After Which She Went Home and Made the Filthiest Rhubarb Pie, EVER!

….but not before smoking a full pack of smokes. WARNING: This video is NSFW and definitely not something you want to watch if you are offended by the swears. The foraging woman in this video goes off something fierce. —— I’ve had some strange experiences gardening in a public space, a handful of which I

Historical Re-Creation Programs for Flu Season

I’ve been sick with a virus this last week, hence the lack of posting. As it is hard to do much when you are laid up in bed with the plague, I spent much of my quarantine watching historical re-creation reality shows on YouTube. It began with a re-watch of my favourite show in this

Heck Yeah! Pickle Obsessive

My fermenting obsession continues to play out at a fever pitch. The honey wine is kicking ass and I just purchased 4lbs of parsnips from the farmers’ market with a loose plan to make parsnip wine. The book, (“Country Wines” 1953) speaks very highly of this particular brew. Thanks to Paula, who sent me a

Spigarello Leaf Broccoli

Photo of me in my community garden taken by Davin Risk. Spigarello aka Spigariello is an old Italian heirloom leafy green that I grew last year. Some refer to it as broccoli rabe and others call it “leaf broccoli.” Both descriptions are apt. I’d put it somewhere between kale and broccoli. The plant grows just

2010 Holiday Drive: House of Hope (Plus Giveaway)

UPDATE (December 4): Wow!!! We’ve exceeded the goal in just a few days. The original goal was an arbitrary number and does not reflect House of Hope’s actual need. I simply chose a number that I felt was reachable. Turns out I underestimated you! While we’ve exceeded the initial target number, the drive will continue

Memories…

Over the last few days I’ve been slowly working my way through thousands of posts, tagging them and fixing problems as I go along. I’ve rediscovered several interesting and forgotten posts through this exercise, and I thought I would share some of them here with you. Forcing and Growing Colchicums: Freaky Bulbs That Are Actually

That (Almost) Fresh Feeling

Welcome to the freshly updated You Grow Girl website! You’ll notice right away that the design has changed. Other than colour, pattern, and layout changes the most obvious difference is the way the posts appear on the homepage. They now appear as full posts — you will only need to click through to the permanent

What’s on Your Windowsill? (Plus Giveaway)

A visit to Erika’s apartment a month back has inspired a new sense of excitement about my own windowsills. The morning after the tour, we experienced a rare winter treat here in Toronto: sunshine! While my windowsill has been transformed several times since, here’s what it looked like on that first morning of sun. In

Grow Great Grub Toronto Book Launch Party

Last Wed, Feb 24 I hosted the official Toronto Grow Great Grub book launch party. Thanks so much to everyone who made it out to help me celebrate the launch of my new book, despite bad weather warnings and the big Olympic hockey game. Here we are at the reception table before people arrived. Photo

Field Trip to Richters Herbs

Last Friday, a friend with a car (THANK YOU JOHN, I hearby bequeath my first born to you. The cat is also an option.) drove Davin, myself, and another friend on a field trip to Richters Herbs about an hour outside Toronto, in Goodwood, Ontario. The goal was to enjoy some greenery, buy some herbs

Taking a New Look at Carnivorous Plants

I just read a fascinating piece via the Telegraph UK that is absolutely blowing my mind. Researchers at the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew have conducted a study looking into plant behavior, specifically carnivorous plants, and are concluding that there are hundreds more carnivorous plants out there in the world than previously realized. Many of which