Adventures in growing edibles veganically in a small townhouse backyard in Ottawa, Canada. (veganic since ~2021)
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Golfinches galore; and song sparrows, house sparrow (female), and chickadee
Sunday, September 26, 2021
Harvesting volunteer ground cherry
Nice, the volunteer in among the zinnias in the SE central bed is producing a nice surprise harvest after I had to tear out all the other plants because they were feeding the rat(s). No rodents have found this ground cherry plant yet, as evidenced by the undisturbed fruit on the ground. Yay!
Also I haven't seen any rats in several weeks now. I think removing their food source (the row of ground cherry plants, plus adding a seed-catcher tray to the birdfeeder), removing their compost bin hideout, plus clearing out junk around the kitchen step did the trick.
Buckwheat sick in west bed? Leaves falling off and/or drying up
Weird... Thought maybe it was related to the cooler weather, but the buckwheat in the north bed looks fine...
Saturday, September 25, 2021
Fall kale crop a total flop!?!?
First there were the issues with something nibbling down the leaves. So then I covered it in row cover and that seems to fix that issue. But now, the plants are growing all stunted and deformed, very similar to how the earlier plants succumbed to some kind of rot a month or two ago, though in their case they were very mature and provided great harvest.
There's still the more recent kale seeds I started in a pot, and the lettuce seeds also in two pots -- so far those are looking good but they're still very small, just getting in their first/second leaves.
24th (or 25th or 26th) zucchini harvested -- likely the last one of the year
Friday, September 24, 2021
Don't try to get seeds out of the buckwheat
Yeah, definitely grow it for the soil enhancer, but my seed collection attempt didn't quite work out. First, I had only 30% germination rate for the final batch of 10 seeds I had collected. Second, during stormy weather many seeds fell off the plant and were eaten (the eater opens the seeds for the insides) so there were a bunch of seeds I never got to harvest. Third, the plants go all spindly and lose a lot of biomass during the seed stage, so less soil enhancer given there was no extremely minimal seed collection.
Was worth a try, though!
Buckwheat biomass applied to north part of central bed
Just plucked out of the pots, root balls and all, and laid on the surface. Not chopped or dug in or anything.
Thursday, September 23, 2021
23rd (or 24th or 25th) zucchini harvested
Another to come in a day or two; and a hopeful flowered this morning.
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Baby goldfinches! Song sparrow! Other sparrow!
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Millet disappeared!!! Have some sparrows returned?
Very exciting -- the millet that had been sitting in the tray feeder completely untouched for several weeks finally all disappeared today! (short of a few pieces) I was working all day so didn't see who ate it. But I've been hearing bird songs more the last few days and one I thought sounded like a song sparrow... So hopefully I'll see the glutton(s) soon! (put a bunch more millet into the feeder today to replace it)
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Common Yellowthroat in yard!!!
Buckwheat biomass into the NE part of central bed
Just plucked it (out of two of the former potato pots) and layed it down. Didn't cut it at all or scratch it in etc.
It's a good amount of biomass for this one little zone, which is part of where next year I plan to grow broccoli followed by later season zucchini.
Pileated woodpecker chased by hawk!
Whoa, heard a ruckus in the skies of the neighbourhood (seen/heard from my yard); saw one large bird chasing another large bird; grabbed the phone, Merlin identified a Pileated Woodpecker, which I then confirmed visually. The other bird I'm sure was a hawk, saw the white/tan patterning on wings or tail or something, but no idea what kind, nor what the outcome of this was.
Mystery bird ate seeds from self-sown wild evening primrose! --> FEMALE COMMON YELLOWTHROAT!
Bold yellow belly but definitely was not one of the goldfinches!
My bet is on a migrator!
Other than the yellow belly, the upper side and head were sort of an olive/tan. Flitted around the primrose plant while eating.
From looking through the Audubon app's suggestions for yellow birds in Ontario in September, maybe one of these... --> UPDATE: Aha! This evening I saw what was definitely a male common yellow throat in the yard! (see other post) And I see from Google that the bird I saw on the primrose was I am quite sure the female! I hadn't put this on the list below because the bird had no mask!
- Nashville Warbler?
- Philadelphia Vireo?
- Orange-crowned Warbler?
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher?
- Mourning Warbler?
- Connecticut Warbler?
- Western Kingbird?
- Yellow-breasted Chat?
- None of the above? I have no idea! But a fun sighting while stuck at home with my broken-leg dog for two months.
Saturday, September 18, 2021
Broccoli seeds self-germinated within the pods!
Noticed two such seeds today, in two separate pods. Planted them, and a couple of other broccoli seeds from dried pods, in the cucumber area, just for fun.
Friday, September 17, 2021
2 of 10 of the Sep 15th buckwheat seeds have germinated so far
Planted them in front of the former cucumber place.
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
No collected buckwheat seeds have germinated yet; started new batch today
(Have discarded the two earlier batches of collected seeds, because they did nothing even after 4-5 days.)
Started a bunch more today in PT.
22nd (or 23rd or 24th) zucchini harvested
Pure green, from a yellow zucchini plant. These late-season gems do their own thing!
Looking quite promising for a few more yet, especially with mostly warm weather ongoing so far and into next week.
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Goldfinch eating wild evening primrose seeds!
Cool! The wild evening primrose that sprung up this year outside the fence is now going to seed, and several times today I saw a goldfinch eating the seeds! Google confirms this is very much to be expected. Kept some seeds today and wow, sooooo many seeds from just one pod.
I was going to chop it down, until seeing the goldfinch. So, it will stay!
A few sunflower heads harvested from the NW multi-branching sunflower
I'm doubtful that the seeds are viable at this stage, but the branch broke off so I figured I'd take the seeds and see what happens.
Buckwheat biomass scratched into the two air conditioner beds
So, those two beds (north and south of the a/c) are done for biomass. This comes from one of the pots, which I harvested today, chopped up with scissors, and scratched in to these beds.
I have no idea if this is enough to make a difference, or two much, or whatnot, but it is what it is!
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Buckwheat seed test: The first ones didn't germinate; started 3 others
The 3 buckwheat seeds collected and started in PTs on Sep 6th didn't germinate, so I tossed them.
Plucked 3 more today and put them into PTs.
That first pot of buckwheat is looking really tired -- leaves/stems turned/turning orange, like autumn.
Sorrel transplanted and divided into new home
The sorrel is losing its long-time home in the NE corner, as that area will be turned back into patio stones this fall due to the window well flooding issue.
So, today I dug it all up. I was amazed at how easily it dug up, and at how easily it divided -- the leaves were growing in clearly distinct clumps that were easy to tear apart.
The new home is still along that north wall, but now west of the patio stone section. Divided it into four clumps there, with two bigger clumps on the ends and two smaller ones in the middle.
The web says sorrel is supposed to be divided in spring or early summer, so, time will tell whether it will survive this move.
Lemon balm -- yum!!!!
How can it be that all these many years of having renegade lemon balm (mostly in the NE corner), I never even once tried to make something with it? (It wasn't even a tag on the blog until today!)
Until today!
Today I sniffed a leaf, thinking I'd be repelled as I thought I used to be, and wow I really liked it. So, googled recipes, and made these:
- Lemon Balm Pesto: Actually pretty good! Same type of basil pesto recipe, but all lemon balm instead of basil.
- Lemon Balm Tea / Iced Tea: Verrrry nice! (The iced tea is TBD -- it's currently in the fridge.) Boiled 1 cup of water on the stove; once boiled, added in 1 Tbsp finely chopped leaves; steeped for 10 minutes; strained leaves; stirred in 2 tsps sugar.
- Lemon Balm Cookies: Hmm, the dough was delicious, but once they were baked they lost the magic.
- Candied Lemon Balm Leaves: Well I don't have corn syrup, so I couldn't try this one yet, but I want to soon!
More kale and lettuce sowed -- in pots under floating row cover to keep out whoever is eating them
Argh, all but one of the lettuces sowed recently was nibbled away and is gone. And the 7 or 8 remaining kales also look nibbled (these I placed floating row cover over today so try to protect them).
So, sowed more lettuce (from this year's collected seed, direct from plant to pot) and kale, all in pots thickly sowed for max harvest, and under floating row cover.
Here's hoping for some delicious falafel salads this fall!
21st (or 22nd or 23rd) zucchini harvested
From the one remaining first-batch in the central bed. Looks like it has another that I think also took.
Friday, September 10, 2021
Kale round 2 started in PT
Only ~8 of the kales from the first round started August 26th are still around, and hardly any of the lettuce -- something has definitely been eating the very young seeds.
So, why not start more kale in PT today.
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
House sparrow seen twice
Eating from the mixed seed that I had put out the other day. However, I've now replaced it back with the millet tray since the mixed seed feeder results in lots of spillage.
Monday, September 6, 2021
Test: Placed 3 collected buckwheat seeds into PT
Figured I'd do this test to see if the seeds at this stage are viable. I had to pry the seeds off. I imagine when viable the seeds would fall right off. So, we'll see!
Sunday, September 5, 2021
Waiting to see if a ronde and a zucchini took... if not, likely no more
They both flowered (and I hand-pollinated) within the last two days. I'm hopeful for the zucchini as that plant looks decent still (despite nearly hollow stem from suspected SVB damage), but the ronde plant looks quite sad, full of powdery mildew so I'll be surprised if the ronde grows.
Saturday, September 4, 2021
Cucumber storage tip really works! Going on 3 weeks!
Wow! Susan Mulvihill's tip definitely works. Simply wrap the cucumber in a dry kitchen towel (I used these) or dry paper towels, place in a plastic bag (I didn't seal the bag), and place in the fridge. The cucumbers harvested August 15th are looking as good as they day they were picked -- that's 3 weeks ago!