A Proud Father watching his Kids Grow Up...

Finally the weather has stopped kicking the gardens ass!! I'm pretty sure it isn't going to snow and destroy it once again...

The Oil Field winds try to do a number on it daily...but they are all fighting back and winning.

So everything is starting to thrive...and I hope it keeps doing so for the next few months. I have multiple batches of Heirloom Tomatoes, various Herbs, Wala Wala Onions, Eggplants and Beans from a friends farm in BC. Long Beans from China. Bush Beans, Greens and Herbs from Italy. Okra and about a dozen other oddities from India. Tomatoes from across Canada. I even have some Watermelons growin.  Plus alot of stuff from around the area here...I am sure I have forgotten alot of things...but you will get to see it all as it starts to mature on the Roof. My Grand Father would be sooo proud...I wish he was still around to see it.

Tomorrow night I have a dinner for a few Exec's from each of the Sawridge Inn's around Alberta. Each team includes the Exec Chef from each property....so I figure this is an excellent time to start harvesting for the first time. So I will bring the cam to work tomorrow and shoot some pics of the results of the "First Harvest". From Seed to Plate is becoming a reality...and all in the middle of the worlds largest oil development. A little patch of new life.
I find the time spent building ... and rebuilding the garden to be well worth the effort. When life in the kitchen is getting too hectic...I just go for a lil walk up those stairs and open the trap door to Tranquility. Five minutes of watering and weeding does wonders to recharge the batteries. They are my babies and I am doing my best to nurture and help them thrive daily... 

Again I want to thank all the people that have sent me seeds....they are still arriving in the mail. I am still planting what I think will actually make it to maturity in time before the end of the Season.

I think the experiment is a success...even the ones that don't grow are not a failure..they just aren't meant to grow in an Oil Field.
It's been a busy summer...but I will keep everyone updated as often as possible...
Enjoy the sun...

A Global Garden moves to a Roof...

So I was off today...
 Decided I had better get the actual garden started on the roof. A 6'3" tall person should not have to venture up dark black stairs with pipes hanging everywhere to get to his garden....I have the goose eggs as proof. But hey...I am just glad work allowed me to build it. So today construction began.

I asked the maintenance and shipping dept to give me a hand...and we hauled all the buckets, plants and soil up to the roof....Sweet!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the help guys....was very appreciated.

 The sun was out....lil fluffy clouds floatin around...couldn't have asked for a better day!! So I moved everything into the area I had decided to grow in. Then went to work sorting out buckets. The way I want it built is to slide one bucket inside the other...the inner bucket is drilled out on the bottom for drainage...and drains into the bottom bucket...the bottom one has on hole drilled a couple inches from the bottom...so there will never be more than two inches of water in each bucket...the roots can grow down into the actual water for that extra lil feed.

A Global Garden Begins...

Ya Ya I know it has been a month since I actually posted...but life was busy. We enjoyed a bit of Texas and Mexico...got back to our own Oil Field...and are back into the swing of things at work and at home...so I am back! I know I know...you hadn't even realized I was gone.

 I have to say a BIG THANK YOU to all the people that have been sending me seeds for the "Global Garden" on the Rooftop of the Hotel. I have tried to email back all who have sent.
 To start it has snowed twice in the last week here. But I have alot of faith...so six days ago I broke out the starter trays and went on the hunt for the seeds. I bought some lil half popsicle sticks at the local craft store and went to work trying to label enough so that I could track all the seedlings. Ya... just that took a few hours lol. Then went out into the rare sunshine and went to work at filling all the trays and pokin lil holes for the seeds to drop into. The planting of the seeds was the quickest part of the whole process.There were over a thousand seeds...sometimes I wish I drank!!!

 So once I had the trays full of seeds I wondered what I was supposed to do next...It's too friggin cold out to leave them outside. If I move them into the house Sushi and Kalan (our cats) are either gonna eat them once they sprout...or piss on them thinking we bought them some new kinda indoor pisser! So I realized I cant keep them at home...maybe they would be ok sitting by the pool  at the hotel...it's indoors..gets lots of sun..thats a plan. I carefully place them into the truck...not wanting to spill water and muck all over the upholstery (shoulda watered them AFTER the move!!). It may have been the slowest the truck has traveled since the farmers Wife owned it lol. Once at the hotel I went to Peter our Manager with my dilemma. His thoughts were that they would be destroyed by random people if left in the pool area...I agree'd. Which left us with another dilemma...where the hell are my thousand lil babies gonna go. Peter is a smart man!!! A Vacant Office...

 I moved all the trays into a previous sales office!! It had a wall of sunlight...and even better a baseboard heater...I cranked it. Now the Sawridge Inn has its own little hothouse. Went to the kitchen and grabbed some garbage bags to lay all over the desk...and started layin down trays. Viola instant Grow Room. Ran down to Canadian Tire and grabbed a lil one gallon sprayer thingy...so that I didn't create massive spillage etc on this make shift grow table...or fry the computer that likes to turn on for some reason half way thru waterings. I was so excited to see if they would sprout...for a day or so I watered. Then.....

  There were lil sprouts poking out of the soil everywhere....every tray had dozens and dozens of new life!! I was freaking right out...anyone that passed was quickly sucked into the office to gander at them. It has actually been funny to see everyones reaction to the project. Every day I go in to water...and every day at least a half dozen people come in to see the progress...and dozens of others grab me in the kitchen to talk about it. The garden just makes people happy for some reason. Every day everyone has been amazed at the amount of growth...you would think none of us had grown anything before. Every day they jet up another inch....if you listen to people in the hotel its like listening to fishing stories..."then I walked by 20mins later and they had shot up another three inches...lol". I am glad they are making people smile.