegetable garden, I cut back some plants and harvested my root vegetables. It looks so empty now, but I left the kale in hopes that it will continue to grow as the temperature gets cooler.
The process of putting the garden to bed offers a chance for reflection on the year’s growing season, evaluating successes, failures, and considering new approaches for the next year.
Elsewhere, some plants are slowly dying, but some are still blooming beautifully. The bee and butterfly garden is still thriving. It is safe to say that this new pollinator garden was a huge success! I will start trimming the perennials tomorrow and scatter seeds for next year.
Although this process of harvesting and cleaning up seems like the final phase of the year, gardening is a year-round activity that involves planning in Winter, planting in Spring, enjoying the fruits of your labour in Summer, and preparing (like today) for the next season in Fall.
Good night for now, my sweet garden!
I am sharing about my recent visit to Ste. Anne’s Spa in Grafton, Ontario. I was fortunate to be gifted a day at the spa with my teaching partner as an end of year gift from some of our students. It was a thoughtful, generous and heartfelt gesture that we greatly appreciated.
This was my first time going to Ste. Anne’s and it was amazing! The moment that you walk up to the grounds you feel like you are special. The colourful fall leaves on the trees, pumpkins and fall flowers artfully placed throughout the property and a heritage stone castle nestled among the hills – what could be better?
The dining experience was fantastic with delicious food, beautiful plating, and a focus on relaxation. We enjoyed a three-course lunch and afternoon tea in a serene atmosphere where everyone prioritized slowing down. The menu showcased farm-to-table cuisine, featuring seasonal ingredients at their best.
The day consisted of various activities. We relaxed in hydrotherapy pools, enjoyed the sauna, walked on the trails, had a hand treatment, ate delicious food, and had great conversation.
I recommend visiting Ste. Anne’s Spa for a rejuvenating experience. Treat yourself with kindness and indulge in a wonderful day of relaxation and self-care.
On the weekend, I was fortunate to visit Bon Echo Provincial Park. The weather was like a summer day, although we are full into the fall season. The sun shining through the trees was spectacular.
We spent the day sitting around an afternoon fire, eating lunch, enjoying conversation and making camping tea on the Coleman stove. We got the opportunity to walk along the trails, take some photos, and smell the fresh, clean air and spend time with each other.
It was a wonderful day, filled with family, love, and nature. Looking up into the trees just gives me such peace. This photo captures a feeling for me, serenity and calm. In the busy day to day, hustle and bustle, this photo is a reminder for me to take a moment.
Sometimes, you just need to listen to the trees.
The sunflower is such an epic flower, so big and beautiful. There are so many varieties of sunflowers available now. Within our local community, farmers have started to plant fields of sunflowers in mazes that they then invite the public to enjoy. These fields provide a great opportunity for people to come and learn all about sunflowers!
I have done the ‘Sunflower Experience’ at Pingle’s Farm Market every summer for the past few years. The tractor ride to the field allows you to see it from a different perspective. It certainly builds the anticipation of its beauty. At this farm they have done such a good job of setting up props for photo ops throughout the sunflower field.
Bees buzz from one flower to another collecting pollen, busy at work. The giant sunflowers tower tall above your head while others are more petite in size. It is incredible to think about each tiny seed growing into this grand flower. Then the middle of each sunflower is filled with hundreds more seeds. These seeds can then be dried and ready to grow next year to start the cycle all over again.
This year we created a pollinator and bee garden in our front lawn. We hand planted about 30 to 40 sunflower seeds of different varieties in the soil. Today, we have one sunflower that survived, and it’s almost ready to bloom. Needless to say the bunnies thought sunflower sprouts were a delicacy and they enjoyed them very much! This gives me a much deeper appreciation for all the hard work involved in growing acres of sunflowers, and being able to provide this wonderful experience.
If you get the opportunity to visit a sunflower field, I strongly recommend it. What could be better than soaking up some sunshine among the sunflowers?
As an Early Childhood Educator, I am always looking for new ideas and innovative methods of presenting educational content. Inquiry-based learning is especially important in our classroom. One of my favourite ways to discover new approaches is by exploring how different communities embrace educational opportunities. Sometimes it’s a library, a park, a garden, or other community spaces, and in this case, a museum.
On a recent visit to the small town where I grew up, I made such a discovery. The local museum, which is housed in a heritage home next-door to what used to be my grandparent’s house, had put together an amazing inquiry filled outdoor space. Under a canopy of oak trees on the museum’s lawn, there were games like ping pong, skee-ball, and giant jenga available to the public for young and old to play. There were also different seating arrangements scattered around, including picnic tables, muskoka chairs, iron butterfly benches, and stumps to sit on. There were people reading books and having picnic lunches while enjoying the shade of the old oak trees that I grew up with.
The space that I found most interesting was the many hands-on opportunities for children. There was water exploration tables, a huge sandbox, a giant bubble maker that you could stand inside of, small world play with sunflower seeds, and many more. The children visiting these stations had huge smiles on their faces as they explored their curiosity and made discoveries.
The centrepiece of the museum’s outdoor space was a community garden. Local varieties of flowers and lots of different vegetables filled the garden beds. As an avid gardener, I found the unique ways they used trellises for the climbing vegetables particularly inspiring. The potting shed had information for the public on tips and tricks for pollinator and native plant gardens as well.
I would love to meet whoever led this incredible community project. The rich content and attention to detail that went into it was admirable. There was also a sign with all the local businesses and volunteers who contributed to make this special project possible. What an amazing attraction to have as part of this small town community! Stay tuned for another post, when I have time to visit the museum inside.
If you ever get the chance to visit a lavender field, I highly recommend it. A few years ago, my daughter surprised me with a yoga experience in the lavender fields at Laveanne Lavender Farm. It was a great outing and it was beautiful to look out and see a sea of purple. Another local farm that is now doing a lavender experience is Pingle’s Farm Market and you can also pick your own lavender bouquet. If you get the opportunity to go I strongly recommend going!
When we moved to our home we decided to add some gardens in our backyard. We wanted to be able to enjoy lots of colour throughout the summer, especially perennials as they would come back year after year.
My Aunt graciously offered to help us plant the gardens and she brought a lot of extras from her own established yard. One of her many contributions was two lavender plants. They started off small but this year they are so spectacular. The smell is wonderful and they are getting so big. Next year I will definitely be able to split them and share them with other parts of the garden. Now I have a little bit of lavender in my backyard that I get to enjoy year after year.
