Getting My Seeds Started, Right

This year will go down in history as the year I not only started seeds on time, organized all seeds by category (direct sow, indoor starts, and never-going-to-grow-it-so-trade-it-already), AND managed to draw up some kind of “plan” beyond casual (and quickly forgetten) mental lists. I rule. For now. We’ll see what happens when transplant buying

Gardening by the Book: My Crash, Burn, and Regeneration

Guest post by Teresa Youngblood Gardening was making me a little crazy, and this before I had planted a single seed. I always wanted to grow up to be one of those peaceful, well-adjusted, earthy women who live with gusto and who tend wild, luscious gardens. I think this was because, as a child, I

From the Ground Up: Adventures in Making My Own Plot

Guest post by Kelly Gilliam So you’ve just moved into a new place. You look around, and find yourself in a jam. Maybe your new yard doesn’t come with a garden plot, or perhaps the plot there is so overgrown with weeds that it looks like it hasn’t been touched in ten years. Whatever your

Book Launch Party & Other Goings On

Just a reminder that the Book Launch Party is coming up this Wed night at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. Details can be found here. ——————————————– The view on my deck is looking somewhat more inviting today. I did not take a photo but it is warmer and brighter with remnants of snow and ice.

My Own Private Permaculture

Guest post by Anne Boyer I planned my first garden for ten years. I fell asleep fantasizing about what I would do with land when I finally owned some: there would be the blue room, exploding with morning glories and delphiniums, the fruit room surrounded by a thick patch of brambles, the grandmother room full

Urban Composting

Guest post by Kelly Gilliam Make this budget conscious compost bin for your deck or small outdoor space. One benefit to having your own yard and garden is plenty of room. However, some of us live in tight apartments and are forced to have container gardens. Because of space, the urban dweller may conclude that

Getting Her Goat

Guest post by Hillary Rosner “Using goats to battle weeds is gaining popularity in the West, where noxious and invasive plant species are pervasive and poor management has left a lot of land in bad shape.” The lawnmower was broken. Not that I knew how to use it, anyway, as I’d spent my whole life

Seedy Saturday Purchases

Last Saturday I attended the Seedy Saturday event here in Toronto. The turnout seemed to have grown since last year and of course so did my purchases. Where I will be gardening this year is up in the air so I have tried to hold back on making any plans, decisions or purchases. But who

Wild Apple Taste-off

Guest post by Beate Schwirtlich Method Hitting the road with a cup of coffee in a travel mug, my search for wild roadside apple trees begins. I find what I am looking for, a row of gnarled, unpruned wild apple trees growing side by side on a gravel road. I can see right away that

Share Your Plants

Your parents probably tried to instill the virtues of sharing when you were in your formative years. The reasoning is that it’s a nice way to treat your peers and it teaches you to be unselfish and thoughtful. When it comes to gardening, sharing plants through propagation isn’t just a friendly gesture but is actually

Harvesting Seeds

There are a variety of reasons for harvesting your own seeds; some personal, some environmental. Perhaps you have a variety that you like and you are concerned that seed companies may discontinue stocking it. You saw some wildflowers while on an outdoor hike that you’d like to grow in your own garden. You have a

Cactus Revival

This fall, while strolling through my neighbourhood, I caught out of the corner of my eye two cactus plants sitting next to the garbage bins of a large high rise. Not being one to shy away from free, discarded stuff, I casually veered off path to check it out. What I discovered were two, fairly