Happy Monday! I can’t believe it’s already the 20th of January…the first month of 2014 is flying by! My hubby and I managed to get out and soak up some sunshine on Friday afternoon at the Cross Conservation Area, just south of the city limits (you’ll remember me writing about previous walks in January of last year and again in September). We really regretted that we hadn’t brought our snowshoes, as the crusty deep snow was a bit of a slog with boots on. Last year when we went around this time, the informal pathways were more defined, with less accumulated snow. Oh well, the extra exercise was definitely good for me – I think I’m still packing around all that holiday baking! 😉
All this sun and the steadily increasing daylight hours are definitely putting me into a gardening frame of mind…I placed a couple of orders for various herb seeds last week, and all the important dates (meetings, bed clean-up, maintenance days) for the community garden are now inked onto my calendar. I just harvested some fenugreek microgreens (YUM!) and I’ll put up some basil this week – I haven’t grown as many MG this winter as I usually do and I miss them. It’s nearly time to start the ground cherries, too…maybe this is the year I will finally have success with them.
Enjoy your week! What projects (gardening or otherwise) do you have lined up for the next little while?
(If you want to read a bit about the history of the Cross Conservation Area, I’ve written a post about it here).
Flowery Prose 
What a lovely expanse of blue sky! 😀
You’re planning nice and early Sheryl! I won’t sow much indoors this year as the lack of sunny window space always means spindly seedlings! I must be patient and wait till the end of March at least… 😉
I have a grow light so I’ll get started in a few weeks…I won’t do very much, likely just the ground cherries and Brussels sprouts (if I make up my mind about actually planting them this year). The rest I’ll direct sow.
The last one is serenely lovely.
The light was so amazing!
Your images of the snow are beautiful.. I like the snow in an abstract kind of way; just not when I have to go to work etc. Have you ever left the fenugreek to grow to plants to use in Indian cookery; I’ll have to look out for some seed, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.
I’ve never left the fenugreek to mature…that’s a great idea. I will try some this summer in my veggie plot. I buy the seed at my local organic market, but I’m not sure how readily available it is.
That blue sky is so amazing against the snow. Soon I will be starting seeds for flowers, and I have my veg bed plans done (for now)….there are always changes!
Will you be starting a large amount of seeds this year? I don’t usually start my flowers indoors, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing. It’s way cheaper than buying them at the garden centre and I think you end up with healthier, more robust plants.
How beautiful, the photo’s are amazing!
Thanks so much! It was such a lovely day.
I especially like the last photo, with the fence! What a beautiful day you had!
Thank you! It was so nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine.
The scenery looks very peaceful and uplifting. I have Sweet Peas ready to sow this week – I haven’t tried to grow micro greens but would like too.
Sweet peas are so lovely, one of my very favourites! You can’t beat their amazing fragrance. 🙂
Microgreens are fun to grow – fast and easy (well, most of them, anyway)! I love planting them in the wintertime and having fresh leaves to eat within a few days.
I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend so far!
Love the photo with the fence. We anticipating a week of arctic temperatures so I’ll be listening to music and quilting away. 🙂
That sounds like the perfect solution for a cold wintery week! 🙂
Enjoyed the read and the first and last photos are great! Blessings, Natalie 🙂
Thanks so much, Natalie! I hope you’re having a great weekend so far!
Beautiful winter photos…hiking on a crips winter day, pefect!I am getting a bit stir crazy being inside so much, can’t wait for our snow to melt!:-)
I hear you! I’m very eager for spring to arrive, that’s for sure…. 🙂
Reblogged this on Photos That Inspire Words.
Thanks so much for the reblog!
I love your photos 🙂
Thanks so much! I’m really glad you stopped in!
Beautiful blue sky and acres of snow. Fenugreek micro greens must be delicious. What are ground cherries?
Fenugreek microgreens are fabulous – and it’s funny how when you grow them, you can smell them all over the room. If I haven’t eaten, they make my stomach grumble with hunger! 😉
Ground cherries (Physalis peruviana) are also called paper cherries here and I think elsewhere in the world they call them Cape gooseberries. I’m thinking you probably have them there in NZ…maybe? They’re a bit tricky to grow here in Calgary because the fruit needs time to mature on the plant and we have so few frost-free days. I love eating them – they’re a bit tart, but they’re fabulous in cakes and I have in mind to make jam or jelly from them if I can get them to grow for me.
Oh Okay, Cape Gooseberries I know very well. And I recognise the Physalis name because, if you remember my post on the Box from Berlin, one of the Blyss chocolates I received was chocolate coated physalis berries. I love them with the deep chocolate flavour and the tart sweet pop of flavour in the middle. Divne. http://silkannthreades.wordpress.com/2014/01/05/3770/
Yes, that’s right, I had forgotten you had received some! They must taste amazing covered in chocolate! YUM! 🙂
Just gorgeous. The first time I have eaten dried cape gooseberries. I can imagine how good they must be in a cake.
There is something about Northern light. In the Healing Garden we tell ourselves it is the angle at which the sun’s rays strike the atmosphere. Causing the blue in blues and magenta shadows. Gardeners are as fond of the light as painters and photographers. And everywhere the light is somewhat different. So good to see the blue in blue skies out your way. – The Healing Garden gardener
“Gardeners are as fond of the light as painters and photographers” – I love that, and it’s so very true! 🙂
Reblogged this on 20 Lines A Day.
Stunning images! Especially the last one. Thanks for sharing, Sheryl!
Thanks so much! I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!
That last photo is stunning. Just the fence trailing off into nowhere. Like you I’m needing some wintry walks these days. Holiday baking definitely caught up with me!
LOL I’m just wondering how long it will take me to burn off all those extra calories…the month of January is almost over! Oh well, plenty of walks to look forward to! 🙂
I hope you’re having a lovely weekend!
I love hiking in the snow, but it does scare me as to how easy it is to get off the path.
That’s true, something to watch for…we especially have to be really careful when we’re out snowshoeing in the mountains. It’s hard to judge how deep the snow is and there might be a drop off or a body of water beneath.
Not too much blue sky around here, but I am appreciating the gradually lengthening daylight hours. I haven’t come up with any of my orders for spring yet, instead just idly leafing through the catalogs. Time to buckle down, I guess. Gorgeous photos, you really do live in big sky country.
I agree with you – the lengthening daylight hours are so welcome! Here’s hoping you get a bit of sunshine and blue skies your way!
Basil! You’ve just hit on my addiction 🙂
Love the photo of the fenceline!
Thanks so much!
I’m a huge basil fan as well – it’s the best! 🙂