july 2, 2024
tuesday
cool gardening day, and it was sunny and no rain at the end of the day
fairmont
ettrick
parkdale
was a productive day, went to 3 sites with tom. the ettrick willow was done, so we have to do 2 trips to empty the truck
i got 2 helpers to help out kyle with the pond area work
blooms of hollyhock at home
July 1 2024, Monday
happy canada day!
i spent the day at home, doing things that needed attending.
the dishwasher is run. the floor is swept.
the garbages are organized, and i have enlisted kieren to help me.
kyle has teach kieren how to use the lawn mower, so he mowed the front lawn and side of the lawn, which is a big help. I weed trim the rest of the sides and have karlina use the blower.
Kyle worked in the pond area, and finished his deck.
i weed trim around the house, moved the winter tire inside the greenhouse.
wendy, rob and ryan visited the house, and ive hired Ryan to help with gardening and he will start on thursday.
I finally re-purpose the old backrack and make it into a solid bench. i figure that I like it as my workshop - something to lean into while i am cutting wood.
I worked all day in the backyard greenhouse - re purposing the old wood and keeping the Back portion of the greenhouse re-enforced. I also cleaned and re-organize the area.
it was about 9pm before i stop working to see fireworks. Kyle and I drove to manotick, then greely - because fireworks are there.
kyle dropped karlina to adams, and then we pick her up after the fireworks. The twins are cute, they shake kyles hand.
overall, it was a day for chores outdoors that needed to be done. wish it was longer, but now I am very tired.
i was happy with all that was done, lots of cleaning outdoors.
Sunday June 30. 2024
it was nice and sunny.
I was planning on going to movati class, ah i was late, so I end going to ferncroft. I planted the perennials and the annuals looks better.
it still need brown mulch and the rest of the gardens needs lots of care.
i went to canadian tire to buy more annuals. Kyle helped me clean and finish the lebreton gardens.
after that, we went home and continue working on the pond area. I cleaned around, removed the metals and some wood from our old projects.
arranged with Mike to help us out as well for July 2nd.
its not a rainy canada day, so it was all good.
Saturday, june 29, 2024
rainy day and i brought some flowers for jen of ferncroft.
Gosh, the bindweed ate the garden, literally!
1 planted 20 annual flowers, some galiarda, and holyhock, then some geraniums.
i came back sunday and planted more . 3 shasta daisy, 3 salvia nemorosa, 1 pink holly hocks
for Jide at lebreton south, i started a front yard pollinator garden.
3 agastache, and 3 columbine
15 black eyed susan
6 daylily selection
3 liatris
mulch it with 20 bags, and looks good.
Friday June 28, 2024
Best gardeners in Ottawa! What? Year 2. Proud to be one !
thank you team for all the hardwork
Top 8 Gardeners in Ottawa [2024] (bestinottawa.com)
Well, it was one sunny day and i enjoyed delivering parcels for Canada Post Navan. I got the very rural route of JP, so I end up as far as Canaan Rd and Saumure Rd, very rural and picturesque, so that is one way to break up my work week.
Yes, as Filipino I have many jobs. One of them is an employee for Canada Post, a RSMC relief on call.
What do we do? Well, every full time employee of Canada Post have sick leave or vacation leave, so when they like to use their vacation leave on Friday to have an extra long weekend - then we, the On Call RSMC will do the delivery.
We are trained and well paid on those training days. We do a lot of online training and training on the job. We have Class 2 government clearance, since CP is a Crown Corporation. We are provided with a Canada Post logo, that we put on our top of our SUV/cars, and Visibility Lights, so we can be seen. Yes, we are given a little gas allowance when we use our vehicles to deliver your parcels.
We are trained also on our Right Hand Drive Vehicles (RHD), I was trained and certified, so I drive that truck. Last Friday, I use the corporate vehicle and it was a tank. The hand out says it is built on an F150 frame, which is easy for me. I work and drive trucks each day, so I feel at home driving it.
Since the work can be sporadic as a relief, its only considered a part time job, but still, a good way to earn money.
After that long driving work, I came home around 5pm, chatted with my 14 year old and 15 year old, which compromise of hmm and uhmm. ah, that was ackward! But these two are actually very intelligent humans, just sometimes - i feel these are 2 aliens in my house, because they used to be little tiny humans that are huggable. Still hug them though ---
I drove them off to their dads place for the weekend and I came home to a peaceful pace.
The weather actually cool down, it was not a boiling over in the house.
here are some of the work i completed this year, some with flowers in big pots and some in the ground.
Thursday June 24, 2024
another sunny day for work, kieren is so difficult to get up
kyle pick up tom to work at lafontaine and I planted some veggies at 3707 for dr. kiran
after that, I went to pick up tessie, she help me with spring cress gardens. we finished the front ones
sent kyle and tom to dr hall
kieren has 430pm dentist appointment, so tessie and i went to loblaws, then that ended our day.
so that means, i have the ferncroft site .
i got home, super tired.
My friend Katrina took picture of my plant Rue - Ruta graveolens. bitter in taste, good for warding of fleas and mosquitos, can be use in soups and stews in small amount.
its growing lovely in my farm here in Carlsbad Springs.
Wednesday 26 june 2024
my son kieren is in grade 8, with awards at st marks catholic school in manotick.
I am ecstatic and I went to st marks to attend the ceremony. he is also a shy kid, so having award made me a proud mama.
kyle and karlina also attended, so thats our little family.
Kieren decided to stay home and hang out with friends, while karlina came home and made the grocery list.
I went to work with kyle at Grandview Garden, nice big garden that needs rejuvenation.
it was nice day until at 4pm, it was so muggy, but still no rain.
we finished it, 3 of us mulching 4 cubic yards of CPM.
tuesday 25 june 2024
i was trying to watch the oilers and panthers hockey game last night, but oh, the wine get in the way and i fall asleep. Oh well, the oilers lost from their quest to get the stanley cup.
when was the last time i feel invested into hockey game? lets see - it was a big rally in ottawa, it was senators versus anahiem ducks and we lost.
the difference is - i did not even watch the game last night, but when Sens played way back, I was in full senators game! ah I must be getting older, but then, it was worth the effort. I feel very upbeat with the rest of the gang.
today was a sunny morning, opposite to the one yesterday, which was rainy morning. We worked till 430pm watering the indoor plant contracts, so that was good.
today, was suppose to start early with Tom, but I guess the hockey event tire him out last night. So, it will be late start for Cumberland gardening.
Another project for garden renovation in Britania, so thats good thing to have, a job to work on.
Well, its sunny, so I better do my work - and mulch my dahlia.
picture below is a living wall inside a long term care facility.
there is about 100 individual pots here.
monday, june 24, 2024
it st john the baptiste day, so its is fitting, it is raining. I still have to go out and water my indoor plants for City of Ottawa.
last week, it was heatwave, i did not work from wed to friday.
i weed around the farm, cleaned garlic field and work long hours in the field.
very challenging, but thats the only time i can weed the gardens, when I am off work.
i am only off work - when weather is bad, like heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning and also another extreme: heatwave
life of a part time farmer, in a fixer upper farm is tough, but life is always tough anyways.
btw, yesterday sunday - i signed up to sell garlic and garlic scapes to the Nepean Night Market. By 2pm, it was confirmed, it was a go.
By 5pm, thunder and lightning and then sunny. CANCELLED.
I was there, and It was sunny, but the event is cancelled. i have 2 bins of garlic greens and garlic scapes at home, to deal with.
Tuesday June 11, 2024 sunny day
I know I have to work long hours, so I woke up at 5am to tend to the fields. The rainy days are over, now the weeds are growing faster. Scapes are coming out, so that means bulbs are developing.
My fingers bleeds from blade of grass. - The gift to work in a fixer upper farm - which was formerly a hay field. well, its my farm, no use complaining, thank the heavens for having one.
i planted my plants in the front yard, Joe Pye weed, hydrangea, chives, shasta daisy, black eyed susan. there are 2 haskaps and yew that needed to be planted. I have the machine trimmers going: the battery powered one ran out of battery, the gas powered one ran out of gas. yes, I worked very hard - but who is counting - it is just my reality of running an organic farm. Weeds are friends - bio filter - but then if too close to plants, then too much.
I also have a Dahlia row, to my joy, they all come out. I need to feed them Mushroom compost to compete, I love them so much, I have one row of them in the middle of my garlic field. I did this because I will never neglect them, if I see them everyday, as I care for my garlic.
So, time to get back and feed my dahlia compost and get back to weeding the garlic field. Its 6:42 am and that only gives me 1 hour to work in the field, before heading to work.
Wednesday -rainy day in Ottawa June 5, 2024
Kyle and I went for a road trip on kingston to get the parts for our Husquavarna backpack blower. It has been many years, bought 2017 for my business. it has serve as well, but the parts are hard to come by.
The husquavarna dealer - Homestead Marketplace is the closest store to us. Close - like 3 hour drive, but it was worth it because they have the parts.
Since we go there, I always get a hat from Kyle. This year, he bought me my own Husquavarna hat.
We also went to Kingston. We went to Trailhead and bought me shoes for climbing, some climbing pants at Urban Outfitter and Climb at the Bouldering Coop.
over all, it was a long drive both ways but all worth it.
June 9, 2024 Sunday
last sunday, I worked hard in the field, removing weeds from the garlic field.
Kyle and I also delivered the generator to our march rd, farm, so they can have water.
After a long day, it was 5 pm and I manage to get Kieren his cake. Usually, we would get the red velvet one, but the Metro in Kanata ran out of it.
Our life as farmers as busy as weeds grow very fast after rain - which this week has been rainy.
The very thing that is consistent with my kids is that Lola Sher and Lolo Fern Boucher always send them card. They look forward to it and I am very happy.
My gift to my kids are one on one time with them, with dinner. Kieren and I goes to Mandarin for his birthday. Here are some few pictures to celebrate Kieren going 14th.
Scarlet Runner Beans is our favorite pole beans. Pick young as green beans. Let it mature and save these seeds. Unique red flowers attracts hummingbirds. Grow in arbor or trellis. Grow in most conditions, including part shade, takes about 54 days till you see beans.
When to plant in ottawa: Sow by May 24 in ottawa, direct to the ground.
Ideal for childrens garden, the big seeds are easy to handle.
( 13 pcs for 3$ or 2 packs for 5$) hand processed in small batch by us. No broken seeds - as we inspect them by hand.
No fancy packaging - it's inside a resealable zip lock bag. You can re use the container to save season seeds., so we promote upcycle and re-use.
Available at both locations for Sweet William farms. We have no farm stand, so by appointment only or we can deliver.
We are on 139 march rd in kanata, and Leitrem.Rd, farmers way north k0a 1k0
I joined the army run ( www.armyrun.ca) every other year, for a long time now. Here is a picture of me and Kyle. We decided to run the half marathon this yea - 2023.
November 2, 2023 Thursday
Today, we will be helping out at Moneys Bay (OSEAN), the community to upcycle the halloween pumpkin. In many years since starting the farm in 2019, we have been actively composting leaves, kitchen scraps, and pumpkins. We have amazing results - enriching the soil for ecological farming. We grow shrubs such as nannyberry, elderberry, serviceberry, saskatoon berries and raspberries, both for human consumption and wildlife.
I found out this year and connected with OSEAN and they are gathering 1,000 pumkins, supporting foodbank and farming composting, and farms with wildlife. I am excited, I will drive the 15 cubic ft van so they can collect more. I am happy that Enterprise has one moving van available for today.
This was one of our home pumpkin. Kyle decorated it, and it looks nice with the long pruner. We actually did not add fertilizer to our pumpkin patch, the compost was good enough to grow big pumpkins.
Canada Day 2023
Ottawa City, Ontario Canada
Every year, being Canadian is celebrated in our family in small and big way.
We are proud Canadian, all my 3 kids were born here in Ottawa, the national capital région. They study here in the Catholic School Board, and learn English and French.
Kieren my youngest is now 13 years old ( born June 2010 ), my daughter Karlina is 14 ( born Feb 2009) and kenneth 19 ( born Aug 2004).
I'm beaming with pride, my kids grow up healthy and happy citizenship.
I followed my goals of setting up a small sustainable farm of végétables. Since this is an old, fallow farm ( overgrown for many years), it is a big job of clearing. We have 2 locations one in Kanata and one in Leitrem/Farmers Way Rd. My partner in this adventure is Kyle and we have been farming together for about 5 years. Weeds are always plenty, so we are busy plowing and composting.
It's been à hardworking farmer simple life and we settled in the edge of the city in Leitrem Rd with the land adjacent to our 10-acre farm.
Feb 3 2023 Friday -17c, feels like -28C
Called in to start work 230am. Got delayed,police pulled us over by 417 west/parkdale. After that was cleared, we hit Kanata by 3am. Worked in the cold, real biting cold, lots of snowdrifts everywhere.
We helped Funhaven area, ottawa citizenship, Antares, then finally head home.
We sleep at home
Got a 3pm virtual interview for Canada post
Kyle and I went shoes shopping..I bought Kyle running shoes at wslmart
He took me dinner at bâton rouge, looks fancy, sea basse tasted great.
We come home, and we sleep.
February 4, 2023 Saturday
It says -23C, but it also says feels like - 40C . I'm not working today, so that's okay. Frostbite is tough, so I avoided that.
My mentrual cycle still gives me champs. I did not make it to any exercise classes.
Kyle and I were home watching Monthy Dons American garden roadshow on YouTube. He is travelling USA to visit many gardens, so we are just happy to see it, very nice pictures.
We made chicken for lunch, some home cook with mushrooms and our own garlic. I am happy that we eat together for one weekend.
Kyle and I crave for pork adobo - so we brave the cold weather. We drove to Costco and got our pork meat. We got salade, croissants, pork meat and avocado. We got 4 items and that's a surprise. We usually come out with full cart, but it's too freaking cold for that.
We got home and got back to being cozy. I cooked the adobo, à dry style one without adding soy sauce and vinegar, like how we make adobo during fiesta. This cooking extract the lard and also give it dry texture and presetve better. We make à dipping sauce of soy sauce and vinegar which Kyle lives, so that was à great dinner
February 5, 2023 Sunday
It was -17C on my phone weather application when I woke up at 6am. It's cold outside.
There are 2 classes I wanted to attend at Nepean Sportsplex today, yoga at 9am then Zumba at 10am.
Well, I need coffee and get ready. I have to put away some dirty dishes and Adobo meal that I cook last night. So, it's probably 19am zumba if I made it.
I came out to start the car, ut made a funky noise, yup! That's the cold, even the car is complaining.
I got myself ready and going for 10am Zumba.
Today is also Karlinas 14th birthday. Since it's the weekend, it will be a lunch type meal at Montanas. We always come to Montana on her birthday, and we both love it. She is now Grade 8 at St Mark's in Manotick area. She is a tall lady, taller than my 5 ft 4 inches height. I am happy of her growth and progress and I pray that She will have a great life herself.
She is a great sport and loves to laugh with us.
