This Week's Favourite Things! Monday August 3rd - Sunday August 9th, 2015

1.  Anise Hyssop.  This pack of seeds was included as a gift from Annapolis Seeds in Middleton when we bought a bunch from them last summer I think.  It's supposed to be good for bees.  WOW.  Is it ever.  I planted them in a border at the top of the garden and the plants are constantly swarmed with happy honeybees.  So not only is it a beautiful perennial with big purple flowers, very easy to grow, and hardy because it came back after this past crazy winter, but I just googled it and apparently it has some neat-o benefits for humans, according to various cultures

 Hard to photograph all the bees but there are a few in this pic:

 Close up on a happy bee:

Thanks, Annapolis Seeds.  Who are, by the way, hosting Tomato Fest this Sunday Sept 6th 12 - 5. Where you can sample up to 120 varieties of their tomatoes!

Speaking of their seeds, last year we grew and saved seeds for Humboltii Tomatoes, a very heavily producing, delicious yellow cherry tomato.  We planted these ones late so they're only just flowering now but look at all the flowers, lotsa tomatoes coming:

2.  Nasturtiums.  This year in the garden I learned that if you give nasturtiums lots of room they actually get huge.  This was supposed to be our melon patch but the melons weren't looking too good. So I threw down a few nasturtiums thinking I'd fill in later with more plants.  But they got huge! there are few Marigolds poking through waiting to bloom.

 Nasturtiums are beautiful, good for trapping pests, and apparently the entire plant is edible and can be used to make teas and tonics with various health benefits. 

3.  Our biggest broccoli head ever! Brendan's hand is in the pic for scale, I think this plant is a Hybrid Packman from Halifax Seed.

4. Speaking of farming I noticed a kiijiji ad for Watershed Farm, a biodynamic farm who were looking for help bringing in the harvest. Their website and blog are very nice indeed!

4.  Melbourne Free University.  Turns out these smart folks in Melbourne went ahead and started a free university, where people gather in places like pubs and learn stuff.  Looks like a very cool idea.  I wondered if there was something similar online and found this:

5.  Coursera.  Cool! This is a cooperation of a bunch of universities around the globe that let people take certain online courses for free.  There are tonnes of courses in tonnes of subjects.

6.  These 2 videos by Spartan Life Coach that popped up in my youtube feed after wondering why this last firing has taken me so long to finish.  The bisque kiln is cooling now though, and hopefully I'll have the glaze kiln loaded by this evening. Sure it's summer and things got busy but it felt like there was something else going on.  Aha, these videos make a lot of sense and could resonate with anyone who hopped off the beaten path to follow a creative lifestyle.  Things are on the improve now though! Knowledge is power!

Overcome Perfectionism, Stop Procrastinating and Get Sh*t Done!

Removing Psychological Barriers to success/creative expression: overcoming trauma, depression and ptsd