Markets, forest fires, badly-needed rain, criminal activity, and quackgrass … oh yeah, and I signed a contract to write another book ….
The Calgary Area Hippie Gardeners Plant Sale was a fun, vibrant (not to mention, verdant) event on Saturday…what a delight to network with all the hort-minded vendors and shoppers there! Janet and I followed up by attending the Triwood Farmer’s Market the next day. The number of vendors was staggering, diverse, and wayyyyyy too tempting! We kept sneaking away from our table to shop. This lovely piece of jewelry ended up coming home with me ….
The forests in a major portion of the northern part of our beautiful province have been on fire for over two weeks; we are very anxious for family and friends who live in the affected areas. Thousands of people have been evacuated and many buildings have been burned in certain areas. Over the past couple of days, reinforcements have come from other parts of Canada and some parts of the United States to help fight the fires, but the weather isn’t cooperating. The refreshing rain that we have received here in the southern part of the province hasn’t reached the north and now a heat dome has plopped itself right over the whole province to make things cook. It’s a scary situation and I know it’s one that many other people all over the world have faced as well.
The shed at the community garden I belong to was broken into for the third time this year. I filed another police report but it’s not likely that the person responsible will be caught. Other community gardens in the city and throughout the province have also suffered multiple break-ins, vandalism, and theft. It’s disheartening and replacing the stolen and damaged contents has been expensive, but it’s part of much larger and complex urban issues that cannot be easily resolved.
The cleanup of my raised bed at the community garden continues. It’s a bit early yet to tell if my garlic survived the winter, but the quackgrass (Elymus repens) pulled through in its usual rampaging manner so I have had my work cut out for me. Those of you who don’t have to yank quackgrass out of your garden probably have other weeds to deal with that make you want to curl up in a ball and sob uncontrollably, but consider yourself fortunate not to have to combat this beast. I’ve seen the roots hit six feet in length and apparently 10 feet is not at all unusual. If you leave just the tiniest chunk of the roots in the ground, it will quickly produce another plant.
And I can’t say too much just yet, but I’ve just signed a contract to write another children’s nonfiction book in the same series and for the same publisher of another book I wrote last year. The new book will be published in the fall of 2025. The manuscript I produced in 2022 has gone through the editing process and it has been given an exciting layout and design that makes me so unbelievably happy I did a little dance when I first saw it. It will be published next spring, so I will be able to reveal more about it very soon.
Photo: Christoph@Pixabay
Flowery Prose 
Verschrikkelijk als telkens weer ingebroken wordt
A lot going on is right! Congrats, congrats.
Break ins, vandalism and theft are discouraging! Four fruit trees that were planted by young school children were recently stolen from their garden at a school near here. It is as if such behavior is socially acceptable.
Congratulations for the book signing but commiserations on the quack grass, theft and vandalism and the dreadful forest fires. I hope the fires may be got under control soon.
My gosh, Sheryl. I’m really sorry to hear about the fires, the break-ins, and even those crazy weeds. Wildfires are terrifying. We get our share here in California, but generally toward the autumn months when all the vegetation has dried to a crisp and then the winds change. I dread it every year. In brighter news, I’m happy to hear about the prospect of a new book, and I love your taste in jewelry.
Congrats on another book contract. The forest fires seem to be raging on as our planet stays on fire. Not sure we are getting the urgency of climate crisis. I can’t imagine what is so vital in a garden shed that someone would break in. Sorry to hear it has happened again.
Congratulations on the new book project! And I’m so sorry to hear about the latest break-in. We live east of Edmonton and I’ve been wearing a mask outdoors as I battle quackgrass and keep my fingers crossed for much-needed rain.
Congratulations on the book, Sheryl! I hope they can get those fires under control – terrifying. Sorry to hear about the break-ins.