Making lots of vanilla

Close up of vanilla beans.

I am making a large amount of vanilla. I saw a blog that someone just made it right in the vodka bottle. Sounded like a good idea to me!! Done and put away to age for six months or so.

Growing greens in flats. Making vanilla.

The post has nothing to do with my batch of vanilla, but isn't it pretty?

I keep seeing greens planted in flats in book, blogs...everywhere. I have decided to give it a try. They are often grown in the house under lights. I have plant eating cats, so it would never survive. I have decided to try it in the greenhouse. I won't use the lights unless I think I need them.

Wow....organic horse poop.

When I got home from a very long day at the store, Allan said, 'you need to get your boots on and get the flashlight. Go check the green recycle cans'. I put on my boots, grabbed the flashlight and went around to the cans. Opened them up....horse poop. Organic horse poop from much loved horses. I was really touched. Thank you husband.

A veritable maple leaf frenzy

My neighbours maple. About forty feet across?

Here is a pictorial of what I spent three to four hours doing yesterday. About twenty wheelbarrows worth. For the first time since last year, I worked so hard and bent over so much....I woke up with a VERY sore back. Neck's not that great either. But, I got the job done, and last nights wind storm didn't blow too many of them away.

A quarter done

Very clay soil bed before

After. With about a foot of leaves piled on top. First I dug the whole bed down about a foot. Huge, wet heavy clay hunks. I took some veg scraps and lots of leaves, layered it on the bed and started putting the clay back in place. I broke the clay up and mixed leaves as much as I could. I took the last leaves and laid them on the ground where I'm going to kill grass next year around dwarf apples. What doesn't break down in the bed over winter, will get raked over onto the lawn.

Some under the holly

And...done

Check out my garden. Still pretty awesome.

Rosemary bundled up for winter

Asparagus fern. Looks like a female to me.

Callicarpa / Beauty Berry

These fuchsias are about 3.5 inches across

Calendula...found a seed pod by a fence last year and this grew!!

Cymbidium orchid. Third year.

Aunt Helen's Ontario 'lawn strawberries'

Sungold tomato

Chilean Guava