Whoa, where have I been for the past three months? Well, here there and everywhere but the garden adventure continues on.  So my little seedling experiment has turned out quite well so far. I had to put the seedlings in my garage due to our area’s sudden regression back into early spring (i.e. snow) . But here is a shot of my little plants as the progressed into the months of April:

Then I went on holidays for a couple of weeks and thanks to my neighbours my plants grew like mad. Unfortunately I started them I think just a bit too early as our colder spring ran far too late but here are a few more pictures showing some growth. I think they got too leggy but I planted them anyway and we shall see how it all goes.

Once it stops raining long enough I’ll post a few more pics on my garden and the containers. But for now I can honestly say the k-cups worked for seedlings probably much better than anything else as long as they were watered from the bottom. Now we’ll see if the tomatoes actually grow

March 7 2010

Gardening. It must be easy to learn, there are so many books out there, both “dummies” and ‘idiots” can do it. So it should be no problem” Right? And really this is really a continuation of my plans from last year or am I just a masochist?

Never mind. Since I have a plan and I’m probably indirectly solving the country’s deficit by helping my local greenhouse pay for some of their summer help. Aside from a few bucks here and there and some time I may actually grow something. Who knows?

So first off,  “the List”:

• Buy (yet another) garden book or books paying particular attention to ones concerning starting seeds indoors
• Buy a garden growing lighting system so I can start said seeds earlier than July 1 and maybe have a crop before the snow flies
• Start all over again with the seeds and this time make a database on them and store them better, yeah yeah
• Buy a house plant a) because I pretty well picked off my topiary myrtle bush from IKEA and b) because it may act as an inspiration
• Check out the garden shed to see if I can salvage my little pots and stuff  – no dead bugs please
• Make a plan as I go along – this is the easy part

So here was the plan, first of all I would head over to Lee Valley Tools : a great place to show case before you buy even if it’s a bit pricey. Then go to a garden centre – my favs are either Greenland or Salisbury (not the best website but they’re a garden centre)  both are close to home and I like them.

@ Lee Valley bought:

• Three books:  “Canadian Vegetable Gardening” by Douglas Green (good name), “Plant Propagator’s Bible” by Miranda Smith and “Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers” by Edward C Smith. Okay seems the Smiths are a huge gardening clan.
• Herb Keeper – for all those tasty herbs that I’ve grown and buy and need to store especially cilantro
• A water stick – my finger just isn’t good enough
• Two windowsill seed starters

Lacking a south or west window and no sill means having to purchase the next items…

• A 2-tier Floralight – basically two shelves for fluorescent full-spectrum lights
• 4 lights for the unit cause it doesn’t come with them
• A tabletop tarp and I hope this thing works.

@ the garden centre:

• 262 packs of seeds…okay only 17 but I need them all
• One unknown houseplant – but it’s green and it’s healthy
• Good little snippers for when I’m checking out my garden – I’ll leave them at the back door so I can grab them on my way out
• Red onion sets – last year I couldn’t find any – and I’ll trade with someone since I certainly don’t need ten
• Schultz starter soil – love this stuff
• Grass kit – to take to work once it’s up
• Indoor plant spikes for work and some of my house plants

And last but not least, my garden centre membership because I-will-be-back and 10% is as good as a Walmart’s price all things considered and the plants are healthy.

Now its all up to me to set this thing up and start growing.

While I’m not always a big fan of cookies, every so often I get a recipe that makes my mouth water and a bonus if it looks easy enough that I’ll actually make them. I saw these in my December Canadian Living Magazine and what a tasty surprise.

I used  a Pampered Chef sprinkle to make them really tasty the second time around. I’m not one to buy MLM products often so if you can find a cheaper alternative, please share it as I can think of a few cinnamon buns and the like that would be very tasty with this on them. I think one of the ingredients in this mix is a bit of candied ginger.

1. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in egg yolk, molasses and vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Stir into butter mixture.
2. Divide into thirds. Place each on waxed paper, using paper as support, roll into 1 inch (2.5 cm) diameter logs. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, 2 hours.*
3. Sprinkle turbinado sugar** on waxed paper, unwrap logs and roll in sugar. Cut into 1/4-inch (5 mm) slices and place 2 inches (5 cm) apart on parchment paper-lined or ungreased baking sheets. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Bake in 350F (180C) oven until bottoms are browned, about 10 minutes. Let cool on pans on racks about 2 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely.***

Makes about 60 cookies. Per cookie: about 32 cal, trace pro, 1g total fat (1g sat. fat), 5g carb, trace fibre, 6 mg, chol, 39 mg sodium.

* Make ahead: refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze in airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

** Make ahead: store layered between waxed paper in airtight container for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.

*** I used Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkles from Pampered Chef by only dipping the tops in the sugar before baking.