Straw Glorious Straw

Thirty Bales of Wheat Straw

Today, we had thirty bales of wheat straw delivered. Once we harvest the beds, we will mulch all the paths of the Produce Garden with wheat straw. The wheat straw will smother any weeds in the paths. Later, we will mulch the beds with leaves. 

As you know, we mulched Beds 29-30 this spring with flax straw. The flax straw did its job in minimizing weeds in those two beds and keeping the soil moist. However, it has not rotted as much as we had anticipated. Wheat straw will work much better.

Garden Tour 2017 - 15 July 2017

Riel House was one of nine stops on the 2017 Garden Tour of the Manitoba Master Gardeners Association. There were 160 visitors, but frankly, we lost count as there were several "entrances" to the property. If the visitor did not pass by our table, they just merged into the great group of folks that enjoy gardening. 

The tour started at 9 am and was scheduled to end at 4 pm. The last group of visitors  at Riel House finished at almost 5 pm. Our tables and chairs set up in the Entrance Area moved at least three times during the day in order to stay in the shade and out of the direct sun. There were seven volunteers, each with their own vision of the property, who guided visitors around the site. I know that if you toured again, there would still be more things to discuss.

It was a great day people-wise and weather-wise. 

Click here to see photographs of the 2017 tour activity.

You can take the online tour here to get a sense what each visitor saw and heard. 

Irises

Irises

Thanks to our neighbour, we have some colourful irises to add to the Entrance Beds and The Berm:

• Endless Moments - Intermediate Bearded - 25"
• Little Episode - Standard Dwarfed Bearded - 12"
• Sugar Maple - Standard Dwarfed Bearded - 12"
• Whee - Standard Dwarfed Bearded - 12"

These have been planted west Entrance Bed and on the west end of The Berm. 

As you can see from the above photograph, they are in excellent shape and should do very well next. Watch for next spring's photographs.

Thankyou J the Gardener!