Thursday, December 31, 2009
Woods
I was walking my dog in the woods behind my house when a fog bank rolled in and it dawned on me that I had somehow forgotten what a remarkable place we live in..
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Winter in Vancouver can be a drag. Right now I'm looking out the window at grey skies and rain pooling in overly saturated soil. Snow appears and then gets washed away, and often I'll slip in to dark moods lit only by dreams of Hawaii.
It's important to remember that this city does have its Winter bonuses. In case you're new to the city, or you're having some trouble remembering, here's a short list (please let me know if you have anything to add!):
-Phillips beer and chilli at Cafe Deux Soleil
-getting to CHOOSE whether or not you'd like to go for a walk in the snow
-GRANVILLE ISLAND WINTER ALE
-sailing in December
-bike rides in December
-the odd day the Sun breaks through and makes you remember how beautiful everything is
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Dreamboat
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Big Freeze
Vancouver has been achingly cold as of late, and during one of my breaks from a Stats assignment I went sliding around the AQ pond at school. It made confounding variables less daunting..
-Sarah
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
I woke up this morning to the CBC telling me there was a fire on Main and Broadway. Later, I heard the sad news that Slickity Jim's, one of East Vancouver's most treasured restaurants, had burned down. I stopped by the site tonight to see what was left, and all that stood was a red gate, two window frames, a right standing wall, and a pile of burnt wood. A local made eye contact and gave me an understanding nod. A reporter on the news said this was a "developer's wet dream."
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
I've been feeling a general lack of inspiration lately, and then I came across something that reminded me of why I wanted to start blogging and this amazing city I live in.
These fine folks held a "funraiser" for a van. This van will be used as a studio, performance space, and generally, a place for community and creation.
Check out this video they made while on their way to pick up the van. I can guarantee inspiration.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Fuse is Coming!
750 Hornby St, Vancouver)
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Saturday, September 12, 2009
Vancouver's weather is rarely predictable, but one thing we can count on in this city is beautiful, hot, sunny days in September. The leaves are starting to turn, and our fine city's residents are trying to squeeze as many days at the beach in as possible before we're forced to face month upon month of grey skies and rain.
At first I thought that Autumn would be an odd time of year to start a gardening blog, but then I started thinking about all the amazing things nature offers us in the colder months. Apart from the vegetables that can still be grown in the Fall, this time of year gives us time to bake, can fruits, pickle vegetables, and turn old crops in to garden beds to be unveiled in the Spring.
There are a few pictures above from this past Spring and Summer. After this entry I'll blog only about things as they happen, no matter how tempted I am to write about the brighter seasons.
Bush Beans Gone to Seed
As gardening for me seems to be about trial and error, I figured that it would be good to post up some pictures of my green beans that have hopefully gone to seed. I'm not quite sure of the variety but they are some sort of a bush bean that I seem to think works better with my elevation and soil than I would imagine the climbing varieties would fair.
This years batch was grown from the beans collected from last year after I figured that purple flecks must have meant something. It was at least worth a shot to figure out if they amounted to anything when planted. Not all seeds popped into the soil sprouted a seedling, (around 15% failed) but all-in-all the relocation from a rocky back plot to my new one cut out of the grass in my front yard, meant a happier patch.
Without a hefty crop, and the fact that my dad had bought a giant bag of the same veg from the market, my little things mostly amounted to me snacking on them while gardening as opposed to becoming side dishes with dinner. I have to say that it reminds me of that Christmas tree movie from the 90's that is all heartbreaking because all he wants to be is a "proper" Christmas tree with a star on his top and presents underneath.
For the most part my harvest last week appeared to be a bit hasty. I left about 30 beans growing on their little branches but pulled about 16 that once opened I don't think will create much other than a good lesson for next time
When the pod is still mainly green and has a thick wall the beans inside are quite pale, with only a little purple colouration.
At this stage you can see that something is really starting to happen. The pod is dying back, turning yellow and is much thinner than at the earlier stage. The beans certainly look like something is going on inside but they still have a milky pearlised luster to them. I get the feeling that this will can still go towards next years crop but we will just have to wait and see.
Ahh...now here is where I think I hit it right. When I picked these they looked like nothing I would want to eat - dryish yellow pods with thin walls that seem to have had all of their goodness leached into the little beans inside. It's fruit are smaller, more densely compacted and dark purple.
For my next steps I'm going to peel back the rest of the green pods I had picked, organize them by colour, and put them in little dishes to dry out for the time being. It would be most adorable to make little paper packets for them which will note their 'classification' for next years planting. Once organized into rows this will help me to better understand what works and what doesn't for the seeding process as well as make cute little presents for friends when it comes to passing on the dark purple ones.
-Sarah
This years batch was grown from the beans collected from last year after I figured that purple flecks must have meant something. It was at least worth a shot to figure out if they amounted to anything when planted. Not all seeds popped into the soil sprouted a seedling, (around 15% failed) but all-in-all the relocation from a rocky back plot to my new one cut out of the grass in my front yard, meant a happier patch.
Without a hefty crop, and the fact that my dad had bought a giant bag of the same veg from the market, my little things mostly amounted to me snacking on them while gardening as opposed to becoming side dishes with dinner. I have to say that it reminds me of that Christmas tree movie from the 90's that is all heartbreaking because all he wants to be is a "proper" Christmas tree with a star on his top and presents underneath.
For the most part my harvest last week appeared to be a bit hasty. I left about 30 beans growing on their little branches but pulled about 16 that once opened I don't think will create much other than a good lesson for next time
When the pod is still mainly green and has a thick wall the beans inside are quite pale, with only a little purple colouration.
At this stage you can see that something is really starting to happen. The pod is dying back, turning yellow and is much thinner than at the earlier stage. The beans certainly look like something is going on inside but they still have a milky pearlised luster to them. I get the feeling that this will can still go towards next years crop but we will just have to wait and see.
Ahh...now here is where I think I hit it right. When I picked these they looked like nothing I would want to eat - dryish yellow pods with thin walls that seem to have had all of their goodness leached into the little beans inside. It's fruit are smaller, more densely compacted and dark purple.
For my next steps I'm going to peel back the rest of the green pods I had picked, organize them by colour, and put them in little dishes to dry out for the time being. It would be most adorable to make little paper packets for them which will note their 'classification' for next years planting. Once organized into rows this will help me to better understand what works and what doesn't for the seeding process as well as make cute little presents for friends when it comes to passing on the dark purple ones.
-Sarah
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