March 2022 - Week 1

HEN Virtual Gardening Event

At the weekend I 'went to' the Halton Garden Week virtual gardening event run by Halton Environmental Network; it was Excellent.  The event was four days of online seminars on a really good range of environmental garden practices including Bokashi composting, winter sowing, invasive plants and traditional uses for native plants.  Each day began with a half hour Yoga session which was a bit of a genius idea and the whole thing was free which made it very accessible.  I learned absolutely loads but here are a few things that I'll be looking at particularly in the next few weeks:

• Updating my territorial acknowledgement
• Winter sowing
• Figuring out my ecoregion and finding out if I can grow some of the keystone species for that region
• Beginning Bokashi composting and doing it properly

I've started already with some winter sowing.  For anyone who doesn't know what that is, google it. lol.  The idea is that you sow your vegetable and flower seeds early in containers with a clear lid and put them outside where they will germinate when they feel like it in their own mini greenhouses.  I don't have any suitable containers right now so I've used plant pots as normal and put them on the new garage shelf covered in an upturned clear plastic box.  This may or may not work and I'll have to be a bit vigilant about not letting them dry out because they won't have the help of the rain and snow outside.  I have sown:

• leeks
• perennial arugula
• spinach
• parsley
• chard
• artichokes

What's poppin' in the garden

We are still totally snowed in, although it's beginning to slowly melt there are snowbanks 4 feet high on either side of the drive and you can't see the deck so there's not a whole lot going on:

This was taken a couple of weeks ago but you get my drift :)

While the snow was really high something nibbled the tops off my serviceberry.  I went out for a look today and found that whatever it was has nibbled at a regular 45 degree angle just above a bud in every instance.  Monty Don in Canadian bunny form? Maybe it will stimulate lots of vigorous growth like winter pruning an apple tree.

Look closely bottom right, that bunny's teeth were sharper than my secateurs

There's some blue jays back, I've not seen one yet but I've heard them loads and Jacob has seen robins and a red winged blackbird.

The chickadees and cardinals are calling with confidence now

Jobs to do before I next post

Sort out the bird boxes in case the chickadees are already looking for a place to nest

Territorial acknowledgement update

Get started with Bokashi

More March sowing

Find out my Ecoregion and what the keystone plant species are

Pre-order shrubs from Ontario Native Plants