2015 - Seed Saving, Cat Plant Destruction, & the Spring that will not come.

In this field of white is my home...somewhere.

2015 has been another brutal year for weather in Canada. I am not going to whine as our friends on the East Coast had their house buried up to the roof in snow. In Toronto, we got brutal mind numbing cold. All of the Great Lakes froze for a second year in a row & -20 Celsius became the new normal. It's not fun looking at NASA pictures of your home province where only a small slice of Lake Ontario is visible.HOWEVER, it did give me time to catch up on my seed saving & get prepped for the Spring season. Seeing as how it's April and still snowing, I am really hoping that will be soon.

The usual weather pattern from November to early May.

First project to get underway was my first attempt at seasoning my seeds. I had cherry pits & apple seeds. To condition these seeds you leave them in your fridge is a seed pouch for 3 or more months. The Apple seeds have failed, but the cherry pits have yielded two small but steady sprouts. Second project was to get a greenhouse going in the apartment. Reasons are A) Toronto apartments are hot & very dry in the winter which kills most plants (I lost my rosemary over the winter this way) B) If you are like me & you have cats, those little furbags feel that your new little seedlings are delicious dinner just for them. Last year was a ridiculous effort to keep my cat Snarf out of the plants. He would eat them & then vomit them all over the floor.
This year I am working with cheap little sealed green houses to start off the seedlings. (Keeps in the moisture. Keeps out the cats.) I have carrots, basil, thyme, tomatoes, red clover, 1 cherry pit that is growing like crazy & hot peppers from saved seeds from last year. I am still conditioning currant seeds in the fridge & they are due to come out & be seeded in 1 month. I really want to expand my repertoire this year in canning. I am going to make my first attempt into fermentation. I have a lot of exciting new recipes to try as well. I will keep you all updated on my plant tactics against Snarfuls as well. Hopefully what I learn will help other pet parents become indoor gardeners too. Happy start to Spring everyone!