Growing season

It's always a bit of a joke when the first day of spring (typically March 20 or 21st) rolls by around here. March 21st is still winter in Ottawa. And this year we had a looooong winter.

On Sunday though - May 5th to be exact - we had our first gorgeous patio-worthy day. It was twenty degrees Celsius. Guess what was the last day it hit twenty degrees around here? Apparently 200 days ago! Which is like, Thanksgiving. Yikes!

Regardless, and perhaps a bit optimistically, I decided to take advantage of the sunshine to plant some veggies with Margot. I actually was a real do-it-yourself-er this weekend and made a couple of vegetable beds to frame our garden areas and separate them from nearby flowerbeds. (Pats himself on back for using real power tools).

Working together on a project makes for some really great daddy-daughter relationship building moments. Margot is very patient when it comes to animals and nature and makes a good assistant.  Honestly though, I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon than mucking about in the dirt, digging holes for plants, and carefully planting them while trying to pass on some basic knowledge of gardening to my lil' girl. 

May our veggies grow and multiply!

It will be fun to see if what we have planted planted bears "fruit" (well veggies - you know what I mean!). There is a real back-to-the-earth movement taking off in Ottawa these days: whether, it's painting your own furniture, raising urban chickens (since banned) or growing your own food. I completely understand the appeal!