Inside My Tool Bag – October 2007

My favourite tool bag at my community garden plot, October 4, 2007. I forgot to bring a harvest bag and had to cram everything into the top of the tool bag. I’m currently harvesting lots of dandelion greens for boiling and herbs for drying but the weather has been so mild even the summer crops

Purple and Gold Fall Container

I spotted this lovely gold and dark purple seasonally appropriate container combo at Fiesta Gardens recently. While I am generally not a fan of the traditional seasonal mixed container, this one is a simple concept with a limited colour palette incorporating unusual plants like the ‘Red Boar’ Kale centre piece that is edible and insanely

The White Pumpkin | Black Sharpie Debacle

Dear Fellow Humans of the Internet, How do I remove black Sharpie from the surface of a white ‘Lumina’ pumpkin? Is there some kind of Home Economics meets McGuyver solution that I can employ that is also wholly non-toxic? Thanks in advance, Gayla Dear Favourite Local Garden Centre, Why did you use a permanent marker

Over-wintering Hot Peppers

What a pleasant surprise discovering that the ‘Fatali’ Hot Pepper I started from seed in the Spring of 2006 (1 1/2 years ago) finally produced those adorable little wrinkly peppers I couldn’t wait to see. ‘Fatali’ is supposed to be one of the hottest known hot peppers with a heat that rivals ‘Habenero.’ I’m too

Okay, NOW It’s Fall

Break out the apple cider and make some treats, Fall is officially here. And while the weather is happily still very late-summer-like the signs of autumn are everywhere, especially in the harvest. One of the farmers had pie pumpkins at the market this week. I’m realizing now that I should have bought one. An unidentified

Container Garden Clean-up

Today was a dry and mild reprieve from the awful cold, wet and sometimes windy late fall weather we’ve been enduring here in Southern Ontario — a good day to do some garden work. I have found frozen water in the trays underneath the containers on the roof a couple of times recently increasing my

Grow This – Grape Hyacinth (Muscari)

Famous for candy-sweet cobalt blue blooms that resemble tidy clusters of pint-sized grapes, muscari is a versatile, carefree spring bloom. Pack a punch and plant bulbs in eye-catching “rivers” or clustered together in problem areas under trees and in rock gardens. This hardy bulb will even survive in the toxic soil beneath black walnut trees!

Fall Harvest Treats

I spent yesterday afternoon multi-tasking between a series of deadlines and making fall treats: pumpkin pie, and green tomato chutney. The chutney recipe can be found on page 154 of the You Grow Girl book. Since the oven was blazing, I also threw in an assortment of tomatoes for roasting, and an over-sized zucchini. My

Saving Tomato Seeds

It’s mid September and sadly most of the container-grown tomato plants on my rooftop are on their last lap. A few green stragglers remain and the vines are starting to yellow and fade. Thankfully I’ve got another crop still running over at my community garden plot where the plants aren’t subjected to the intense sun

Autumn Equinox

Guest post by Beate Schwirtlich Autumn Plantings Bulbs: plant for spring blooms or pot for forcing indoors Spinach: overwinter for early spring greens Beets: overwinter for early spring greens Swiss Chard: overwinter for early spring greens Arugula: overwinter for early spring greens Kale: overwinter for early spring greens Carrots: overwinter in the ground for late

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