Home-style grow op

My latest obsession is my birthday present from Chris. It's the Jardin, by Vegehome, an opportunity to grow salad ingredients and herbs year-round, hydroponically, which means their roots grow in water, enriched with nutrients. The LED lights positioned above it stay on for 14 hours a day. All the seeds I "planted" here have germinated nicely so far: dill, chives, bok choy, basil, mustard. I bought a lettuce with roots at the supermarket to sit alongside it and have a couple of sweet pepper plants starting to grow in pots as well. Just outside my kitchen on the deck are tomatoes and onions, with sage, lemon-thyme and bee balm alongside. Nearby, chives and mint are thriving, and there's a row of savory in my front garden. Outside the kitchen window are thyme, parsley, oregano, basil and onions. There's mint in that container too, which may overwhelm the other herbs when it gets going. The onions were propagated in my kitchen from the root-ends of green onions.

I've been talking to a keen gardener (Jourdain) who lives round the corner from us; he'd picked up some raspberry canes at the new Farmers' Market on York Street. I'd love to try growing those but it might not be wise; they spread like crazy. He also offered me some bee-friendly asters, but warned me they'll spread too. Another neighbour (Sandra) gave me a bag full of rhubarb stalks grown on the farm she helps to run. I have chopped and frozen those.

Garden Footnote

As usual we're getting more than just birds on our bird feeders. A red squirrel keeps coming who loves the sunflower seeds! Black squirrels, grey squirrels, raccoons, juncos, American robins, chickadees, cardinals, goldfinches, house sparrows, chipping sparrows and white-crowned sparrows are other frequent visitors. Never a dull moment.