I've been away from writing for a couple of weeks as I've been busy in the garden. It's time for a follow-up on my winter garden that has now morphed into a spring garden and is soon to morph again into my summer garden. Gardening has its challenges, from bad weather to animals, insects and birds, to name a few. Since the pandemic lockdowns, I've really gone into overdrive learning about gardening and I'm having a lot of fun learning to propagate plants, whether by clippings or from seeds.

(See my previous update, 'Growing food throughout winter and all year long'.)

So I had planted leek, carrots, turnips, parsnips, garlic, kale (red and green) as well as brussels sprouts and ruby leaf lettuce last August and September and covered them up with vapor guard plastic or put in the greenhouse. In the middle of May, I began removing all the plastics and temporary lean-to greenhouse I had built against my back window. Then, I went to work putting together the new 'L' shaped raised bed at the back with left over planks I had kicking around.

There was a lot of re-arranging going on to make way for this new bed which kept me busy but I must admit, it was a much needed workout. All the while, I tended to my 'winter' plants as the goal was to let them flower so I could harvest a bonanza of seeds. So far, the bees love the flowers and the seed pods have begun to form. My turnips, kale, brussels sprouts and purple cabbage are all flowering and I expect to collect thousands of seeds from these plants. I had trouble with the cabbage and sprouts as they did not fully form but they'll more than make up with the amount of seed pods that are forming. Practice makes perfect and I'll try again with these plants for next winter.

Here are some pictures of how things are progressing. I have a large and small bed of Golden Globe turnips and those are their yellow flowers. Very easy to spot. The honey bees love these flowers which are very similar to kale flowers. At bottom left are currant plants and along the pathway, is a row of chamomile plants in pots that I've been propagating for two years. I added another 16 clippings a couple of weeks ago and all except for one clipping made it. You need to grow a lot of these plants to get enough flower buds (to dehydrate) to make chamomile tea which is great in wintertime. Every year now, I add a few more clippings. Eventually, I'll have a field full.

Moving along the path just past the turnip flowers is my small batch of parsnips. These pictures were taken last week and since then, the stalks have almost doubled in size and one is about to go to flower. To the right of the parsnips are the leek plants. Both of these plants survived the frost of winter under simple plastic covering. I'm getting anxious because it's almost harvest time. I'm planning on making my first potato leek soup soon. Can't wait!

To the right of the leeks is a small raised bed with garlic cloves planted last Fall. You can easily turn 5 garlic bulbs into close to 50 garlic plants. Very low maintenance. Both the leeks and garlic will be ready around the end of June or first weeks of July. Most people throw away the left over leaves of the leek plant but did you know you can easily dehydrate these leaves, turn them into a powder and use as a spice as it is edible?

Here's a better shot of the garlic bed. You can see the new chamomile clippings in the five pots in front of the bed. In the top middle, you can see my pond which is stocked with goldfish. The water is full of plant organics which I use to quickly fill up my water can. The plants love this water and it's a great way to sneak in some natural fertilizer. I also have a few water barrels to capture rain but we haven't had rain for over a week and there's no rain in the forecast till next week. When the pond gets low, I turn on the outside tap and top it up with tap water until the rain comes again to fill my barrels. Fortunately, I live along the famous Grand River which cuts through Waterloo Region in Ontario so there's a source of water if I ever need it.

Here's a shot standing in front of the pond looking to the right. You can see my little makeshift greenhouse that cost me $40 to put together. At center is my crab apple tree. This tree blossoms only about 5 days a year and although it's a bit difficult to see, there are pink petals on the branches. When this tree blooms, I know that spring has officially beaten winter and I can start planting the summer crop. The path you saw in the previous photos continues to the left and leads to a stone block patio at the very back of my yard. You can see a skid leaning on my wooden spool table. Everything was a mess for a bit while I built the new raised bed which can barely be seen to the right of the outdoor fireplace near the back fence.

Here's a much better view of my new raised bed with old wood. To the left are my raspberries which can grow well in pots. These are being relocated to another spot and will be put directly in the ground. Yep, more onions too. At top left are the brussels spouts. They were placed along the beck fence and I only realized in mid winter that the poor plants were hardly getting any sunlight because the winter sun is so low on the horizon that the fence blocked a lot of sunlight. Still, while I got no sprouts, the plants are still alive and are presently flowering and will produce seeds shortly. I'll try again for next winter with the new seeds and make sure to place the plants in a spot where they'll get more sunlight in mid-winter. Yesterday, I planted green kale and again this morning, some Tokyo Bekana Asian cabbage in this new bed. This type of cabbage is more like a lettuce and can be added to fresh salads. Another neat aspect of Tokyo Bekana is that this plant is resistant to high temperatures. Today, the high is 32 celcius. Very hot.

Having a little greenhouse really comes in handy. This one is only 4 feet by 6 feet and I can pack quite a bit in there. Those are my Swiss Chard plants on the floor that were planted last year. On the right, at top and bottom shelves are my ruby leaf lettuce plants. These plants produce beautiful leaves and of course are very edible. This lettuce is a favorite in my salads.

Just look at how tasty those lettuce leaves look. If you read my previous article, you'll see how I managed to save these plants throughout winter. They are also prolific when it's flowering time as just a few plants can produce thousands of seeds. I'll never run out of lettuce! To the right are some ruby mild mustard lettuce plants.

Here's what chives look like when they're flowering. The purple flower heads are edible. It's a good idea to let a few flowers produce seeds and then drop some into the same pot and get a second crop in second half of summer. Do again before winter and new shoots will come out next spring.

It doesn't seem like much now but since this picture was taken, my red kale plants have spread to double the size seen here. I got a bounty of kale leaves from these and also my green kale plants throughout last summer, fall, winter and again this spring. Kale leaves can be frozen for later use and as a result, one of my freezers is full of kale leaves so I have enough until the new batch of kale plants start producing. Kale is definitely an excellent winter hardy plant to grow. Mixed in with the red kale are young asparagus plants. These plants take years to mature but when they do, asparagus will produce every the spring for the next few decades, no kidding.

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Another plant that takes a few years to mature is Rhubarb. I have a few at the side of my house that I planted a good ten years ago and are still producing. A few years ago, some of those plants flowered and produced excellent seeds, some of which resulted in these rhubarb plants. These rhubarb plants are entering their third summer. I just transplanted a few directly into the ground 2 days ago and those plants love their new home. Like asparagus, rhubarb will keep coming back year after year for decades. These are great mixed with strawberries in pies and pound cakes as well as jam. Passing the stalks through a juicer will produce a super anti-oxidant juice that can be added to a tasty smoothie for overall better health.

It takes patience to be a gardener and the learning never ends but the rewards can be bountiful. The garden salad I put together yesterday with greens and onions from the backyard along with chicken fillet was delicious. The best reward for me is stepping out into my backyard to do some grocery shopping. A clip here and a clip there and presto, I have my lunch for the day. Doesn't get any fresher than that. Soon, I'll be able to add garlic too. Keeps all the evil spirits away...

Hope you enjoyed this update. I just transplanted some beefsteak tomatoes this morning into bigger pots, from seeds of tomatoes I grew last summer. Did you know that adding bone meal will super-charge your tomatoes? Give it a try. Be sure to use the powdered kind. They're growing fast so I'll be sure to include pictures of them in my next update.

How's your 'Victory Garden' coming along? Please share in the comments section below.