Guest post by Emira Mears This year, as I was faced with the task of starting up our veggie garden relatively from scratch, I did a bunch of research into garden design, veggie growing, etc and settled on trying the Square Foot method. I did this for two reasons really. The first being that it …
Guest post by Emira Mears Who knew!?! But seriously. Our house came with a number of lovely roses of different varieties. Some traditional pink, very fragrant lovely ones in the front, two of what I believe are dog roses also in front beds and a very prolific climbing rose on the back fence. Last summer …
3 out of 3 taste testers confirm, this variety of “fancy” pansy tastes like bubble gum. We will even go so far as to identify the very specific flavour of Bazooka Joe gum that has been chewed for too long. Seriously! It would seem that this particular ‘Not 99 Cent’ pansy was worth not 99 …
I harvested my first batch of ‘Purple Plum’ radishes this evening from the rooftop garden. I’m growing them in an old wine crate alongside greens. Unfortunately, I can’t remember exactly what I planted since I wrote on the tags with non-permanant ink and it washed off after the first rain (I have several different lettuce …
Two sets of lettuce seeds sown at the same time; the first grown under a plastic take-out container “cloche”, the second grown without. With Cloche Without Cloche Here it is with the cloche on.
I came across this low fence made of tree prunings while walking through Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. It’s very simply constructed and relies on the v-shape where one branch joins another rather than fussing with string and wire. Mind you this wouldn’t survive five minutes on my block but seems like a viable design on …
Guest post by Amy Urquhart “Invasive” does, in fact mean, well, “invasive”. I’m always curious when I buy a new plant labelled as invasive, just how invasive can it be, really? That one little starter plant can’t really get to be that big in one season, can it? Besides the usual mints, balms and the …
I need your help finding subjects for a project I’m starting this spring/summer. I’m looking to photograph gardeners in their gardens. What is a garden? My concept of a garden is very open-ended. It can be anything from a sprawling lush paradise to a single plant growing in a coffee can. Gardens include but are …
It’s not at all related to gardening but I will be showing 20 of my photos in a group show alongside 3 other photographers entitled PHOTOGRAMMETRY opening this Friday at Harbourfront Centre here in Toronto. What: An active public space exhibition of urban photography. When: May 13-July 9 (Opening Friday, May 12, 7-9pm) Where: Service …
Kelly Gilliam Today I was eyeing the plants at my grocery store. We all know not to ever expect much from the grocery store plants, as they’re usually completely neglected, dry, and limp looking if not half (or totally) dead. However, the grocery store plants are the closest and easiest for me to get to, …
Make Herb Tea Fertilizer Did you know you can make liquid fertilizer for your plants using other plants? Sounds like floral cannibalism but it’s not unlike compost when you think about it. Some plants are high in particular nutrients which can be extracted in the same way that you would make a medicinal tea for …
Guest post by Emira Mears Sometime around last weekend the lilac in my backyard burst into bloom. Since then we’ve been enjoying stunning cut blooms and scent in the house. As I was bringing the cuttings into the house, I was reminded of last year around this time when I made my partner go out …