Today I Learned About Lavender

I am going to grow some.

I admit: I have been inspired by a source well beyond my ability level.

I saw a picture in a Victoria magazine where the display of lavender looked wonderful!

Mine won’t look like that.

I can accept that.

Interestingly, lavender is the first thing I planted when we moved to this house.  We had a garden that was along the edge of our back driveway/parking lot.  It was the first thing you saw when you drove in.  I weeded it out, worked the soil up and planted lavender.  It looked beautiful and was growing well.

Then . . .

We needed more storage for my husband’s work so we moved in a semi truck trailer and parked it RIGHT NEXT TO MY LAVENDER BEDS!  Oh, the irony!  The only gardening bed I had done anything to and now it couldn’t even be seen!

My lavender is now either buried under leftover chunks of metal or twisting up to the sun between sodden bits of 2x4. And sadly, whatever it is doing, it isn’t noticed by anyone as it is hidden by a  . . . semi-truck!

Oh well, my husband’s storage system works and it has been one less garden bed to water.

In any case, I am going to grow lavender again.

I am going to climb back in to that garden bed and rescue any survivors of Lavendergate 2008.  I am going to gather a collection of assorted garden pots. I may even paint some of them if I can actually decide on a colour theme for our garden/deck area for this summer.  I am going to plant lavender in the pots and place them artistically beneath the apple tree. 

I

Am

Going

To

Water

Them

When

They

Need

It.

My garden will look like a small portion of one 7.5 x 15 cm photo on page 42 of the March/April 2015 issue of Victoria.

I am on my way to breath-taking floral gardening!

Ahem.

Maybe.

Today I Learned about Onions!

I have decided to take gardening seriously. It's not that I haven't been serious about it in the past. But in previous years I've mostly just thrown some seeds in and hoped for the best.  This time around I am going to plant less, research more and really try to take care of it so that something other than weeds might actually grow!

However, my first gardening purchase this spring was a rash one.  I happened to see onions 'on sale' as I walked through our local hardware-and-a-bit-of-everything store with my family.  Error 1: I made a gardening purchase at a non-gardening centre.  Error 2: I had not yet researched what kind of onions I really wanted to buy.  

Just now I have read about onions in my new gardening guru book and did an internet search as well.

My gardening book taught me that for what I want to grow and with our climate, etc. in mind, I should probably 1. plant 'Walla Walla' seeds and start them indoors before transferring them to our small fenced garden plot and 2. grow scallions from seed and start them indoors as well before transferring them to the containers on the deck.

I learned from  http://www.gardeningblog.net/how-to-grow/multiplier-onions/  that what I impulsively grabbed last night is called a 'set' and they are multiplier onions.  Basically, they aren't what I want to plant!! Off to a brilliant start on this 'serious' gardening, aren't I?

So now to use my newly acquired knowledge, I endeavor to:
1. Plant the multiplier onions in the small fenced garden plot and see what happens. (I will consider it an 'educational investment'.)
2. Buy 'Walla Walla' seeds and start them indoors.
3. Buy scallion seeds and start them indoors.

That's what I'm going to do.
I'm gardening.
Seriously.

Beginnings

This just has to start!

I keep daydreaming about starting this blog and have notes jotted down in various spots . . . book reviews, photos, recipes, links, thoughts, opinions, etc..

I keep thinking about blog titles & book titles, categories & lists, hints & tips, questions & answers, etc..

I keep wondering if I really have what it takes to build a blog, write things people actually might want to read, cook things that other people might like to eat, come up with my own ideas to share, etc..

I keep questioning myself with queries like "Where will I find the time?", "Will anybody actually read it?", etc..

So today, I am going to quit daydreaming, thinking, wondering and questioning and type instead.

Let's see what happens!!