Month: May 2005

The Globe & Mail Reviews “You Grow Girl” Book

- From: The Globe & Mail (Saturday, May 28, 2005 Page L5)

“REQUIRED READING
Followers of scrappy gardener Gayla Trail, the founder of the YouGrowGirl.com gardening website, now have a companion book they can actually haul outdoors.

Toronto-resident Trail started the site in 2000 as a response to the paucity of media geared to young, frugal, urban gardeners like her, “with no permanent space and only a sweltering hot deck to my name.”

She calls her philosophy a “punk rock approach” to gardening, full of low-cost, high-reward tips. Illustrated with cute graphics and photos, it’s a fast-paced, fact-packed read, covering everything from mulching to bugs and critters.

For greenhorns she includes the basics of planning and planting an urban garden in a yard, on a windowsill or even on a fire escape, where coreopsis, Dahlberg daisies, marigolds and tomatoes can thrive in very harsh conditions. There are sections on nursery tag decoding, composting and “container farming.”

But even seasoned green thumbs will find plenty of cool ideas. A section on “Garbage Dump Chic” includes such tips as using bits of broken porcelain as decorative container mulch, lining up broken bricks as a garden border and using old wine bottles stuck in the ground neck-down to make glass pathways. And a sidebar shows how to get mossy patinated pots using beer or yoghurt.

There are clever DIY projects like the hip but practical “not your grandmother’s gardening apron.” And she includes templates and instructions for painting chalkboard-style labels on pots for easy IDing.

On the hipster lifestyle front, there’s a guide to growing a herbal tea garden of sippable flora such as lavendar, catnip, lemon balm and stevia. And there’s a chapter on “bath and beauty plants” for the girl who wants to make her own spa treats out of comfrey and aloe vera. Don’t miss the recipes for peppermint foot scrub and herbal hair rinse, either.” – TRALEE PEARCE

New York Events

I’ll be travelling to New York City next week to promote the book. Note that a 3rd event has been added to the bottom:

BOOK LAUNCH PARTY!
At GRDN
Thursday, May 19th
6pm to 9pm
Cocktails, live music and hands-on gardening demonstrations.
Where: 103 Hoyt Street, between Atlantic Ave and Pacific St, Brooklyn

URBAN GARDENING DEMOS

Union Square Farmer’s Market
Saturday, May 21
9 am to 2 pm
Urban gardening demonstrations & activities for springtime inspiration.

I’ll be demonstrating some projects from the book and a few others in addition to taking questions etc.

BOOK SIGNING
Spoonbill Books
Sunday May 22
2pm-3pm
218 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn

I hope to see you there!

CBC Newsworld (after)

I made my appearance on CBC Newsworld this morning at exactly 11:37am EST. Television news runs like an efficient machine. The first order of business was makeup where I was fake tanned with a hefty dose of bronze powder. We then ran to the set where my props were waiting all neatly displayed on a table. I was hooked up to a mic and ear bud by the camera guy. Then someone was talking into my ear asking me to count to ten. Thankfully I knew how.

gayla_cbc3.jpg

The process was a little disconnected as the host and I were not sharing the same space. Instead I was on a set affectionately referred to as “The CBC Garden”, an island holding two chairs and backed by a row of pothos plants. My job was to sit still (except when displaying the containers) and talk into the camera but boy am I a visual talker. I just can’t seem to help turning my eyes north while pondering my next words, and I just can’t not use my hands to talk. Sitting perfectly still feels too robotic!

Anyway it was fun and the whole thing was over in a matter of minutes. Thanks to Nazima who allowed me to peer into the newsroom during a commercial break and to the hosts Suhanna Meharchand and Andrew Nichols who indulged my sentimental need to document all aspects of the book stuff by allowing me in the room to pose for this photo:

This photo was taken by the camera woman. You can really see the fake tan powder next to my own skin in this shot. Yikes.

Parkdale Horticultural Society Plant Sale 2005

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Another May, another act of gluttony at the Parkdale Horticultural Society plant sale. Okay perhaps there was slightly less gluttony on my part this year — arriving late always helps since the good stuff goes in a matter of minutes. But I just can’t help myself when I see a big container of something-or-other for 2 bucks. It almost doesn’t matter what it is; I simply can not pass up the deal.
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