Paige is definitely keeping me busy this week.
Saturday was the Great Cloth Diaper Change and we attended the event in Toronto at the Green Parent Show. To be honest I was a little disappointed in the turnout at the event since Toronto is such a large city and this was also feeding from the surrounding communities. There were 42 qualifying babies at the event. Paige had so much fun up on the stage while we were waiting for the countdown. She was having a great time scooting around and visiting with the other babies. I picked up a couple fun toys and some chalk for Paige at the show. Spoke to some great mom’s as well as the editor and publisher of Eco Parent. They were great to speak to and gave me some good information. I am really looking forward to reading the debut issue which I picked up at the show since there are a number of outdoor articles.
Over the week-end we did some work in the yard and planted white Trilliums on either side of the stairs we built last year going down our ravine. Last year Tessa mowed down on all but one of the few trilliums we planted, so this year we are keeping a close eye on her in hopes that she doesn’t get any of them!
We also picked out our kitchen tap and picked up our sink this week-end. We can’t wait to see our kitchen when we get it all finished. It is just a matter of waiting right now for the weather to improve so we can get on with painting. We chose to go with an oiled bronze finish for the tap so now we have selected the faucet we can decide on hardware.
The weather has been very odd here this week – one day snow and hail and then yesterday was quite nice. We started our morning at the dentist where Paige was chatting up a storm and couldn’t resist showing off her amber necklace every time someone new came into the room. Since the weather was nice we decided to take advantage of it and spent the better part of the afternoon on the back deck and playing in the swing. Paige loves to scoot everywhere on her bum these days so I let her sit on the deck where she could check things out.
Did any of you attend the Great Cloth Diaper change? If so where did you attend? What did you do to celebrate Earth Day? Do you grow your own vegetables in your yard? I would love to hear from all of you.
Rajvee
Hi Katy. I love that you're growing your own vegetables, what a treat for Paige. I just planted a few banana trees this year, the biggest one will hopefully produce some yummy bananas in a few months. Darwin just loves bananas so he will be excited to try them. I also just planted 2 mango seedlings but will have to wait years before they fruit. In the meantime I pick from my neighbor's which hangs over the fence. I also planted a pomogranate tree and I have a couple snow pea bushes. But I'd also like to plant some herbs and veggies. What do you suggest?
Katy Emanuel
Hi Rajvee, wish we could grow the tropical fruit here, Paige loves Mango. I didn't realize you could get Bananas so soon after planting.
As for planting herbs & veggies, peas, beans and zucchini are low maintenance and fairly fool proof. If you decide to plant zucchini, a couple plants will give you plenty. If you have a problem with rabbits, planting onions in your garden will help to keep them away. Lettuce is another fairly easy crop however as temperatures near the high 20oC's it can start to bolt which will make it quite bitter. As for herbs, mint & lemon balm are easy, but can very quickly spread so the trick is to bury a can and then plant them in the can to contain them. You just have to keep an eye for rust on these plants. If they show rust you will need to remove the plants and the surrounding dirt. Lavender will keep mice away. Lemon Thyme helps with mosquitoes. Parsley is another easy herb as well as chives. Rosemary doesn't require anything special either. Basil can attract bugs so it can be hit or miss. We have also had luck with oregano & sage.