APAD: Hands in the dirt, Head in the sun, Heart with nature

This beautiful gardening qoute was part of the phrase: “The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” by English poet Alfred Austin (1835 – 1913).

Our own backyard has about 20 big trees. We love the them, but can't grow much vegtables nor fruits due to the lack of sunshine.  So instead we enjoy the rooftop garden at our son's condo. 

 

The first year we were too late; The 2nd year the soil was not nutricious enough. So we put lots of leaves inside the soil last fall,  added sea soil on top of it in early spring, and planted beans, cucumbers, hot peppers, tomatos, and mixed green vegs (kale, chard, ...), in addition to the green onions, Chinese chives, two types of strawberries that were there from last year.

Right now, the "everbearing" strawberries already have started producing (see picture) and will continue so until September, and the green vegs keep producing enough for one or two meals every 3 days (also see picture).  But we leave the green onions for its flowers and are waiting for the chives to recover (not sure what happened to them over last winter). 

Have a wonderful weekend and be happy wherever you are!

View of the gardens from the left

View of the garden from the right

Strawberry time! (the last and smallest one out of 4, note my hand is small too :-)

Green vegs harvested 

所有跟帖： 

• Nice! I grew herbs & found egg shells enrich soil very well. -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 08:13:52

• 请到楼下看Dandelions，天上掉馅饼到你头上，你的大名也在其中！：） -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:31:29

• Earthbound 馅饼 rocketed from an estrella and made a bee-line -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:42:32

• toward my head :-))) -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:42:48

• 赶紧感谢一下谁给你的馅饼？！ -妖妖灵- ♀ (4326 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:46:05

• No no, it was a work exchange, so no thx needed @all !!! -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:48:39

• 馅饼's great, but any dumplings left? -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:49:58

• hahaha, :-))) -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:46:37

• 灵美眉, it was my Thx to 7G & he deserves it ;-) -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:45:18

• Sure. As deserving as Alfred Dolittle as in My Fair Lady :-) -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:53:39

• I use eggShell on indoorPlants, myNeighbour felt it was -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:54:35

• really funny, like I was hatching chicks from the shell:))) -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:55:38

• I’m stunned by their unbound innocence:-))) -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 14:02:35

• Rooftop has the best sun. I love gardening 2. Mine is small. -暖冬cool夏- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 08:21:35

• our plot is small2, but we got 4 ofThem (others notUsing) ;) -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:41:31

• I start to enjoy gardening now！My chives just sprout！ -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:25:26

• Very nice! -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:39:35

• The patience of Job you must have! -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:44:58

• wow. You got so many garden plot on the roof. -天边一片白云- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 09:57:29

• I noticed in Vancouver, there are lots of community garden . -天边一片白云- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 10:02:37

• Might be same in Victoria. -天边一片白云- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 10:03:09

• Yes, we have lotsNice ones here, blessed by mild weather. -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 10:31:15

• we only have 4 plots (ours+3 from notUsing neighbours) -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 10:28:37

• 植物的根会不会钻入房顶？ -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 13:56:12

• there's protection in plot bottom + vegs' roots are small -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 15:21:59

• Don't forget arm sunburns. -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 14:25:22

• 你不觉得楼下那首dandelions很好听很好玩？：） -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 14:48:05

• good point. thx. -最西边的岛上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/25/2024 postreply 15:19:27