Mulching with Fresh Kelp

I traveled to Rhode Island a few weeks ago on what was a whirlwind 24 hour (including transport time) trip to shoot a food gardening segment for the show Cultivating Life. I’ll tell you about that some other time. They had ducks! However, what I would like to tell you about today were the planters

‘Mini Purplette’ Onions

Every year I go a little nuts growing large crops of onions such as ‘Egyptian Walking’ over at my community garden plot. Onions grow easily in the ground, but they tend to take up a lot of space in containers. In the past I have grown smaller, bunching onions in pots as a way to

A Word to the Water-wise: Irrigate Well

The following article was printed over the weekend as a part of my food gardening series in The Globe & Mail. Summer has been a late arrival around these parts — heavy rains and thunderstorms have been in the forecast regularly since spring. It’s been great in some ways since many of my plants are

Roof Garden Tour (June 2009)

Click the image to see full-size. I’m long overdue to present a mini roof garden tour this year, let alone a garden tour of any kind. As always I’m behind, which inevitably leads to thoughts that things aren’t just right yet. Or the light is wrong. Then of course there is the classic, “But wait

Handy Garden Tip: Pots with Big Holes

Here’s a little trick I employ when the holes in the bottom of a container are too big to hold the soil in at planting time. I just rip a single sheet of newspaper to the approximate size of the bottom of the pot and place it in the bottom before adding soil. In the

Somewhat Creepy Baby Doll Buggy with Mint

One of our weekend projects was turning this vintage doll buggy into a mint planter. The plants inside are, from left: ‘Orange’ mint and ‘Ginger’ mint. I bought the buggy last fall. It cost 5 bucks at a street sale. At the time, I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, I

Growing an Edible Strawberry Pot

Strawberry pots have a bad reputation in the gardening world. They have poor water distribution and tend to dry out quickly. Sometimes they’re ugly. Or the pockets are too small. Or the pockets don’t have a lip, making holding soil in at planting time nearly impossible. The good ones are expensive to buy, if you

How to Grow Microgreens on a Windowsill

Winter is slowly coming to an end around here and it is nearly time to start lettuce outdoors. Until then I’ve been growing and harvesting small batches of micro-sized greens on my windowsill as a way to keep some salad fixings coming through the darkest and longest days of winter. Microgreens are tender and tangy

Overwintering ‘Oregano’ Thyme

Over the years I’ve made an experiment of trying out new plants to overwinter on my windowsills. These experiments keep me amused over the winter months and provide the first-hand experience with specific varieties required to make solid suggestions. I generally experiment with herbs since they’re the plants we all want on hand most during

My Brother’s Garden

Hey Internet, Remember when I helped my brother make a container garden on his balcony? Behold, it LIVES! He’s done really, really well for someone with almost no interest in gardening only a few months ago. I was concerned that I had overwhelmed him with plants through my own enthusiasm and that he wouldn’t be