Dinner from the Grow Bag Garden

Dinner from the Grow Bag Garden, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Being a vegetarian this little harvest was more than just a dinner to me, it was a feast. So wonderful to have vegetables so fresh they were just picked minutes ago from the garden. I've been amazed at how well my grow bag gardens have been doing considering the miserable summer we have had to date. Lots of rain, fog and cloud but very little sunshine. These particular crops seem to be thriving. The sun has been out for the past two days and it has been nice and warm so hopefully the weather has changed and my greenhouse full of green tomatoes will start to ripen.

Tall Ships Halifax July 2009

Tall Ships Halifax July 2009, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Tall Ships Halifax July 2009

Tall Ships Halifax July 2009, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

I went down to Halifax to visit my cousin Grace fro the weekend and see the tall ships, around 60 of them in Halifax Harbour for a four day festival. He ship in this photo is Russian and 319 feet long, by far the largest ship in the group, nothing else even came close.

Unfortunately my two days in Halifax were not blessed with great weather Friday was cloudy and cool and Saturday was heavy fog and rain. I think the fog made great conditions for photos of the ships and the rigging though, it gives them a real feeling of the sea. I had to come back home on Sunday and it cleared in the afternoon and Monday for the Parade of Sail when they leave the harbour for the start of their race across the Atlantic it is a beautiful clear sunny day, so I hope to watch that on TV.

Follow this link to my Tall Ships Photos.

Grow Bag Gardens

Grow Bag Gardens, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

I'm so pleased with my first ever attempt at Grow Bag Gardening. I've been eating meals from the Garden for over a month now. So far I've had the oriental vegetable Joi Choi, Swiss Chard, Kale, Lettuce, Radish, and Zucchini . The Broccoli should be ready later this week. Everything in the Grow Bags seems to grow vigorously. The two outside areas where I have Grow Bags were meant to be temporary for this year only while the ground under them covered with black plastic composted in preparation for turning those areas into garden beds next year, now I'm not so sure. I certainly will continue to use them in the greenhouse. Both the greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes are doing very well in there. I should have my first greenhouse cucumbers next week and there are lots of green tomatoes already.

St. Thomas University, Fredericton, N.B. 2009

St. Thomas University 2009, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Proof that time does not stand still. The transformation of the St. Thomas University campus from the little University with four buildings that I attended in the early 70's to the large modern campus of today is almost unbelievable. They even managed to change the lay of the land. In the 1970's when you came out the front door of the main administration building, now named after Monsignor Martin, you faced a very steep U shaped drive and parking area. This is all gone now and the area in front of the building is a level park like are with no vehicular access. To the left of this area is Edmund Casey Hall in the 70's you went up at least ten steps to get to the front door which is now level with the walkway. Many huge new buildings have been added obviously at a cost of millions of dollars. A truly beautiful campus.

Campobello Killer Rose

Campobello Killer Rose, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Campobello's killer rose is in full bloom. This is a rambler type rose which some seasonal residents brought to the Island a few years back. It is an amazing thing the hips in the fall are small and very plentiful and the birds love them so it has been spread all over the Island. Birds tend to drop the seeds when they are roosting in trees for the night and this provides this lovely rose with just the environment that it has been looking for, it loves to climb trees and can be found in several locations 50 to 60 feet up a tall spruce tree. I have one in my garden that I started from seed that I collected several years ago and it is going to bloom for the first time this year, it's all budded out but the blooms haven't opened yet. I'm just back from picking this bouquet on the North Road where it is in full bloom. I just noticed for the first time that it comes to two colours pink and white. Now I have to wait for mine to bloom to see what colour I have.