They say, close, only counts in horse shoes and handgrenades.

I’m hoping it applies to fertilizer as well!

The closest fertilizer I could find with high nitrogen and high potassium is a Vigoro lawn product at Home Depot.

Spread a handful around each apple tree. A light spread over most of the veg garden and some along the easterly bed on the Badgerow side near, not, on the lilac. Covered about a third of the recommended coverage. I’m hoping with the upcoming melt of six inches of snow and rain forecast for the end of the week it will be well diluted but won’t run-off to far.

Even with all the horrible weather, it looks a lot like it did last year. Funny that.

Oh, and started a small tray of mesclun lettuce.

We broke zero. Two days in a row!

Transplanted the bedroom fig today. It started to break buds just before the full moon.

Lots of early signs of spring. The hazels, willows and lilac all are just beginning to swell.

Have to move boxwoods this spring.

Booked Bartlett Tree Company to remove the second leader from the Sycamore, top the cedars and remove a limb from the Norway Maple in the front yard ($500).

30 day count down to staring seeds indoors. Planning to start some salad greens in vermiculite this weekend. Still a few of those damn little black flies.

My least favourite month!

I’m Canadian so I can rant on about the weather. Freezing, solid cold. Just about unbearable. Glad I didn’t fret about wrapping the figs this year. Would have been a total waste of time. Have to admit I’ve been negligent not getting to the snow on the boxwoods. In part as they are frozen together.

Brown paper boxes arrived yesterday. Ontario Seed Company order. $60.

Perfect day (-8 and light flurries) to order strawberries and asparagus and a couple more blueberries bushes from Strawberry Thyme in Simcoe.

Not such a great day for the orange tree standard. It went outside. The little black fly infestation was continuing even after two weeks of quarantine in the middle bedroom. Could not risk them spreading especially now that it is almost seed starting time.

Speaking of which, started the Wintergreen seeds from last year. The seed pack has been in the fridge for a year or so, so they may have already lost their vitality. Anyhow giving them the damp paper towel treatment.

Not having luck with finding the high potassium fertilizer I need. But there is a high nitrogen, high potash lawn fertilizer I might go with.

After weeks of bitter cold from an Arctic vortex, complete with ice storm and major power outages, today it is 5C today. Everything is melting fast with a light rain.

A little panoramic.

The shortest day of the year and it is just above zero. The 15 or more cm of snow are melting and footprints in the snow are showing hints of the green grass below. Just ninety days until I can start seedlings under lights inside. The only thing fresh and easy to pick is the sage.

  Wow – really interesting results!  Organic matter is good, total salts are low, my phosphorus is over the top and I have to add nitrogen and potash.  pH is good at  7.3/7.2

Last day of November and everything is frozen. It got cold, minus 10, and hasn’t really gotten much warmer. Next door is well under demolition. I didn’t get all the pots sorted so bringing them in one by one to thaw and be dumped. The 2014 strawberry tyme catalogue arrived this week. They have an interesting list of fertilizer the one that caught my eye is a 10-31-4. Some of their fruit yield info is amazing and disappointing. One list suggests 15 to 20 pounds per blueberry plant. I’m very very far from that. Oh well, soil test should be in next week.

Big day. First an update on 14. Planted a Bosch and an Anjou pear tree from Beech Nursery three weeks ago.

Ken helped get most of the leaves bagged. Going to keep and compost most of them this year. All the trees are finally bare, except the Cornus Venus. They turned a great shade of red this fall.

Went to Jays to get the front planters for the holiday. 150. Lovely, simply lovely.

The leaf blower gives about an hours suck and blow, then needs about four hours to charge. Doesn’t seem so quick, but when you see the result it’s pretty good. Easier on the back to boot.

Plant saucer water froze last night. Swept the leaves up out front. The maple is completely golden. The Plane tree still has 80 percent of its leaves, the figs have been hit by the cold. Spread straw over the exposed beds. The artichoke are beautiful, regal in height and shape. Went to pry out the fennel with the pitch fork and pop went my back. Not fun.