* The Return of the Backyard *

Throughout this normally frigid month of March, Toronto has been blessed with a few days of absolutely gorgeous and unseasonably warm weather.

In fact, those of you who follow me on twitter may already know this, but we actually had temperatures last week that were comparable to Maui's... that's right, as in Hawaii.

Unbelievable! 

This glorious, albeit short stint of amazing weather has been a great break from the cold, but it's also given me an unusually early desire to spruce up the backyard.

After a long winter of hibernating inside, having access to our yard essentially adds another room onto our little home.

And since we haven't exactly got unlimited space here in the Nook, extra room is definitely cause for excitement!

Mid to late spring, when the time and especially the weather is right, Marc and I wipe down all of our outdoor furniture, clear out whatever has blown around the yard throughout fall and winter, and head out to stock up on flowers, herbs and vegetable seeds.

Even for a teeny tiny piece of land like this, "opening" the yard makes for a long day of hard work and fresh air that is absolutely exhausting, but always worth it once we start seeing the fruits of our labour...

In addition to colourful blooms,  over the last couple of years we've grown tomatoes, peppers, basil, chives, and more lettuce than the two of us could ever keep up with.

While these plants quickly get taller and wider than the cedar garden box Marc built for them - and we end up losing some of the space we just reclaimed - it's a small price to pay in exchange for the fresh food we pluck right from the garden, mere minutes before dining!

We'll likely plant the usual suspects again this year, but there's not a whole lot of rhyme or reason to the flowers we've chosen thus far...

Growing up, my mum let my sisters and I pick our own colour of impatiens that we'd tend to all season long, so that's my one personal must have, but beyond that we really just pick up whatever catches our eyes as we poke around Kensington Market and Home Depot.

Do you have big plans for your yard this year? Any indoor gardens already on the go for you apartment-dwellers?


Outdoor furniture and patio sets can get pricey, but that's definitely something I'd like to look into this year... when the weather permits, anyway :)

KLI | NofW