Gardening for dummies : the plants are outside

by Lara Last weekend I planted my garden!

It's not pretty.  It is the garden of a disorganized non-gardener.  But things are already growing (YEEHAW!) and really my goal here is to demonstrate that anyone can garden with fairly minimal effort or skill ;)

The main garden

When we moved in to this house there was this bizarre sandbox with a roof. It was old and falling apart.  My husband cut the roof off and I turned it into a garden!

In this garden I planted my tomato plants (I'm still not sure on the need or value of those cages - anyone want to chime in? I have 5 plants and two cages, I'll play it by ear ;)), peas, edamame, green onions, and carrots.

I discovered that you can buy seeds that are pre-planted into strips to prevent putting too many seeds close together.  This seems perfect for me because I can't seem to stop myself from dumping the seeds in in clumps (kind of like how I used to put tinsel on the Christmas tree, much to my father's dismay). :)

Back garden

That's the fancy name for what I planted at the back of the official garden because I had more stuff than would fit in there ;)  I planted 5 cucumber plants between the garden and the fence.

We also planted some pumpkins to the side of the cucumbers.  Possibly too many pumpkins for the space - we'll see what happens :)

The barrel

I bought a barrel and in it I planted basil (I'm not sure this will work, I think I should have planted that as one of my seedlings) spinach and lettuce in it.  The most exciting part is the lettuce is already growing!

The old garden

I didn't even tidy up the old garden area...  as you can tell from the photo.  But I added some more soil and planted our watermelons there. Again, my lack of knowledge here may mean I have planted watermelons way too close together - but it's an experiment and we're keeping our fingers crossed!

The plants are looking happy and healthy in the ground and I can't wait to start harvesting. I think I'm going to go and buy some fencing and some netting to protect the plants from the rabbits.  There are lots and lots of rabbits in Orleans.

Have you planted a garden yet this year? There's still lots of time! I want to hear about it!

Lara Wellman is mom to 4 year old Kiernan and 2 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her personal blog at Gliding Through Motherhood, about her weight loss journey at Losing it in Ottawa, and her social media blog at Larawellman.com

Gardening for dummies

by Lara My seedlings were outgrowing the tray that they were planted in but it was still too early to move them outside. (I had to ask twitter if I could put them outside or not, because I really do have no ideas what I'm doing :))

I heard that you could make little pots out of newspapers that you can then plant in the ground when they're ready. GENIUS!

Only problem was that neither my husband or I could figure out how to do it with just the instructions.

So youtube to the rescue. You really can find everything on the internet now.

Once we have figured out how to make the pots, Kiernan helped me with the folding, for the first one. (Expect you'll have to make the rest on your own :))

Then we filled them with dirt and planted the seedlings. Caution, don't put very much dirt in, the newspaper pots... not THAT sturdy.

But they're doing the trick. I water them a bit at a time in my window and hope that in a week or two I can move them outside into the garden.

How's your garden doing?

Lara Wellman is mom to 4 year old Kiernan and 2 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her personal blog at Gliding Through Motherhood, about her weight loss journey at Losing it in Ottawa, and her social media blog at Larawellman.com

Gardening for dummies : planting seedlings

by Lara I most certainly do not have a green thumb.  I've killed many plants in my day and I'm not really into all things home repair and lawn maintenance.  But last year I decided I would actually plant a garden (after talking about it for 5 years) and I took enormous pleasure in tending my sad little garden and eating the tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers it produced.

This year I decided to take it a step further and plant some things from seeds in the house.  I was nervous - I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm not great at reading instructions (it's good to know these things about yourself :)) so I went to Walmart and bought a kit.  Add water. Add seeds. Cover and ignore.  PERFECT!

This tray required us to pour about 7 cups of water into those pellets to puff them up.  Then you tore them open, put a couple of seeds in and covered the tray with a lid to put in a not sunny spot.

We planted cucumbers, two kinds of tomatoes and watermelon.  We went to the store and bought the seeds together and Kiernan specifically requested the watermelon, making them his pet project and all the more interested in taking part in whole process.

He then made drawings with his dad of all the kinds of plants (using the seed packages to help) to put into the tray so we would remember what row was what.

I then put the lid on and dumped it on the dining room table because the twins were getting crazy and the time for paying attention to this ended abruptly. Which is just further proof that anyone can do this.

A few days later I went in and saw all of them had sprouted! I took the lid off and moved it to the greenhouse window we're lucky to have in our kitchen.

In the coming weeks I will be attempting to transplant them into individual pots and then out into the garden.  I'll be documenting the journey here, so stay tuned!

Lara Wellman is mom to 4 year old Kiernan and 2 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her personal blog at Gliding Through Motherhood, about her weight loss journey at Losing it in Ottawa, and her social media blog at Larawellman.com

Books to Swing into Spring With...

This post is part of a series of monthly blog posts by Ottawa Public Library children’s librarians! We hope you enjoy today’s post and remember to check back every month for great children’s books ideas. Get your children into the swing of spring with a visit to your local library.  The following books from the Ottawa Public Library are sure to get the whole family excited about the change of the seasons.

Stimulate your child’s senses this spring with touch and feel books.  Spring is appropriate for babies and introduces vocabulary for the season.  From blossom and flower to fawn and lamb, your baby will love the colourful pictures and playing with the textures.   

After you’ve seen the cute bunny and felt its fuzzy nose, you’ll have to pick up I love bunnies.  From the same series, this touch and feel book offers simple rhymes to describe the fluffy and bouncy quality of bunnies.  With sparkly flowers and a felt carrot, this book offers as much to touch, as it does to look at it.  

*Both Spring and I love bunnies are part of OPL’s English board book collection.  Board books cannot be requested through the library’s hold system but every branch and the bookmobile offer a wide selection.  They are a great way to introduce books to your babies without having to worry about ripping pages.  Go into your local branch to find these two titles and see what else is available!

With the cold days of winter behind us, it’s time for Wake Up, It’s Spring! by Lisa Campbell Ernst.  This story will take you and your child on a journey through the rebirth of the earth and its inhabitants as the days get warmer and longer.  One by one, things start to wake up.  By the end, both you and your child will be wide awake and celebrating the days of spring!

As the season changes, your child can finally shed the layers that were needed to keep them warm all winter.  Welcome the transition from winter to spring with It’s Spring! By Linda Glaser.  The text is accompanied by beautiful images of gushing streams and flowers, plants and trees created by cut-paper illustrations by Susan Swan.  Through Glaser’s story and Swan’s illustrations, you and your child will be able to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste the changes of the season!

One of the wonders of spring is getting outside and into the garden.  Include your child in this process with Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert.  It is the colourful story of the plants and flowers one child and mother team plant in the garden.  Discover red tulips, orange tiger lilies, yellow daffodils, green ferns, blue morning glories, and purple violets for a bouquet that includes all the colours of the rainbow!

Take a closer look at the life span of a flower with Eric Carle’s The Tiny Seed. Your child will learn about the cycle in a garden as a seed germinates and turns into a plant, blooms and goes to seed.  Carle’s bright artwork is sure to captivate your little one.