Marigold

 Jan 14 2021

Ottawa City Ontario Canada

last season 2020 has given me lots of joy and lots of marigold in the gardens. I use them everywhere are companion for my tomatoes, planted in the parking lot, in the garden bed. I love the bright colors. 

Beans Collection

 January 14, 2021 Ottawa City, Ontario, Canada

Jimenez Pole Beans Seeds

The red flower tells you, we got a Scarlet Runner Bean!

This is Jimenez beans - it was gifted to us by Greta of Gretas Organics. It is a strong pole beans and this picture was taken October 18, 2020 from my backyard in our Victory home in Carlington. 

Jimenez Pole Bean with some dry pods

I have moved 3 times within the last 5 years, culminating in my achievement of finally having a farm, but I lost seeds along the way. Lucky me, there are good souls that continue the the tradition of seed saving. Above are pictures of my current bean collection which is minimal. 

I come across a farmer in Ontario who grow heirloom seeds, so I am starting my collection again. I will start with 15 varieties because I have the acreage for it. I imagine it will be a fun adventure for me, and I will be able to have fun with beans again. 

Here are the descriptions and I will be buying them from Tree and Twig Farm. I will add pictures are they grow. 

1)  Alice Sunshine Snap ( Bush Bean) - A productive snap green bean, gorgeous seed which is tan coloured with burnt orange coloured mottling. Of course the seeds you save are edible as dry beans if you have too many for the next years crop...as are all the beans listed here.

2) Blue Ribbon ( Bush Bean)  - A very rare bean, hard to find elsewhere, but so worthwhile. This is a fat meaty fresh eating bean, green with purple striping. Plump cream coloured seed with maroon splotches.

3) Bobis D'Albenga ( Bush Bean)  - A very rare bean, hard to find elsewhere. I love this bean, green curved bean with purple striping, slimmer than Blue Ribbon. Tasty. Seed is kidney bean shaped, cream with maroon markings.

4) Blue Jay (Bush Bean)  - Green snap, tender and stringless. Large productive plants, seed is black with white speckles. Introduced by Russell Crowe, he found it in a field of white seeded beans.

5) Canadian Wonder ( Bush Bean)  -  A rare bean, my original seed is from the UK, not Canada! Also known as Rose bean, good for fresh (green) or dried use, dried seed is red flat kidney shaped bean.

6) Fall Speckled ( Bush Bean) - Rare bean, excellent dried bean. Produces a plump and meaty bean, which is beautiful. Tan and maroon swirls.

7)  Greasy Grits - POLE- An old Appalachian heirloom, bean has a glossy sheen to the pod. nutty flavour. Small tan seed with brown splotches.

8) - Hutterite Soup Bean ( Bush Bean)  - Pretty lime green small seed. Productive and great for...as the name suggests...soup!

9) Ice (Bush Bean)  - A very rare and unique bean, hard to find elsewhere. Great for fresh eating, a small pale lime green curved bean, juicy and delicious. Seed is small and white. Unlike any other bean I know of.

10)  Mbombo (Bush Bean) - An excellent dried bean from Kenya, also good as fresh.  Seed is an emerald green kidney shaped, quite unusual. Drought and heat tolerant, good production.

11) Mrocumiere ( Bush Bean)  - A gorgeous lilac coloured kidney shaped bean, quite unique. I have only ever used it as a dry bean and it is delicious. Originally from South Africa, but apparently not too common there any more as I have had people from South Africa requesting it from me over the years.

12) Negritos ( Bush Bean) - Another very rare one. I got my original seed many years ago from the seed saving organization Kokopelli in France. I can find no one offering this anywhere now. So keep saving it! A small plump black bean that I have only used as a dry bean. Excellent for this purpose.

13) Quarantaine (Bush Bean)  - Rare. Dry use, excellent meaty bean, plump roundish bean is cream coloured with purple swirls and splotches. 

14) Silver Cloud Cannelini (Bush Bean) - Just a great dried bean of Italian descent. Thick pods dry easily on the plants as they are held high. White kidney bean shape. I grow loads of these to get me through the winter.

15) Turtle (Bush Bean) - Small well known black bean for dry use, good production. Great taste.

Borage

Borage - Borago officinalis

Zone 4a/4b Ottawa City, Ontario, Canada

My personal experience with borage is planting it in my garden directly. Honestly, I dumped a whole seed packet near the edge of my fence and forgotten about it. It was a beautiful flower, a unique start shape, and hairy stems.  I read about it that is a very useful herbal plant. 

POLLINATOR: The bees love it, and the star shaped flower is amazing and huge. I did not need to weed around it, it seems to me that it just smoothen the small weeds around it.  I did not buy any more of it because every year the plant self-seed. 

USES: Early in the morning, I gather the flowers to make some tea, mix them with my mint collection, it is refreshing in the hot summer sun.  

CULTURE: 

• Mediterranean native herb and is unique for its charming bright blue flowers as well as its hairy stems and leaves. 
• All aerial parts of the herb can be harvested in spring and used to make a nutritive and medicinal tea; known to be beneficial for adrenal glands, balancing the body in periods of stress. 
• Borage seeds are valued commercially for their high gamma linoleic acid (GLA) content within its oil. The body naturally produces GLA but the pathway can get blocked due to diet, lifestyle, aging and other stressors. 
• Borage seed oil supplementation can help bypass this block, and reduce inflammation. 
• Topical and internal use of borage oil is known to be beneficial for skin conditions, such as dryness, eczema and psoriasis. 
• Topical application of the leaves can be used to soothe minor skin injuries. 
• Flowers are edible and have a flavour reminiscent of cucumber, making a perfect garnish for soups and salads.
•  Leaves also have a culinary use, although only young leaves should be eaten. Try adding chopped young leaves and flowers to salads or summer drinks. On those sweltering summer days, cool off with iced borage tea, adding honey and lemon juice to taste. Prefers full sun in moist, fertile soil. 

Planting Instructions: 

• Germination time 1-2 weeks. Self sows. Pollinator friendly, especially for bumblebees. 
• Planting directly in the garden. 
• Planting depth 1/4 inch. 
• Spacing between seedlings 3 inches apart

Bloom Time: June to July

Flower Color: Blue

Special Features: 

• Deer resistant as well as a hornworm & cabbage worm deterrent. 
• Ht 2ft.

Zucchini- Deema (Summer Squash)

 Jan 12, 2021

I was very happy planting summer squash last year. This year I will plant this Zucchini again. It is also called summer squash. 

from the seed packet: 

Summer Squash

Deema Hybrid

High-yielding, virus tolerant, Mid-Eastern summer squash. Deema is an Anita type squash, commonly picked when 3”long with a blossom attached. Strong plants have a semi-erect single stem and open habit for easy picking. Pale green fruits have attractive cream mottling, a nice tapered shape, and a small blossom scar. Yield studies have shown that this variety out yields other varieties by 30%. 35 days 

Pkt contains 10-12 sds.

139 March Rd barn

Today monday, 4 jan 2021. It was nice day at the farm.

Temp was at -1c, nice day for a walk. 

Seeds

Jan 4 2021.monday - 1c in ottawa city ontario canada

I love receiving my seeds

Borage seeds ( borago officinalis)

Swiss chard mix - brigth lights

Old School Corn Grinder

Corn Grinder 

Buli - Corypha elata ( Philippine plant )

 December 3, 2020 

Wednesday 

Buri palm  ( Buli Palm) Corypha elata 

Corypha microcladia

( in badian cebu, philippines, we called it buli)

the picture of buri palm - Buri Palm Picture

The starch that was extracted from the body of the palm was soaked in water and the starch is called landang. We use to make budbud, a delicacy when I was in elementary school. We call them "budbud nga buli" 

I think bud bud is also called suman. There are many varieties of it, and one of the them is suman with buli. Some are made using sticky rice, wrap in banana leaves. 

When I was a kid, we own a big mortal and pestle. It was long about 6 ft carved out log where we put the buri and a wooden pestle to ground the buri to obtain landang. Landang was a type of starch which we use to make suman. 

Budbud buli is delecious snacks. its like sticky rice but have gelatinous texture to it. 

Sulphur Cosmos

Ottawa city ontario canads

Sept 2. 2020

The leaves look like marigold, i thought it was tall marigold.

Nope, its cosmos.

Want some seeds? I save lots. 

Tomato - red thesaloniki

Ready for seed saving

Medium.size tomato

Home Backyard 2020 & 139 March Rd Farm Project

 August 15, 2020

This year has been buzzing bee-zy. We have  a big little farm in the heart of Kanata. 

The work is  very humbling, challenges the very core of what Eco Farming means. My backyard has been negleted, but it came back alive and gave me surprises. Random seeds toss out and rarely water. 

The intent of this garden is my walking path with flowers for pollinators. Guess what? its working, year 5 in this house. 

Garlic Growing in Ottawa City Ontario

Ottawa City, Ontario, Canada

August 3, 2020 

I have been collecting garlic seeds for a while now, i'd say in the past 5 years. Karen of Black Star Urban Farm has been my partner -in-planting for these garlics. Together, we collect seed varieties and  its kind of fun hobby for us. 

I have planted Music and Portugal Azores as my main crop for the garden plots. I did commercial production trials here and there and marketed my garlic here in Ottawa, locally to friends and garden enthusiast. 

This year, I bought more garlic for my collection - bulbils from Jordan of Bird and Bee Seed Company. 

1. Khabar
2. Persian Star
3. Kotsyns Red Russian
4. Killarney Red
5. Purple Korean Rocambole

For those of you who wanted a quick summary of Garlic: 

Originally from Central Asia, it has been cultivated in the Mediterranean for over 5,000 years. Gladiators ate garlic prior to battle and Egyptian slaves purportedly consumed it to give them strength to build the pyramids.

Garlic is one of 700 species in the Allium or onion family.

Two types of  garlic: 

Softneck (Allium sativum)

Softneck Varieties

1. Artichoke

2. Silverskin

 Hardneck (Allium ophioscorodon)

Varieties of Hardneck Garlic
1. Chesnok Red

2. German White

3. Polish Hardneck

4. Persian Star

5. Purple Stripe - 

5a. Persian Star - a beautiful garlic comes from the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan. 

6. Porcelain - 

a. Music ( imported by Al Music from Italy)

b. Big Boy - looks like Music with purple colouring, sweet consistent flavour)

7. Asiatic

Tomato - red thessaloniki

Ottawa city ontario canada

June 25, 2020

Tomato - red thessaloniki

Companion plant: marigold, thai basil

Source: gretas organics

1 ft tall

Container garden

Tomato - pink boar

Ottawa city ontario canada

Tomato - pink boar, planted today, june 24.2020

About 1 ft tall, source: gretas organics

Companion: basil rosie

White container garden

Planted today june 24.2020 ground Tomato - Red Clark Early Jewel

Ottawa city, ontario, canada

Planted today - tomato, red clark early jewel

Source: gretas organics, about 1 ft tall, planted with mushroom compost

Planted today june 24.2020 ground (tomato, red clark early jewel)

Ottawa city, ontario, canada

Planted today - tomato, red clark early jewel

Source: gretas organics, about 1 ft tall, planted with mushroom compost

Cleome - The Pollinator Flowers

June 6, 2020 saturday
Ottawa City, Ontario Canada

I am very fascinated with Cleome flowers - also known as spider flowers. I grow them each year, they are mainstay in the garden for bees and lots of pollinators.

This year, I have access to greenhouse grown ones, and they are massive tall already. We repotted them and sell at Sweet William Farms.

I have some direct seeded, but they are still small.

Here are pictures and video of Cleome - she grow them from seeds and describe the flowers in more details. It has photos of it blooming, so that is a bonus.

Cleome - Pollinator Flowers

Here is a picture of my potted 1 gallon pot of Cleome flowers.

For details in buying this cleome flowers:

Sweet William Farms

We are at 139 March Rd, Ottawa, Ontario.

If you are on the 417 West - Exit at Eagleson, we are on your right side, about 2kms from the exit. Once you see Corkstown Rd, slow down, really slow down and look for the big old barn, and pull in into our parking in front of the barn.

The Garbage - i wonder who left this here?

May 1, 2020

Sweet William Farms

March rd, kanata, ontario

"This farm has been abandoned for at least 10 years. ", the (CO) said t

 Kyle. He came by to help us close the backgate and lock it and also figure out the front gate. 

Then off we go, we know we have many garbage to pick up. 

So, here they are: 

A 3 wheeled shopping cart by the main entrance

Day 7 - Thursday - Rainwater Barrel

May 7, 2020

Thursday 

We spend our time here today, continue the clean up process.

 I cleaned up the entrance of the "hill of rejects", so Kyle can mow this area. 

It is very near the well, so I also dug out to find the water connection. 

Kyle manage to finish mowing the pumpkin patch, so i should be getting the ground ready. 

Speaking of well, i have called Air Rock Drilling today to see if they can service and get this well running. So far, I have to wait until the person servicing can call me back up. The last well locate in this address was dated Nov. 09, 2015.

I also called Ashton Mechanical, and they give me next week to inspect the well, thats promising.

On the other hand, we bougth rain barrels today, 4 of them. We can harvest gray water and rain to water our crops. These are 25$ each at Cohens and labeled food grade. 

We come home late, and exhausted, but thats a great progress. 

A new beginning

It was 2015 that i got the courage to take a much needed turn in my life. The last 5 years has been a rollercoaster: epic, scary, blessed, exciting yet peaceful. The best years started when i turned 40 and face fear with a shovel. 

Ive grown, ive fallen many times, back up stronger than ever. 

My English is still mediocre, especially my writing. But i hope you get the gist of what im saying.

I'm leaving the dream according to my definition. I called the shots, I pushed harder than anyone when it seems so daunting.

Its enjoyable, it is breath taking, I am growing and glowing !!!

2020 is another big year to me. Many milestones, like a growthspurt.  Its not without challenge, but bring it on! 

Each day, little victories. The chains that bind you help you detour to a much wider and bigger opportunity.

Take it, live it, love it! 

Bring on the angel's choir, face the storm...plant the seeds of love. 

YOU GOT THIS!

Sophia

tomato 2019

When its given to you, it is special

Yes, valentines day gift

Family day 2020 feb 17

It was -17c cold and my family went ottawa downtown for winterlude and beavertails

Saturday feb 22, 2020 And..its sunny, Ottawa, City Ontario is at 4C

Ottawa,  Ontario, Canada
Feb 22, 2020 SAT

It is 4C and sunny in Ottawa Ontario, *you might roll your eyes*, its still freaking cold, but hey, it was -20C on February 18th and took the kids out for family day. So today is victorious weather wise. I never been so obsessed with weather in the Philippines, it always warm and we never have conversation about it. Everywhere I go here in Canada, we talk about the weather. It a common topic where people just say " nice weather eh?" or " freaking cold today"!

In my 20 years here in Canada, I am as Canadian as you can get, and think like a Canadian. Half of my life is spent here, and today at 4C and sunny, I feel that is pretty warm weather for winter. Well, despite the fact that my front yard has a pile of snow, about 4 feet high.

I woke up at 10 am today, because I work nights. Its saturday, and you think taking it easy might be on the plan. But it seems there is never enough time of the day when you are a mom of 3. I feel that my neck is hurting on the left side, probably slept the wrong way.

I headed to Movati Gym to sit in the sauna, I figure the sauna has a warmth that can ease my pain. 15 minutes of heat, then I went to shower. Well, it's not helping out, but a clean shower may help my mind. The nice day means people were at the gym so parking lot is full.

I headed to grocery, spent $45 on basic produce at Fresh Co, and headed home.

At 12:35, I reached home.
My kids - Kieren 9 & Karlina 11 are both on the computer and tablet. I unloaded the grocery and ask the two of them if they want to cook pancake. Karlina wanted to be a chef someday and Kieren wanted to eat, so giving them the chance to cook while I am home sounds like a plan. My kids commented that I am bad at making pancake, I rush my cooking and the mix are usually with the dry mix and not blended properly. So, I fail the pancake test.

Kieren and Karlina wanted to do better, so I poured the mix, add water and Kieren and Karlina have the electric mix out. I added mashed banana, powdered cinnamon, and liquid vanilla flavor. The two of them take turns mixing the batter, and it seems they were bonding over a chore that mommy fail.

Karlina finished the PAN program, which teaches kids basic cooking skills. She is the fire who turn on the stove, get the pan, pour little oil to get the pancake cooking process. They poured the first batter and both of them went back to the living room to play Roblox, Minecraft. The smoke alarm sounded, they recognize that you need to be in the kitchen to cook. It actually takes time to cook a pancake, so Karlina logs off from her game, and so as Kieren. The two of them went to the kitchen and went cooking pancakes.  I have to keep checking the kitchen because the batter is poured all over.

Now, the dreaded - who will wash the mixing bowl and the spatula/pancake turner. I have to google what its called - the pancake turner:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00GWVMMNO/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNjg2V1g5S1AxNU9VJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTI4MzgwMzU0OUpNNFhEOVVSVCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzIyMTAyMVJKR0s0UkZUOEhMUyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbDImYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

Well, Kieren said it was his turn, as her sister was the lead for cooking. He cleaned and wash dishes by hand, I don't have a dishwasher, I live in a "victory home", the house built after the war. So, yeah - there is no room for dishwasher or they never really thought of that, kids did dishes during this era I think. Unless, I want to put the dishwasher in my living room which is crowded as it is - with piano and couch, so I have to forgo the dishwasher. The couch has to stay and so as the piano, so we eat over the couch or the piano.
I have to say that I aced my motherhood today - I taught my son Kieren to wash the sink after doing dishes and drying it. At 9 years old, he felt accomplish doing that.

Pancake cooked, the house is still standing, the sink is cleaned and dried, this is the epic definition of modern-day single mom family. I think this day is a miracle.

1. Gym - I showered there. ok, success then. 
2. Bills - I paid Hydro Ottawa $366.64 and Enbridge Gas $158.02. I dislike online banking recently due to some fraud, but I am glad I was able to pay my bills using the bank machine. Hydro Ottawa provides us electricity. It is one of the standard utility that you pay monthly. "Hydro Ottawa provides electricity supply to its customers, by taking electricity from the provincial grid and distributing it to homes and businesses. " https://hydroottawa.com/ .               Meanwhile, Enbridge Gas is also a standard utility to heat our house and water. "Most of the natural gas consumed in homes is used for space heating and water heating. It is also used in stoves, ovens, clothes dryers, lighting fixtures, and other appliances. " This one was a bill that used to confuse me because I thought everything runs via electricity, but our homes in Ottawa are heated by natural gas. So, I guess that is how we heat our house, so we do not freeze in winter. 
3. Grocery - fruits, and veggies to survive for the week. 
4. Motherhood - kind of, failed at the task of cooking pancake, kids took over
5. The kitchen sink was cleaned - victory. 

Well, it's about 3pm now, I saw the sun shining. It is a good idea to clean and paint my car's tire rims. It is so rusted, I cleaned it last year but now needed a second coat. So, winter jacket on, and work on my car. 

Ottawa city ontario nov 7, 2019. First snow fall 2019-2020 winter

Thur nov 7 2019

There has been hail and snow last week, but this is the first batch that makes my garden glow...
Still few gardens to close..it is nothing new. I close gardens in the snow each year
So..cheers and welcome to my garden little snow flakes.

Farming at maple hill urban farm

Nov 4 2019
They said mulch- staw- less weeds..i think we overdid it.

September 27, 2019 and the Cosmos are Still Blooming

friday
september 27, 2019

ottawa city
ontario
canada

I am blessed with a good summer, despite weather challenges. Abrupt change in weather patterns: heatwave 1 day, then they next day thunder and lightning and I need to work in the gardens..yikes.

however, i am allmost 20 years in this gardening profession, i could get use to it, but a nice weather is also nice.

I cannot complain - this summer is abundance of harvest: tomato, eggplants, kale, spinach, beans
and...........

up to today,  my front yard is full of buzzing bees courtesy of Cosmos.

So...nature  love...