Summer in the city

Is it really August 14? Just noticed that my last post was over a month ago. It's not that I haven't been doing things around the place and in the garden but there just been camping, festival attending and general summer enjoyment. Here's a smattering of updates from the last 4-5 weeks.

A wicked hail storm pelted my area of the city...my garden is still recovering.

Had to call an arborist because the apple tree is slowly dying

The apple tree has Fire Blight...the arborist cut the dead branches and treated the soil to try to stop the spread but it probably only has a couple years left. The good news is that the apples are still growing. As an aside, I chose the arborist based on the company name - "The Branch Manager". It probably doesn't speak to the quality but it was witty. The tree was treated on the same day as the hail storm so I am not really sure if it was the hail or arbor guys that created havoc in my garden.

Speaking of my garden, I have more raspberries than I know what to do with...friends have been popping over to help with the harvest. There are still so many in the early ripening stage. It's rather incredible. Apparently my friend Claire picked pounds of raspberries and I barely noticed that any were even picked.

Speaking of harvesting, there are a few nanking cherry trees throughout my garden so I am experimenting to see what could be done with them.  For now, I boiled some down into a syrup to add to drinks, salad dressing or for ice cream. Yummo!

Cherries on the tree

Cherries in the colander

Nanking cherry syrup (still need to add the sugar but lovely flavour)

 Speaking of cherries...

Fresh produce is one of my favorite things about summer...visits to Farmers Markets.

We are lucky to have a few great year-round markets like Kingsland FM and Calgary FM. Of course, there are still the seasonal ones like Millarville and I want to check out one close to my house - Sunnyside/Hillhurst. Maybe this Wednesday...

In other produce news, the vegetable garden has been a dismal failure...next year, there will be a fence of sorts around the produce. Have to look into a better solution. Claire suggested the book "Creative Vegetable Gardening". Here is a look at the only peas I could muster (actually there were a total of 5 pods but I ate 2). The carrots are not quite ready but I pulled one to see if it was even growing...There are only about 8 in the garden row. The spinach did not take and the zucchini tops were eaten so they did not grow either. In the onion row, there is about 2 still hanging on.

Like three peas in a pod

A pitiful carrot

I hung some of my herbs (oregano, thyme, mint & parsley) to dry...we will see how those turn out. 

A shot of my hollyhocks

What I thought was an invasion of hollyhocks this spring and summer ended up being an invasive species banned in Alberta. It is called "Himilayan Balsam" and its seeds are wicked and spread easily. I have probably pulled up more than 2000 this year. Here is a shot of my garbage full of them. I've filled more than 4 garbage cans with this weed alone. It is everywhere and can grow up to 8ft tall.

Spending lots of time in the garden!

Now for a few updates around the house:

Last week, I went to a "Swap-a-rama" party which takes place usually once a year. Guests bring things that are nice but just don't go with their home and/or wardrobe anymore. At the get-together, you put all the items in the centre and then everyone takes turns choosing treasure...basically, it is like free shopping. Anything left gets dropped off at a charity. I picked up the mirror below plus a great serving platter and a great tin for planting herbs.

 I also re-arranged my living room to see a different perspective. The jury is still out on this layout.

Still with the rearranging theme, I tidied up my laundry area downstairs. Basically, gave the area a good cleaning and lined up the appliances. Because the floor is cement, it was tricky to find an even place for the washing machine but to fix it, I stuck a lid under the leg and PRESTO! It was fixed.

I took this shot while camping a couple weeks ago. Campfires are so fascinating. However you are choosing to spend your summer, I hope you are all having a wonderful relaxing summer.