Anything on the site could potentially fall here, but these articles are specific to sustainability, and growing and living green.
“What if rather than saying, “The garden belongs to me,” you said, “I belong to the garden.” – from my book, Grow Curious I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the years and have picked away at it in big and small ways [see No More War in the Garden]. As a young university …
I have not been very diligent about posting here, but I have continued to follow the directive I set for myself in 2016 to photograph and identify the bees and other insects that inhabit my garden. Aliens in My Garden is a series capturing the fascinating insects that inhabit my small, urban garden. While many …
This is how it started (sort-of): Three years ago I found Tobacco Hornworms making a meal of some of my tomato plants. I was fascinated and repulsed. I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures, and then, like a good gardener, I immediately killed them. It wasn’t long before I regretted that action. I’ve …
Many years ago, not long after gardening came to me* and stuck, I read a statistic that said something to the effect that just looking at a plant lowers our heart rate. This was so long ago now that I no longer recall the exact phrasing, nor where I read it, or why. Regardless, it …
I’m noticing more oddities mutations [please see discussion in comments about mutations versus deformations] in the garden this year. I’m not yet certain if I am noticing more because there ARE more, or because I’ve developed a deeper interest in them and am more observant. I documented a few oddities last summer over here. Most …
Two nights ago Toronto was hit with an ice storm. Anything that didn’t move during the night was encased inside a thick, vitreous ice. Trees, bushes, leaves, grasses, clotheslines, metal structures, fences, birdhouses, empty planters… they were all turned into crystalline sculptures. I have never experienced this phenomenon as a gardener, and I am equally …
The first pieces of flair I added to the garden early last year was a collection of bird and bee houses that I affixed to the left front side of our ramshackle shed. Recently, high winds have been knocking them off and when putting them back up I happened to notice a few stray baby …
This morning, a group of farmers and organic seed growers have gathered at a hearing in New York City to present oral arguments as the first phase in what could turn out to be an historic lawsuit brought against biotech giant Monsanto. The suit, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) et al v. Monsanto, …
“All truths point to a universal truth; all the divisions of nature are closely akin to one another.” Rancho la Puerta is a mostly media-free retreat that provides guests the opportunity to unplug from television and Internet for a week, as much or as little as they choose to do so. In its place, the …
We are excited about hosting a wild bee nesting box in our new garden as a part of a study on wild bee populations in urban habitats that is being conducted by Scott McIvor through the Packer Collection (PCYU) at York University. You can see how the nestboxes are constructed here. We can’t wait to …
Seed buying and seed starting season is upon us. It won’t be long now (let’s pretend, even though the snow outside says otherwise) before we’re happily knee-deep into the growing season. Yesterday, I put out a call on Twitter for an online list or chart of garden companies (as well as makers of garden products) …
Since The City of Toronto is week three into a city workers strike that includes garbage collection, it appears (see above) to be a very good time to reintroduce some resources on small space composting. One sure-fire, easy way to compost that I haven’t included here is to dig a hole. Yes, like the infomercials …