They came in buses, they came in cars, they came on bikes and on foot in numbers so high that they wore a path around the garden. They asked questions and wanted latin names for plants some of which I couldn’t remember common names for. They paid money to see the garden as part of a sold-out garden tour. They even came in the rain. And I loved every minute of it.
Winning the Calgary Horticultural Society’s best garden (medium-sized) just before we moved to Naramata was a perfect way to leave that chapter of gardening in a challenging climate for gardening nirvanaland. Our work here is done…
Once entered in the annual competition, the preparation was military. Commander Edward Secateur Hands went into action. Weeds were the enemy. Not a single dead blossom was allowed to die in peace and go to seed. Edward’s Garden Centre loved me and I got help loading my car with annuals every time I went. When I started shop vacuuming the walkways my youngest daughter was ready to seek help for me. (She knew the phone numbers to call. After three days of having to wash dishes by hand when the dishwasher broke she called the Kids Help Line to complain about child labour.)
An intimidating team of garden judges came by with their clipboards unannounced and I heeded instructions to have no contact with them as they explored. The solution: Army belly crawl under all the open windows to eavesdrop. Busted by the Handyman. Worth it.
We were pretty chuffed to learn of the win. I often wonder if it had to do with pervasive smell of chocolate coming from the cocoa hull mulch that was applied on many of the beads. Cheating? The Handyman’s hardscaping might have had something to do with it. My stone potting shed, the tall pergolas, two ponds and curved solar bank were pretty cool.
The win meant another military campaign to get ready for the tour weekend and the media. More weird shop vacuuming.
The two days of visitors was a thing in itself. They asked questions, so many questions. I began to label plants that people were really interested in and many assiduously took notes. On the second day a Calgary Horticulture Society clematis expert quietly crossed out one of my labels and penciled in “durandii”.
Here are a few more pics. There is something about looking at garden pictures in winter when we are craving colour.
My garden is in good hands. The couple that bought our house are gardeners. When we drive by on visits to Calgary it still looks pretty darn good.
International Space Station image of the English Channel courtesy of the European Space Agency.
This is a sourdough loaf made from my own starter which takes about a week to make. The perfect loaf was kneaded and left to rise multiple times before it went in our brand new wood-fired oven. The bread-baking smell never happened. The next to meet an even worse fate was a pizza that literally went up in flames. Note the conflagration. Too much flame maybe?
OK, this was a bad idea but very hard to return. It weighs a lot. We (well the Handyman) put it in place with a forklift.
A phone call to the 
Now the only downside to our Mediterranean oven imported from Portugal is best expressed by Dan Wing in the preface to Richard Miscovich’s book From the Wood-Fired Oven, “You make delicious stuff to eat, people try it, people get used to eating it, people come to expect it, and pretty soon there are people checking surreptitiously to find out when you will be, or if you are now, or if you just have been baking something great in your oven. The only practical solutions are to make them bring the beer or wine…”
The secrets to a good crêpe are a good batter (with some nice flavouring) and a great pan. Julia Child is my batter whisperer and a wonderful houseguest provided the pan: The Rock made by Starfrit. (
This raspberry-ganache tart is a lot simpler to make than it looks and you can’t beat the combination of rich chocolate and fresh raspberries. I love my heart-shaped tart pan and use it a lot. You can use round or square tart pans if you prefer.
Place a sheet of parchment paper over the dough-lined pan and pour in enough dried beans or rice to come up to the sides. Bake for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees F. Remove from oven when the edges are golden brown. Remove the parchment paper and rice. (Store the rice for future blind baking needs). Put the tart shell back in the oven and bake a further 15 minutes until the inside of the tart shell is golden brown.
Place two or so pints of fresh raspberries on your cooled tart. Remove from tart pan and sprinkle with icing sugar. Place in the fridge until a half hour before serving. Add whip cream or serve with ice cream if you aren’t afraid of the calories.
Manufactured in Israel, it came in boxes, a lot of boxes. We ordered it online through 
It was built to start unusual perennial and annual seeds, mainly ordered from England, to sell at local farmer’s markets. More posts to follow on this enterprise…
This guy was a regular.
And then there was this guy, and according to the date stamp, scant seconds before a neighbourhood cat. Cat photo was too blurred to post. He was in a hurry.
It’s not all nefarious doings though.
All’s well that ends well for the cat. He came back, the very next day.
Clever marketing or quelle horreur?
A short drive to OK Falls and you can taste OMG, Hatfield’s Fuse and Big Bang Theory from some bottles featuring some very cool, award-winning artwork.
In a village of only 2,500, there is a bit of gossip. An in-the-know neighbour gave me the rundown on who is spending time with which Naramatian (yup, that’s really what we are called…kind of like Martians). “Things are pretty active in Naramattress at the moment.”
In summer, I call it Bearamatta.
This very healthy black bear kept me up in the tree fort, wondering if she would attempt to get in the trap door, until she decided to move along. My what big claws you have…
