Laying Down Roots

Well we are still waiting on our visa interview to get me into the states. Patience is wearing thin at times, but still we wait. Currently, we are hoping that I will be summoned for around July 9th. I have to be in Montreal for meetings then anyways, so if it would work to come on that day, it would be absolutely perfect!

But in the mean time I have decided to lay down some roots. We're going to be in the states for most of the summer, and what is better in the summer than veggies from your own garden?? Jewel had a veggie garden laying fallow, so yesterday I went in, pulled the weeds (had to be careful here... poison ivy is a common weed), dug up the lillies that were spreading into it like weeds, turned the garden soil with a shovel and in the process found a root system that i'm not sure what it was from (there are many options back there), and at last planted a veggie garden :) We're hoping that we'll start having ripe veggies by the end of June when we start receiving guests down here.


On the far left: tomatoes and a hot pepper plant.
In the middle: red and yellow bell peppers and two more cayenne plants.
On the right: cucumbers













Same stuff, different angle -- you can see the tomato plants better here.















These are my three zucchini plants. Beside the garden you can see a lilly that has planted itself between the wood edging the garden and the cement walkway.










I was a little ambitious space-wise. I realized after i had everything planted the first time that there was absolutely NO room for my herbs -- especially as Zucchinis are HUGE plants (the tag said they need to be 6 feet away from any other plant!!). So I took over a small garden beside the house and turned it into an herb garden. Mmmm can you smell the dill, cilantro, oregano, basil, mint and parsley?





For the most part everything is really tiny right now. The dill i can start harvesting already and i found a small cayenne pepper (see left) on one of the plants, but on the whole we have a ways to go right now. For the next week while we're still here i'll be making sure its well watered, and attacking any weeds that dare to make an appearance. I will also likely make a chicken wire fence around it. There are a LOT of wild rabbits in the area. So if i can protect my new garden from them, it would likely be a good idea.

So again, I am following in the footsteps of my father, who love to grow veggies (especially tomatoes) in the backyard. Let's see how I do!! My mouth is already watering for my very own vegetables that I grew!

ps. Rather than being a "Red Neck" I am currently a "Red Low-Back". While somewhat derogatory today, the term "Red Neck" had to do with the sun burns/tans/colour that people got while working out doors. Well my neck is fine, but my back ... it didn't escape unscathed! I didn't even think about the hot sun yesterday (other than to enjoy it). And while I tan well, I need to be careful at the beginning of the sun season. Well I forgot to "spiff-up" with sunscreen and am now sporting a burn on my shoulders (i was wearing a tank top) and on a good chunk of my low-back where my shirt was riding up when i was bent over and kneeling. I will spare you the picture of that one. I do find it rather ironic that my neck barely got any colour when both of my shoulders got burnt (and it was well exposed) but my lower-back got nailed. I'm a "Red Back"! Starting a new trend??