Technique: How to Repair a Hose

Click to link through to a good "how to" on the Organic Gardening website. If you are like me, there are lots of hoses around to repair. When the weather turns nicer for longer, I may have to make a day of it!

Snowy Owl

This afternoon, Sean and I were driving home from Weyburn when we saw a Snowy Owl. It was huge and beautiful. I could see it long before it landed but it did land before we passed. It perched on top of a power pole and watched as we went by. I have never seen a Snowy Owl that wasn't a photograph. We had a Great Horned Owl take up residence on our acreage for about 3 days one year but never a Snowy Owl. When I got home, a blog I read had a post about a Snowy Owl. That landed me at an article telling me that there have been unusually large numbers of Snowy Owls showing up in places they do not normally show up. Hawaii for example! I also did some reading to find they are daytime owls so that explains why we saw him in the afternoon. Normally, we only see Owls at dusk or night. It was a nice experience.

Creating Winter Garden Fun!

For 3 years now, I have been thinking of starting a local charity to promote a connection to nature in the Valley I live in. The plan is for garden based programs such as sharing fall harvest, seasonal clothing exchanges and free sharing workshops in home composting, growing a kitchen garden and organic garden methods for flowers and vegetables. The primary financial function of this charity would be to help the pets that live here too. We have been inundated with strays in medical need since we arrived and last year was the first that our pets did not grow in number. That was only because we had to say 'no'. We are full! Each time we said no, I had a little heart tug, knowing that for at least one of them, no from us meant euthanization. Both because of that tug and because it is winter here and no garden to play in, this year, I have started flushing out my ideas and put together the start of a website at naturalconnection.ca. There is a lot left to do and the hardest part, getting young people involved, is yet to come. I figure it is a first step... getting the ideas out of my head and putting them out there for others to think about as well. There are a lot more people needed to get it off the ground so the whole project may never come to fruition but there are a few people asking me about it, it has been fun so far and isn't that the whole point of something you do for free?

Kitchen Garden

Ever since we decided to move fencing this year, I have been planning my kitchen garden. Yesterday, I found all my seeds and pulled out the companion planting book so I could come up with a planting plan. So far, I have decided to plant the carrots, radish and onion together and the garlic with the roses. The roses are more important to me than the garlic but I will likely plant more garlic inside the fence for eating. January isn't over and they say February is going to get cold but I am feeling the excitement of spring!

Green and Pink in January

It was so nice and mild a couple of days ago so I grabbed my camera and went for a stroll around the garden. One of the things that I really appreciate about my rock garden is that there are many things that stay green all year round, even when covered by snow. These photos were taken on January 3rd.

This season has been so mixed up with mild weather most of the fall. My Dutch iris keep growing and they're about 5 months too early. My Hall's honeysuckle is full of buds. And the buds on my spring blooming heathers are starting to pop about 6 weeks early.