The Christmas tree that graces the Garden Therapy house this year is not a huge, lush, extravagantly-adorned spectacle as it has been in the past. Nope, this year we almost didn’t put up a tree. I was feeling a bit grinchy and will admit that the holidays have been difficult in the past, the last few years in particular. So this year the plan was to just skip Christmas all together, keep busy through the winter and pop out on the right side of Spring, ready to get diggin’ again.
You’re a rotter, Mr. Grinch / You’re the king of sinful sots / Your heart’s a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots / Mr. Gri-inch! / You’re a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce!
But then and idea hit me. Like a vision appearing before me it was suddenly clear as day: a Grinch Tree. A tree design that celebrates not just the joy and wonder of the season, but celebrates the difficulties and challenges as well.
If those little Who’s could sing their hearts out in tough times, then so can I. I bought a potted cedar and rigged it up by pruning and re-attaching some branches so that the ball on the top would hang over just right. The perfect green ball and ribbon were easy to find.
The decorations are a combination of simple white lights, wooden ornaments, felted acorns, and kitchy silver disco balls. And the base is wrapped simply in burlap with a big green bow.
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December 12 2011 | Garden Therapy and Projects | 34 Comments »
This winter we are incredibly lucky to have a large number of Snowy Owls visiting right now in Delta. Snowy Owls are normally found in the Arctic where their main meal is a small Arctic rodent, the lemming. Due to a decline in the lemming population (which happens approximately every 4 years) the owls have migrated to locations like Boundary Bay in Delta looking for food.
These magnificent birds are a beautiful sight to see, yet there are many warnings around that caution visitors so that the owls are protected. Please, if you do go to see the owls, maintain a respectful distance from them. If they start flying away, you have gone too close. To ensure they are not disturbed view them only from the dyke (do not enter the marsh area), keep quiet, and don’t go as a large group or bring children or pets. Stressing the owls will not only drive them away, but also threatens their survival.
That being said, seeing Snowy Owls and their habitat is a rare treat that anyone interested should get out and enjoy. Bring binoculars, a telephoto lens and/or a spotting scope so you can get a good look at them from a distance. For more information on the Snowies and where to find them, please check the updates at the end of this post.
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December 10 2011 | Photography | 19 Comments »
I found some newly-hatched spiders on my hose reel the other day. They were huddled together for warmth in what I affectionately call “SpiderBall”.
May 19 2010 | Photography | 11 Comments »
Last year my husband came home panicking about the ‘bugs’ all over our plum tree. We only have room for one fruit tree so any chance that we may not get to eat all those amazing Italian Prune Plums is reason to panic. But these bugs I was aware of and I had actually been allowing to multiply because it was an aphid colony. Why on earth would I ever WANT aphids (aka plant lice), the tiny soft-bodied flies that suck all the precious juices from your plants? Well, because they attract beneficial insects to the garden.
Setting up an area of your garden, or a plant placed somewhere strategically, where pests are allowed will help to attract beneficial insects such as ladybugs, spiders, hoverflies and parasitic wasps to dine on them. I plant a few Shasta Daisies around the garden as aphid nurseries because aphids love them. A colony of the little green monsters will cover my Shastas and in no time the whole garden is being trolled by aphid hunters. This is particularly helpful near my lettuce garden, as the parasitic wasps and hoverflies zip in and between the lettuce leaves effectively cleaning my greens before I even pick them.
The aphids on my plum tree, however, don’t even get a chance to touch a leaf of plum because once the ladybug eggs hatch it’s covered with alligator-like larvae that can eat hundreds of aphids a day. By the time they pupate and become the beetles we are all familiar with, they have spit shined my plum tree without a sign of a pest. And of course my plum would never even set fruit if it wasn’t for pollinators so I make sure there are lots of flowers for the bees as well.
The lesson here in organic gardening is to do what you can to let nature take care of the problem. Plant flowers for pollinators, start an aphid nursery, and give beneficial insects a few extra weeks to arrive before you attack pests on your plants. If it becomes a fight and you are not winning, then perhaps it’s time to considering making a change to what and where you plant. Gardening should be about nurturing not napalm.
Want to check out more ways to garden responsibly this year? Check out Thanks for Today’s Garden Blogger’s Sustainable Living Project.
Happy Earth Day.
April 22 2010 | Gardening and Growing Food | 12 Comments »
