Simplify your life! Have just one God!

Things have been busy here, more mentally than physically I guess. I have not been writing much on this blog. So much to do and to think about. Plus I am still sore with my frozen shoulder, which appears to be a partial thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon along the articular surface. Not a quick fix there.

In the midst of all of this, one of my Facebook friends posted a quote from a pastor's message that has stuck in my mind:

"Simplify your life! Have just one God!"

Yeah, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are in the ground - May 16, 2013

My little plants had grown a lot and were so ready to go into the ground. And at a nice rainy spring day like today it seemed like a perfect day to do it. On sunny days it gets very hot in the empty greenhouse --- too much stress for the transplants. The weather was perfect and the plants were ready but I was not.

Planning and planting the garden - May 9, 2013

It is early spring here, even though it feels more like a summer day. I do not recall ever planting my first cold weather crop in such warm weather. After a long snowy winter God granted us a beautiful spring. Our grass is green and the trees are getting green too - so nice!

Yummy Kaiserschmarrn

It is spring and time for some gardening posts, isn't it? But there is still not much happening in the garden :(. Well, my tomatoes are up (at least most of them) and growing and I even managed to kill one today (waiting for its resurrection). I also did some clean up in the perennial garden.
Last night I was at a fun bridal shower and we got to talk with some ladies about all the comfort foods like crepes, pancakes, waffles, etc. One of my favourites in this category is kaiserschmarrn, but the ladies did not know about that so I promised to post the recipe. Kaiserschmarrn ("Kaiser" meaning "emperor", and "Schmarrn" meaning "nonsense" in Austrian German, and etymologically related to the English term "smear" - mishmash, a mess, crumbs, a trifle, a nonsense, a fluff.) I would say it is a delicious mess :). Here we go:

Dave, an enthusiastic northern fruits and berry grower

Dave is a fellow gardening enthusiast from central Alberta who writes an interesting AlbertaHomeGardening blog. Would you believe that plums, grapes, and kiwis grow just outside of Red Deer, Alberta? They do, Dave has proven it. There is a whole world of hardy fruit plants that can survive and even thrive on the northern prairies. I was privileged to interview him, enjoy!

Tomatoes and eggplants are planted - April 3, 2013

This morning we woke up to some beautiful snow, thankfully it did not last long and melted soon. We are just so ready for spring! One way to make spring happen, despite the weather, is to plant seeds. And that's what I did today.

A Cross in the Wilderness

It is Passion Week, the week between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday. A week where we are especially reminded of Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection on the third day. A week where we are thinking and reflecting more on the cross.

Food in the Bible 2. - Fallen world

As we saw in Food in the Bible 1., God created our world and he made it very good. Also, the food that God created was perfectly fitting for the human race: delicious, comforting, and naturally sweet. Adam and Eve had a great time in the garden of Eden, eating whatever they wanted - except one fruit!

First seeds are planted - March 13, 2013!

Today is an exiting day - first seeds of 2013 are planted, marking the start for a new growing season! Come on, spring! Can you tell that I am a wee bit exited? I know, gardeners in the South are already planting their gardens while I am just starting my first seeds indoors, but our last frost day is still more than two months away - so no rush here ;). You can read more about how I start plants indoors here. 

How to build a GeoDome greenhouse?

A greenhouse is very valuable: it extends the growing season, provides protection and allows to grow those delicious summer crops that don't grow natively in our northern climate.

When we started to look out for one to build, our expectations were very high. In an northern garden we are dealing with frost, nasty winds and hail and also loads of snow in the winter. Our days in spring and fall are short of direct sunlight, so we need to catch every sunbeam we can. Plus, we live in town and the greenhouse in our small back yard needed to be somehow catchy. ;)