Tuesday, December 31, 2013

I haven’t made resolutions for years simply because I used to set up these lofty goals that I ended up not keeping .   So I thought .. let’s just try not making resolutions for a few years and this has worked out very well.

I have been setting little goals and these have worked.  Like the one about downloading photos daily .. this goal has been achieved and works well.  I can now select photos from a certain time frame and know when things have happened.   Important things.  Records of my first luffa.  Tumbling jewels of tiny tomatoes ripening on the vine.  Sweet little birds frolicking around the yard.

Photos of delicious squash and other veggies growing in the yard.

Except something happened this year that caused me to rethink this whole resolution thing.

It was a squash that changed my mind and started to turn my world around.

Here’s me with my Brode Galeux d’Eysines, a French heirloom.  I’d started my squash plants way too late (sigh) yet I was successful with growing some.  I felt so very proud of this one!  D took the photo.  I know I look like a Gomer with my hair all over the place, but, hey, I’m in the garden, right?  Plants are more important than my wardrobe!  Sheesh.

This lovely squash weighed 20 lbs (and a half, I think!):

And there were other squash also .. here are a few more:

So I had this one giant squash and 2 smaller ones of the Brode type.  The largest one I proudly placed on a shelf .. actually I kept moving it around it was so beautiful.  I was going to cut it up in January and share with my pal D.

However, she told me that a friend was having problems with squash, growing soft and had to be composted.  No, I thought, this won’t happen with my crown jewel from the garden.  I would tap the exterior from time to time and it felt solid.

Except, one day, I had this funny feeling .. so I went to my computer room and carefully picked up the squash.  And, the bottom fell off.  Oh  No.

Yes … the worst thing imaginable had happened.    This treasure had started composting internally  .. most likely weeks before.  I carried it carefully to the sink.    Delicately, with a sharp knife .. I tested cutting through the skin.  And it sliced through quite easily.

With a sinking heart I opened up the squash .. and .. believe me when I tell you that there was nothing to be retrieved from the interior.  Thank goodness there is no smellivision in blogs.  Pheweeeeeee!

I was able to gather a handful of seeds which I washed and cleaned and am drying for another try at growing this year.

So this adventure has taught me a very valuable lesson.  Admire the squash, but cook it and enjoy it.   Take a photo and admire the beauty.  But … cook it!

So I have been cooking and freezing the rest of my squash, jut to avoid any further disappointments.

Another resolution I will (try) to keep!   To not buy up a carload of plants just because they are on sale and are perennials and are so very beautiful.  Here is a photo of one of several (ha, several can mean 3 or 4, can’t it?) carloads of plants that I bought last summer.  Now all potted up and waiting to be moved to our new home in the coming year!

Looking through my photos of last summer, found this beautiful shot, taken when I was flying in the front seat of the PW-6U glider in Port Alberni.  Such beauty.

This was a great bumper sticker I saw during the summer.  Speaks volumes.

Another lovely summer sky ….. how uplifting

I was so proud of this squash patch.  However, next year, I’ll grow them in very large containers.  I did grow some in very large pots this summer, but they weren’t terribly successful.

This is why I love taking photos in the summer .. reminders during the winter of what is soon going to be happening again in the yard.

My pal D is an avid collector of teacups …. here is one that she bought and it just matches the cover of the Butchart Gardens blue poppy seed packet!

My collection of organic seeds.  I had so many packets that one sunny afternoon last summer, I placed them all out on a table, just to see how many I had.   Enough, I think,  Except for the Heirloom seeds which I later purchased from a small organic farm in Antigonish, Nova Scotia!  I’ll be sharing these with fellow gardeners next summer.

Another dreamy sky from 2013 ..

Well, it’s been a year full of happenings.   And I look forward to a growing year in 2014.

Happy New Year to everyone and I wish all the very very best!

🙂