What an amazing weekend!

Sunday, 16 May 2021

Sunshine and nature. A sure-fire way to a happy day. I had lots of both this weekend and my soul is overjoyed!

To cap things off, we had an awesome thunderstorm that brought heavy rain, gusty winds and hail. The temperature dropped at least 5 degrees! I am every grateful for bringing my plants in, under the covered portion of the veranda, a half hour before the main event got here. I didn’t even realize it was on the way. We were planning on heading into town and I didn’t want to leave the plants out, in the event a heavy rain came. Phew!

I took a few videos of the storm:

It was a productive day for me. I decided to take it easy and, in doing so, got crafty! When I ordered my seeds back in the winter, I ordered a package of wood pot labels. At the time I thought they could be reused over and over. But, I was using a sharpie to mark the name of the plant and the date of planting… not so usable now! Not to mention I was going through them pretty quickly. I started cutting up milk cartons and using them as labels. They work well but also are not reusable as they get moist over time and start to breakdown. The good thing with them, though, is they are recyclable.

I saw on YouTube where a woman painted wood sticks with chalkboard paint, then used chalk markers to write on it. The marker didn’t come off in the rain, and it was removable with a “magic” eraser. I decided to give it a try.

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Then came the potato containers. I wanted something firmer than the seed bags to grow the potatoes in. I decided to try the cat litter containers. The only litter my cats will use comes in a plastic container. I use them for so many things like storing bird seed and my pine cones! But they’re not food grade so I can’t grow my potatoes in them. But I can put my seed bag, filled with soil, inside. This will make the bag more stable…at least I hope so. I cleaned the containers with vinegar and water, air dried them in the sun, then drilled holes in the bottoms. I then used the chalkboard paint to spruce them up. They look a lot better without the kitty litter label!

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I still had lots of energy so decided to get some pots ready for transplanting. I’m running out of pots and have lots of seedlings to transplant.

In just one of those little squares, I counted 14 plants… That’s a lot of pots I’m going to need! I started with the beer glasses I picked up at Dollarama. Holes needed to be cut out of the bottoms of each cup. Once that was done, I decided to paint a strip with the chalkboard paint so I can label the cup instead of using a label inside the pot. I finished the red cups, which took up more space that I had, then the wind picked up, blowing them around the veranda. So I left the blue cups as is, but then tried writing on them with the chalk markers and it works fine.

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There was a nap and a trip to town in here somewhere which gave me more energy and I was ready to get back to it. My trip to town was a curbside pickup at Canadian Tire. I purchased a Thermacell mosquito repellant and couldn’t wait to try it out. I got it going, put on some tunes and started making paper pots. I wanted small pots so needed a small bottle to roll them with. I found the perfect bottle…a small bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream!

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About fifteen paper pots in, I opened the bottle of Baily’s… my sister opened a can of Glutenberg and kept me company via text. It was an enjoyable way to pass a Sunday afternoon. I made 61 paper pots and hardly noticed as I was busy chatting with my sister.

The thing I like best about using paper pots is they go right in the ground, or pot. There’s no more transplanting involved. Some plants, like Bottle House Gourds, like limited contact, so this a great solution. The thing I like least about using paper pots is they get moist when watered and cannot be handled. You’ve got to find a container that will hold them upright and give them support for as long as you have them growing. But, paper pots are free and there’s no waste from them, so for now I’m going to use them.

BTW, I’m very impressed with the mosquito repellant. No mosquitos at all while I had it going!!!

It was a peaceful evening. As the sun set, Robin began it’s nightly serenade. The geese came up from the river with their babies. Looks like there’s six. This is the first time this year they’re showing up with the babies! The turkey’s were visiting too and I saw a bald eagle fly by twice. And the hummingbird is using the new feeder. What a day!

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