nesting

1st Crop

Last week we had our first harvest of the season. Check out these crazy colorful radishes. These seeds were sprinkled in our 'back lane extended raised garden' a few weeks ago. We used Westcoast Seeds 'Easter Egg' Radish Blend. Hence the multitude of colors. Only a few biters through the roots, but overall very tasty and spicy. These bad boys are really good in salads, sliced super thin and mixed with mint and arugula topped with a tangy lemon vinaigrette. Radishes are the quickest growing crop second to some greens like mixed lettuces and such. They are a great seed to do with kids, as they are so fast growing and really easy for little guys to pull at. The growing season has just begun...

Sore Little Hands

Most gardeners by this time of year are feeling the aches and pains through their hands. O's hands, despite the many types of gloves and waxes he puts on prior to work, are hurting bad! Some days they are so rough and cracked that he can barely stroke our cat, Jasmine without taking off a layer of her fur.

These are a few of my favourite creams to sooth after a long days work. Unfortunately most of them are pretty girlie smelling and not up to O's stamp of approval. Any ideas out there from fellow gardeners and workman alike for a good, heavy duty hand cream made for a manly man would be appreciated.

This is my bed time cream, the smell is sweet and soothing and I love the name: 'The Charmer'. I picked this up Anthropologie.                                                                                                                                                             

This is my purse cream, a small tub that goes a long way. I love the healing power of olive oil. Now if only I stocked up more when we were in Italy.

I always associated Crabtree & Evelyn with older ladies, like moms, but this cream is super rich and fresh, and is the perfect cream after a long day in the dirt.

Mothers Day

My Mom is a pretty special person. She is one of those true gardeners. She taught herself, and over years created a garden that has always been a place to come home. It has gone through phases, aches and pains, good years and bad, but it has always remained constant. My mom's work was rooted at home- primarily in the garden. My most fond memories with her was spent in the back yard plotting away in the large vegetable patch. When I was young my dad traveled a lot in summer months, so my mom and I would take refuge in the garden, trying new heirloom varieties, making jams from our raspberries (the same sweet raspberries today that must be at least 20 years old now), and learning the ropes of growing your own greens.

I guess you could say, my mom was the major influence in my pursuit to become a garden design consultant. She raised me on the principals that, if you have land- GROW. In this day in age with the cost of fuel and the scarcity of local food production, this a value I hold very dear. My mom instilled in me the importance of organic growing, and the infinite satisfaction in knowing that you can do this from your own back yard.

My parents still live in the same house I grew up in, and the garden is still very much an important part of my mom's daily life. Busy helping out as a FOG at UBC Botanical Gardens and a very nagging arthritis, we now help tend my mom's garden. I know some days this is hard for her to watch us plot away, with different techniques and theories on how things should be done, or designed or planted, but overall I think it brings her pleasure to know it is in good hands. My mom and her garden have always put things into perspective for me. Her ground is fertile because of the love that she gives it, much like the love she gives to everyone she meets.

So, mom, thank you for all your positive feedback as we plot through life figuring out all that stuff you have to figure out when you become an adult (eek!). Thank you for the values you instilled in me about being kind to the earth and to the people around you. And thanks most of all for making me understand the importance of growing. I love you.