Tag Archives: container gardening

The weekly weigh-in with my alter ego Vanesica

DIET, Family, friends, funny, Garden, update

Vanesica - vector rendering - Jessica DoyleThis conversation is between my online/offline self.

Vanesica “How is your diet going?”
Jessica “Who the hell are you?”
Vanesica “I am but one half of you”
Jessica “Can I throw you away then?”

In order of appearance - Jessica, Eric, Tomoko, Ian, Chester and Junko

This week has been a great one for enjoying the great outdoors in Vancouver.

Friday I spent out at Tomoko and Ian’s place. They have cows, two adult goats whom fell in love and had a baby to make three, one collie (nick named Ribs) who ridiculously herds the three goats at all times, and a brand new little kitten. So much fun! They have an adult sized wading pool where we spent much of our time swimming around in to stay cool. They also garden as Eric and I do except they plant directly in the ground where we garden in containers simply because, we are four floors up. Between eating rotisserie BBQ chicken, painting our toe-nails, laughing at the men’s fascination (addiction) to Magic The Gathering (at least they actually play the card game and don’t just buy them, open them up and then put them away as others do) and wandering around the property; it was, an awesome evening/night. Tomoko looks beautiful with her little belly. She is four monthes along now. When Eric and I arrived home I had an email in my inbox from Chester…

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eeeeek LEEKS

Garden, Vancouver, ,

Perhaps in the not so distant future modern man will come to appreciate all mother nature has to offer. What you see in these pictures are edible. They are the offspring of the Leek (Allium porrum), a member of the Liliaceae family or the disputed Alliaceae tribe.

eek beautiful leek flower

Onion with a mission to reproduce

Unaware that leeks produced flowers during their second season in the ground I had thought perhaps they could.

Two years earlier I had left a few onions in the ground over winter. The following year the they began to shoot up flowers in a most striking cylindrical way. When autumn began to take hold. I decided to collect the seeds from the flowering onions for this years planting. GOOD god I’m growing onions from seed in a container. I left some leeks in the ground last summer guessing that they would also produce a flower this summer. Eeeeeek the leeks are reproducing and the bumble bees enjoy having sex with them. Each little edible flower produces four little black seeds after the flower dies. Before it’s death the little flower buds are a tasty toss-in added to soup or salad.

Vancouver Sun

Canada, Garden, Vancouver

How much more beautiful can Vancouver be than in the summer? Vancouver is renouned for being one of the mildest places to live in within Canada having warmer winters than most major cities such as Toronto or Montreal. The gorgeous summers here just make up for the dismal winters of grey, rain and more rain.

Lettuce up close and personalSageFusia and PansiesLeavesThe unkown flowerLeek Blossoms

This past weekend marked the beginning of summer for me. My senses feel alive! My garden is growing taking on a life all it’s own. And what better way to mark summer than to go swimming. Eric and I travelled to Sasamat Lake on Saturday to swim in the everclear water. I had never been their before. If you have kids this is the beach for you. If you are a teenager this is the beach for you. For anybody in their mid-twenties to late thirties without children I would recommend going elsewhere if you are looking for quiet. Other than the noise the scenery was beautiful and the water refreshing to swim in. The lake itself is surrounded by mountains, has two main beaches and docks placed all around it for you to walk on, swim or jump off of into the water.

IMGA0704untitled sunsetSnow PeasIMGA0735IMGA0736Asian Lilies and yellow dalias

Yesterday I spent the day on the deck pruning, tending, feeding and watering the garden. It’s amazing what four days of sun will do, for a container gardening growth. Whoah! Gone is the mould that was harassing the roses, fusias, marigolds and dalias. I uploaded close to 30 pictures I snapped yesterday as the sun set over vancouver. It still takes my breath away, to think that this is where I call home. I feel as though I live in a cottage perched high in the mountains surrounded by edibles, flowers and forest. Click on any of the photos above and you will be directed to the garden album. Enjoy :)