Seedlings and Exotic Cuttings

Here's a new garden challenge for me: growing a curry leaf tree. I know almost nothing about this tree, but was given cuttings by a colleague who hoped I could get them to grow with hopes of having a fresh source of leaves for cooking. This plant is a native of India and can be grown from seed or cuttings.

So far, the cuttings look healthy enough, especially considering that they travelled a great distance to get to northern Saskatchewan (lets just say that border services of several countries were duped and should not be reading this). I dipped them in rooting hormone and put them in a slurry of vermiculite and water. I've sprayed the tops with fungicide (No Damp solution). They are under bright lights in a humidity dome. If anyone has some tips, let me know.

Strawberry "Pikan" seedlings - the pink flowers and medium sized fruits sounded appealing:

Osteospermum sinuata "African Sun" germinated fast and furiously:

"Red Robin" dwarf tomato made an abundant-looking cluster of fruits:

A touch of local culture: a birch bark basket made by a local elderly Aboriginal woman who gave this to resident-lawnmower-man. I believe the lace-type parts are made out of spruce roots, which are dyed different colors. This is quite a pretty little basket.

Cold, Not Me!

This is the only family member that goes outside without decent footwear and a parka in -30 degree C weather (in fact, she appears comfortable and enjoys the sunshine). She is an 82 pound Siberian husky-Alaskan malamute cross. It is a wonderful cross-breed if you have a yard and climate suitable for such a dog. Not many other domestic animals actually prefer winter like these dogs do.

Cold Enough Already

Impressively, the weather network is reporting our temperature as -42 Celsius today as of 9:00 this morning. I took this picture at sunrise, a few minutes before 9:00 am today:
Mom and dad in BC will probably point out that they are "suffering" at the current temperatures of -9 degrees there. Oh the pity I will have. The car is dodgy these days, refusing to start when it's most inconvenient. I have to try shutting the car door many times because the seals are frozen and the door won't shut. When the car does start, the ride is rough because the tires all have a flat spot where they were frozen to the ground. Besides, the suspension is also frozen.

The dog still sleeps outside in her doghouse, but we let her in to visit us during the day. Of course, she is a fluffy sled-dog type animal and can tolerate the cold very well. The dog-sled races are coming up soon and we've seen some teams training by the side of the highway. It will be fun to see them race, though I hope it will warm up from these frigid temperatures for the big race day.